Would you believe it! Of course I never thought for a second that he would actually make it! How the hell has that 'come-day-go-day' attitude managed to travel from Liverpool England to Cape Town South Africa in that stupid, big Blue Land Rover? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but admiration for Gavin in completing this remarkable quest, it's just by doing it he has put me in an extremely difficult situation for 2 quite serious reasons:

1: I'm petrified of flying. About 2 years back I flew to Frankfurt for a works football tournament in which the plane experienced difficulties & made a hastily decent into the German airport. Ever since that day I have been an absolute mess when it comes to flying, panic attacks, uncontrollable sweating, refusing to get on the aircraft & fainting have all been apparent over the last 24months, and of course Sept 11th hasn't helped much either. Only the good Lord knows how I am going to cope with 12 hours to & from South Africa along with a return flight in a prop-plane to Zimbabwe.
Between you, & me I was actually sick a few nights ago just thinking about the upcoming flights, & that can't be a good sign can it!
Why are you doing it then? I hear you ask, well the answer is simple; the want to see the world before I die by far outweighs the struggle I have to get on an aeroplane. A prime example of this is the upcoming trip to meet Gavin in Cape Town. I really should just meet him for a few days & fly directly back to the uk, therefore keeping my end of the bargain. But instead I have chosen to 'travel' around South Africa ensuring I see it in it's entirety & if that's not enough fly on to Zimbabwe (In what I can only describe as a potential crop-sprayer) to witness the most powerful waterfall in the world (Victoria Falls). I personally don't think I'll stay within the 'stability' of what is currently Zimbabwe for to long before hopping over the border to Zambia for a quick ganders!

2: I have never slept rough in my life. It's not that I'm vane or anything (ok, maybe a little bit), it's just the thought of sleeping anywhere other than a bed in an acclimatised room just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, the closest I have come to sleeping rough is dosing off on the sofa whilst watching the TV late at night, & because of this I think I am in for quite a shock when meeting up with Gavin & his travelling buddies to tour South Africa & beyond.

Please believe me, I have absolutely nothing against the 'travellers', its just that I don't understand some of their beliefs & motto's.
Firstly, where do they find these trampy looking rucksacks that always seem to have a saucepan dangling from the back along with a foam sleeping mat attached to the top of the bag which almost always seems to tower a staggering 20-foot above the back of there heads?? I mean come on, what's that all about?
Secondly, what is it with those red laces in their shoes? How foolish is that, & if you question them on this matter they will tell you that it's so “others can see them clearly if you run into trouble” whilst say trekking in the middle of a rainforest, Rubbish, if you run into trouble in the middle of the rainforest I don't think red laces are going to save them from the thousands of killer animals just waiting to tear them limb from limb.
& finally why do they have to insist on travelling on such low budgets? If they had some more patience like the rest of us to work hard & save up enough cash to do it in style they wouldn't have to live on packed lunches, hostels & tins of beans every day of their lives!
I am going to show these 'travellers' that you can still be 'stylish' regardless of where you are or how much money you have, if your in the middle of a rainforest why can't you where your Nike's?! or if trekking up a mountain, why not do it in designer clothes?! – Look out for the pictures.

Nevertheless, regardless of cost, nerves & the thought of sleeping rough, “I will” be on that plane to South Africa come Sun 14th April 2002 at 21:30. I am a man of my word.