Manhattan Skyline ... Tomorrow!

FINAL/LAST/ABSOLUTE Planning Day 100 - Tuesday 8 January 2008

And so we reach the day before the day of travel. The final piece of the jigsaw has been inserted and it all fits together. The new bank accounts are set up. I've become a teenager again and had to memorise a sequence of random numbers but that's all OK. The airport strikes scheduled for this week were called off. It looks like the perfect picture. All I have to do now is not drop it on the way to the airport and at midday tomorrow I'll leave London Heathrow bound for New York's John F Kennedy airport.

It seems very strange that on Thursday morning I'll be stood on top of the Empire State Building (just to get my bearings and ease navigation) in one of the greatest cities the world has to offer and my first on this journey of a lifetime. Am I a bit nervous, yes. Have I got the usual 'sniffy nose old man' to see me on my way, yes. Am I looking forward to this adventure, yes. Do I feel ready to head off ... 100 days and I couldn't be more ready!

I've booked into the Hostelling International New York on the Upper West Side for 6 nights. They have 624 beds and occupy a building the size of half a block or more. I'm sure I've read somewhere that it might be haunted and this just added to the attraction for me! I may be tempted to creep round the corridors late at night with a hoover on my back looking for Slimer. Well, I will be in the city of Ghostbusters!

Aside from that the Staten Island ferry around the Statue of Liberty is on the list, so is a Broadway show, so is a plethora of museums and so is Central Park. I also can't wait to find a bar and watch the American Football play offs this Saturday and Sunday. If I can find the right place then Sunday should be awesome because the New York Giants are playing although, sadly, they're away from the city and on the road in Dallas. Ah well. Big old bar stool, sipping beer and watching the game. Awesome!

Sadly it's not snowing in New York. In fact the weather looks a bit English. 5-12 degrees but at least there's going to be some sunny days. Why is England so grey all the time these days ... I hope it clears up for those of you back into the run of work in England.

And so the ruck sack is packed. In fact here it is below (I love the way Mum's and Dad's dig out mustard blankets when it gets cold). I'm really chuffed that I've stripped it down to the bare essentials. 50 litres all in (including the day bag and it's contents) apart from the clothes on my back. I'm a bit concerned that when it's sultry and hot in Asia I'll be cramming everything in there. But when it's cold and I'm wearing all my clothes there'll be plenty of room kicking around my 'sack'. Until someone half-inches it of course. Anyone want to run a book on how long I'll last before it disappears in a puff of smoke!


You may have noticed that I've added the final itinerary to the top right of this blog and also a miles completed checker. Seems a bit daunting to me that. 30 how many thousand! And I'm not sure if it'll work all that great. Big brother Rich and I talked about getting some Google bar up there that does the job a bit more professionally. And Tatey will be screaming Facebook right now. But it seems quite interesting so we'll see how it goes.

And now for the first time I'm feeling a bit like JK Rowling as she fought her way through the 5th or 6th Potter book (the Phoenix one?!) only to come up with an overly long product that wasn't as good as her previous work. So I'll leave the England postings and the planning phase of this blog behind and move on ... see you on the other side ...