A perfectly-timed catastrophic data loss topped off my week today and trying in vain to happily resolve this has tired me out a bit, so instead of going for words I have decided to produce a map to clearly demonstrate exactly what's going on. In the typical nature of such things, a bright idea like that only took more time and added little, infuriating me. This has eased my tiredness. (I wrote this about a week ago, and it's a testament to my fear of minor graphics bodges that I have not posted it until now - it took me that long to work up the courage to put a few squiggly lines over a google map. Pity Me.)

Please click here or somewhere else to read on...

Before anyone wonders, we're still not in Italy and I am still writing this in Innsbruck - that's a good thing though, it means that Julia is actually able to do her job from abroad and we are not going to go broke in a week.

So...the nights were still cold, and my sleeping bag was getting more and more broken. We had found a way of stuffing all our clothes under ourselves to warm up and it was mostly working. In any case the coldness of the nights was more than made up for by the lovely mornings...

click to find out more...

Take a look at a map, of Austria maybe...or perhaps go searching on Multi map. Innsbruck to Steinach isn't very far. It's about 30mins on the train, If you're buying maps in 1:50,000 scale, which we are, it's just over half of one - our whole journey should, if completed, take about 100. The paths we took, for the most part look easy enough, and generally led south, it's April and we felt well-prepared. Why then did it take us six days? Why are we back in Innsbruck as I write this? Have we given up already?

Read on for the answers to all, some, or none of those questions...

So, we're off on Wednesday. Time for packing and panicing, but also time for one last day out.

Kentwell Hall has such great potential to be completely rubbish. It has given itself all the opportunities in the world to be bloody terrible; it holds costumed re-enactments of Tudor life in the grounds and house that is currently being lived in by a modern family. They have frescoes of their children on the walls and items of such horrifically bad taste strewn about the insides and occasionally in the grounds that should jar so badly with the period costumes and oddish bagpipe-like-things droning on in background...somehow they don't.

Read more by clicking below.

One of the best things about all these preparations is that you get a new present in the post every day that you had forgotten you had ordered. Today the little extra was a map. I was so excited, I put together a little map of Italy to highlight the areas we had adequate mapping for, and our proposed journey. The mapped areas are enclosed in red boxes, and the proposed trail is in blue. The red circle around Rome is just multi map, it has nothing to do with areas we have mapping for. Please click to read more, and have a look at the map.

Oh boy, life is not set up nowadays for people to just move and who don't want to plan everything in advance. Hell, families are certainly not set up for it.

To read on, click below...or above...

Introducing the Hennessey hammock, the most interesting decision we've made during our preperations to leave and therefore proof positive of our eternal dullness. Instead of relying on a tent to carry our dreams safely down the spine of Italy we've bought two of these. Below are some of the reasons why we are not complete idiots destined to pay dearly for our folly.

Click 'read more' to, ahem, 'read more.'

Oh the wonders of photography! It's really enjoyable to get out with just a camera and nothing to do except document chaos. I suppose that's why a lot of people like doing it.

...more photos after the page break...

I am going to miss London. I was on a bus from Hackney this morning and realised that even through a steamed up window on a bus going through a part of town I haven't lived in for three or four years I could tell which road I was on and had a story about most of them. That's the problem with the big city. It is so huge when you first get there it seems almost impossible that you'll ever work out what's going on. Give it a few years and you've got the tube map imprinted on your mind and you know just where to go for a drink on Monday night. It's a pleasant fantasy, but you only have to look at the chaos that happens in a tube strike to realise that a lot of Londoners know one way to work, where the local chip shop is, and that's about it. All the story about knowing streets through bus windows really tells the world is that I've spend a lot of my time on buses gazing aimlessly into space.

Please read on...

When was the last time you stayed up all night? With work in the morning?

I know two types of people, the first is the kind who would never do this, never think about doing this, look at you oddly if you mentioned doing this, and if through some uncharacteristic display of weakness found themselves nursing another double whiskey as the sun comes up on the lock-in they'd been convinced into staying at by some wild-eyed maniac with nothing to do in the morning, they'd certainly be calling in sick. Probably in good time, and very apologetically.

The second type drink too much but are way more fun.

Read on if you care...