Goodbye To All That

The adventure has half begun. Last week was an extended round of goodbyes. I left my job on Tuesday with a lovely send off from friends and colleagues at work. On Thursday it was the turn of my cats, Hugo and Basil, to begin their vacation in Jesmond (they better not enjoy themselves too much), and finally on Saturday I packed my few remaining possessions that hadn't been stored into the back of the car and left my house and home village of Wylam for the last time. It was a glorious morning to imprint the beautiful landscape of Northumberland into my memory for the months ahead.

I'm now at my parents home in Cornwall for a few days before final departure. A chance to see the family one last time and practice packing my travel purchases into my rucksac. I have far too many books to take at the moment so need to take some tough decisions on what to leave behind - is there room for Ibn Battutah?