heavy French skies...

After being ejected from the channel tunnel into French soil the road south east was sodden with rolling grey blue clouds depositing their seemingly heavy weight to the edge of the horizon. 

I need to step beyond that immediate horizon.

It's funny how after all the planning the thinking, the anticipation, all the excitement, years and months of working towards taking the first step, it has been tougher than I ever imagined it might be. 

The last week felt more like an ending than a beginning. Clearing the house of useless bric a brac was difficult. Parking my Triumph at a temporary home was thought provoking and selling my truck was a real tear jerker.

But despite all that I have to renew my optimism for this venture. With a little luck the initial down will be followed by huge highs and there is plenty to look forward to over the coming weeks..

My first en route plan was thwarted when I looked at a camp site to stop on the first night..it was not open after I followed the signs from the maim road.. A quick question to a local gent walking his dog advised it was ferme until premier May..sat in a travel hotel listening to constant heavy rain it might have been a blessing. 

Tomorrow may see me at the German border and country number two .. Unless the rain curtails my enthusiasm for mile munching. Nice weather for frogs mind. !! 

Moving on

April jitters

Well April has arrived and I can look at the departure in days rather than months or weeks.

Although most preparations are either done or in plan, I keep getting rushes of nervous sensations.

There is a sense of just wanting to get going. I think it will get more intense as the date gets nearer.

I suppose those are natural feelings. . And I would be strange if I felt completely casual about it, but never the less it is slightly unnerving.

This may well be the last update before I hit the road. Metaphorically speaking. . I hope!

So rather than bore anyone out there with housekeeping tasks I still need to finish off, all I'm going to say is that I hope this adventure is something you will enjoy reading about. I hope I have the vocabulary to communicate my experiences and thoughts as I travel our little blue planet. I hope I can illustrate that not everything you read in the papers or hear on the news is true about people and places outside your home. I hope my belief is right!

If it's not I might be in for a tough time!

Not that I'm going into this totally innocent of the wider world

So I hope you will keep up to date with this little journal and take a look at the YouTube videos and Flickr pictures I post up whenever and wherever an Internet connection is available to me. . I would hate to think I might be talking to myself!

Guess that's something else I will have to get used to!

Visa diversions

Russian visa sorted! 
Nothing like starting on a positive.. I day trip to London for a brief 20 minute application process. On the flip side it gave me chance to run the bike down the M1 and back at a mildly chilly 6 - 8 degrees C ... No such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes, but fortunately I am well equipped.. and with the benefit of heated grips its was a breeze. I got in and out of Londinium with no issues at all. 

So while I wait for the postman to delivery the passport with all required stamps in place, I have time to sort out some bike servicing. As one thing I discovered on return home from London was one of the the new brake lines I installed had been rubbing against the front wheel, which fortunately failed just as I pulled onto the drive at home.. oops! - oh well better there than earlier or later !

So what's left to do?
Spending more money it seems!

Signed up for a rental management with a local agent.. Sleeping that increases costs it does give me piece of mind.. Basically I can go and not worry about sorting out any rental issues. 

Renting my house or comes with several expenses that I could do without.. Landlord insurance, energy performance certificates, gas safety certificates.. And the wonderful fee for the mortgage company for then to say yes I can rent it which comes to more than one months mortgage payment!! WTF!! 

So all that aside I'm in a pretty good place and want to just settle my mind to the actual fact of leaving and changing my life for the next 12 months. 
With a mix of excitement and trepidation I need to find a comfort zone to deal with the last few weeks leading up to departure. 

Near the end of ...

February.. and plans coming together. 

Up with the sun, gone with the wind
She always said I was lazy
Leavin' my home, leavin' my friends
Runnin' when things get too crazy
Out to the road, out 'neath the stars
Feelin' the breeze, passin' the cars

Visa applications are in.. I have no passport at the moment - wont get far then - need that back with the required stamps inserted. time tide and Russian visa applications wait for no man it seems. 

I'm hanging on for the carnet payment as the RAC date it from the date it is posted from their office, so end of March I'll pay up and wait for delivery. 

Whats left? - the list is getting shorter. 

Still got to service the bike but that’s a days job.. a warmer days job.
Still icy cold up here in the peak district. 

Still got a few house re-decorations to finish... but then I've always had a few house re-decorations to do in the 10 years I have lived in it.. It has always "done the job" for me - other more interesting things to do or buy that silk finish paint and wallpaper or new carpets. Its been warm(ish) with a somewhere to fix the bikes and park the car off road with music, and a bed - what more do i need? - except it now has to be more respectable cos no one wants to live in the mess I would leave behind. Not that I dislike decorating, Its quite a satisfying task when its all done. 

So with road beckoning.. a couple of places booked en route initially its getting close. 

Everyone I see asks me how long to go, but I’m not counting the days as it all went wrong last year.. but an eye checkup confirmed its all good. No issues expected over the next few years (cataract expected following the eye surgery last year) but its not developed and not expected to until I get older (more old than I am) 

in the meantime, I've been having a life clear-out - I have been amazed at how much "stuff" I have gathered over the last 10 years in this house. I've never been a hoarder, but then I've never lived in one place for this long, so perhaps haven't had the opportunity to not throw stuff away. 
Well now I have.. The local charity shops have benefited from a few donations and do I really need a dog eared 2005 British Grand Prix programme? - Nope guess not, but it was nice to read through it before it went in the recycling :o)

So sit back and let i happen - no point stressing - other people can do that for me ..

Moving on...