Exactly a week from now I’m due to depart this tiny island for what will be the longest and most far-flung holiday of my life so far: a tour that will take me through Europe, across Asia and beyond, to Japan and the U.S. before finally returning after a little more than two months away. At least that’s the plan as it stands – to circle the world by sea and land, cheating slightly as I take to the air in order to cross the two big oceans in my way.

Although taking the Trans-Siberian route across Russia has long been an ambition of mine, a trip like this wasn’t on the cards at the beginning of the year. Then again, neither was being let go from my editing job of twelve-and-a-half years, nor the redundancy cheque that went with it. Rather than hold onto that windfall against the possibility of not being able to find work, I’ve taken a bit of a leap, combining the funding and the free time at my disposal to see parts of the world that have heretofore been just a little too far away for cautious old me.

There will be plenty more about the trip on this site – I’ll be posting photos and reports from wherever I can snag a wifi signal in the Siberian wilds and certainly from Japan and the U.S. Right now I’m just pulling together the last few bits and pieces of the planning. Almost there…