The Next Adventure

There’s something about looking at a map and hatching a plan, the inevitable pre-departure kit explosion, excitement at all the possibilities, and then hoicking on a rucksack and going.

I’m off to Istanbul, somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while now. It’s a pretty important point on a map, right in the middle of East and West. We are however taking a somewhat roundabout route, visiting a few of Europe’s wild places on the way, so it might take a few months.

Since returning from Oman I’ve been holed up inside writing up data with my partner in crime Lawrence, looking at the footage though, it’s been worth it. In between gave a few school talks and did some fieldwork in Scotland. It seemed like a good time to plan something a little different.

It’s not unexplored wilderness and it’s certainly not as ominous as desert, ocean or jungle, but it has a different appeal. Europe is on our doorstep, and in the past few weeks I’ve already vastly increased my disappointingly poor knowledge of it just by drawing lines on a map.

So with research papers submitted, I’m thinking of it as a holiday. We leave on Sunday.

P.s. If you fancy helping me out, you could give each of these a click: