The Canadian adventure begins - Servisair No 1 Lounge Heathrow Terminal 3

"In the dawn the land is empty" ...

At least that's Colin Thubron's opening line in 'Shadow of the Silk Road' ...

Mr Thubron has been described by The Sunday Telegraph as  'The pre-eminent travel writer of his generation'.

I'm not even going to attempt to compete with that - but I have decided to re-start the blog concept ... since kicking off in 2009 with India and beyond, much water has passed under the bridge - initially fervent and enthusiastic attempts to record my travels and progress resulted in some lengthy initial posts. Some followed, many didn't ... or so I thought!!

The accidental vagaries of our media-led age revealed that lots of people looked at blogs and posts, but they didn't necessarily make that obvious due to the often tiresome process of registering their interest online.

I completely understand and relate to that - so I'm beginning again.

My job gives me the incredible privilege to visit countries and cultures other than the one that shaped the person I was ... I say was because I don't feel like that person any longer, at least not totally - the travel has radically changed my understanding of the world.

When we're asked to work overseas, that's exactly what we're supposed to do - work! It's not a holiday jaunt, the bottom line has to be the priority, and the bottom line would normally have us arriving a day or two before starting work and returning home to the UK straight after the work is finished.

Completely logical.

So I've learned how to broaden the overseas work experience, and in this case I have the huge advantage of knowing Adrian the Canadrian for almost 8 years now ... he splits his time between Alberta (where he has a house & family connections) Vancouver Island (where he has work to do, and more friends) and Cornwall/Kent (where he has friends, work, family & friends) ...

So the Canadian adventure begins ... a light (complimentary) breakfast in the No1 Servisair Lounge before 1005 flight to Calgary, to be met by Adrian ... a couple of days to chill, then a road trip west through The Rockies, work & play on Vancouver Island, a week of exams in Kelowna BC from May 8th, 2 weeks of exams in Mexico after that (Santillo, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexico City,back to Calgary for more work & play in Alberta, home to blighty mid-June ... watch for posts/pics/blog ...

See you online :)