The idea, the plan and now the execution

The idea
I recall the moment when, walking through Chile's "Torres del Paine" national park, Chloe turns to me and says - "Why don't we take the whole year off rather than just 6 months? Then we can see Africa sooner rather than later". I laughed. As if 6 months of no income and living out a rucksack wasn't enough.
Later, somebody (I don't recall who) said that travelling in the Middle East was "amazing" and "should not be missed". I started laughing again. The Middle East!! No bl**dy way! Terrorism is rife there and, anyway, will they even let us in?

The plan
After surprisingly little thought and deliberation I extended my career break and Chloe held off sending out her CV - we WOULD travel through the Middle East then Africa then on to Australia or the UK to start work in the new year! (Note: this is now confirmed as the UK).

The plan then, vague as it is, can be summarised as follows....

Month 1: Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt
Month 2-3: Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland & Lesotho
Month 3-4: Perth (Oz), Cairns (Oz), Hong Kong

We've checked the foriegn office website and the route we are taking is "safe" for the most part. And if we don't write for a while is far more likely to be due to bad internet connections and our packed itinerary than anything else.

The execution
Well, we head off tomorrow and fully equipped with sleeping bags, suncream and a rather fetching headscarf (Chloe). A gentle start in the city of Istanbul.

You can read all about our trials and tribulations right here - we hope you enjoy it and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

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