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Published: August 8th 2007
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With my work having long ago reached a nadir of infuriating pointlessness, my travel blog begins in earnest.
To you, dear imaginary reader, I say this... hold onto your hats, as I being my musings, plan my trip around the world, think of the things that I will miss, those that I wont, and note things I mustn't forget, as well as those I probably will.
Currently at work since 0730 GMT, and have been at a low ebb ever since. I have thoroughly enjoyed some of the travel blogs on this site - and decided that, liking the cut of it's jib, this is the site for me to blog my travels on.
With almost exactly six months to go till my trip starts, I thought it might be interesting to put in some monthly updates beforehand. There seems to be a bit of a 'gap in the market' here, as I don't often find many people writing about what they did as preparation for a round-the-world trip. The benefits of this will hopefully be two-fold: the first, to inspire anyone reading, and to answer questions they have themselves if they are embark on a similar adventure; the other, is to get my arse into gear, start doing things now, and keep these documented so I have a record of it all.
For the record then, I have put a deposit down for a two-week trip to Pitcairn Island in March 2008. My absolute dream destination at the moment, I have been fascinated with Pitcairn for the last two or three years. I think it's just the isolation of the place, the sheer escapism, this history, and how hard it is to get to. North Korea was a piece of piss, Pitcairn is about as far away from anywhere as you can get - with the nearest airport (which only gets weekly flights) still being about a day's sail away. More of that in the Pitcairn entry, sometime in the future.
With plans to travel from about the 2nd January, with the first destination being Iceland - this gives me about 9 weeks to get to Tahiti - which should be interesting. Need to figure out what I want to see, and what I can practically see, on the way. Most likely at the moment (at least in my head) would be getting to the east coast of Canada - St. Pierre et Miquelon - Toronto / Washington - Lima - possibly Bolivia - Santiago de Chile - Easter Island - Papeete - at which point my trip to Pitcairn begins.
After Pitcairn, I'm not really sure, that's when it really starts to get interesting. Just travelling, with no destination, just my brief to get to every country, and where possible, to everywhere that is slightly dubious, and might become an independent country in the future. Will probably mill around the South Seas like Gaugin, except without spreading sexual disaeses in exchange for sweets, which seemed to be his fondness. Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and the mountains of Pakistan are what I'm really looking forward to in Asia. No specific route is yet defined, I want to leave this as open as possible so I can stop and stay for a while in places if they really take my fancy. The former CIS would fit into this category, it's just such a fascinating, diverse place which really calls me to it. With Russian being a language I really would love to learn, I will definitely look to stay for a while.
I've earmarked Dubai as a place where I could remain for 3-6 months and earn some decent cash to suppliment my savings, as there seems to be a good infrastructure there for the telecomms / IT industry.
Africa, I have so many questions, so, so many questions. This is 'down' my list so to speak because I want more travelling experience before going, as it could save my health, or ultimately, my life. Disaster can strike anywhere, of course, but I've travelled on most continents before, and have an idea of each - but sub-Saharan Africa is a new beast of which I know little in real terms.
Some other random thoughts in my head also include… How much money do I need to save? How much money can I save? How much stuff am I going to take? How will I deal without just being able to go to a cashpoint in a lot of places? Where can I hide my money? What if I lose it all? What about clothes? Will I dump stuff along the way? I'm going to very cold places, then very hot places, and maybe some that have both, shall I take my ski jacket and thermal undercrackers? Should I get some of those vaccuum bags where you suck the air out to save space? Do I want to take a laptop? What about my phone? Should I cancel my contract, or haggle them down to a lower monthy fee so I still have my contract for security? How am I going to store all my pictures etc? What should I fill my iPod with, bearing in mind I can't fill on the way... unless I take a laptop? Christ...
The following bulletted points I will expand upon, and will feature regularly in the future.
What I'll miss:
+ Family, and my friends. Clue... if you're receiving this, I probably consider you to be one of my better friends. Or maybe you're not? That should keep you on your toes.
+ Being at home.
+ TV. "March 15th. I wish I brought a TV. Oh God, how I miss TV!" - from the Simpsons.
+ The Simpsons.
+ Queens Park Rangers football club.
+ Playing guitar and piano everyday.
+ Having everything easy.
What I wont:
+ The sense that I'm just doing nothing with my life.
+ Being bored shitless at work.
+ The little things that irritate me about England, which dissolve away when I'm out of the country for a while.
What I want to do:
+ Drink an Um-Bongo in the Congo. Both Congos. And the river.
+ Chase penguins just to watch them run. I get the impression that this would be hilarious.
+ Visit every country in the world.
+ Meet some wonderful people.
+ Have adventures, and improve my writing and racontouring, and accompany them with some nice pictures.
What I don't:
+ Die.
+ Regret anything.
+ Be scared to do anything.
+ Get too close to anything with an unnecessary amount of legs.
That, as they say, is that. Tune in next time, for another entry with updates on what I've done, and certain conclusions that I have drawn. I'm off for a piss and a packet of crisps.
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