Well  one week  post planned departure and sat at work thinking about where I should be is difficult to deal with, but it is what it is..
My eye is actually not too bad at the moment. The irritation has dropped off after the stitches have been removed. Next on the recovery is for a check up at the end of June to look at a cataract op.. Fun fun fun!!

On a plus side I have been doing improvements to the bike that I had not originally thought I would do.
So far I have upgraded the forks with new progressive springs and new oil. I have ordered a custom built rear shock to core with the increase in weight of me and the kit over the standard setup. Hopefully a test ride will prove it to be a worthwhile investment.

As soon as I get some time I'll post up some pictures in the bike section.

On the weekend I was originally planned to depart i still packed a bag and set off on a little jaunt. It was just a shame I had to come back home the next day.

Later in the year I'll have a mini adventure run on the bike to somewhere warm and sunny hopefully.

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy! 

(The best laid schemes of Mice and Men
oft go awry, And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!)



Which in effect means I have been delayed in my departure plans. A couple of weeks ago now I had a operation to repair a torn retina in my left eye. What this means is that my planned departure for the end of April is now not going to happen. The Dr has told me to look at a recovery of 3 - 6 months. It is also expected that I will develop a cataract that will require further surgery to repair.

All this means I cannot go ahead with my original plan.. That is a major knock after 3 years of planning to get to this stage.

The best option for me now is to get everything resolved with my eyesight and allow time for it to settle down. On top of that, I have to make sure that I give my employer the notice they need to cover my sabbatical. Plans had already been put in place that now need to be re-adjusted. Difficult to say the least. 

After being forced to sit still during the initial recovery I had a long time to ponder the failure to launch as planned. I have to admit to being  dark place for a while


Update 29th March

I haven't found myself able to publish that last update, and a month later on it is still difficult to do. 

An appointment at the hospital yesterday saw 2 of the 3 stitches in my eye removed in a briefly painful moment! The 3rd will remain and hopefully dissolve of its own accord. Which has removed some of the irritation I have been experiencing. The Dr identified the beginnings of a cataract and I will have to re-visit at the end of June to pick up the next phase of the recovery.. he is also slightly concerned about something in my right eye, which will be checked at the same time.

Anyway enough health issues! this is about travelling and having accepted that I will be delayed for 12 months I have to be positive and re-target a new departure date, which I plan to do at the same time next year, id est. the last weekend in April 2015 In the meantime I will use the 12 months to save more money, which might allow for a few luxurious hotel stops along the way!It also allows me time to do some other preventative maintenance to the bike that I had not reckoned on.. So taking positives from the whole affair I will be better prepared than I originally intended. 

Staying in that positive frame of mind has been difficult, but given no option its the only way I can proceed.. 12months delay to the experience of a lifetime is a small price to pay  One other positive is the news that i will become a grandad in September and consequently will be at home to see that occasion 


feeling old !

February 2014
Well its been a month of ups and downs..
Problems with the route plans. Upheaval in Pakistan has meant a lack of enthusiasm for traveling in that region. My own timescales not matching up with fellow travellers plans and notification of border crossing difficulties.

In the end I have decided that I need to refocus on my original plan, which has been for some time to plough my own furrow and chase my own dreams.

Trying to make my plans fit in with someone elses isn't how it should be. If our plans coincide then all well and good. As much as it would be good to travel with a like minded group of folks, that was not the original plan and I have been diverted from the purity of that initial thought because I have sought comfort in companionship and a sharing of the difficulties instead of looking after myself and my own thoughts.

Yes I will find times when it would indeed be very nice to have someone to lean on. Someone to go to for guidance or even encouragement. But finding my own way, reaching into my own thoughts and psyche will be cleansing for the soul and character building - is that too much of a cliche I wonder? Will I just want to run away from the difficult bits? Its a possibility.
Of course I am fully expecting to find fellow travellers en route - I like the idea of chance and luck coming into who I meet along the road.

Finding my own limits is part of the adventure I think.

Anyway as far as the route goes. There has been ideas and plans to cross the "stans" and into China. However there are 2 difficulties for me taking that route and one that everyone that has thought about the route. That being the security issues recently in Pakistan. Which has reduced the enthusiasm for using the Karakorum highway from Kyrgyzstan into China (Kashgar) and Pakistan. That route also includes a 4000m high mountain crossing and while I was confident in my ability to deal with anticoagulation for a limited period of that trip the alternative that re-routes away from Pakistan crosses the Tibetan plateau for a significantly longer period of time at extremely high altitudes. Not something I think I can deal with.
In addition the expense of that crossing would significantly impact my ability to compete the planned journey.

So an alternative is to head toward Mongolia where I have read it is possible to air freight to Bangkok, putting me back on track and on schedule. I hope!

So time to get moving!
Still lots to do and time is marching on.
While my plans will mostly chase the sun around our blue planet this summer, the winter in the UK seems to be doing its best to make sure I appreciate a bit of warm sunshine. Time will tell !

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future

Fly Like An Eagle. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' Into the future!

Well – with 3 and a bit months to go I have made a last minute change to the route that I have had planned for the last 3 years.

After taking a long look at what I want to achieve the costs and time involved in travelling through Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China are a big overhead to the overall plan.

It feels like a bit of a compromise but after getting in touch with some other overland travelers who are planning similar adventures a route across Iran and into Pakistan seems a viable alternative. There appears to be some security issues in Pakistan, but then there are even bigger ones in northern Pakistan, so either way there are risks involved, but then if I was worried about that I would stay at home!

Anyway financial and time savings will help me push on to the rest of the adventure and the challenge of India will make up for the loss of crossing the Himalayas. Anyway my Doctor had already recommended I stay away from that 5km high route.. so for once I guess I will listen to advice.

So moving on , having made that (difficult) decision, I can put plans into action and start making it happen.
The bike is almost completely equipped. I still have a few maintenance tasks to undertake. My own kit is sorted. Paperwork still needs fully sorting out and the money needs gathering together from the disparate sources I have spread it across.

Keeping on keeping on – heading into the sunrise