The trip

Originally we planned a circumnavigation, but as we had not had enough time to test all the new systems by departure day, and the whole idea of the trip was to be relaxing, we left the UK in mid 2005 and set off for the Mediterranean. We may well do a circumnavigation in the future once we've seen the med.

What have we learned? Well the rush to get away and the stress of it all made us rethink the sense of transiting the globe in 20 months. Its just too fast, there is so much to see and it would be a shame to make a whistle stop tour and miss so much. So we decided to slow down the pace, we have already missed out most of Brittany and the Spanish Rias, which was a mistake - we wont make twice. Not everywhere is pretty or clean or even friendly, but you start to get a feel for the real nature of a country, not what a fornight holiday suggests. We feel we can now speak confidently about the countries we have visited and their people we have met.

When we arrived in Gibraltar in late January 2006 we had covered just over 2000 miles since leaving home. We have visited over 40 ports in the UK France Spain Portugal and Gibraltar.

Our plan for this year is to enjoy some relaxed cruising to North Africa and then backpack inland to Marrakesh and the Sahara. Cruise the Costa Del Sol, the Balearics, the South of France, Sardinia, Italy and Malta. Even that plan will probably change within a few weeks, but there are no rules. The main thing is to enjoy ourselves meet old friends and new, and gain a little understanding of other peoples cultures to discover why others hold different views from ours. Of course along the way we will be amused by some countries antics we find strange and the occassional odd brand names for household goods, like the Spanish 'Bimbo' bread and 'Bonka' coffee.

We are here only once, and we want to enjoy it. Come join us, step outside the box, its fun.

Kevin & Sara

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