I´m Tasmanian and that probably explains a lot. I also love to travel, particularly by bike ...

I´ve somehow survived cycling through England, Scotland, Ireland (though someone did steal my bike in Sligo which put an end to that), New Zealand, South Africa, South America and even Vietnam. OK, Vietnam was a cycling story without a bike and a clear demonstration of why, if you should ever be tempted, you shouldn't play touch football on an icy oval 30 minutes before the sun rises on a cold Tasmanian morning two days before heading off on an overseas holiday.

So this time's it's Europe. 9 days before we leave and nerves are running high worried about everything from long haul flights to language barriers. Ah the joy of the unknowns at the beginning of a new trip. My bike is sitting on a maintenance stand behind me ... minus its wheels. Other small problems include the rear brakes aren't working, the front brakes are squealing all the time, I can't fit the new front pannier rack I've bought, there's a funny squeak in the crank ... you get the idea and that's why I'm updating this profile rather than tackling the bike - it's too scary.

We've also not got much figured out other than we're flying into Athens and we've got a flight our of London three months later, and for me, that sounds like a good start to a joke, I mean a travelblog ... who knows how the punchline will go ...

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