I would like to start with an apology. This is my first blog, so the first few posts may be a bit _______ (insert boring, rubbish, balderdash etc. as appropriate). Hopefully, after a few posts my writing style will improve. Any tips from you creative / writing types would be appreciated.
Anyway, as the title suggests, I have set up this blog to document my travelling adventures. As most of you already know, I’m going to be setting off to fulfil a lifetime ambition and go explore the world for a couple of years. For those of you that don't really know me that well, I thought I’d begin by trying to explain how I have got to this point.
Since leaving school at 16, I have spent 10 years working. Normal people would get something like this out of their system in their early twenties. I didn't and concentrated on my career and got a mortgage. I can't deny I love my job at Aston Martin, but the thought of another 10 years working really depresses me. The last couple of years I have been using my holiday days to travel around Western Europe, but it really hasn't satisfied my need for a longer adventure. The 31st August 2009 was the 10 year anniversary of starting work, and it dawned on me that this was probably the last chance of travelling. Also I have always been up for an adventure. From a young age I was in the Scouts and I am always up for walking, camping, climbing or anything different.
Joining me on the first part of the adventure are Miss Sadie Lofthouse & Miss Kaz Redmond. The basic plan is to start by travelling across Russia by train (Trans-Siberian Express), through Mongolia and Northern China. Then finding a way to Kathmandu in Nepal where we are going trekking in the Himalayas for a month hopefully making it to Everest Base camp and the summit of Kala Patthar (5545m). At this point Sadie will be heading back to the UK and Kaz and I will probably head into India. After that... who knows?
I set the plan in motion on Friday 15th Jan 2010, by telling my manager that I was leaving. He was very supportive, obliviously doesn't want me to leave (because I am a badass...) and over the next few months wants me to start the handover process. The hour leading up to the discussion was the most nervous I’ve been for a while. Probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but not as hard as making the decision to stay.
I've set up a Googlemap which you can check out on the top right, which we will show where we've been and where we're heading. All suggestions are welcome! Especially if your going to come and meet us!
The next few posts will be fairly short (basically me talking about selling the house, getting a shed load of injections and trying to sell you my belongings) and will try an post every few weeks once we've set off.
Count down to end of July!
Rich x
