Probably the most inaccurate blog ever

Having actually looked at the route we followed yesterday, it turns out that I'm now in Sigasori - spelling probably also wrong - , Romania, not Hungary as previously posted. Also we went through Slovakia, not Slovenia - which idiot names two countries so similarly?

Early start yesterday, left about 8 and spent the whole day on the road. Arrived about 10 in the evening at the hotel - or sometime like that as we've crossed another timezone, soft matresses were very welcome, as was the warm-ish shower this morning and a bit of room to sort out bags and damp stuff. Crossing the border into Romania a smiley chap came and checked our passports and laughed at a good few of them. Saw the first of many horse drawn carts battling with trucks on the roads and got off the motorways into the slow hilly roads which we crawl up. Friendly Irish/Romanian chap offered to show us the way through a town even though the road signs pointed the right way anyway. Started to wonder if we'd be lead off to a dark track and mugged but 23 of us on 3 of them sounded good odds so wasn't too fussed, after an hour or so they pulled off and waved goodbye so they were nice after all! Rained again on the way in, we seem to be dragging it around with us.

Bright sunshine this morning though, sandals were brought out at last and we strolled up to Vlad Tepes aka Dracula's old house. He was the nice chap who liked to impale his enemies on wooden spikes through the spine so they took about 48 hours to die - lovely. Got given a guided tour around various places by a chap Sam got talking to in the bar last night, went up a clock tower, saw some more instuments of torture - not as good as the Prague ones though - and had lunch for less than 4 quid. Brilliant!

Off for pizza later which should be equally cheap,a few drinks then off to bush camp near Draculas castle tomorrow, hopefully be able to have a campfire out in the middle of nowhere.

Apologies for any smelling pisstakes, this keyboard is possibly the most useless I have ever used. On the plus side there is a rather exciting Russian sounding tune on the stereo at the moment.

One week in...

Have been rubbish at keeping this updated, been too busy exploring various european cities to find Internet cafes.

Have been keeping a logbook but have left that in the truck so I'll see what I can remember...

Been camping all the time, first night in a hotel tomorrow in somewhere beginning with S in Hungary where Dracula lived (or still lives?).

Prague was great, had 3 nights there. Thought it was very tacky and touristy to start with but the second day I wandered off and found some much nicer parts. Went up a tower to see the view, had an ice cream and got lost in the sunshine. Had a flaming absinthe in the evening, I think I can still taste it now...

Long day in the truck yesterday to get into Hungary, (had a McFlurry as we came in!), whizzed through Slovenia which looked much the same as CZ and Hungary really, lots of wind farms. Set tents up in the rain then had a noisy night drinking in the truck and finding out all sorts of gossip from various people... Got up stupidly early this morning to see Budapest - wandered a bit to find some caves/sewers but they were closed so we continued to a thermal baths place and spent 3 or so hours floating about in lovely hot water. 36 degrees was about right, but the best was outside where you could sit in the rain and get battered by hot water jets!

Not got round to sorting any photos out yet so for now have a look at http://odysseyoverland.blogspot.com/ as they've got a few pictures up now. Hopefully I'll have time to sort some out on the truck tomorrow and remember what else we've been up to...

Nous sons ici!

Or should that be Wier sind hier?

Only on day 3 and having a fantastic time - the people I hadn't already met are great, everyone else packed just as much as I had and our first stop in France was to stock up on alcohol! Sun has been shining ever since we left, had an ice cream walking into town this morning, went to a chocolate factory (free samples very much lacking unfortunately) and then sat outside and had pizza (not sure how scarce they'll be later on so making the most of it!). Off to a traditional German place later for food and beer so that should cover todays dose of culture. Hoping to get up the Dom cathedral spire for sunset too.

Food on the truck has so far been brilliant though I have warned people to wait until I start having anything to do with it! Off to Bamberg tomorrow, will update this sometime soon...

Goodbye England...

...Hello World!

Less than an hour to go before I chuck everything in the car and head off. Finished packing at 1 last night and so far don't think I've forgotten anything essential...

Sun is shining so lets hope that keeps all the way to Belgium tonight!

What it's all about

It probably makes sense to outline the plan, so here it is:

25 people, 6 months, 20-or-so countries, 1 big truck called Penelope and a whole lot of adventures/fun/experiences etc. Who knows, I might even "find myself" on the way...

There's more detail on the countries we're visiting on the Odyssey page here which will save me trying to list all the places we're going, as really I should be packing now. 1 more day of work, 2 days of saying goodbye to people, Monday to pack and Tuesday we're off, leaving about lunchtime from Dover.

The exciting first post!

Nah, it's not really...

Having never blogged anything before, we'll have to see how this comes out. Wasn't quite sure what to call it - Overland Rich, Get lost Rich, Truck off Rich, Rich-Goes-All-The-Way-To-Australia-On-A-Great-Big-Truck-Then-To-New-Zealand-Too - so settled for the Super Furry Animals inspired "Rich Around The World". As you can probably tell, I'm not a natural at these things so chances are that will change. Regularly.