One More Sleep!

It's only a quick update tonight as I have been pressed for time all day long. There has been so much to do today to make sure that I am ready for the journey but I have been lucky enough to have my brother, Rich, and my friend, Nathan, around to help me. The stroller is now all packed and ready to go and Roman seems happy enough walking in it's presence. The only thing left for me to do now is get a bath and get to bed - I could really do with a good night's sleep before the journey begins.

I have decided that it will be best for Roman to stay behind for a while until his paws are healed enough for him to join me. Nathan will be bringing him down with him when he drives down to Dover to take us over on the ferry. It's going to be really strange to not have Roman around and I reckon it could be a lonely couple of weeks until I see him again. I'm sure he will miss me too - whenever I had to work away he just used to sit by the back door waiting for me to come back!

Whilst I am on my way to Dover Rich and Nathan have agreed to take Roman out on the fields by my house so that he is exercised but without the risk of further abrasion to his paws. They are getting better and the infected areas seem to be scabbing a little more now where as previously they just looked raw all the time. I still feel cruel putting the lampshade thing over his head but at least I know that it is helping.

I can't believe that it's time to leave already. It seemed like it was ages away when I handed my notice in at work - that was almost three months ago now but the time has gone so quickly. The last three months have really flown by and I have really enjoyed the preparation time. I just hope that I am prepared enough for the walk ahead. I'm sure I will be fine but I can't help but think that I have forgotten something. I'm sure I have forgotten loads but I'm sure that I will find my way.

I will be up nice and early tomorrow morning to get ready to head into Chester for the big send off. I never received a return call from Granada Reports so I am not sure whether or not they are coming out. They seemed to be quite positive about it and they originally covered the story a few weeks back so I am hoping that they will be there. I have received a message from somebody from the Chester Evening Leader to say that he will be out to have a chat and take a few photos.

I really don't know what to expect tomorrow morning and I am not really sure what will happen. I suppose it is a chance for me to get together with a few people and say goodbye to them all properly. I'm not sure how it will go but I am sure we will find our way as the morning unfolds.

Anyway, that's about all for tonight and I think my next update will probably not be for a week or so. Wish me luck, I'm sure I'll need it!

Only Two More Sleeps!

Last night ended up being a really late night and we all drank far too much! We must have had about eighty shots between about six of us and that was on top of about ten or twelve pints each! I managed to get up before lunchtime and relaxed for a bit before heading over to a friend’s for a barbecue. The weather has been brilliant here today so it has been a good chance to get accustomed to being in the sun all day.

Tonight I am going to be pretty busy again. It was my step mum’s birthday the other day so we are off out for a meal this evening before I head off into town again for drinks with a few of my other friends. It’s quite likely that it will be another late night and I am not looking forward to the potential hangover tomorrow – I have felt alright all day but I am sure it will catch up with me tomorrow!

I am sure tonight will be really good as I am off out with a friend from Cardiff, Sophie, who I don’t get to see very often. She is an absolute scream and we always have a laugh when we get together. It’s nice that she has managed to come up to Chester before I leave as I will not see her now for quite a while! I have told everybody I know that they are more than welcome to visit us when we have settled in Rome.

Roman has had me in hysterics for the past couple of days. The vet gave us a lampshade type thing to put over his head to stop him licking and chewing at his paws when I am not around. When I first put it on he seemed a little freaked out by it and just stood still as if he was frozen. I couldn’t get him to move for ages and I am sure he was wondering where his body had gone!

He seemed a little bewildered for quite a while but, eventually, he seemed to settle. He still doesn’t seem totally happy about it but at least he is not completely freaked out by it now. At first he wouldn’t even sit down let alone lie down and when I went out I could see through the blinds that he was still stood exactly where I had left him! I got my brother, Rich, to pop round a few times during the evening to check on him and let him out to the toilet. Apparently he was still a little unsure of it but it has certainly calmed him down somewhat!

His paws are starting to look a little better but I am pretty sure he will not be able to start the walk with me. Instead I think he will have to join up with me either after a few days or at Dover when Nathan comes down to take us over on the ferry. It’s a big blow for me as he’s like my shadow most of the time. He is with me most of the time so it will be really strange to be without him for a while. Still, I would much rather have his paws completely healed so that this sort of thing won’t happen again on the way to Rome.

What A Horrible Day!

Today has been such a frustrating day for me and I feel like I have managed to achieve absolutely nothing at all. I noticed last night that Roman’s dreaded limp had come back a little so had decided against an early morning walk. When I checked his paw this morning I thought it had got a lot better, only to realise I was looking at the wrong paw! Now both paws seem to be affected! I took him to the vets this morning to get it checked out.

The vet has prescribed some new antibiotics for him and given me a new cream to apply twice a day. He has stressed that I need to make sure Roman is not licking his paw constantly as this can be a way of allowing infections in. As a result, he has given us a lampshade type thing to put on his head – he is going to hate me for putting it on him but he needs to get better. I just hope the new course of medication works better for him than the last lot.

The vet reckons he may need up to a week of rest and this could be a real spanner in the works. We are set to leave on Monday morning, only a couple of days away. I am going to give him total rest for a couple of days and see how his paws are but I have looked into alternative arrangements in case it hasn’t healed sufficiently by Monday. I am hoping that it will be much better but I don’t want to take any chances as it could really hinder us if it is not allowed to heal properly.

I can’t believe the timing of it but I suppose it is best to get it sorted now than for it to happen half way through France without the same support network around us. I have spoken to my ex girlfriend and she has agreed to look after Roman, if need be, for a week or so and he can be driven down to meet me somewhere en route once his paw has healed enough. It could well mean that I have to walk to Dover alone.

I’m really gutted about this prospect and, if it works out this way, I know I will really miss him. I will have to talk to myself for a change rather than to him! I really hope that this new medication works quickly though so, hopefully, it may only mean a day or two delay before he can join me. I’m lucky enough to have really good friends and they have already offered to drive him down to me whenever he is ready to go.

My ex girlfriend brought some papers around yesterday to be signed regarding the house but I was not satisfied that what I was signing actually said what I had agreed to so I asked for it to be amended. Her solicitor is in Manchester so we had to go all the way up there to sort it out. The round trip ended up taking about three hours as she got the wrong postcode so we went to the wrong place originally! To be honest, it is something I could really have done without at this point – I am already so busy I really don’t have much spare time.

I changed £1,000 into Euros today and this was another disappointment. When I first started looking last week I could have got a rate of about 1.165 but I could only get 1.133 today. It’s just typical of the luck I have been having of late but I had to get it changed today while I was there as I am quickly running out of time. I meant to pick up a muzzle from a pet shop in town today also but it totally slipped my mind so I just hope they still have it in the morning.

I am off out tonight with the lads from football for a send off party so I may be a little hungover tomorrow. Still, no rest for the wicked – I have another million and one things to do tomorrow. Hangovers are for weaklings!

So Much To Do, So Little Time!

It’s been another pretty hectic day today really. I managed to get up even earlier this morning and was out of bed by about 7.30am – not quite what I would like it to be but it’s certainly another step in the right direction! Nathan is going to ring me at 5.30am tomorrow to get me up as I have another really busy day planned. I will be taking Roman out early and then have loads of things to do in the morning before getting more walks in followed by a night out with the lads.

Once I was up this morning I took Roman for a five mile walk and we were home just after 10am. My younger brother, Jamie, stayed last night so once I had woken him up and sent him to the shop I sorted us some breakfast before heading off into Chester on a publicity drive. I went armed with a bag full of posters with the sole aim of getting as much publicity as I could.

After being told in the first five or ten establishments that they didn’t put posters up in the window but would put it in the staff room I decided to start targeting the bigger companies. My original aim was to try places like pubs and cafes with the idea that they would be busy places with a wide target audience. Unfortunately, there would only be five or ten staff likely to see the posters in places like this so I changed my tactics.

