On the 16^th September 2018 I will be setting off from Diss in Norfolk (UK) in my 'Big White Berlingo Car' on a long drive to Jerusalem.

I’ve booked one night in a hotel and a ferry ticket to Cherbourg and that’s it. The rest of the journey will be organised as I go along. My aim is to be in Jerusalem by the end of November and back home in the UK for Christmas (I’ve promised my family). That’s roughly 10,000  kilometres in just over three months. I’ve avoided a detailed plan in preference for spontaneity but the headlines are I will be travelling out through France, Italy, Greece and Turkey, and returning via the Balkans, then central and Western Europe. Unfortunately I will be forced to fly to Israel from Turkey as the land route either through Libya or Syria is too dangerous at the moment.

I will be generally sleeping in the back of the car, with
seats removed.  I use my mum’s old 1970 sofa cushion for a bed, and it serves the purpose well. Other than a map, a washing up bowl, a kettle, basic car repair kit and half a dozen changes of clothing that’s it. I’m doing everything on the ultra-cheap.

Why- 

Firstly it’s for myself. I don’t feel right unless I take on a few big trips a year especially now that I’m retired. But it’s also to raise money for my favourite charity 'Become' (http://www.becomecharity.org.uk/),which is the leading charity helping young people coming out of the care system and starting adult life. In my career as a psychiatric nurse I encountered many people for whom this transition had gone badly wrong. This is common. 'Become' works with care leavers to help them establish a firm footing, as they take their first steps toward independent living

What equips me for
this? -

 I am a sixty year old overweight, rheumatic retired psychiatric nurse with a lifelong love of independent travel using local transport, walking, hitch hiking or driving ordinary vehicles. 

There has been scores of these trips but just taking the best this hobby has taken me on over 10,000 miles worth of trips by motorhome around the USA. More recently I have travelled by long distance bus and ferry boat around Argentina (including Northern Patagonia) and the nearer parts of Uruguay. 

I spent a month travelling around India by train using second class carriages, that is those used by the poorest local people. Despite a general lack of fitness I’ve walked the first hundred miles of the Via Egnatia, a rough country track which follows a Roman road across Albania. Each spring for the last five years I have walked 100-200 miles  on the ancient pilgrimage route, the Camino Sangtiago de Compestela that runs from France to Galicia in North-Western Spain. 

During the 1980’s and early 1990’s I lived In South Africa and travelled extensively in neighbouring countries (Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe).

I enjoy this kind of thing, and have been doing it
since I was a teenager. I do my best to be around local people, talk to strangers and find out how they live. I stay well clear of any tourist hubs and instead hop between smaller towns and immerse myself in local life for a few days. I’m the resilient type and tend to find a way of getting through or past obstacles.

On this trip I will be posting a daily blog and Facebook updates where ever possible. Sponsors will be able to follow my journey through these.

I have been very fortunate in my life but I've known many people who grew up in care, and then failed to find the help and support they needed when the time came to leave. Often they were ill equipped to cope alone and went on to have serious mental health or drug and alcohol problems. The charity 'Become' is all about helping such people with this transition. I've supported them for a number of years through personal donations , and have seen the quality of help they provide. Its really all about improving the life opportunities of people for whom things can...and  often go badly wrong  That's why I have chosen to undertake this trip to benefit 'Become'.

All the costs of travel are being met by myself and a separate network of sponsors. No money raised for 'Become' will come to me.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.