Planning Day 88 - Thursday 27 December 2007

‘And one day I woke up and everything was different.’ That’s it. I’ve loved saying goodbye but now it’s time to go. I’ve had enough of leaving talk and I’m sure everyone else has as well. But it would only be right to chronicle my last week of almost normality.

This picture was day one of the drinking escapades in Café Rouge in Henley-on-Thames. A really great night and a lively atmosphere from the first second to the last. Its incredible how, when close friends don’t see each other as often as they’d like, they cram 2 days worth of catching up into 1 night! We had Café Rouge to ourselves but clever restaurant managing put ‘Jez’s lot in the corner’ and let us embarrass ourselves away from prying eyes. Thanks so much to the following for chipping in and raising the money for my rucksack. Picking that all singing, all dancing baby up every day will remind me of you all. And when it starts to dig into my back and annoy me every step of the way up the Andes it will remind me of carrying Swifty home up the hill from Eastbourne’s bars to our student halls of residence. Ashamedly, I admit to leaving him a few hundred metres from home then but I won’t leave the old sack anywhere. For anyone who cares. He was fine. I taught him a valuable lesson in self-preservation.

From left to right =
Pushy Pete/Cheeky Polly/Wisftul Robbie/Darling Nev/Reggie Bish/Ernie Els/Jezmondo/Funny Sally/Face Pulling Swifty/Delightful Janie/Photogenic Gill/Adorable Coxy

And then on to Lichfield and a huge thanks to everyone for the numerous offers of accommodation (which I hope will extend to early 2009 when I’ll be back to see you all again). But cheers for the bed Billy and Fi. It was super comfortable and I hope you had a top Christmas. I trust the treadmill is getting used regularly …!

A successful week of housing stuff explained in the post below combined with more drinking, dentisting, podiatring (she’s a golfing-babe the girl who sorts your feet out in Tudor Row!) and drinking.

A huge debt of gratitude MUSTN’T go to Waz for getting us all drunk on Coors Light. The state of my headache the day after answered, eternally, the question of ‘is this stuff light on alcohol or calories?’. Apologies to Wrighty, Clarkey and Balders for only remembering about my camera when they’d left. But as I say, I was drunk! Cheers for making the effort and heading out guys. You’re a star Wrighty. I hope Viv has the house settled and sorted out!

From left to right =
Don’t know who that is/Nellie/Waz/Billy

And just a day later we were back in the pub with the rest of the hockey guys. I’m always impressed by people who make the extra effort to come out when they have to drive, it isn’t a normal night out and it’s Christmas when the party season’s in full swing. Cheers for everything these last few years on the hockey pitch (and off it in the bar!) fellas. I’m so glad that I came back to playing hockey after a few years on the golf course! I’ve loved the friendships I’ve made and the challenge of the National League. I’m chuffed that, maybe, my last ever game for Lichfield was a First XI win! Not a bad effort at 36. And a special thanks to Growie, Donna and my new godson, Toby, for making me feel so at home in their home. I can’t wait to return the hospitality when I get a ‘proper’ house in 2009 guys! And to crazy Tatey you really should start that motivational company while I’m away mate. Although the lure of the pick up truck may keep you at Spiroll for at least the next year I guess!



From left to right (there’s a theme here!) =
?/Tatey the smelly keeper/Nellie the umpire (and out 2 nights on the bounce!)/Drew (the brilliantly moustachioed coach)/Euan (the England star of yesteryear and also traveller in 2009)/Growie (the only captain to take Lichfield into the elite, man mountain and bloody great guy)/Si (the outrageously talented new captain)

By the way – check out how Si is only just in shot! There’s another theme of passing the camera to random people to take these photos for the record books. I think it’s a better way of getting photos than doing the old ‘arm’s length’ trick. And I reckon I could chase down anyone who might try running off with it. Even rucksacked up. Nails!

And just when my liver thought it had done enough work up cropped a day drinking in Soho and Covent Garden. More of the same celebrating with the University guys and a welcome chance to see Wellsy and Ceej. Here’s the random photo again in a classic Bill Sykes pub of Swifty, Ceej, me, Joffy, Fothers and, just, Robbie (in order again!).

Top work and thanks to Gill for taking us to The French House (where Charles de Gaulle holed up during World War II) and the Dog and Duck (where Graeme Green wrote his novels and Madonna hangs out now). In fact you won’t believe it but … nah … if only! My apologies for taking us to the worst Chinese buffet restaurant in London guys. I’ve got nuclear grade, curry stained trousers already and I haven’t even left England yet!