I must have visited about fifty shops once all this had dawned on with the sole aim of getting them to put the poster up in their staff room. The shops ranged from supermarkets like Tesco and Marks and Spencers to clothes shops like Next, FCUK and Tessuti. My bag was certainly a lot lighter by the end of the afternoon when I headed off home and I calculated that if each shop had, on average, forty employees, then I was potentially hitting up to two thousand different people!

Some of the people I spoke to actually knew about me already. Some had seen me in the papers and some had seen me on Granada Reports. It is nice to be recognised and it’s a real conversation starter with some people. I must say I actually enjoyed doing it and it was nice to speak to so many different people in one day. I’m not normally the type to approach people in shops so it was definitely a change from the norm for me.

The goods arrived from Vango this afternoon too – I got a pop up tent, sleeping bag, self inflating sleeping mat and a top notch ruck sack. I’m really happy with the help that they have provided and the way in which they dealt with me. I really got the feeling that they wanted to help and that I wasn’t just an inconvenience. I will be putting the tent up tomorrow at my brother’s house so that I can get Roman used to going in a tent – it will be the first encounter he has ever had with one but he will have to get used to it quickly!

I really can’t wait to get started now and I am becoming more and more excited about it with every passing day. I’ll admit to feeling a little nervous too but only about the change my life is about to undertake. I am still nervous about exactly what I will do when I get there but am convinced that an intelligent person with ambition, drive and determination will succeed anywhere they go – I certainly hope that this is the case!

Day Fourteen

Our last day on English soil will again be a chance for myself and Roman to recuperate and try and update my blog, as well as doing some laundry if needed. I don’t know whether there is much to do in Dover – I will be checking this out in the coming days – but I am sure I will find a way to while away the time! My friend, Nathan, is going to get us on the ferry as I cannot take Roman on as a foot passenger due to his size so we will just be waiting for him to arrive really.

The ferry ticket is booked for 7pm so we will need to board at around 5.30pm as the check in closes at 6pm if you are carrying pets on board. Hopefully Nathan will arrive into Dover mid afternoon and we will have the chance to get something to eat, if not we will eat on the ferry. I believe the trip will take about an hour and a half but, due to time zones, it will be 9.30pm when we arrive in Calais. As a result we will have to find somewhere pretty sharpish to camp for the night!

Another Busy Day!

I managed to get up at about 8.30am today which was pretty good as I had a terrible night of sleep. It was one of those nights when, no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get to sleep. It must have been about 2am by the time I finally dropped off. To make matters worse I kept waking up throughout the night! My mate rang me at 6am to wake me up but I fell back asleep for a couple of hours. I am hoping I will have a lot more success sleeping tonight as it has been a very busy day and I am feeling pretty knackered now!

Once I had got up and replied to a few emails I decided to walk to where my dad works to see if I could sell some DVDs. It’s just over 4 miles away from where I live and we did about 5 miles on the way back. I didn’t put his boots on him for this walk but have been out again tonight with him wearing them. We stopped for a brew with my dad and managed to sell a fair few DVDs. Every little helps, as Tesco say!

I wasn’t in the house for long before I was off out again. I had to get my mum a birthday present so had to go into Chester to do that – for those who don’t know I have 2 mums, a little confusing sometimes when I am trying to explain stuff but that’s just how it is! While I was in town I decided to get some things that I will need when we set off on Monday. Right at the top of the list – and usually right at the bottom from past experiences – was sun cream. I got a selection of factors so that I will be able to adapt depending on the weather. I picked up a few other things too including toiletries and lots of batteries for my camera!

I must have walked about 6 or 7 miles by the time I walked into Chester, around the city and then back home so I was already up to about 15 or 16 miles for the day. When I got in I fed Roman and then, half an hour later, we had to go out again – as it was my mum’s birthday today I had been invited up there to eat. In total I think Roman has done about 11 miles walking today and I have done close to 20 miles.

