If the question is "Why?", the answer is "Try and stop me!"

Today is a good day.  I booked my flights and I'm almost ready to go on what promises to be the journey of a lifetime.  It starts in London, heads west and just keeps on going until I end up where I started, homeless and potentially skint.

The inoculations are done, the job's almost a memory and the beautiful Hoxditch apartment which has contained this freak for the last twelve months has a new suitor.

So, hot off the press, here's the flight plan ...

- London -> Los Angeles, Sun 10 Oct 2010

- Los Angeles -> Washington DC, Fri 22 Oct 2010

- Washington DC -> Miami, Wed 27 Oct 2010

- Miami -> Quito, Mon 1 Nov 2010

- Quito -> Lima, Mon 22 Nov 2010

- La Paz -> Santiago, Mon 13 Dec 2010

- Santiago -> Buenos Aires, Thu 23 Dec 2010

- Buenos Aires -> Sydney, Wed 26 Jan 2011

- Sydney -> Auckland, Sun 30 Jan 2011

- Auckland -> Hong Kong, Fri 18 Feb 2011

- Hong Kong -> Ho Chi Minh City, Thu 24 Feb 2011

- Bangkok -> London, Thu 28 Apr 2011

... the rest is still unwritten so watch this space!

Excited?  You're damn right I am!

We Are Nothing

I'm a believer.
Well, that's not really true.
I'm more of a make-believer.
But it sort of adds up to the same thing.
Here in the lap of the Gods, neither party holds a universal truth, 
and our hopes are like litter in the open road for everybody to drive through.
Teetering on the swath,
my physical limitations dwarfed just by the wonder of living.
Brought on for no real reason other than just the wonder of life.
And now, being what I want to be catches up so fast.
I have to make up better and newer possibilities just to keep up with myself.
And now, nothing is a problem.
My mouth is dry from the heat, endless possible futures 
and the sweet promise of tomorrow is quenching my thirst.
All we need to do now is cheat death, for as long as we can.
So that when the day finally comes, 
we can pull a clean sheet from our pockets 
and write down all that we have achieved, 
all that we have seen, 
to make sure we have left nothing behind.
We are nothing.
Other than that which we give away for free 
and we are nothing but the sum of our parts.

- Timo Maas (unless anyone wishes to attribute that little gem elsewhere?)

Introduction

Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day. And for once
I'm inclined to believe Withnail is right; we are indeed drifting into The Arena Of The Unwell. Making an enemy of our own future. What we need is
harmony. Fresh air. Stuff like that.