One week to go!

Hello folks and welcome to the first blog from the 2014 Istanbul to Beijing expedition.

It's not long to go now until we all head from our corners of the earth to meet up in bustling Istanbul, the starting point for our epic adventure. Over the next 3 months or so we will wend our way in a big orange and blue truck across 8 countries exploring en route.

Our faithful steed, Penelope

You're going to be stuck with Hels and Rogs who have been on the road with Odyssey a couple of times before and haven't had enough just yet! 

Rogs & Hels

Yep, you're stuck with us!

We are very excited to be heading off in a matter of days to sun ourselves on the Aegean coast in Greece, also coincidentally where Penelope our truck patiently waits for a bit of pre-trip loving. Aside from a quick clean we'll be stocking up with food and supplies to keep us well fed on the road where in places like China, familiar treats may be a little harder to locate. On that note if there is anything you fancy bringing from home to put on your toast in the morning don't hesitate to stuff it into the corner of your bag. With a few folk from Australia onboard we'll no doubt be seeing a bit of squeezy vegemite... disgusting stuff (note from the editor - these are clearly the rantings of marmite lovers who can't handle the superiority of vegemite!).

Soon to be a familiar sight

Penelope is kitted out with pretty much everything we need to tackle whatever we encounter on the road.  As Baz Luhrmann advised, pack a bit of sunscreen, a trip East at this time of year should mean some gorgeous sunny days in the 'Stans where looking out for a river for a midday dip is never far from our minds.

If you're not lucky enough to be coming along on this trip you can follow our progress as we bounce along the silk road by clicking on the handy “Where Are We?” link on the top right of the blog. We use a spot tracker which is a clever little GPS device that plots our last few locations on an interactive map online, it's good fun/annoying to zoom in and see where your friends are camping and riding horses in the wilds of Kyrgyzstan whilst you're on the tube to work. 

We've done this trip a few times before but as with all grand adventures it guarantees never to be the same, never a dull moment as we explore these amazing countries, meet interesting people, try out new crazy foods and push ourselves to do things we never dreamed of before. You've signed up now and will soon be taking the plunge as you hop over to Istanbul to start an epic journey you'll never forget.

Backwards - but we will be going forwards!

We are guaranteed to do a lot including: get lost, do a u-turn, get the truck stuck in a field, get a flat tyre, be invited into someone's home for tea, pack up a wet tent, see a shooting star, cook over an open fire, skip a few days of showers, get the runs, smile a lot, take 1000's of photos, forget to email home and finally wish you hadn't packed so much to start with! Remember you can buy everything other than your own passport on the road!

That's enough cheesy chat for now until we meet up in Istanbul.  Happy Easter, happy packing and see you soon.