Forty years ago , after returning from a summer in the Greek Islands, I had a crazy little idea of cycling across Europe to Athens.  As often happens, life got in the way and only now do I find myself in the position of having time to try and make this dream, this challenge, a reality.  Of course, this challenge may be a little harder as I am now 65 and not 25 but it now seems to me that the desire to achieve this trip is more immediate and more poignant.

Since my divorce , I have concentrated on my daughters who are all now independent adults and this has given me the time and opportunity of achieving challenges that have certainly helped my confidence and self belief.  It is always worth trying, taking the first step and finding out if a challenge can be completed. The first challenge I set myself (and this was in memory of my father, mother and eldest brother whom I lost to cancer within a few years of each other) was to cycle John O'Groats to Lands End,  I am not a natural long distance cyclist and my trip was seriously doubted by some of my friends but the trip was accomplished and I had found myself a new outlook on life. The second challenge was to walk the Camino de Santiago and, again, I set off nervously as a solo walker to walk the 600km pilgrimage .  This was a definite life changer and I think about it constantly, carrying the memory of the walk, the camaraderie of the people I met and the absolute euphoria of successfully completing an ambition that I had serious doubt of ever starting.

I then set my sights on the sea and got together the courage to join a tall ship as crew to sail from Fiji to Sydney which, again, created fabulous memories and added to my idea of the impossible becoming possible.

All of these adventures I have self funded. Worked hard and spent the savings on proving that anything is possible and age is just a number.

This time , my challenge is not only to cycle London to Athens on a solo trip but to add a second challenge of raising money for Make a Wish.

I have never been courageous enough to raise sponsorship and I think it may be harder than the challenge itself but I want to make this trip count.  To raise funds for children that may not have the luxury of 40 years to make a dream come true seems to hold a certain synchronicity to my dream that I am setting out to  achieve after such a long span of years.

I know I can't do this on my own. I understand that I need to reach out and ask for help from people that have also had time to achieve their aspirations and ask for support to help sick children achieve their dreams.

We are never too old to set out to recognise our secret ambitions, challenges and opportunities of adventure  and this is a message that I also want to share. It can be scary but the idea is usually scarier than the deed.  If you wish to follow my progress, our progress, if you volunteer to support this endeavour, please follow my blog updates and you can also follow me on twitter on @ItsMandyCarr or instagram @mandyland9.

I am planning to start this ambitious trip early May 2019 and will keep you updated on this page.  If you are following my journey, it would be great if you could come and help me push the pedals along the way.  All messages of support during my trip will also help to motivate every additional mile covered.

Thank you so much in advance for any donations great or small. If you are able to like, share and spread the message this will also be greatly appreciated.

Make-A-Wish UK grant magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions. Granting their wish provides seriously ill children with hope for the future, strength to cope and resilience to fight their condition. They’re given quality time away from the daily realities of living with their condition and given the chance to make magical memories they can treasure forever – whatever their future may hold. We want to transform the lives of 1,000 children this year by granting their One True Wish!