Blogs from Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 11

There are only really 3 things you need when you go to a foreign country - everything else is literally just baggage. Those 3 things are: Passport......Check Money.........Check Visa............What do you mean I need a Visa to get into India? Can’t I get one at the airport? No? Oh Dear. Whilst in a late afternoon conference call business meeting yesterday (6 hours before flying out of the UK), which I was chairing, my colleagues wished me well for my travels, and one asked me how I had faired getting a Visa for India ahead of my departure, as he was having a nightmare arranging one for an upcoming trip. I confidently informed him you could get a Visa at the airport no problem. After a brief pause on the line, 3 of my fellow colleagues informed ... 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

With less than 5 months to go now until I embark on my journey around the world, preparations are now well underway with one bicycle (Thorn) purchased, numerous amounts of camping gear bought that will hopefully last the rigours of the bike ride and lots of route planning taking place during the long autumn evenings. As well as all the administrative preparation, I am of course having to prepare myself physically for the challenge ahead. Having spent the past three years leading a rather sedentary life, this has been more challenging than anything else. Everytime I appear to reach a new level of fitness, I come down with a cold or some type of man flu! Thank goodness I have a good bunch of friends, namely Joe, Neil and Mark who drag me on runs along ... read more

Wallop, Ok when I mentioned that word at the end of the last blog it’s not what you all might be thinking. Leaving Fareham in the county of Hampshire, it is again a beautiful hot sunny day we headed back up the M27 and towards The Wallops! For those of you not familiar with this lovely little part of England, we have the lovely villages of Nether Wallop, Middle Wallop and Over Wallop (http://www.thewallops.net/index.htm) where our friends Mike and Jo live. Mike and Jo are some of our oldest friends, when we first got together and bought a house that was being built on a new estate and when we moved in the place was still a building site, however not long after that there were signs of new neighbours and some of those new neighbours ... read more

Our trip back home was deliberately not meant to coincide with the Olympics, the flight prices were ridiculously high so we chose to go back when the prices had dropped (only slightly though) just before the paralympics toward the end of August, but we did not have an opportunity to go to the paralympics a small opportunity came our way to grab hold of a torch! When I said we had a busy day ahead of us I did mean it. Early this morning Andy was up doing his usual planning, we headed off to collect a hire van from Southampton. Today we are moving the entire contents of our storage unit, not very exciting I know, but this trip is not just about reconnecting with our family and friends, this trip is also about sorting ... read more