Original version on London to New York blog, January 26, 2010
‘Naw, man. We’re done worrying about territory, man… Game ain’t about that no more’ – Stringer Bell
THINK Stringer was talking about selling drugs on the street corners of Baltimore, but indulge me for a while as I nick his words of wisdom (mainly so I can use an opening quote a la The Wire – let’s see how long I can keep that going out on the road).
Consider these first entries before we get going as the bit before the music kicks in, we fade to black and then into the action.
For those who haven’t had enough of me going on about it already, the action begins on Sunday, March 21, when we head off on a 93-day overland trip from London to New York.
For those that haven’t – and those of you who quickly adopt that glazed look when I mention it (again) – let’s kick off with a quick recap.
Put simply, as my 40th birthday looms into view, I’m ‘done worrying about territory man’. I’m done worrying about the South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and Western Mail. Damn, I’m even done worrying about Echo Extra. And don’t get me started on the Celtic results page…
‘Game ain’t about that no more..’
Too true, Stringer. Game’s now about taking this chance to take some time out and do something which has been increasingly tempting since a road trip around the eastern half of the USA in 2006.
Instead of spending my 40th birthday in Cardiff in the same old drinking holes, dawn is scheduled to break on my fifth decade in Seattle before we head down the west coast to San Francisco.
That says a lot about the thinking behind the trip, but in best journalistic fashion here’s the quick breakdown in the time-honoured way of writing a story – Who? Why? Where? What? When? and How?
What?
Quite simple – 93 days on the road from London to New York. I’ve jacked in my job, climbing on a bus on The Embankment and heading east. And when it’s all over, it’s New York, Boston and wherever the mood takes me in the States until the money (or visa) runs out.
Who?
Well, me – obviously. Also on the bus is Nick, my mate/colleague/ex-housemate (landlord, to be precise) and travelling companion around the States. Many of you will know Nick, but for those who don’t, when the pictures start appearing, he’s the one with even less hair than me. Yes, really. Oh and there’ll be up to 30-odd other people on the trip as well.
When?
I finish work on February 26, head off three weeks later and hit New York on June 20. The visa should let me stay until November, but when I return is anyone’s guess.
How?
Mainly a bus, but there’s a couple of weeks on the Trans-Siberian Railway and 15 days on a cruise liner thrown in.
Where?
Deep breath… from London, we head across Europe from Bruges, Germany, Prague, Poland, the Baltic States, St Petersburg, Moscow, Lake Baikal, Mongolia, Beijing, Xi’an, Korea, Japan, Anchorage, Alaska, Juneau, Banff, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Yellowstone, Chicago, Niagara, New York and many places in between.
Why?
Good question – and one to which I have given a variety of different answers. Not sure there is one clear answer, but the travelling bug has hit me hard in the last few years. America saw it catch hold and after a few trips away to some out-of-the-way places on skiing trips with work (I was working, honest), it has taking root with a vengeance.
And I’ve finally given into it.
Recent history has taught me not to plan for things to do “one day in the future” – the future might not be as long as you think. So I’m going now and I’ll worry about getting a job and the mortgage when I get back.
I will file a few updates about the preparations and as often as possible when out on the road. I will endeavour to make them educational, entertaining and exhilarating, but chances are they will dissolve into tales of drunken shenanigans, ill-informed ramblings and nob gags.
