the plan - as at todays date!

Mar 1st – fly out from Heathrow to Johannesburg, met at airport and taken to Pretoria for a few days with friends
Mar 6/7th – bus to Maputo, plane to Quelimane in Mozambique for about a month there with friends
Around April 12th – head down through Mozambique for some chill out holiday in Swaziland on my own
Around April 18th – head back to Pretoria for more quality time with friends
April 22nd – fly to Windhoek, Namibia for some desert action! Plan to join in with up to 3 camping tours to take in Etosha national park in the north, the Namib Desert in the middle and Fish River Canyon in the south
Around May 13-20th – fly to Sydney hopefully in time to celebrate niece’s 3rd birthday
Spend a few months in Sydney working and maybe renting out somewhere or living with brother
August – my Mum and Dad come to visit and whole family goes up north to holiday in the sun!
September – probably carry on travelling from holiday to see a bit of Oz
October/November – New Zealand visiting friends in Christchurch, seeing the beauties and maybe also some volunteer organic farming action
Nov/Dec – back to Sydney for possibly more work or just family time enjoying Christmas
27th Dec – fly to Bangkok for a few weeks in Thailand hopefully meeting up with a friend in Chiang Mai, maybe fitting in a week’s massage course and maybe hitting the beach
around 20-25th Jan 07 make my way to Sri Lanka to enjoy a couple of weeks touring that beautiful country
February 07 – India to travel around a bit and meet up with lovely Becky
Fly home on February 28th

the progress of a pilgrim

thought it was about time i said a bit about my spiritual journey and how my faith is such a big part of all my anticipation for the year ahead. its strange trying to describe what is so important to me when i know a lot of you reading this may not share this part of my life, but my faith in God is a key part of my life so i reckon you'll be hearing about it from time to time.
the picture is the front of my journal which i have already started writing bits in and hope to continue recording all my inspirations, sorrow, hopes and delights along the way. i've been reading the book pilgrims progress and wondering about the different people and circumstances that lie ahead for me this year. some inklings i have of what may be in store or what i hope will happen are:
that i will learn to forgive
that i will be led by God (a verse in Hosea keeps exciting me - "i am going to allure her; i will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her")
that i will return with more clarity about what my life is going to be all about in the future
that i will learn how to be generous
that i will be a blessing to the people i visit

although i decided to go travelling and have made the plans for this year myself i also believe that a biblical proverb is true that "in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps", so i will be trying to stay open to the possibilities of what God opens my eyes to, what he leads me into, and what he teaches me along the way. by the way, i didn't realise when i booked my flights but i leave on the first day of lent which i reckon is significant.

for me the christian faith is all about journey, about following a way, about adventure, discovery and pilgrimage. i looked up the word pilgrimage and my favourite definition is 'a journey to a place which is considered special' which is definitely what i hope to be doing this year but is also what my whole life is about.

well thanks for reading, if you pray i would welcome prayer that my journey this year does include the things i mention above.
not long now - i set off in just over a week!! still very excited, but also a little concerned about all the upsetting goodbyes that have been going on and will be going on this week. will post a better itinerary here before i go so you all know whats happening in theory!

hopefully highlights to come

well i am just loving life at the moment - lots of lovely people seem to be making extra special efforts to be particularly nice to me so i've had a lot of great times. slight snag is thats making it harder and harder to leave! so i thought i would remind myself what i think my highlights are going to be this year.

1. top spot goes to the beautiful nieces. getting to be auntie hannah for a while has got to be good. isabella hasn't even met me yet and abigail is no doubt a changed girl since i saw her back in christmas 04. i hope to build up enough memories with them to last me a few years.
2. namib dunes - the desert. to wander in such beauty, hopefully alone at times, seems like such a treat. hopefully get some sandboarding in too.
3. meeting hannah - daughter of innocence and alessandra in mozambique. hannah was named after me and i have yet to meet her, so theres another treat in store!
4. india with becs - time with the special miss crow has to be good and in such a vibrant, colourful country that i'll be seeing for the first time, well it can't be bad can it?!
5. less distracted life - the chance to live for a year without a busy diary, without money to go shopping all the time, without a mirror everyday, without so many people to see.. its not all good news but it could be the simple life i have often yearned for, to leave me free to keep my eyes open to whats really important, and enjoy a new freedom with my time.

so thats all for now before i get carried away dreaming of all that is to come. but certainly i know there are some good times ahead. countdown has started - i leave in three weeks tomorrow!!