My Fellow IST. I’ve been doing some thinking since Monday, and had a number of conversations with others I know within our IST since. I’ll apologise, this is a bit of a ramble, but when is anything I write not? I want to present not a problem, but an opportunity.
I think it’s fair to say, from the conversations I’ve been party to at least, there is a sense of disappointment that there is no planned official IST Pre-event. I do genuinely understand the reasons given. That said, it’s something I have really enjoyed as part of previous events, and something I felt was missing from the last Moot.
I would therefore like to make a proposition. That we, the IST, organise and run our own Pre-event for us, the IST. We may potentially want to open this to the broader contingent, for any Independent Travelling Participants, or even other contingents who may be around at the time – if anyone has connections or contacts – but primarily this is by us, for us.
This would be totally independent of the CMT, Travel Places etc. and they would have no responsibility or accountability for this “event” or us whilst it runs. I’m offering to co-ordinate rather than lead, but am happy to be deposed if someone particularly wants to take this on.
This is very hand wavy at the moment, but the idea in my head is to meet at around Lunchtime on Friday 15th July 2022 at a presently unnamed Hostel/Campsite/Scout Hall in Dublin (if anyone has contacts?) and proceed to have an afternoon of “Organised Fun”. We will then have some free time until a meal in the city, and some form of evening entertainment.
We can then retire to the aforementioned hostel/campsite/scout hall to sleep. On the morning of the Saturday, the IST arrivals day, we can either have some more “Organised Fun” or some free time before collecting our bags and heading for the Entry Point, or heading directly to the Entry point after a lazy morning.
During some of the discussions I’ve had, the “organised fun” suggested has been the likes of the Guinness Brewery, Open Topped Bus tour, or a walking tour of Dublin. For the evening entertainment, a Ghost Walk has been suggested. Other options are undoubtedly available – I’ve not read my Dublin guidebook yet!
The idea (in my head at least) is to take the best bits of ISTokyo and the Washington DC adventure from the last two Jamborees, with a blend of “organised fun” and free time to suit anyone who wants to join.
This plan would be incompatible with the contingent travel options, and would necessitate taking at least an additional day’s Leave. I recognise, as a result, this will not be suitable for everyone, but I thought it was worth identifying and starting to discuss now, as it would be too late to propose after the travel deadline has passed.
At this point, I’d like to open the discussion. There is no commitment required at this stage – although if this does go ahead and we start booking things there will be some commitment required. I just wanted to start the discussion before it was too late, and limited to those who chose independent travel.