MY15 MINUTES OF FAME

Tomorrow is my last day of normality for a few months. On Saturday morning I take off for London where I will meet up with a couple of Oz-Busers and on Sunday morning we board the adverture bus along with 16 other fellow travellers to take off for the wild blue yonder.

My friend, Doglover, the richest man in Surrey, drafted a press release which was sent to our local paper. Yesterday I was a no-body, now I'm a celeb! Take a look at this - good or what?

I am taking my laptop with me and, WiFi permitting, will keep both this and my travel blog updated. Toodle pip!

THE WEEPING CAMEL

As some of you may know I am taking off on an amazing overland trip around the world on 27th March. I began writing a travel blog describing my preparations, thoughts, fears and aspirations on 11th September http://www.travelpod.com/dashboard/entry/1/1284206261. To read the lastest entries simply click on the right hand side bar "read the blog now" link.

The "first lap" involves meeting up with my fellow adventurers at 0700 on a chilly London Embankment, culminating in our arrival in a hot and stiffling New York 87 days later. There are 19 of us on this multi-generational journey orgnised by the Oz-Bus Company.

A fellow traveller and I then decided to travel home from New York on the QMII, thereby making this trip truly an "around the world without flying" epic.

Finally, one of our group posted this on facebook a couple of days ago. My excuse for recommending that you take a look at this beautiful film is that the Gobi desert is one of the places we stop off at on the journey and it gives us all a "taste" of some of the treats waiting ahead of us and some idea of what it will be like to stay ovenight in a Ger,

So... if you have 87 minutes to spare, grab a glass (or two) of wine, sit back and enjoy a real treat. The Weeping Camel is about a family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi desert trying to save the life of a rare white bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) calf after it was rejected by its mother and was nominated for an Oscar in 2005 in Best Documentary catagory.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND STUFF

I asked an experienced backpacker friend to give me some tips, which I will now share.

•Take a sink plug. Some hostels don't have one

•Take a padlock because in some hostels daysacs are stored in lockers in the hall

•Take a small LED head torch (recommended by the Oz-Bus too) - invaluable for reading in bed or navigating in a dark room so that you don't disturbe the population

•Roll clothes up for packing. It uses less room

•Don't take a dressing gown. She assured me that no-one wears one. They are bulky to carry and totally unnecessary. This makes me feel very uncomfortable and goes against a lifetime of "covering up" in front of strangers!

•Sleep with passport and money tucked into the pillow

Any more tips from the travelling fraternity would be appreciated.

My next challenge is to arrange the best 'phone/data package for good, cheap coverage in the areas we pass through. My BlackBerry has been set up to receive, repond and delete private/business emails and has the facility to blog and tweet in realtime, which is fun. I find this facility invaluable but I don't want to break the bank. Does anyone agree with me when I say that talking to "communication" companies is one of the most stressful things to do. It must be right up there alongside moving house

Read more: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/retiredandcrazy/1/1294901487/tpod.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz1AuQq59nL

THE BIG TRIP - COUNTDOWN

I am now beginning to panic. Less than 3 months to go to my 87 day Oz-Bus overland London to New York trip and I still haven't resolved what sort of luggage to take. The guidelines are that we take:

"one backpack and one day bag. Old style, external framed rucksacks are out: the new style backpack-cum-carry bags very much in. These backpacks with conventional padded straps that can be zipped away if necessary giving the appearance of a soft suitcase. They also have a zip around the entire perimeter of the bag so access is not restricted to the top, enabling greater speed with packing/unpacking plus they can fit into spaces where rigid suitcases would not. Being restricted by the amount of luggage stowage space, we can't accommodate people brining more than one back pack and you will most likely buy a lot along the way as well. If you bring too much to departure you may be asked to make your bag smaller, so don't bring more than is needed."

You would think that these very specifice guidelines would help me make my selection wouldn't you? Wrong! I sourced what I thought was the ideal thing on-line - a Berghaus Women's Jalan 65+15 Convertible Travel Rucksack on wheels with detachable daysac. Sorted. However, when it arrived I found that the wheels made it very heavy. I could wheel it easily, but it would have been too heavy for me to carry on my back. I gave that one to my grandson.

My thinking then was "would any loaded rucsac be too heavy for me, would I be better to buy a light weight holdall on wheels?". So I went on-line again. My next purchase was the Berghaus Mule 100 and a Berghaus Twentyfourseven 15 Litre Womens Backpack.

Then to "hedge my bets" I also ordered A Gelert RUC643 Global Jet Set 60+15L Rucksack. I liked the colour it also has a detachable Daysac and I thought "I'll keep one and return the other"

This is where I am now. The holdall on wheels is ideal, but a tad HUGE. How would I cope over rough terrain? And, if need be, is it too big and unwealdy to carry comfortably up steps etc. More important, would I look like an CLUELESS IDIOT in front on my new friends? The Gelert is a beautiful colour. I love it, but is it too small? The daysac certainly is.

I did make one decision, the 15 litre Berghaus daysac was not big enough. That went back. But what to do about the others? I sought the advice of my colleagues in the office. Tanya said there was a Mountain Warehouse outlet a about 4 miles away. Kimberley said that she had bought Taylor's camping gear there and the prices are good. Now they tell me!

So I haul myself down there. I was so obviously overwhelmed by choice that a charming young man came over and asked if he could help me. I explained what I needed and why and he didn't laugh. That was good. He showed me a 60 litre rucksac with a zip around the whole perimeter and detachable 20 litre daysac. It seemed ideal, but I didn't like the colour, was completely unsure of my mental state and totally unable to make a decision so I said I would think about it.

Back at the office they suggested I buy it, compare it with what I have and then make a decision. Easier said than done.