There is a sight I am sure I will get used to. Unfortunately travelling this way around the world means I have less light to see the sites of Qatar. I'm sure they are parp anyway... Since setting off at 2:05 in England I have eaten a 5 course turkey dinner and chicken fajita washed down with drink ad more warm wet wipes than one can shake a pillow at. Surely another thing to get used to! My flight companion Matt says that was the worst of the long haul flights he...

Just got to the airport with everything packed, repacked and tied down accordingly. Bag is on the plane and farewells have been said. Now it's time to set off and see where I'm lead... Status • Ready to go. Andrew Have fun Alex! Dec 27, 2012

I am struggling to find the line between Scout Leader (Be Prepared) and backpacker (How many days can I get out of the same pair of boxers?). I am treating packing as an essay (hence I am on here procrastinating) and the first draft has waaaaaay too many words! I am so thankful to have an iPod to store books, music and games on. Erin and Rachel, thanks for your suggestions from last blog! Someone has noted that I have lots of friends named after animals, there ...

10 days till lift off leaves me excited and almost anxious. Tomorrow will be a hard day of prep involving packing, photocopying, sending letters to banks... And wrapping Christmas presents. I have just spent the day in York with my friend Kanga to retrieve my international Hock-quest brief. Namely 10 numbered envelopes to enrich my travels. I can open the first one when I enter Japan and I am very excited for that moment (I will blatantly be opening this on the ...

Things have begun to pick up now with the initialisation of my immunisations (badly timed as I had planned to give blood the next day which you can't do after Hep B because it's ALIVE!), picking a Kiwi Experience package (Sheepdog) and recieving more well appreciated travel tips. Thus I decided to get my blog on to practice and have a place to collect thought of my own but ALSO advice from friends, family and strangers in preparation. Current situation: Just...