Part 1 - Planning

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Part 1 - Planning

Like any adventure, preparation is key to getting the most of what lies ahead. True to form, my preparation has been somewhat lacking. Despite the idea of going to south London being in my head for quite some time, when I would go and where I would go remained very unclear. It turned out that when to go took care of itself. One week ago, I got an offer to rent out my bedroom through Airbnb from the 1st to the 24th Dec. Knowing that I had already planned to be in Lisbon for some of this period, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to cash in and set off.

I decided that the only rule was that I could not stay in any one place for more than one night. Logically, I asked the few people who I knew lived in south London if they would be up for hosting me for a night. It was a positive start. My best friend from school who moved to south London about 20 years ago agreed to put me up for a night in Wimbledon and I got a couple of other offers too. The plan was beginning to form. But where was I going to visit? The only thing that I could think of going to was the Imperial War museum in Lambeth that I had heard good things about, but apart from that, I was pretty clueless. Perhaps a map would inspire me. Balham, Forest Hill, Dulwich Village, Crystal Palace, Peckham, Croydon and Bromley all popped up as I zoomed in on Google maps. They all sounded familiar but equally, I knew virtually nothing about any of them. I zoomed in further and Beddington Treatment Sewage Works was the first place of interest to pop up. Inspiring!

I received an email from a friend of mine with some ideas. Brockwell lido, Project Awesome at the Scoop, Blackheath for the green and amazing christmas lights and Dulwich village and park. OK cool. I have something to go on and I'll work the rest out as I go. I mean this is backpacking after all. Let's just go!

I was finally ready. I had cleaned my bedroom, rucksack packed, bicycle oiled with new gear cables, phone fully charged, hugs and goodbyes finished and gloves on. I put Wimbledon SW19 into my sat nav and set off with the same amount of excitement as if I was leaving for Timbuktu. I was on the road again.

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