Today is Sunday the 18th March and not only is it Mothers Day but it is also the day that I head off on my South American travels.

After making a awesome fry-up for breakfast...ummmm fry-up; that's something I'll miss whilst travelling...I said my goodbyes to my family and friends in Kent before heading back home to Clapham to pack everything into a very small backpack.

Okay so packing for this trip is not as easy as I would have thought or liked. First stop Brazil, okay so beaches and maybe some cool nightclubs in Rio, so do I pack jeans? After Rio, I'm sure I'll just be in the normal travelling get-up of shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops - so all good. So then the Amazon...f***! Bulky trekking shoes, waterproofs, long sleeve tops, mosquito net and one bulky hoody, there goes half my space. Guyana next, well I'm guessing much the same as Brazil except I need to leave space for some souvenirs that I want to bring home. Venezuela & Columbia...no clue what to expect, just go with the flow...nothing special to pack, then Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Nixon SLR or no SLR? It's bulky, heavy and I'll probably have it nicked or broken by the time I'll get to the Galapagos...sod it, it's in - I'll regret it if not! Right backpack done...a little heavier and lack of souvenir space than I wanted but who cares it's done!

Lee is joining me for the first month of my trip in Brazil...so he came to pick me up for the airport, well it didn't quite work out like that as he forgot something and had to go all the way back to Gravo to get it....so a taxi it was!

So this is it, I'm at Heathrow flying TAM into the unknown of South America - first stop Rio de Janeiro. I'm certainly feeling a little apprehensive but excited at the same time, it really is the unknown and how am I going to cope with the language barrier? I guess only time will tell...so for now adios or Tchau as they say in Portuguese!!!