Things to remember

As I know I have mentioned before, the Topdeck training trip was the hardest thing I have done. Physically and mentally it put me to the test. What got me through was the end goal and the people I was with. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Applications for the next training trip are open now and it has got me reminiscing on TT 2013....

Things to remember from training trip 2013:

Crispy finds a quiet spot

• What it feels like to fall asleep without realising. -Whether sitting on the coach driving though incredible scenery in Austria or sitting in a hostel’s reception listening to the receptionist speak one moment and realising that you just fell asleep the next. I would wake up and see that my handwriting had scrawled across the page illegibly whilst I had thought that I was listening and recording what was being said. Notes would read – “(Illegible) opening hrs 4-6pm - hard cheese (Illegible) €4 for wash €4 for TESCO” and I would have no memory of writing it.

Martina and Eoin in Kracow

• On our last night on the continent -We finished the Paris driving tours at about 3am as usual and on the drive back to the hotel the trainers put on a playlist as an example of what music to play but also as a bit of a celebration. Because we hadn’t been allowed to listen to music in 8 weeks everyone went a little nuts. I was sitting next to Tom and just remember him belting out Adele’s ‘Someone like you’ with real gusto, everyone laughing, and Kat asking ‘geeze, who are you holding on to?’
• Standing on the coach - When we couldn’t stay awake we were encouraged to stand on the coach. Most people stood in the aisles or stairwell but I fitted under the baggage racks so I just stood in my seat. I ended up spending about 75% of my time in the coach standing because it was my favourite way to stay awake. This way I could watch the scenery and write leaning on the back of the seat in front of me and take full advantage of the air-conditioning. Oh, and give an interested face to the TL’s occasionally
• Sarah and Titanium - We had only been on the trip for about 3 weeks by the time we got to Florence and the Red Garter. We were still getting to know each other and no one was super keen on Karaoke and I think we were all slightly surprised when Sarah volunteered to go first. Her song of choice was Titanium and she left us all with mouths hanging open when we heard her powerful vocal chords. When we asked her afterwards why she had never told us she could sing, she pointed out that ‘Hi my name’s Sarah and I can sing’ was hardly a normal introduction.

Sarah surprises Dave at karaoke

• The yogurt incident – I can’t remember exactly what country we were in let alone town. It was during the drive of the Balkans and we passed through so many boarders but barely stopped. Let’s say it was Montenegro. We were doing a normal shopping trip, that is, high speed. And at the counter during ‘high-speed-bag-packing’ a big pot of natural yogurt was handed to me. Hands did not quite make contact with yogurt and suddenly the pot was on the floor and the yogurt was all over me. In my hair, on my face and on my clothes. Bessie was laughing at me, the checkout girl was laughing at me and I was laughing at me. Good times.

Waiting outside the sex show

• Ross’ face at the sex show – Topdeck trips generally end in Amsterdam with an optional activity that the passengers can go to which is a sex show. On TT we got to go to many of the optionals we provide and this one was no different. The sex show involved crowd participation and for the finale the dancer had audience members eating banana off her body. The final person on stage was Ross, he put his head between her legs as she lay on her back and she trapped him in a headlock between her thighs and threw him around like she was a crocodile with her pray. Did I mention she was naked? Ross’s face was priceless.