Tomorrow I am determined to get up early and get a couple of walks done before noon so that the schedule is not quite so intense. I have felt like I have been in a rush all day and I always think that you are less productive at these times. It’s nice to be able to think about things properly and I find I forget less that way. One thing I almost forgot today was to ring DEFRA to see if Roman needed a health check before we boarded the ferry. I rang them at about 5.30pm and they told me that they have no requirements for that; the passport is sufficient.

As I was sure I had read somewhere about a health check I decided to ring P&O Ferries just to make sure that they had no additional requirements for Roman. As it was, the only thing they insist upon is that we board earlier than usual. This is no problem to us and I am now happy that everything is definitely ok on that side. It would be tragic if we had got to Dover and been refused board for whatever reason!

I have also been communicating with Holly from Vango today and she has advised me that my stuff has now been sent out so I should receive all of that either tomorrow or Friday. I can’t wait to put the tent up and introduce Roman to it! I am sure it will be a bit of an alien concept at first but he seems to adapt to most situations pretty quickly so I am hopeful that he will have no issues. I will let you know on that!

I received a message on Twitter last night enquiring about what I will be doing about food on our journey so I promised to divulge in tonight’s post. The plan regarding food is to pretty much pick it up as we go along. I am hoping to find pub type places along the way for evening meals and it would be great If we could stumble upon some supermarkets to pick stuff up for each day. Ideally, I would like to pick up four or five ready made pasta meals to consume during the day – I will need a lot more than normal given the high exercise levels. I will also be taking some whey protein powder with me to be mixed with water as I want to be safe in the knowledge that I am covered for all of my protein needs if I can’t find something substantial in the evening.

Days Twelve and Thirteen

If everything has gone strictly to plan by this point, which I am sure that it will have done, then we will be enjoying a much needed day of rest on our twelfth day. I will use this as an opportunity to do some (probably much needed) washing and also to locate an internet café to be able to update the blog. It will be nice to relax for a day and I am sure that we will feel much better for it!

Our thirteenth day will see us depart Canterbury and head for Dover. The walk is only (I say only but it’s still far!) about 15 miles so we should be able to do this fairly quickly and arrive reasonably early, probably mid to late afternoon. Again, I may use this as an opportunity to update my blog – I am sure there will be a lot of pictures by this stage so it may be easier to spread it over a couple of days.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Today has been a pretty busy day for Roman and I. The first thing on my list of things to do was to return the tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat to Great Outdoors. Vango had not been able to get hold of their rep so I asked Holly to give the store a quick ring to explain what had happened. They were fine with it but, rather than get a refund, I decided to get an exchange – they had been good enough to agree to everything so I thought the least I could do was actually put the money back into the store.

I had been thinking for the past few days about walking boots or trainers. I have a cheap pair of walking trainers that would be fine for back up but I felt I needed some good quality ones that provide decent ankle support and are also fully waterproof. Another of the things I had on my shopping list were some decent socks – I have plenty of thin cotton socks I can use as lining socks but didn’t have any decent walking socks (not socks that walk, obviously!)

The lady that Holly had spoken to on the phone, Sandy, was really good and managed to help me out with everything I needed. After trying a few different trainers and boots on I decided to opt for a pair of Merrell boots. The boots in question are Gore-Tex so will not only keep my feet dry but also allow them to breath. They were deceptively comfortable for walking boots and cost just £90 – a small price if they don’t cut my feet to pieces!

I also asked Sandy about socks – I don’t know about you but I know very little about the technical details of such things. She recommended a couple of different types but said the ones that she would go for if she were buying them would be the X Socks. I must say, they are also pretty comfortable – they have padding in all the right places and are also breathable. They were £12.99 a pair so I picked up 4 pairs of them.

