I’m meant to be going to Istanbul on Monday. The plan was to start there and then head into Iraqi Kurdistan. From the look of things that trip is dead in the water and country number 100 remains as elusive as ever.

There is a (slight) upside though. Nick Danziger is stuck in Jerusalem. He’s meant to be giving a talk tomorrow at The Adventurists Tea Party in Notting Hill. If he can’t make it to London I’ve been asked to step into the breach and give a talk about travelling from London to Sydney without flying. Which is kind of appropriate.

I won’t know for sure until about 10 am tomorrow. But if you’ve got nothing to do and you find yourself in London you should pop along. Regardless of whether it’s me or Nick giving the talk, there’s free Windhoek Lager on offer. (After you’ve paid the admission, of course!)

You’ll find more details here >>

Like Julian Poole. He’s putting together some plans for a grand overland adventure that sounds like it’s going to be awesome. Good luck with that Julian.

The nice thing about the TNT Travel Show is that it has a typically relaxed Antipodean vibe. Everyone sits around on the floor chatting with each other. People turn up with their backpacks, getting a bit of last minute info before heading off to the airport. Others pick up a pack of Barbeque Shapes from the Southern Cross Deli and munch on them as they check out the exhibitors.

Speaking of the Southern Cross Deli, that’s a picture from their stall up above. Their prices are a bit steep for my budget – £5.50 for a packet of Fruit Loops, anyone? – but it was nice to see some long lost friends. Hello Mint Slices. Hello white chocolate Tim Tams. See you at Woolies next time I’m back home.

My talk was about Italy and in particular, enjoying the sweet life on the cheap. I promised a few links and here they are:

Goodnight and God Bless – a guide to sleeping in Convents and Monasteries.

Winning Over Italy – Charles Winning’s blog about life in southern Italy.

And Casa Solotti – a great place to stay high in the mountains of central Sardinia.

Ciao!

A hearty thanks as well to Chris and all the guys at Escape Events for inviting me along in the first place.

A number of highlights from the day:

The parking officers trying to figure out where to put the parking ticket on the Dragoman overland truck parked out front. (There’s a pic above)

Chatting to Alastair and Stephen from Oz Bus about their plans for the company. (Keep your eye out for an info evening at Australia House very soon.)

Meeting Geoff Hann from Hinterland Travel. He runs tours to Iraq. Chatting to him shelling out £3,000 to ignore Foreign Office warnings, drive along roads the Americans avoid and skipping on travel insurance because no-one will cover you anyway suddenly makes sense.

Another thing that became abundantly clear is that if I want to get serious about this speaking thing I’ve got to get a sexy appellation to stick after my name. In the program notes and on the boards outside the theatres I was simply listed by name. Everyone else had adventurer, explorer or trailblazer tacked on the end.

And if I really want to walk in these rarefied circles I need to get myself a scarf – a sort of light weight explorer-y kind of one that looks dashing and keeps out the dust during the inevitable Saharan sandstorm that’s only seconds away, even in SW1.

Kind of like the one I saw Benedict Allen wearing when he swished past yesterday.

The first one is on at 11am and sees my holding forth on the topic of using social media as a travel tool. And at 3pm I’ll be regaling those who turn up with tales of my epic journey from london to Sydney – and pointing them towards the work of Kylie Phaup-Stephens who’s in the middle of doing the same trip herself.

You’ll find all the details on my events page here.

I, of course, interpreted that as fate. That’s why you’ll find me wandering the aisles of Bohemian Books this Saturday, August 22, between 9.30 am and noon. If you find yourself in the neighbourhood of 8a Sagar Street (WF10 1AF) feel free to come and say hi.

You’ll find me in the travel section rearranging all my books so the covers are facing out.

I told him this of course. I’ve been rather proud of my ability to see a famous person in almost anyone after spotting the female Bill Murray in Hue, Vietnam many moons ago.

Unfortunately it turned the conversation towards who I looked like. Andy, a long time fan, said Robin Williams. I hoped the rest of the group would howl him down in protest. But they sat sipping their beers and nodding their heads.

