London, UK

Hello. In 1995 my trip around the world was cut short. I ended up doing the Cape Town to Nairobi leg in roughly 4 years so a few months ago I decided to finish what I started 16 years ago. There is a rough plan of where I want to go but generally I'm going to see what happens along the way and fly as little as possible.

Rough Itinery: North America Central America South America Oceania South-East Asia Asia I'm doing this travel blog more as a reminder to myself and for my family and friends to keep track of me. As most of you know me well enough to know that my memory and sense of direction is bloody awful so this travel blog is a God-send. Anyway...as of August 1st it all kicks off. Can't bloody wait...and no, I won't take the Ostrich!

 

The departure date really is approaching mightily fast now. Most of my spare time at the moment is spent planning, organising and dreaming about destinations as well as driving most of my friends and family mad with constant talk about destinations and the perfect socks for hiking. Not the most interesting thing to talk about in any circumstance...but I'm in the zone. I find I am slowly distancing myself from here. I guess anyone that travels for a longer time slowly starts to mentally drift off to their destinations. Not too good an idea when you're day-dreaming so much that you're holding up the North Circular traffic and getting hooted and shouted at left, right and centre.

 

I have consciously not planned my route too much because I know from experience while you're on the road it changes completely depending on mood, money and recommendations. So for the moment its all about getting my travel gear in order...like the pack, some clothes, medical stuff, this blog, paperwork (God help me this is driving me mad!) and reading travel books and watching some travel documentaries. Oh...and also packing up all my worldly possessions because as of August 1st I am pretty much a homeless man (not strictly in the pushing a Tesco's shopping trolley, singing 'Papa was a rolling stone' and wearing a ludicrous hat made of a potatoes sack sense....but more sort of 'between' flats.

 

Anyway this will be my last entry while I'm in good Old Blighty. The next entry will be from the US of A...and specifically New York city. Hopefully after eating King Kong sized portions of food and supping at the mystical springs and rivers of beer that I've been promised over there I'll still be able to write on my mini Mobile keyboard using sausage-sized fingers...let's see.