Holly also said that Vango would be happy to give me more stuff so recommended that I go on the website and take a look at their range. They said I could pick a different tent if I felt another would be more suitable. I decided to stick with the one I had picked – although it is fairly bulky it also gives the benefit of lots of space for Roman, me and all of our stuff!

I decided to ask for a few more things but didn’t want to be too extravagant. I chose a rucksack that would be able to carry a fair amount of stuff – although all of our stuff will be kept in the stroller it would be good to be able to split clothes and electricals from the rest of the stuff in there. I also chose a chair and a self inflating pillow – I hadn’t even thought about that until I spotted it. Holly said that this would be no problem and should be sending the stuff first thing tomorrow morning. I think I should get it just in the nick of time!

Vango have really been brilliant with me and I am very grateful for all the help they have provided. Most companies have refused to help altogether but Vango have gone out of their way to provide me with as much support as they can. I’d like to take the opportunity to publicly thank them for their support and also to thank Holly who has been excellent throughout.

This afternoon I took Roman to the vets to have a general health check before we leave. Everything, as presumed, is fine with him and we now have the all clear for our trip. It was pretty hot today here so it was a good opportunity to see how he coped with that. He did pretty well really. In total we walked around seven or eight miles by the time we made it to my dad’s afterwards and he was ready to go again within about half an hour!

I had read on the DEFRA site that Roman would need a health check prior to leaving so had booked in at the vets but they think he may need to have one within a certain number of hours of the trip. I will be ringing DEFRA tomorrow to see what their stance is on this. If he does need one just before we board the ferry then I will have to locate a vet in Dover but this will not be a problem as I had already decided to factor in a rest day in Dover – lucky really!

My dad has managed to print a few hundred posters out for me today so tomorrow will also see me going around local businesses in Chester trying to gain support and get our posters put up in as many places as possible. I hope we get well received, I’m sure we will be by local businesses though. I am also going to see about getting some cards printed up, kind of like business cards. I am sure I will be stopped along the way by many people and it would be handy to be able to give them a card with my blog address on.

Roman had his first proper walk in his new boots today and, after the initial bewilderment, it seemed to go pretty well. After about a mile he seemed to be used to them and they didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. I love that about Roman – he adapts to new situations so well! I am going to try walking him with the stroller tomorrow so that he can get used to its presence.

I managed to speak with my friend from Nuneaton on Facebook last night and it seems that he may be able to put us up for the evening. I am quite excited about seeing him again – we met in Tunisia on a holiday a few years back and always intended to meet up for a drink but it never happened. It will be a good opportunity to have a few beers together and catch up. If you’re reading, thanks Brad!

Day Eleven

Our eleventh consecutive day of walking will take us from Newington to Canterbury. We will be passing through Sittingbourne and Faversham along the way before I journey takes us rural once more. There will probably be about 8 miles of rural walking and this will make a nice change after a couple of days of urban walking.

The trip from Newington to Canterbury is about 21 miles in total and I am hoping to arrive in Canterbury by late afternoon. I have decided to take the first of our rest days here as it is said to be a very interesting place with much to see. Although it is a rest day I am sure we will still do a fair amount of walking!

I was hoping to meet up with a guy I have mentioned before in here called Benedict Protheroe. He walked from Canterbury to Rome last year. I spoke to him earlier on the phone and, unfortunately, he is off to Canada next week for 9 weeks working. Instead, I will look to locate a launderette and an internet café so that I can do some washing and update my blog!

It's Starting To Come Together Now - Good Thing Really!

I have been out walking with Roman today a couple of times without his boots on just to try and take the edge off his enthusiasm a little before I try him with the boots on a proper walk! I will be getting up early tomorrow to take him for a 5 mile walk and, after about an hour’s rest, will be taking him out for another 5 miles but this time with the boots to see how he gets on with them. I don’t want to just put him in them constantly right now but it is important that he gets used to them. I am sure that after a couple of walks he will forget he had never used them before anyway.

