Simply why?

Anyone who knows me well will be aware that from a right young age I've been fascinated by the world with all its various countries and cultures - since friends moved to South Africa when I was about 8 years old (I was quite cute then!) I've wanted to go to Africa - my Mum & Sister both had to put up with piles of library books about the Continent stacked in my room (usually running up fines - good job you worked at the library back then eh Mum!) and writing slightly dubious poetry about sunsets and setting foot on African soil :-) It didn't just stop with Africa, from the first time I went Inter railing around Europe as a teenager I've wanted to travel. Mix all that with a passion for looking after the planet and using our time here on earth wisely, with a sense of adventure and a desire to keep the challenges coming....and I think you've probably got the makings of how this trip started life.

Often people build a trip around a list of countries they want to visit - for me it was about a bunch of things I wanted to do.
1) See how possible it is to travel the world without leaving too big a carbon footprint
2) Let the journey be the experience not just the A to B
3) Do some volunteer work but holding to the principle of "I can't build a house in England so what makes me think I can build one in Africa"
4) Learn how to make wine
5) Oh and the small matter of figuring out what the next phase of my life should look like :-)

So the plan is simple: Leave London Waterloo like every other day, but rather than ending up in hounslow end up in Australia without taking a flight...... for those who are now grabbing the atlas to confirm they are not going mad but there is water between here and down under... methods of transport will include trains, buses, feet and freight ship... Make the most of Ausie friends contacts spending time in the Barossa valley attempting to learn something about wine. Then take the first of 2 flights over to South Africa to travel up through Mozambique to Tanzania where I'll then be volunteering for 3 months in a centre for women teaching a bit of IT skills and some aspects of setting up a small business...bit of marketing maybe?! From then the plan is a bit less defined suffice to say 1 more flight to Morocco avoiding all the scary war torn central African countries and then train and boat back to the UK. Easy!

When does it all begin - train departs London Waterloo 18:11 friday 12th October..... keep in touch xx