Lifeventure equipment is lovely stuff. I have no idea if it is actually used by ‘proper’ travellers (whoever they are, I’ve not met any yet), but it has the appearance of the equipment of choice for the hardened traveller. You have no idea what I’m on about. It’s fine. Everything is blue, everything comes in …

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Things are looking up, I’m starting to feel nervous excitement, it’s a new year! 26 days to go! Cookie and Jo have a baby girl, Charlotte, and I got to tell Cookie he wasn’t going to get a good night’s sleep for at least the next eleven years, har har har. He says he’s not …

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How can religious people explain something like this? asks Martin Kettle in the Guardian. How can a God exist that can allow such things to happen? Over the coming days, it will doubtless be revealed that many thousands more have died as a result of the Asian tsunami – after the flood waters have subsided, …

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The devastation around the Indian ocean in the wake of the earthquake earlier today looks to be massive – affecting, amongst other places, Tamil Nadu, one of my first stops on the trip, which starts next month. I’ve e-mailed a friend who’s volunteering in India at the moment based in Chennai – she was heading …

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I’m a fussy bugger at the best of times, and constantly checking out new innovations on the net and in technology, so with the trip next year, it’s been fun to check out services I can use while I’m away. I have to find some way of keeping techie toys working for me – I’ll …

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I’d feel a lot more nervous about going to India if I wasn’t starting off with Aidcamps – they’ve sent masses of information and material on vaccinations, flights, packing lists, local conditions, and now an impressive looking guide to Hinduism – so that all of the volunteers have a good idea of what to expect …

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