We ran out of steam mid-evening having started at midday but saw this amazing Christmas display over our final pints of acrobats entertaining all of Covent Garden. They swung about on weighted poles about 20 feet up and dashed off to applause ringing in their ears. Gill and I collared them mind you and got a great picture. Just check out the snarly faced and the cute girl under my right arm. And yes. That is a beer bottle in my left pocket!

My only regret in all this drinking was missing Mark and my great old colleagues from the now historic Northern team of The Lawn Tennis Association. My apologies guys but it was just my luck to move the house the same day of our planned get together. Keep in touch and I’ll look forward to the 2009 bash! Oh – and Vanster – the company of you and Claire is hilarious so thanks for having me stay again. And most importantly I loved catching up with Elaine/Brian and Stu/Sarah from the Staffordshire crew what seems like ages ago already! It was a fantastic night of reflecting on a job well done in tennis and I’ll be interested to see what happens in the future!

As the hockey boys say ‘the blogs go on a bit!’ Well, a lot’s happened in a short space of time. The good news is – they can only get longer and even more interesting …!

Planning Day 88 - Thursday 27 December 2007

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my friends, family and Robbie Jackson. As I sit and type this on the days between Christmas and New Year I’m still in detox-mode from a fantastic pre-Christmas week of celebrating my big off and preparing to jump on a plane …

But … this last paragraph needs to be suffixed by one of those noises when the old vinyl records ground to a halt if a family member kicked the plug out of its socket right in the middle of Toyah’s It’s A Mystery! Neeeeeeeeeeeeeah! Is the only way I can think of to describe the noise in writing!

The delay has been caused by Lloyds TSB wanting to charge me £6 for every £100 I wanted to take out in cash machines abroad. Not to mention the commission on using the old ‘for everything else there’s Mastercard’. Yes there is a Mastercard you marketing buggers … that’s nicely packaged with commission if you use it anywhere outside a 34 mile radius of Stevenage. Now this really isn’t a big deal if you use it abroad a few times each year. But if you plan to conduct 200 plus transactions the bank charges soak up 5% of your budget and half of your contingency funds! So I’m sat in Gloucester’s Starbucks (they now have one of these and a Café Nero’s/Costa twenty paces round the corner … the old city’s looking up!) having opened a ‘bubbly for the shareholders’ Nationwide account a couple of hours ago. But it’s going to take a week or two to get me the cards so I have a while in early January to kick back and charge the batteries.

I’m annoyed at myself for not sorting this sooner because you don’t even need any money these days to open an account. But the exchange of contracts and completion date for Swallows Reach ended up being so close to Christmas that I didn’t have the money in my account and it took my eye off the long ball being pumped up from the back a la the England football team. Still – it was a top decision and gives me even more money to use having fun on the road! Selling property has to be the most annoying thing in the world. At least when you use the kind of solicitors I had. Ring/Ring. ‘Hello, Halfwit and Knobheads, how can I help?’ In the end I did a great bit of double-bluffing the lovely estate agents at Tydemans by sitting in front of them and saying the immortal words for any commission based service ‘pulling out of this sale’. I remembered the old John Jackson advice passed on to me by Robbie and went quiet letting them break the silence. It was broken by a flurry of phone calls and an exchange later that afternoon!

So the delay scuppered a superb set of flights ready to be bought on Christmas Eve. They had me whizzing round the globe and only once needing to back track or get a connecting flight to my destination. Which in 37,000 odd miles and 20 odd stops was nothing short of top work by Trailfinders. But I had to let them go and will now re-book next week when the Nationwide bank cards arrive. Not too bad I guess. Just means that the old ETD is pushed back from 3 January to, hopefully, around 10 January. Right around the proposed flight strikes. If British Airport Authorities want my opinion they should just give them that old-fashioned final salary pension scheme and get me on my way!

Just thought I’d end this post with a quick picture. Here’s what you look like when you’re living out of a rucksack and have to wash all the clothes you own. A huge thanks/pee off to Neville for catching me unawares and to Max Wall for the wardrobe ideas. I can definitely see a Nick Camen moment coming up next year …

For those too young to remember he took all his clothes off in a packed launderette and waited for his washing in only his pants … he was a male model ... unlike me!

More hi-jinks in the next post above. This is a double-posting day!