I got an email back from Holly at Vango today to say that she had not managed to get hold of the relevant people but had checked in the Vango warehouse stock and they have the items I bought in stock anyway. She has said that if I return the items then she will send replacements as soon as she has confirmation I have been able to return them I will be doing this, hopefully, after Roman’s first walk so it will be done pretty early.

I’m really happy that Vango have decided to help me with this. Obviously, a saving of £141 for me is brilliant as it will mean we have that little bit more money to go with. It’s nice to know, though, that there are companies out there that are happy to help with things like this. All too often I have been met with the “we have already selected our charities for the year in our budget” script that companies put together to be able to fob people off with. It’s frustrating, to say the least, but at least I have managed to find a few companies to help out.

I am currently trying to sell some of my things before I leave to help out with my funds and have today managed to sell one of my televisions. I’m a bit gutted on the one hand as I paid about £400 only six months ago for it but I am also pleased that I have managed to get £270 for the television and a stand as, again, it will help greatly with my funds. I still have a couple of televisions to sell but am pretty hopeful that I should be able to shift them. If anyone is in need of a new television then give me a shout as I don’t have a definite buyer for one of them yet.

I am also trying to sell my DVD collection – again this is a little gutting as I had built a decent collection up and I am only getting £2 or £3 each for the majority of them but if I can sell 100 DVDs then that’s another £200 - £300 towards the kitty. This week is about maximising my opportunities to get myself a decent fund to go with. A few family members have also decided that they want to give me a little something to help me out. I had not asked but it will be very gratefully received and I am sure that it will be very helpful along the way!

I have tried calling Jennie at the Rottweiler Welfare Association again today to see what is happening with Just Giving. It’s really frustrating to not be able to collect for them yet but I will keep on plugging away and hopefully we will get the resolution we want before I depart. If not then I will just have to set it up on the way, the only problem is I don’t think I will be having a rest day until the 28^th August. I couldn’t get a reply off Jennie’s number so I will try again tomorrow; I did leave a message but have not had a return call.

I also tried to get in touch with Simon again today – the guy who was trying to get my story into a national newspaper. I have been trying for the last few days as I was expecting some developments in the early part of last week but it keeps diverting to answerphone without even ringing. I will keep trying and hopefully get hold of him some time this week.

I have set up an event on Facebook today to try and get people to attend my big send off from Chester Town Hall. I have been in touch with Granada Reports again today and am hopeful that they will be able to send somebody out to film so it’s important for me to try and get a crowd together and create a bit of atmosphere. It will also be nice to get the opportunity to see my friends and family one last time before I leave.

The bicycle trailer / stroller arrived today and it’s pretty cool. It didn’t take me long to put together – it was quite straightforward. Like a typical bloke, I paid no regard for the instructions (or destructions as I like to call them!) and just ploughed ahead with building it. Predictably, I got a couple of things wrong but it all came together quite nicely within about 20 minutes once I had seen where I had gone wrong. I think I will have to reinforce the bottom a little but, other than that, it looks perfect for the task.

Day Ten

Our tenth day of walking will see us depart Dartford nice and early and start on our trek to a place called Newington. The distance we cover should be around 22 miles in total so it will not be quite intensive as the previous couple of days. The way I have planned this out means that I can have a couple of rest days before getting into France so I am quite happy with that. Also, if we get delayed anywhere for any reason then I know we have plenty of time to play with.

The day’s walking will take us through a few places I have heard of, although I have never been to any. There will be Northfleet and Gravesend – for the football fans you may be familiar with a club that used to be called Gravesend and Northfleet that is now called Ebbsfleet United and was the subject of a takeover recently where members on a website all bought an equal stake in the club. If I get close by then I will get a picture of the stadium!

Other towns along the way will include Rochester, Chatham and Rainham. This will be our second day of walking through mainly built up areas and I am sure that it will be a nice change for a couple of days after so many days of isolated walking with little human contact other than people driving by!