Three weeks ago in Cardiff I was told I looked like Morrissey.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of both blokes.

I’d just rather have their talent than their looks.

I’m giving a talk about travelling through Africa at the TNT Travel Show next week.

The talk starts at 2.30 pm and will go for about an hour. I’ll be flogging and signing copies of my books for a fiver after the show and then nipping down to a pub afterwards to drink away at least some of the proceeds.

I’d love it if you could make it along for a pint or two. (And the talk of course – gotta make TNT think they’re getting value for their bottle of wine!)

TNT Travel Show
2.30 p.m.
March 7, 2009

New Connaught Rooms
61-63 Great Queen St,
London, WC2B 5DA

More details: TNT Travel Show

The first one is called Getting Off The Gringo Trail and is about travelling through difficult and challenging destinations. It’s on at 11 am.

The second one is called The Hidden Side of Africa. It’s about getting beyond the game parks and interacting with the locals. It’s on at 4.30 pm, a much more civilised time.

I’m going to need a drink after the last one, so if you’re not into a hurry to get home, you’re more than welcome to join me.

If the last two shows are anything to go by, we’ll probably end up at The Prince of Wales, just up the road.

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I always like doing events in Brisbane. There’s always a good turn out and the crowd (almost) always laugh at my jokes. And my mum always comes down from the Sunshine Coast so I can tell embarrassing stories about her.

Bris-Vegans are also a little less world-weary and cynical than their southern cousins so I don’t feel like I’ve got to keep proving myself all the time.

This event was no different. The guys from the Europa Scooter Club parked their rides out front to give the place a little ‘Italian’ flavour. The local scooter dealer had provided a shiny red LX to display in the window. (I was tempted to do my talk sitting on it but the cable for the mic wouldn’t reach that far.) And I got asked why I slagged off Brisbane in No Shitting in the Toilet. My excuse that the Brisbane Bronco’s had just humiliated my team, the St George Dragons, when I wrote it seemed to placate them.

Anyway, a big thanks to all the staff at Mary Ryan’s at Milton for organising the event and everyone who came along. Thanks as well to Joe from Scooters Scooters for his kind offer of a Vespa to ride while I was up north. (I’ll take you up on that next time I’m in town – better keep one of the new GTV’s ready for me.) Matt Granfield, the man behind this web site, for driving up from the Gold Coast. And James Mackay, a regular contributor to this blog, who I finally got to meet in person.

A special thanks goes to the lady who brought in the most battered copy of Vroom with a View I have ever seen for me to sign. Her dog had chewed it, apparently, and so badly you could stick your finger through the hole. (That’s a picture of it below, taken with my phone.) She did tell me her name, but I was so impressed by the state of the book that I promptly forgot it.

The other picture below is a group shot of some of the guys from the Europa Scooter Club. I had a coffee with them after the gig. In a situation reminiscent of my adventures in Bosa in Vroom by the Sea, one of them had snapped his key off in his lock and was waiting for a mate to come and fix it!

Like Simon Rumble who got me into the A-League match between Sydney FC and the Queensland Roar on a friend’s season ticket. OK, the football was a little ordinary, but the evening was balmy and the beer cold(ish). I even got to see David Beckham. He walked around in a circle in the middle of the pitch with his Galaxy mates to promote their match with Sydney later in the week and disappeared into the night.

Then there was the night at the Espy. That’s me with Caine and Sumire at one of the outside tables above. They travel with Nina Fuentes, a Filipino girl who was in town to visit her sister. I’ve had my photo taken with fans a couple of times, but never with tiny plastic dolls with an attitude. They seem distinctly unimpressed about meeting me.

Nina’s card says she is a backpacker, blogger and babysitter. You can read her work at evilmartian.org and justwandering.org. She was telling me how she plans to travel around her homeland a bit more this year.

It made me reminisce about my own visit to the Philippines ages ago. It’s one of those places that not many people think of going too. Shame, it’s a cool place.

Anyway, better go. More housekeeping tomorrow.