Planning Day 79 - Tuesday 18 December 2007

I repeat 'Planning Day 79'! 79 freaking days to plan a round the world trip in the days of Sir Francis Drake would have been a masterful feat of logistics that Phil 'Wrighty' Wright would have found difficult to match despite his skill in this field. In the days of the internet it smacks of carelessness and a good chance of getting lost on the way if you can't sort out the basic flights in less than 3 months!

By the way that was a coincidental tip of the hat to my big brother's latest amazing work - Uncharted: Drakes Fortune for Sony's Playstation 3. 'The overall package of an endearing story, outstanding score, great performances and fun gameplay should put this title on the top of your holiday wishlist. Say what you will about the PS3, but Uncharted isn't just a standout for Sony - it's a standout for gaming as a whole.' And as Alan Partridge said 'Not my words Lynn, the words of Top Gear magazine!' - well - IGN Online!













http://uk.ps3.ign.com

And the reason I'm still sat in Lichfield (very comfortably at Billy and Fi's so thanks very much guys) is because house buying and selling in England, while a very lucrative affair for the last decade, has been reminding me how unstable, clandestine, annoying and finally uplifting it is!

Yes - the deal is finally done - I exchanged contracts on Monday and complete the sale of my APARTMENT on Thursday. It's been a hairy few days because last Friday I'd packed up boxes, enlisted the help of super packer/mover, Matt 'thinning' Waggleson, unloaded everything, stored it neatly (of course!) in Newent's storage facility (sounds a bit 24 that huh?!), and chased solicitors and estate agents politely but bluntly to the edge of annoyance. And just when I thought that had cracked it talk, amongst the powers that be, yesterday was of leaving everything until Thursday. I can just imagine the solicitors dashing back to their desks after their Christmas lunch to rush through my sale, turkey drumstick in one hand, pen in the other ...? So more not-so-gentle persuasion yesterday and we're there.

A big sigh of relief can now be taken and recent thoughts consumed by moving, cancelling direct debits, telling British Telecom to stop their excellent broadband connection and negotiating Lichfield District Council tax refunds can all end.

And instead I can turn my attention to travelling again. Hooray! I'll post again later in the week when I've looked at it and tell you all about the leaving bash in Henley-on-Thames!

This has all taught me one thing. When I'm stuck with a problem it consumes me a bit and I get very annoyed that a solution can't be found. But the very second it's sorted out I forget all the hassle and move on. Now that's got to be a good trait and one I'm lucky Mum and Dad instilled in me. It's also refreshed my memory of another thing. That the property world talks in riddles. When they say 'we're waiting for the vendor to give instruction to his solicitor to exchange contracts' they actually mean 'Mr X needs to ask Mrs Y to call Ms Z and and say the sale's completed'. Now isn't that a lot easier?

For now - 'the time of the housing market is over, the time of travelling is about to begin ...'

And we're finally, almost, moving ...

Planning Day 59 - Friday 30 November 2007

Well, after what's seemed like a very long time of relaxing around Lichfield we're finally on the move. The sale of the APARTMENT is around the exchange of contracts moment and completion to follow soon. But check this out ...











Worryingly, my 'For Sale/Sold' board fell down the other week. I can only touch my Buddha on his little head and keep my fingers crossed that's not a last minute metaphor.

So packing boxes is happening as a regular night time activity (I know how to live!) and day times are spent buying up half of The North Face kit from my nearest stockist. Yep. It's official. TNF are the trip kit sponsors and I'm currently sat here typing in the snuggest, comfiest, most technically advanced pair of pants you could ever wish to wear. They have to be the Victoria's Secret option for male travellers. My Queensbury's have never felt so well looked after. I'd provide a picture of me in them here but I don't have a sock handy ...

Instead here's the packing box for my travel items that will transfer themselves into a rucksack and onto my back in the week before departure. Prizes for spotting a torch, first aid kit, toiletries bag, contact lenses, travel towel, inhaler, Sharpie pen (the pen manufacturer Dr Sharp) and my obligatory choice of Nike ACG trail shoes and sandals!
















And even though my cupboard under the stairs is always tidy it's never been quite like this. For anyone moving soon England has an unbelievable supply of cardboard box companies ready to supply you with everything you need for a professional move. Minus the arse-showing blokes and their brute strength. But just hitch your jeans down a bit, forget some of your people skills, kiss the guns (hey Growbag?!) and get on with it yourself ...











