"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving"

LAO TZU

It’s all getting closer! Just over a month until I leave. And despite the very wise word that a traveller should never have a plan, for a journey of this proportions through such tricky countries unfortunately without a little advance planning and anticipation you wouldnt get very far! In fact I’ve now booked my outbound flight so it really is feeling close. The last couple of weeks have, however, been somewhat stressful, what with the US declaring Iran’s nuclear programme as being highly dubious. I am yet to hear if I will be granted my Iranian visa and the news doesn’t bode well! Nevertheless I do have the backup plan of Georgia/Azerbaijan which would be equally interesting (and certainly challenging).

I’ve managed to get SOS children’s villages to be our second beneficiary charity which is really pleasing. They run these amazing “children’s villages” in 140 countries worldwide helping orphaned and abandoned children grow up in a supportive and protective family environment. Having helped some 60,000 children, their benefits are also seen by the wider community who get access to the schools built, clean water and community support. SOS Children estimate that some 500,000 people have benefited so far. I very much hope that you too will support this very worthwhile charity.

The other great piece of news is that the website is up and running and we’ve started to collect some members! Very soon I’ll be putting the forum online and hope that you will become a member and not only use this resource, but also help build it up to share with the other members.