My intention was to start blogging once I'd actually taken off, until a friend from the States suggested I start earlier, so that I may be able to look back and reflect on the time spent planning both logistically and mentally.

Although in today's world picking up a backpack and heading into the unknown is very quickly becoming a customary part of a person's life, for me it does still remain a very daunting prospect. So why do it?...

The majority of people who know me will know that this is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time. Similar to most, I found that everyday life intervened and I realised that there are certain responsibilities to be met, be it financial or personal. Of course if I'm being entirely honest, a large factor of this delay has been a certain fear; it is very easy to get comfortable and avoid alien situations, no matter how much you actually want to experience them.

Suddenly time ticked by and I was 25 going on 26 years old, enjoying life but not being able to fully commit to a number of things - instinctively knowing that those things would come later after I saw more of the world.

I am pretty sure that most of my close friends and family rolled their eyes at me when I announced 'I'm definitely off this time'; having heard this for a number of years, only to watch me continue as always. The trap is it is always easy to spend money, reassuring yourself with the thought that next month you will be less sociable and it would all even out which, of course, it doesn't. My friend Isobel's advice rings very true on this point... "just book the ticket, once it's done there is no going back"...

...and so book it I did, and remarkably I was suddenly much more successful in tightening the purse strings.

Luckily for me a lot of my friends have already embarked on their own travelling journeys - and collectively have all landed in the places which I will be visiting. This in itself has not only provided much comfort (they have all returned alive and well!), but has also granted me endless quantity of advice, route tips, travelling tips, and stories, both fascinating and slightly intimidating.

So my route can be found on a section of this blog-site, I will be updating this in more detail as I go along and once I have actually figured out where I'm really going within each country! A piece of advice that everyone has told me is to not plan a strict route, as this will undoubtedly change along the way as I meet people and become accustomed to different places. With this in mind, I have picked a significant length of time (10 months) with a realistic number of destinations so that rather than be restricted with flights and the necessity to see as many places I can, I am able to immerse myself in different places with the flexibility to stay for longer periods.

Now that the clock is officially ticking, I think that it is an appropriate time to start recording the intricacies of planning my trip and of course the goodbye's in a few separate blogs.

And the countdown begins...!

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Megan Katz