Organising a trip of this nature is a daunting and time consuming operation, particularly when studying for a degree at the same time. The logistics have been quite a challenge and we really struggled to kn
ow where to begin. Eventually we decided to get our act together and buy a car. The pages of ebay provided hours of entertainment, as we searched for a car within our budget that was actually a runner. We eventually found the perfect vehicle, a 1989 Daihatsu Fourtrak EL diesel – a bit of a boneshaker, but a bargain. On picking up the vehicle (thank you Bob), we found that everything works!! It starts first time, the bodywork could be a lot worse and it even has electric headlight washers and a completely unfathomable and annoying ‘alarm system’ which has since been disconnected.
At the moment the car is sitting on my drive at home in Shropshire, it has been declared ‘off the road’ as it is uninsured and untaxed. The next stage is to get a full service and MOT (which we are quietly confident about). Bob Andrews has taken the role of mechanic and head of technical operations; his help has been invaluable.
With the route decided, we need to organise Visas for the countries outside Europe and to sort out our insurance. Outside Europe purchasing insurance on the borders is the simplest and cheapest option for us, as long as we are let into the country…we are expecting some long and tedious waits for entry.