Its Nearly Christmas

Jeeps,I can't believe that 2010 is almost over. I've been retired now for almost six months and the time has flown by. I'm a terrible worrier so to counteract this I plan, write lists, I have even practiced packing the rucksack - can you believe it?

The big trip has got a little longer by about six months but could be even longer, the reason? Well, I've been thinking with my heart instead of my head. Now I've decided to rent my home fully furnished which will not only extend my travels but pay for them a well - so its a no brainer really.

So the plan is to bypass Oz and head straight for NZ, flying into Christchurch from Singapore. Getting a little campervan which will be my home and mode of transport for three weeks, then making my way through north island and flying out of Auckland to Santiago a week later. I'll be spending the next couple of months making my way through South America but in particular Chile, Peru and Ecudor taking in as much as I can before flying out of Bogata to Jamaica via Miami.

I'm spending at least two months there completing voluntary work and living with local people which should be both interesting and very rewarding if I can stay off the Bacardi ha!

The remainder of the trip might be spent in the states and there is no detail at the moment but I do have a hankering for hiring an RV and once landing in Los Angeles take off to Arizona, taking in all the natural and maybe not so natural sites as I go.

I'd also like to visit San Francisco and surrounding area before making my way back to Blighty, but that may change due to suffcient funds available, my mood and the leaving date of my house tenants.

First ever Blog post

Well dear readers, chums, family and anybody who may have an interest in reading a complete strangers thoughts and record of a planned over land trip to Australia, today is my first attempt at putting all this together.

Boring into stuff........

I decided to do this as a way of keeping in touch with those I love dearly, so they can see what I'm up to. I need a guardian angel and this is where you guys come in, you see dear reader I am a naive traveller, someone who gets into all sorts of silly scrapes - "hey English, you vont to make love to beautiful Russian woman", falling asleep in Sydney on new years eve.........Fighting off an amorous steward on an overnight train who clearly wanted more than beer we were drinking, are some that I can openly talk about in erm......polite company and with grand children who can read rather well, need to ensure that my musings have a reasonable sence of decorum.

So, in preparation for my big trip to Darwin overland by Odyssey (look these guys up, the trip is going to be awesome) I am getting my sorry arse out of a rather comfortable groove and doing all those things you need to do for a very long trip away from good old blighty.

Its day 5 of the rest of my life...........