And a final footnote. Today my Christmas cards have gone out to everyone (except the Lichfield Hockey Club legends who'll get theirs later). You have all my apologies for the cringe-worthy early sending but it's only 'cos I'm moving. If I were in charge Christmas would only run from 20/12 to 3/1/07)!!! They've all got my personal cards in them that may have directed you to this blog for the first time. If that's the case here's a few pointers from me. I've been blogging for a while now and wanted to populate everything here before I told everyone about it. You'll find all of the archived blogs by looking down the right hand side of this page (click on the arrows by 'My Blogs Are Archived Here'). Don't forget to vote about where you'd want to go (again, down the right hand side). And please, please add any comments to blog postings (all you have to do is click on the 'Comments' wording at the end of each post.) It's open to anyone so, as a final point, why not tell someone you know interested in travel to check this blog out ... especially if they're a travel editor?!

Warp out ... nicked that off you Vanster ... thanks for the loan!

'That's not a tache ... this is a tache'

Planning Day 44 - Thursday 15 November 2007

Not quite the same meaning as the knife gag from Crocodile Dundee but none-the-less I've surprised myself. Should I ever become a double agent and need to grow a moustache in a hurry to get myself out of a tight spot. I can! Nice and bushy with good side-droopage. A top lip sleeping bag for a cold traveller. A Ferdinand Magellan inspired companion for the coming journey of discovery. It's all of the above.

Or at least was! Because the one thing this picture doesn't convey is how old it made me feel. So it's gone! Just like Marie-Antoinette it got the chop! For those brave enough to take on Ibiza 3 the Banksy Salver was a long time ago huh! (A Grange Hill phenomenon when the little 3rd Years (old skool!) grew taches, shaved them off and weighed their products. Genius!)

If this post is all sounding a little random I'll now explain why! I spent last night with my hair stood up on end, breathing very deeply and covered in sweat. It sounds like the start of a beautiful relationship. And it is. Only with a Japanese Encephalitis vaccination vial rather than Angelina Jolie. I thought my body had got used to all this stuff. But just when the finishing line's in sight (only 2 more jab appointments to go!) some bugger sticks their leg out and trips you up. If I get to the end of this post without puking or feeling frostier than ... err ... Frosty the Snowman ... it'll be a considerable achievement. These things are my current best friends ...











And I wish had more exciting news to post. But as you may have read before the house move is dragging on stupidly. I really need to have at least signed contracts before I spend thousands on plane tickets. In all truth I'm now a bit bored. I say that carefully because there's so much exciting stuff to come along. And I'm really fortunate to have these few months in life where I can kick back and relax. But I also have to kick myself up the backside every day to do something constructive towards travelling or the house sale so when the green light is pressed ... I'm ready to come out of the starting blocks flying.

At least these will keep me going and provide just a bit of bedtime reading ... I love libraries!

Be patient Jezmondo!

Planning Day 28 - Tuesday 30 October 2008

It's a very strange feeling to step away from working for a living. I guess it's reached that point a few weeks after the commotion of leaving employment when reality bites. For me it doesn't feel panicky but kind of peaceful and serene. All the stresses of modern living have evaporated and yesterday I found myself falling asleep in Lichfield's amazing old library with the sun on my face reading up on Tibet!

While it sounds romantic I've already realised that I'm a bit impatient and at my best when I'm busy, doing stuff. My apartment (not flat remember!) is taking an age to go through thanks to some lazy-arsed lawyering and the building being on an old petrol station. Everything's on track but just moving s...l...o...w...l...y. I'd now really like that completion date. Because, good old organised me-being-me, I'll only travel when it's all sorted out, the equity's stashed away and I'm off foot-loose and fancy free!


Although this organisational stuff's very disconcerting because it's amazing how you can change so quickly. When I concocted this crazy/mad/life-altering/enigmatic (delete as you feel necessary) idea to travel the world I planned out every single day of where I'd be, what I'd be doing, hostels to stay in, flights to pre-book, etc, etc, etc. And yet 3 weeks later I'm up for just booking the general flights, packing my rucksack (the most common word in the English language by the way for Smith and Jones fans), sticking my Lonely Planet in my back pocket and heading off!

Now don't get me wrong there's plenty I'll do before I go. Jabs are continuing at pace (more tomorrow so bracing myself for another day of feeling crappy). A good budget for each continent so that I don't wipe out my money in North America and come home embarrassingly early. Purchasing bullet-proof travel insurance to replace everything when my kit inevitably gets nicked. And having a general route so that I know what countries I need to arrange for visas.

