The Beginning......

Someone much wiser than I once said: "A journey, however long, starts with a single step".  My next journey is planned to be quite a long one, and this particular blog site will be dedicated to it, so this is the first step.  I do not intend to post much on here until I hit the road in early 2014, but I will be putting my preparation plans and my itinerary on here as they develop.

My 2012 Alaska blog (http://elsiefrombottomtotop.blogspot.com) was so much fun to write because of the support and response of everyone who read it (some 35,000 hits, as of 14.2.13), and I cherish it as a written and photographic record of that adventure. My current "interim" blog for 2013 (http://watchingandwaitin.blogspot.com)  takes care of much of the preparation I am doing this year to my (not so) new Toyota Troop Carrier, and is purely to keep the space on this blog clear for the trip itself.  I may well do a trip in Troopie in Aus during the year, and if so, it will be in "watchingandwaitin".
But I dedicate this next 2014 trip to all those who would love to be doing what I am doing, but for one reason or another cannot do it. Join with me and share my trip with me.   Please sign in as a friend or member of the site (use a false name if for some reason you don't want to be visible !!), and post your messages to me on here - they play SUCH an important role in keeping me going.  I see them every time I log on, and they give me such a lift. And of course you can email me - Go to my Profile, and where at the bottom of that it says "View my complete profile", go in there and you will find an "email" button.  Too easy - But really appreciated by me.

As I have said repeatedly, in 2012, it was the people that made the trip so special.  My family, friends and the Lotus club members around the world who supported me, and  followed my trip from the start, as well as the people I met along the way, whether they tooted and waved at me on the road, copied my blog address as they passed and later emailed me, chatted to me in campsites or on hikes, and even took pity on me when it was cold and raining, and warmed and fed me in their homes and RV's.   And importantly, on the days when I was down, lonely, or just plain wet and miserable, (yes, it is not all fun out there !!) it was the messages and friendship from everyone that cheered me up and kept me going.   All the people made the trip so special, and I have no doubt that in 2014 it will be the same.  But there were an awful lot of people that I chatted with and didn't write down details, and it is those that I now miss - So I vow to be more organised in my contact details this time so I don't forget people along the way !!

I also promise to be try to be briefer in my blog, although sometimes as I read through my 2012 blog now, it is sometimes these details that bring back the memories for me !! So if I rabbit on, I am afraid that is just me, and an essential part of my journey is me being me, so you might just have to put up with it !!!   But I promise I will try !!

Anyway, enough - I will put together the current outline for my route and timing, with the CLEAR proviso that it is VERY likely this will change. In fact it is certain !!   These are just rough ideas - the trip itself will only develop on a day by day, and mile by mile basis - And I would have it no other way.  Unless absolutely necessary, I want to try to avoid having to be in a certain location by a specific date or time - This happened a couple of times in 2012, and it meant that I then missed out on some attractions or sights that I would otherwise have stopped to explore.

So, come along for a ride with me over the coming months - I hope you will enjoy the experience as much as I know I will.  I look forward to sharing the excitement with you all along the way.