The UK adventure begins!

This week I am driving from Cornwall, all the way up to Edinburgh, via Glasgow and I finish near London. Drawn on a map, that makes a nice circle around a good chunk of the UK.

Yikkes, the last few days have been crazily busy! - I've been getting the SpaceShip (which still has no name) ready and have been putting loads of kit in her.. I even installed a little boat compass. Today, I have driven down to Cornwall and I am currently all snuggled up at ShelterBox's training HQ at Predannack Airfield writing this blog. 

I had a relatively late night yesterday as I had a million and one things to do and so I was pretty tired during my drive down here. At around the half way point, I decided I'd had enough of this yawning lark, so I pulled into a services and got a quick 30mins of zzzzz.  Waking up a fair bit more refreshed to the very uninviting sound of my alarm clock I got on the road again.

This is all good training and is very insightful for what is to come in the future during my trip around the world. During my UK leg, I am visiting LOADS of schools / scout groups along the way so maybe I'll be seeing you soon?! 

All these groups have raised a substantial amount of money for ShelterBox and I will be popping in to say Thank you!

Got to sign off now as I seriously need some sleep. It's only 9.40pm.. Getting old I suppose!

Check out my youtube page for my latest video... HERE

Mike

Driving on the 'wrong side'

Tomorrow marks an important day. Tomorrow marks one month until I depart from London to Drive Around the World! Not long to go now.

This weekend I am doing some 'wrong side of the road' driving. I've headed over to Belgium to get a little used to it before I jump in at the deep end and set off around the world. I'm with my dad this time who has been great in giving tips for driving on the other side.

Every time I pull out of a parking space or am driving along a quiet stretch of road, all I keep saying to my self is..'keep on the right, keep on the wrong side!'. Everything is just flipped over! I am also having to get used to different road markings and also reading all of the road signs in a foreign language.

This weekend is also proving to be a great hands on test for my SpaceShip as I am getting to know her well. There are so many great little things that I didn't even realise about the SpaceShip. One would be the INCREDIBLE cup holders in the front. That may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but I am pretty bowled over to be fair..

I spent last night in a rather unglamorous place, the ferry lorry park. It was half 12 and I just wanted to sleep – very easy to do with this SpaceShip.. Today I've been driving around Brussels getting VERY VERY lost but eventually making it to the centre. This was great practice as their was a lot of pressure / impatient drivers, and I now feel more confident in driving on the wrong side.

I've headed this evening over to a lovely quaint little place where I have set up camp by a lake – really picturesque. Tomorrow it's a fair drive back to Ostend, back on the ferry and a quick drive home.

One more thing – my SpaceShip doesn't currently have a name. Can you think of one and place it in the comments below?

Cheers,

Mike