So much for journalistic glamour

I LANDED my job in the Irish Examiner by pitching a half-baked idea — cold — to the sports editor.

I go on about it enough — your groans are audible from here — but it was a sweet gig. The task was to see every team at the 2006 World Cup on a budget of no more than €150 a day.

So I set off — to the wrong airport, on the wrong day initially — with a tent from Dunnes Stores, a map and some hostel addresses.