INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

 It was another hotel job that I fully intend to make a habit of from now on. Trouble is I was a bit late from the walk in the afternoon and only had 90 minutes to shower, change eat 2 pot noodles, relax then go back out. The streets were full of drunken football fans (not good) and so was MOJOs bar that we met in but thankfully they were all gone after an hour. I'd been in that bar 2 years ago and the memories soon came back.  Some of the faces I knew from 2 weeks ago so it was a good start, the main downside was that we were staying in the same place all night. A few of them arranged to move on to a club but admittedly I was a bit tired from rushing around earlier on.  Headed back to hotel not long after 1AM.

 For this walk we met at the Apple Tree near Wilford nature reserve, everyone was having breakfast from a previous meetup which I missed out on as I didn't notice it on the website, note for future meetings. Got slightly lost in the nature reserve as the footpaths didn't match what was on the map. Headed down to Clifton and Ruddington where we stopped for our break which was a little strange since it was only meant to be an hour from the finish.  The mud slowed us down a lot and we had to keep stopping so the older ones could catch up. Normally we finish early but time was pushing on and I had to check into my hotel and get sorted out for my second meet that evening Last part of the walk was over Wilford hill, it was starting to get dark by then. Normally I would have gone back to the pub with the group but went to the nearest bus stop to get back to Beeston.

 Came to this meetup with minimal expectations as none of the usual "party animals" were attending. I was just happy to be out in the most boring month of the year. Caught up with a lot of people I had not seen since before Christmas. Only had 2 alcoholic drinks all evening. After a few in firebug we went to the distillery where we'd been on a previous meet, since it was obvious it was not going to be a wild night I got the 11:10 last bus back to Markfield and walked home.    

 I'd only been to one meetup with this group (2 if you count the meal before), I'd always been reluctant to go back due to the size of the groups as it's a lot more difficult to "get in" a group. However after the worst Christmas and new year in the local pubs (12 people were in my local as 2022 chimed in) something needed to change.  I figured the first weekend of the new year would be quieter and easier to break the ice with new people. We spent the first couple of hours at a pub called spanky van dykes, only about 30 of the 60 or so people who were on the list turned up which did make it a lot easier. Met some good people right from the start and things went really well.  About 10:30 we moved on to a club called pop world, all covid passes were checked on entry which I don't have a problem with but it was the first time. I'd never expected a place to be busy the week after New year, most of the group stayed until midnight then gradually drifted off. It

 With a poor Christmas/New Year combined with the end of suffering from long covid I made the decision to step things up a bit with meetup. The plan for today was to go walking during the afternoon, check into a cheap hotel get changed then go out for a separate meetup that evening.  Went all the way to Nottingham to discover the event had been cancelled. This is the first time to my knowledge that an event has been cancelled with less than 12 hours notice.  I had 8 hours to kill so I walked through Highfields park and Wollaton park which I'd been to almost exactly a year earlier. Checking into my hotel at around 4pm.

 2 years ago I did a  A FEW THOUGHTS ON MEETUP AFTER ONE YEAR (insidetheworldofmeetup.blogspot.com)  post so I thought it would be time to do a follow up. Obviously with covid lockdown all meetups were cancelled. As some restrictions were lifted I did 9 meetups during the second half of 2020 all of which were walks. This was of course due to the face that was about the only thing that you could do. I was never a big group walker prior to this but enjoyed most of the walks I went on.  I managed 20 meet ups after March in 2021, again three quarters of which were walks. I'd expected with the pubs reopening as normal I'd go back to my old habits but that didn't happen. I'd go on a few drinking days with meetup but drastically reduced the amount I drank in my own village on Saturday nights. A lot of the time I was tired from walking all day and the local drinking scene has gone downhill so much I want to be less of a part of it than ever. Covid gave me some good habits......