Yesterday, I heard that I’ve been definitely booked into a Vaughantown programme at San Zoilo, in the north-west of Spain. Since I’ve already been to a Vaughantown programme earlier this year, which I’ll be blogging about presently, I thought I’d give a quick explanation of what Vaughantown is all about.

It’s an English language programme for Spanish people, and the idea is they’re segregated into a hotel for five days, with an equal number of English-speaking people from all over the world. The kicker is … all the conversation is in English; no Spanish is allowed!

For the English-speakers, the attraction is that you pay only for your transportation from your home to Madrid and your accommodation there. From the minute you get on the bus on Sunday morning to when you get off it again the following Friday night, everything else is taken care of. It’s not a ‘free holiday’ though. You have to work … typically, about ten hours’ solid conversation a day. But, it’s interspersed with entertainment, fun and occasional free time to do your own thing.If you want to know more, have a look at www.vaughantown.com

If you’ve been clicking on the links to Assem’s blog, you’ll see he’s been sending back some excellent reports from Afghanistan, as well as some great pictures.  (Temporarily suspended) I’d also like to put in a link to the Amateur Traveler podcast, where Alf Meier, who lives in the Dodecanese Islands, was interviewed the other day. Listen to Alf at http://amateurtraveler.com/2007/06/24/episode-96-greece/ Hasta la vista!Keith