“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.”

Robert Burns – To a Mouse (1785)

We have an idea of where we want to go and a list of cool things we want to see and do but there is no point in planning it all down to the finest details – In the words Roald Amundsen, “Adventure is just bad planning“. So here is a brief summary of  possibly the worst best laid plan in human or rodent history.

UK & Scandinavia

On 5 May 2010 we intend to set off from Manchester after moving our few possessions from our current home in Shifnal. We’ll be taking a ferry across to Denmark, travel up through Denmark by train, then catch another ferry to Norway. We had initially hoped to catch a ferry direct from Newcastle to Stavenger in Norway, but the line stopped operating a few years ago. We’ll head North along the Norwegian coast and cross the Arctic Circle. From there we drop down into Sweden and cross the Gulf of Bothnia to Vaasa in Finland.

Russia, Mongolia & China

This is where the real adventure begins. Heading East to Saint Petersburg and then onwards to Moscow we’ll board the Trans-Siberian train. Stopping at a few spots on the way, we should get to Irkusk and Lake Baikal within a couple of weeks. Turning South into Mongolia for a short stop in Ulaanbaatar, then on to Beijing. We are not sure exactly how we are going to navigate the sites we want to see in China, but we will probably head the wrong way (West) to Lhasa in Tibet. We originally planned to cross into Nepal and do some trekking but our delayed start means it will be in the middle of the monsoon. We’ll loop back towards Shanghai and then downhill to Hong Kong where we expect a bit of fun getting a visa for Vietnam.

South-East Asia

From Hanoi (Vietnam) we want do a short circuit into Laos and then follow the Vietnamese coastline South to Ho Chi Minh City before crossing Cambodia on our way to Thailand. From Bangkok we’ll head South (avoiding Myanmar – we are not that brave) towards Kuala Lumpar and ultimately Singapore.

Fruit Loops

By the time we arrive in Singapore we expect the Nepalese conditions to be good for trekking. We are thinking about taking a flight to Kathmandu to do some trekking. On returning to Singapore we want to throw in another loop around the Northern Philippines – from what we have read this sounds like it will be an amazing part of the trip.

Malaysia & Indonesia

We’ll wind out way through Malaysia and Borneo – trying to not to get stuck in Bali (yeah right). Then island hop as far East as possible (to East-Timor). I would love to be able to get to Australia by sea, but the options aren’t looking good from what we have read.

Australia & New Zealand

I’m betting that we will be low on funds by the time we hit Oz – but you never know. From Darwin we’ll head for the middle of absolutely nowhere and then make a sharp left to take in the East coast with a quick pop over to Tasmania. New Zealand (our final destination) has got to be one of my most anticipated destinations. It seems this little island has a bit of everything. I just hope we have the time, money and energy to enjoy it.

The End

We fly back to LHR and sleep for a good month or so before rejoining society.

So when you write it all down it doesn’t seem that difficult – it tends to drip off your tongue (or frontal lobe), but the more I think about it the more nervous and excited I get. It could be really embarrassing publishing this page and we only get as far as Russia before realising we are too old for this… too late now !