I've also got to say a huge thanks to Lucy for switching me onto Imaginative Traveller and Intrepid. If I'd known just how cheap you could arrange for organised tours around the world I'd have been doing this kind of thing for years ... check out their web sites and see for yourself! Oh - and this isn't viral marketing Robbie J - I've not actually booked with them yet - and I reserve the right to un-promote these companies if they get me stuck up a gum tree in Belize ...

And it's now all happening

Planning Day 17 - Friday 19 October 2007

The dull ache in my arm this morning can be seen as the point of no return for this adventure. It feels very real now and there's no second guessing or turning back. We're on a count down to the big off!

It was travel clinic down at the doctors yesterday morning and this little baby's ensuring I won't be dying from yellow fever anytime soon. For those of a nervous needle disposition look away now ...



Two jabs administered and a trial malaria tablet whose side effects could give you hallucinations and weird dreams ...! Just a minor test compared to the ones ahead so it was easy to glug it down with a big glass of water. Nothing to report just yet. But it probably wasn't the best idea to play squash with Growbag and Tatey last night ...

So it's now time to stock up on travel stuff. And I know I shouldn't but I just couldn't resist the new iPod Touch. It's got a handy wi-fi connection and I love Apple's Safari web browser already so I figured it could be really handy for doing this blog on the road. Probably just a fad and I'll always be near a computer but then there's always the music and videos. Just bought the start of series 3 of Lost from the iTunes store before you can get it on DVD! And I'll be able to buy new music on the move. It's soooo cool. I even got it engraved with my name which they do BEFORE boxing it all up and THEN shrink wrapping it. Neat. Here it is and if anyone thinks otherwise there's nothing wrong with a gadgety streak!


The great outerwear conundrum's also conquered thanks to Mr North Face. Didn't scrimp on a topper Gore-Tex jacket and then fleece jacket that zips in for the extra snug feeling. It'll probably be useless during monsoon season in Asia but boy will I be toasty warm whenever I'm away from the equator. And as someone who feels the cold that had to be top of the requirements!

OK. Enough for now because I'm off to play golf on the moon with Tiger Woods, Jimi Hendrix and Mary Queen of Scots. They're currently all sitting on my sofa and telling me to hurry up. Maybe these malaria tablets aren't right for me after all ... ;-)

Life's never linear ... despite my best efforts

Planning Day 15 - Wednesday 17 October 2007

I've just read my last post and, if you're reading this thinking, 'that was the work bit sorted now onto the fun travel stuff', you've no chance just yet!

It's taken about 10 days after my contract ended to square everything away with my old employers and leave proudly out of the front gate at the fancy, cool and 24 set-inspired National Tennis Centre. Deep down it's something I've been after for a while now. And it seemed really difficult to find. But after much searching. It was there all the time ...



I didn't see any cyclists. In fact I barely saw anyone. Besides, once you're out, you're out and yesterday's news. All I saw was Brigid from the Information Technology department receive all my company property and kindly take the final photograph of me sporting the fruits of my labour on the Ferdinand Magellan inspired tasche. Compare us below. OK. The tasche (and indeed beard) need some work but just checkout the hat similarities. And that wasn't even planned. Spoooooky!

And what a joy it was to ceremoniously turn off the Blackberry. Now I'm a gadget-man who loves technology and, to start with, it was fantastic to do your e-mails on the hop and never have to dash back to your computer to empty your Inbox. But after a bit, when your self-discipline slackens and you leave it on when really it should be off, that bloody thing drives you to distraction! I think the world should ban all forms of mobile communication before 9am. Come on everyone. Let's ease into each day. Yep. Work hard during old skool hours of 9am-5pm. But in the mornings chew rice krispies with your kids. Make your partner breakfast in bed. Do that thing single guys do to wake their bodies up. But don't send any e-mails ... at least not to me!

OK - rant over - here's what I managed to do before I handed the Blackberry's best mate ,the lap top, back as well - empty my Inbox - rarer than the white rhino apparently.



And last Friday saw a top day of hand over to my old mate Van Willerton who steps boldly into the fray to take on managing tennis across all of the Midlands. Van is a genius in hiding. He's unbelievably creative and backs this up with the ability to get the job done. No matter what the difficulty or hardship Van'll see it right. A rare and talented gift indeed. Long may he succeed. I should have a photo of him here after that commendation. But I haven't got one. In fact he's lucky I'm alive to type this after insisting we play the last few holes of a round of golf in thunder and lightning. Because. I forgot to mention. He doesn't take himself too seriously and is a maniac!!!

