Do I, Don't I?

The idea of cycling round parts of the world as a way of traveling may seem utterly mad to some people and sometimes I agree, especially when one encounters an angry driver or your bottom is just feeling a little sore! I will be honest here and say that I did not come up with this fabulous idea myself, but was inspired by some amazing people who have achieved a similar sort of thing. Anne Mustoe for example gave up everything to cycle around the world in her fifties. I loved her book; A Bike Ride. Alastair Humphreys cycled literally around the whole world over 4 years after graduating from university. And lastly and most importantly Kris Fowler, who left England in Feb 2010 and has cycled to India, where he is at present. Kris and I will meet in Hanoi, Vietnam so we can cycle together through South East Asia, Indonesia and over to Australia. So really, I'm not that mad.

I didn't want to squeeze this trip into a few weeks of annual leave, I wanted it to be meaningful, to give me a chance to really explore and understand. This meant leaving my life behind. The thought battled in my head for months and there were many tears in the process due to that feeling of 'Do I go, Don't I go?' The thought of leaving my family and friends behind!? The thought of moving out of my house and leaving my 5 housemates behind!? The thought of resigning from a good, well paid job!? The thought of giving up all my comforts and stay somewhere different every night!? It would be so much easier to just stay! But I don't know that I would be happy to just stay and carry on. I need challenging, and I seem to seek them subconsciously - there's always some drama going on in my life! I have this niggling gut feeling that won't go away. It's an unsettling feeling, of not quite feeling whole, or like I've just got ants in my pants! I need to go and I need to go now. I want to do this before I get my teeth into a 'career' so I'm not continuously thinking 'If Only'. When I do start my career, I know I will feel more settled and happy within myself. I always trust my instinct. So, I have decided to go. South East Asia was always going to be my destination as the area just fascinates me. The beautiful people and the history, the wonderful landscape, the food! And what better than to go with Kris who is due to be in that area at the same time? Kris is my best friend and we have known each other since college. We have toured together on our bikes before, once in southern Ireland and once along the southern English coast. This tour will be a little different (hopefully less hillier than our coastline!) and I'm looking forward to meeting up with him again.

The scariest part of all of this was resigning. Thames Water took me on after university with no experience in HR, only bags of enthusiasm and I am so grateful and so lucky to have been given a job so soon after graduating. 2009 was probably the worst year to graduate ever and some of my friends still do not have worthy-of-their-talent jobs. I was so conscious of throwing away what they have given me and I really didn't want to 'disappoint'. I have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement that everyone in my office has shown since I told them why I was leaving and what I was going to do! So thank you to all my colleagues and maybe one day I'll be back! : )

Now I have a month to go and I have a million things to book, plan and sort! I'm scared and nervous, but so excited at the same time. I hope you will stay with me throughout my journey and enjoy sharing my experiences.

And don't forget, in wanting to make my trip even more worthwhile I am raising money for two charities: the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team and WaterAid. My whole trip is self-funded, so every penny that you donate goes straight to the charity and does not bypass me first or pay for any of my flights or equipment etc. Please visit my charity page: http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/georginaadey to donate. There is also information at the side of my page : )

Thank you and big cuddles to those who have helped me along the way, and of course to those who donate!