Ramada Jarvis Leicester

Wow - only one week to the day before we make our way down south to London town to stay in the very affordable 'heathrow' travel lodge.

Liz in in Manc saying goodbye to friends and family and i'm sorting the last bits out for the fresh box before we go.

Just wanted to say thank you to Ron and Sue for ...

... now in Northampton, tomorrow we leave for Dover, and on Friday morning we board the ferry for France. Hurrah! If all goes according to plan :-) We'll let you know how we get on of course.

Having got our hands back on everything we own, we're now able to upload some pictures we took of our time in Norfolk, in case anyone fancies a look. They're below.

Hopefully the next entry will come from France, please cross fingers for us.

Finally worked out my route.

Fly to Armenia, travel through Georgia to Turkey and fly from Istanbul to Mumbai. Work my way across to Calcutta and fly to Bangkok. Through Thailand and Cambodia to Vietnam, then onto China.

I am setting off early September 2010 and aim to be in China early December, maybe.

And then I have to get back...

... market, car shopping is very convenient, the use of stored-value tickets, the one card in hand, you can take all the buses. The use of stored-value tickets in the future can also be extended to minibuses, taxis, subway, shopping malls, etc., a card can be used in various places.
3. Can improve the efficiency of vehicle operation, saving travel time. Use of non-contact type IC card stored-value tickets, to complete a ...

... certainly have all the gear, including a solar panel charger for all things electrical, (thanks to JT for that), a torch/smoke dectector/emergency signal (thanks to RW for that one) and enough medical supplies to kit out a small hospital (having doctors as friends is most useful).

So one 55l rucksack, a lot of tears and tantrums later and I am ready for the off...

P.S - Does travelling business class count as cheating???

... the first two already - we naturally haven’t. However, the last is beyond our control as we wait for the paid professional services to organise the sales in the chain.
We know that we have a lot to do and pressure of impending deadlines is a strong motivator, but the total uncertainty of the completion timeline for the flat is horribly unnerving. What happens if the solicitor in the middle doesn ...

Tow truck 3, turns up at 20:30, we get loaded up and set off at 20:45 only to find out that the AA have sent me a driver that needs to take his 45 minute break in under an hour. So I waited an extra 1.5 hours for him to arrive and then I have to wait ...

... who has come to return us to normality.

Normality? Whatever’s that going to be? The stay in Portugal may have offset any kind of celebratory homecoming or did it help to ease us gradually back down to earth, after what has undoubtedly been the adventure of a lifetime? We’ve seen fantastic sights and experienced amazing things that will stay with us forever. This was a trip that was only in our dreams and was never ...

... flights) it's not something I'm sure I'd be prepared to be saving to do again! At least I can say I've done something. Going away I knew I would learn things and maybe change as a person but I didn't expect my outlook to change as much as it has. I don't want to sound all "travelling changed my life man!" but I think that you can't help changing and reflecting when you're out of your home environment for such a long time, and I think others in the group found this too ...

... North of London. And there is noting much to do there! So after checking into the hotel, we went shopping - of course. Primark and H&M. There is no HOSTEL in Leicester, so for the first time in a very long time we got a hotel. £51 for a night at the IBIS ...