Only 9 weeks to go now and am I organised?

I've let things slip a bit, my Dad has been has been fairly sick recently so everything else is not really that important at the moment.We put him on a plane a few weeks ago, concerned he'd lost a fair bit of weight and wasn't eating properly. A short while after getting back to Scotland he was taken into hospital. He has now improved a lot and is eating properly at last. Shouldn't be too long till he gets out and can go on the adventure he's been thinking about for quite some time now.

He has been talking about returning to a place where he had a life before us lot, his RAF days in Germany. For one reason or another, this hasn't happened. Now I'm thinking about flying to UK, picking up a car and taking him to a place of his youth before it gets too late for both of us.I'd have to fit this in between now and me setting off on my adventure. I'll give it a couple of days and then decide.

still planning

Back to the task in hand.

There is now just over 9 weeks to go until I leave for UK. Have I organised everything? No chance!

I now have my Indian and Pakistan Visa. I'm about to apply for the Carnet de Passage which costs a small fortune. I need to finalise a few items such as ..

• all jabs up to date
• look at bike transport from Kathmandu to Bangkok, and Singapore to UK
• get work up to date so that I can actually leave for 3 months
• get fit (been a bit slack recently)
• get episode 1 of Video complete (only about 10% to date)
• get website professionally completed
• figure out final route - via Quetta or KKH
• check budget $$$ - still no idea!
• sort out luggage system in full (that may have to wait till UK)
• sort out spare fuel
• sort out tyres
• MOT
• New clothes and boots
• camera gear and storage
• spare sprockets, levers and cables, bulbs, fuses etc

I feel I'm getting way too far behind in my preparations.Work has been busy and I find it really hard to devote energies to various things. I think it has something to do with "emotional maturity" where I struggle to cope with several things at once. These days I can only do one thing at once so have to make a choice what I'm up to that day! If I simply had a "job" I doubt I'd care so much but running a business has a different mindset, one you cannot easily disconnect from. Business has been hectic, I have had to turn away customers which I hate doing.

It's hard to stay focussed on this when your heart is elsewhere as I've mentioned, but there you go, I made the decision to do this and I have to keep moving.

I should mention I caught up with some fellow "Hubbers" the other week. See Horizons Unlimited website which is about people who travel on bikes. I could have stayed all day to chat, hear others adventures and gain some insight on best way to do things.

Here's a couple of tips picked up. Try having a "United Nations" sticker on your bike. Apparently it aids border crossings. Not sure if it helps near Afghanistan border though.

Or another, have a document made up which declares Insurance cover for various 3rd world countries rather than pay some dodgy bloke at the border. I reckon the insurance they sell you would be worthless anyway and if you have an accident, you will end up paying the locals not to lynch you.

I'm looking forward to the Hubber's official meeting coming up in Brisbane next week. I'm staying in nice local hotel and hiring a car to get there. Well it is a 5 hour flight away so its not exactly around the corner and I can't take a tent ... or maybe I'm missing the point of all this adventure travel.

Will post some pictures and stuff next week, and possibly some more travel hints & tips :)

Here's an introductory video from the Hubb.