GABO and Joanne go to the UK! A retro trip report.
Castles, cheese, and DMC
You’ve probably noticed we do lot of travel posts here—it’s basically half comics, half travel blog. Travel influences our work, but being on the road for conventions is also just part of the gig. And back in 2015, before A Way From Here was even a twinkle in my eye, GABO and I hit the road together to go to Thought Bubble, a convention in Leeds, England. Of course, I was determined that if we were going to fly all that way, we were going to see more than just the inside of the convention hall. So I put together a whole itinerary that involved a day in Amsterdam, a night in a castle in Wales, and plenty of time for afternoon tea.
We hit Amsterdam on a layover. We basically had 8 hours between flights, but you can get to the city in 20 minutes via train from the airport, and we were going to make the most of the time we had. Unfortunately, we had been up all night, and it was raining, so every photo of us looks like this:
Amsterdam is a beautiful city, with many incredible historical sites. But it’s also a place where people go to get high. Which means it is filled with INCREDIBLE SNACKS. And that’s basically all I was interested in. We hit like 10 different cheese stores and sampled every weird cheese we could find. And some of them were VERY weird.
This was the only drug I did in Amsterdam. Somewhere, GABO has a video of me actually snorting the chocolate, but you’ll have to pay a lot of money to see it. I love chocolate, but this was NOT pleasant.
From Amsterdam, we hit Manchester, where GABO had a signing set up. I took the opportunity to grab pics of the amazing street art in the city.
And then things got interesting. I’m a born-and-bred New Yorker, so I don’t have a driver’s license. So I talked GABO into driving us to Wales. He was already uncomfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road. And then suddenly we were on twisty, dark mountain roads with hedges higher than the car. And every time we saw a cow or sheep, I would yell, “STOP! I wanna say hi!” (I’m the worst.)
But all of the fear and uncertainty was worth it when we arrived at Ruthin Castle.
We spent the night at this magical castle hotel in Wales, and when we woke up, peacocks were waiting outside the window. They just roam free on the gorgeous grounds.
Ruthin Castle dates back to the 13th century and is said to be haunted. But I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
We did eventually get to Thought Bubble, in beautiful Leeds. And I could tell you about the convention, but you know how conventions go: sitting behind tables, chatting at bars after the show. What made THIS con special—well this was the legendary show where DMC performed at the after party while Kieron Gillen DJ’d.
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Just an absolutely unforgettable experience, and one that brought GABO and me closer. I don’t know that we’d be making a book together today had we not gone on this adventure together.
And we’ll bring you more of our book, A Way From Here, this Friday. So make sure you’re subscribed!
That’s pretty amazing to have seen DMC perform. So cool.