Instead he took a fine photograph of me and Martyn from Stafford Sports College. Martyn's a Stafford legend leading PE at the College for as long as he cares to remember. He was instrumental in providing me with lovely office accommodation for the last few years. And we worked on a variety of projects together. He's one of the world's truly honest people. Firm when needed. But always fair. Simply great traits that I've always followed myself and I'll miss his perpetually bright outlook on life.



And that really is it with The Lawn Tennis Association. It seems strange because my natural instinct is to draw a line under that part of life and move on. But I've made such great friends that it will always remain part of me. A really good reason for justifying the few days of free work I put in for them at the end. As my big brother, Rich, said 'you can see the global picture'.

A momentus day in my life!

Planning Day 5 - Friday 5 October 2007

Well - some days in life everything just runs away with you and you put your head on your pillow at night and go 'jeez! A pretty important day that'.

A conversation with the old gaffer ('old' relating to his relationship with me, not his age) early doors on Friday 5 October and it was all over for me and The Lawn Tennis Association. Thankfully I guess on reflection. We were trying to work out staying on for a few more weeks to help out but a compromise agreement making me a free agent resulted in a day to sort out 10 years of work.

Thank Buddha I started that hand over document mega-early knowing that I'd be leaving Staffordshire whatever was to come. I managed to speak to all the necessary people, send the obligatory 'thank you and au revoir' emails, leave weird out of office forever auto-replies (they take on a whole new and refreshing meaning when you say you're not coming back!), see our legendary Secretary/Administrator, Elaine, off safely and lock the door behind me!

To be honest I was a bit upset ... and displayed a classic Reggie glum-one that the great man himself would have been proud of! Only joking ... I'm free!


And so that's it. It feels brilliantly liberating to move on from that challenge in life and face this new one of getting round the world. Not a bad trade I think!

A massive thanks to Elaine for putting up with me for a decade. I can only hope that just a day at the health spa can re-dress years and years of putting up with me ...

There's a whole world outside tennis and I'm just about to find it!

And just like that I was made redundant ...

Planning Day 1 - Wednesday 3 October 2007

Welcome to the start of a journey for me (the tall guy on the right here) ... and maybe for you if you want to check this blog out over the next 12 months or so.

You see, at the age of 35 and a few months short of birthday 36, my employer, The Lawn Tennis Association, decided to re-structure the development of the sport in Great Britain. And in doing so complete a 12 month period of re-aligning their operations to a new Blueprint for British Tennis. A trendy document aiming to, FINALLY, really put British Tennis on the world map. It's bold, radical and in good hands under cool leadership from people like the bloke in this photo. My old manager (yes Matt, 'manaha he manaha', Fawlty Towers, Circa 1970s) Mark 'the gruff Yorkshireman' Hamilton.

Good old Mark. A top bloke. Sound of mind. Astute of nature. And forget about all the corporate stuff (which he played with a very straight bat) the kind of manager you felt was on your side. I'll miss his dry humour. He was very supportive as I attempted to gain a promotion. Well, that just wasn't meant to be. And to be perfectly honest. I'm glad. I was asked to apply for jobs at my own level during the re-structure but I've been pretty unhappy with that job for a few years now. So I guess I came to a cross roads. And, instead of taking my usual, reliable. 'dependable Jez' safe route straight across ... I thought... stuff it ... I'll turn right for a change.

And boy is that right turn way better than going straight on. You see, the Association is a solid organisation working tirelessly with little thanks and much criticism. But I have to say they're treating me very well as I signed up today to redundancy. And that treatment's opened up a great opportunity for me to finally fulfill some boyhood dreams ... and travel the world!

As a kid I read Tintin books about far off places over and over. As an adult I watched Indiana Jones enviously adventure in exotic places. And I even managed to look past Angelina Jolie's tight-fitting outfit to see the stunning locations she jumped around in Tomb Raider. And now I get to try it all out for myself ... or at least some of it (the world's enormous as I'm about to find out!).

So there's lots to do including:
Get that draft schedule definite ( a meeting with Trailfinders is top priority)
Complete the sale of the APARTMENT in the next few weeks (not a flat remember guys!)
Find out my final, final date of work (perhaps this Friday - gumph!)
Buy that rucksack (the most common word in the English language Robbie?!) and stock up on North Face outdoors gear
Fulfill that dentists and doctors appointment to service me up ready to hit the road
Get vaccinated and visa'd ('just a small prick sir')

And so please check back - this blog's intended to keep family and friends up to date and sleeping easily - safe in the knowledge that I'm alive and well during my adventure!