I am currently in Maidenhead, UK preparing for my trip around the world. I don't think the omens for said trip are too good, volcanic eruptions, cabin crew strikes and civil war in Bangkok have threatened to scupper my plans but I am determined to overcome such obstacles. For those of you who don't know what I am doing and where I am going I will give you a brief outline.

I begin in South East Asia, visiting Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore. I will then fly to Denpasar, Bali to spend a bit of time on the beach. After Bali comes Australia where I plan on traveling and working, hopefully saving enough money to fund the second half of the trip. After saving lots of pennies in Australia I fly to New Zealand for a month or so. After that I will be flying to Buenos Aires and will spend the following months traveling north and ending up in Rio de Janeiro where the final party will take place before flying back to the UK.

I hope to spend about 10 months away and will use this blog to keep a diary that you all can read. I don't expect a religious following but feel free to dip in and out as you please just so you can see what I am up to.

Final note, I do have a few companions who will join me along the way:

Andrew "Morgs" Morgan - Morgs will be my companion throughout my trip. He is reliable, hardy and entertaining. I predict now that many a post on this blog will be regarding his exploits.

Dean "Monkey" Monk - The big man from Clacton will be on the South East Asia-Australia leg. He is determined to leave his travels to return to England to be a Lawyer. Hopefully we can change his mind.

Olivia "Liv" Allen - The brains of the outfit will be joining us for some time in Australia. It may be a brief cameo but it will definitely be entertaining.

Kate "Coops" Cooper - God knows when this crazy b**** will be turning up but chances are she won't make it back to England.