Not really alot to update really. Still not sold either car, still no-one to rent the house....starting to get a little nervy. Off to Canada though in under 3 weeks - can't wait. Next week should be fun - going to Birmingham to get our Indian Visas on Tuesday and I am off to see my beloved football team play a week on Saturday Vs Northampton in the FA Cup. That's about it....

I am 27 1/2 today - that means (after today) I am closer to 30 than 25. This scares me to death.
Still no closer on any of the below - message to self - must stop playing Championship Manager......

Firstly, apologies to all for not updating this over the last few days...Well, I hear you cry, what have Daniel and Jennifer been up to? Well the following (in no real order)...:
- Got the dog snipped (poor thing's moping around the house now bless him)
- Packed up the lounge and 2/3 of the study
- Boarded the loft and threw all aforementioned stuff up there...
- Got more info on places to stay and changed our route (see below)
- Played football (badly) (twice)
- Finished buying kit (sleeping bags - a left and a right or 'his 'n' hers' - SAD)

What we still need to do:
- Rent the house out
- Sell my car
- Sell Jen's car
- Sort out which malaria tabs to use
- Have more jabs (I have just been told I need typhoid as well ;( )
- Design an interactive map of where we are going....which brings me neatly on to our itinery. This has already changed about 6 times and I am sure it will change en route but here goes: (All dates except departure are approximate)

Jan 14th - Mumbai (Bombay) and spend 48 days in India (possibly Sri Lanka too), including time in Goa on the beach and also at Agra (Taj Mahal etc...) amongst others...
March 3rd- Fly to Bangkok (where we've been before) then 2 1/2 months exploring Thailand/Loas/Cambodia (going to do PADI open water qual. here) /Vietnam and eventually take the land crossing into China for a month (or so) in China.
June 13th - Fly back to Bangkok and spend a month travelling south via Malaysia and Singapore
July 11th - Fly to Sydney, followed by 3 months in Oz/N.Z.
Oct 5th - Fly to Santiago (Chile) and travel through Chile to Argentina/Brazil and then fly to Peru (Inca trail) and onwards to Ecuador where we hope to take in the Galapagos Islands (if we haven't run out of cash...)
Should arrive home sometime in Jan 04 via Madrid and Barcelona.....

Found out what injections we need and Jen has drawn the short straw - she needs:
Typhoid, Hep A, Yellow Fever, and poss Hep B
I need Yellow Fever and Hep B. Fun fun fun.
I am in the process of putting together a map so you can all view where we are going - I would love to make it interactive but as I have no idea how to programme in HTML I won't!!

YAY YAY and thrice YAY! Jen's Dad has agreed to take Oscar on, providing we have him snipped, fit a dog guard in his car, and pay for any damage. We are happy to do this and are sorting stuff out as we speak. THANK YOU RICHARD!!

The Jen's Dad saga continues...still no definitive answer although it's looking a little more positive. We should find out by the weekend. Still trying to sell my car - if you know anyone that wants a brand new TT for £27500 let me know!!! I will quite happily rent it to a friend to cover the loan repayments (about £400 a month) - not a bad deal!!
Off shopping for a rucksack cage (!) today and also taking my team out for dinner...I'm going on the train so I may well have a couple of beers. Got my digital camera back from Fuji - hopefully it'll work this time...the charge kept going on it so thay have replaced the motherboard or something....
One obvious disappointment is that going away next year is that we will miss 2 weddings. James - who I've known since I was 11 - and Emily. I know he reads this, so Jim mate have a good one and we are really sorry we can't be there. If I know him it'll be the most meticulously planned wedding of all time and will run perfectly! We are also missing Lou and Andy's. Lou is the poor deluded soul that joined Sainsbury's at the same time as me, and we trained in the same store together - although she now works in marketing so it's all square glasses, clients for lunch and finishing work at 3pm...isn't that right Lou?

Well looks as though Jen's Dad has decided he won't look after Oscar. To be honest I left there hopeful and happy yesterday and have reflected on it today. To be fair Lynn has said in the past she'd look after the dog so I am pretty hopeful they will...

In other news we bought a load of kit - only sleeping bags left to buy. We are also going skiing in Banff at Xmas (booked ages ago) so bought some smart snowboarding gear and thermals etc...as well as a new rucksack et al. Just got a few things to get in order then we can start the long laborious process of boarding the loft and packing the house up.

Jen's Dad (Richard) if you do read this - please look after the DOG!!!!

Rough Itinery

We told Jen's parents today - and I think they were OK about things - her Mum certainly more than her Dad though. We are just praying now that they will look after Oscar (our dog) for a year...if not, not sure what we will do with him. We also went and bloody booked the damn thing!! The details are as follows:
14th Jan - Fly to Mumbai (Bombay) - spend 2 months in India
14th March - Mumbai to Bangkok - 3 months in S.E. Asia/China
14 June - Singapore to Sydney - 2 months in Oz (we think Jen's sister Rachel might visit us in Oz)
10 Aug - Brisbane to Auckland - 3 weeks (or so) in N/Z - my brother - Pat might join us here
1 Sept (ish) - Auckland - Santiago
25 Dec (ish) Fly back via Madrid and Barcelona...
Jen said she was excited for the first time today - now it is all booked, I also think it was a weight off her mind telling her parents. So, how much more to do? Loads, got to buy kit (rucksack, sleeping bags, boots etc...) and then start the job of boarding the loft, packing the house up, renting it out (anyone want to rent a 4-bed family home in the peak district, near Manchester??) and selling our cars *sob*. My parents have agreed to look after the cats - so if you're reading this Mum and Ken
THANK YOU!!!

My pay went in, the cheque cleared, and I resigned. It was not a nice experience but he was fantastic about it and I have already handed everything over. I am now sat at home trying to log into my work email!!! I will obviously still be working although being at home is far more sensible than sitting at work. I have paid off pretty much all my debts now as well, just got to find a buyer for my car and ditto with Jen's although getting a blowout on the way home last night didn't help. We are going to tell Jen's parents this weekend although they are away for most of it so it could be tricky. Jen is a bit nervous about telling them, but everyone I have spoken to so far is very supportive and no-one has said we are idiots or anything, I am sure they will feel the same way.