Who Am I?

Hi, I’m Neal! That person on the right is my better half, Naomi (she’s a kick-ass yoga teacher)

Hi, I’m Neal! That person on the right is my better half, Naomi (she’s a kick-ass yoga teacher)

Hi, I'm Neal!

Welcome to my little home on the Interwebs :)

I'm lucky enough to have traveled quite a bit (~41 countries). But they say you make your own luck so let's just say that I have an avid interest in seeing new places, learning Where We Are Going - and sharing that with the wider world. Hence, this website.

This 'website' started out as a blog in 2006 over on blogspot, before I took the plunge and moved to my own little space on the Internet in 2013.

This site expresses my various interests:

- on the one hand, I was blessed to have amazing parents who bought the first family computer in mid-1995, with a modem to connect to the nascent Internet. My naive eyes were opened to what was happening (in many ways, I still think 5-10 years ahead!) and the rest is history. A fascination with technology (Networking /Internet / mobile, human interaction, social, trends). I've worked in the IT/telecoms industry for several years with a range of roles from Network Management to Research and Development. The key piece? We're in an era of unbelievably exciting change and I'm intuitively part of it. Want to know more info on current trends and tech? Let me know.

  • Degree in Telecommunications Engineering. May as well study how infrastructure works that binds out Internet together.

  • Fully qualified secondary school teacher (PGCE, ICT) - when you know technology, but want to understand how people learn, what impacts adoption curves, a teaching degree helps a lot.

  • 2019/2020: completing an IT Strategy course. The ‘beginning phase’ of the Internet is now coming to an end, I want to start thinking about where it’s going, and what’s next.

  • Wrote the Irish Rock Climbing Coaching Award (Level 1) while working for the Irish governing body, Mountaineering Ireland

 

In sport, team sports (soccer, basketball) through to my late teens migrated to an avid love of the mountains. Climbing gives me an excuse to travel, while also keeping the physical body healthy

  • Climbing (20+ countries)

    • Sport (8a+ redpoint, 7c+ onsight)

    • Trad (E5/6)

    • Bouldering (7c)

    • ice, mountains (bits and bobs, too cold for my skinny frame :)

  • ultra marathons

    • 80km (yes, I’m one of those people who couldn’t be satisfied with a marathon. No, I’ve never run a marathon :)

Related, if you haven't tried climbing, and are based in Ireland - I highly recommend checking out Awesome Walls Climbing Centre in Dublin.... (a little biased as I’m involved - go check out any of the climbing walls in Ireland!).

All images copyright Neal McQuaid (unless otherwise declared). All rights reserved - please contact if you want to use.

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 Media

You'll find a load of photos as you go explore this site, taken from travels across the world. I'll do my best to keep filling it up with more. Enjoy.

Somewhere along the way, I was asked to take part in a couple of little media projects. Linked here for postertity.

A fun video . Some perspectives(!) on motivations to travel and explore.

Another unique opportunity, again perspectives from travel