Blogs from Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

And finally the day had arrived when I would set off on my journey around the world. The two weeks leading up to my departure date had been hectic but fun. My close friends and family had done me proud, organising farewell events, baking me a wonderful cake and being overly generous and caring all round. I also very much enjoyed a school reunion, where I met classmates from 27 years ago. Amazing! My preparations as far as I could tell, were as good as they were going to be. The exception to this was my GPS where I spent a full two days trying to work out how to put routes from my computer into the GPS to allow me to navigate safely on the bike without the need for tons and tons of paper ... read more

So, I thought I would share with you how one goes about planning and putting together an overland trip from England to China. Contrary to what many people might imagine it is actually not too difficult. Thanks largely to a couple of excellent websites. The first of these is the outstanding The Man In Seat 61. This incomparable site is a treasure trove of information for train travel across the world and set me off on my way to planning my first extensive overland trip in 2011. It has virtually step by step instructions for putting together a global train journey and it is simply a case of clicking on the relevant pages to gather together the relevant information. So, naturally, it was my first port of call once again for determining the logistics of this ... read more

Following an epic overland journey with Dragoman through Nepal and India over the Christmas and New Year period, realisation has set in that there are just 6 weeks remaining before I set off on my bike trip around the World. If I said I wasn't nervous, I'd be lying. Between now and then, I need to get my fitness levels back up, as I have been doing diddly squat Physical Training for the past month and a half, and plenty of drinking Kingfisher beer. Luckily Southsea Fitness Military circuits are on hand to sort that out. Also I shall be cycling to Woodlow Farm in Herefordshire at the end of January, my previous abode for the past year, to visit my good friends Bunty and Di, James and Jenny and Vicky. This will be a good ... read more

November 05 – Portsmouth – Preparing to cross the Channel – I’m downstairs in the dining area drinking my tea and thinking things over. My bag is packed upstairs in the room and my computer bag is fully packed down here. I have gotten down to one suitcase and one computer case. I left a bunch of stuff at the hostel in Weymouth with the manager and have sorted through things again here and discarded some more. The hardest thing for me to leave was a baking potato I had. It was a nice one but I decided that going into France they might ask if I had any vegetables with me and I didn’t want to open my bag to show him “the potato”. I have called the cab company and ordered a cab for ... read more