So, you’d think a professional writer would do a better job of keeping their website up to date, wouldn’t you?!

Especially as I’ve ticked off 5 letters since my last post (where I miscounted and thought I had 6 left, rather than 7)! That’s right, 2017 turned into the year of travel. 5 countries, 5 new chapters (not all finished, I’ll admit), and plenty of amazing memories. Portugal, Latvia, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Tenerife.

What that also means is that I’m within touching distance of the holy grail – the completion of mine and dad’s quest. I can’t quite believe it. But believe it I must, because in less than 2 weeks, I shall be jetting off to the penultimate destination – Oman.

It’s been far too long since I last wrote here – I guess there are only so many words in me, and I’ve been using them all for the book!

I’ve reached just over 70,000 words now, which feels like another great milestone. That combined with a trip to Portugal to collect the letter P (and eat a lot of custard tarts), and I feel really good about progress.

Now, I do realise that 50,000 words in a year isn’t a hell of a lot in the scheme of things. I could say that I’ve run a business and got a full time job, but there are lots of people who do those things and crack out many more words.

But I still have 6 letters left – 6 more countries I need to visit before I can finish the alphabet. And writing the book helps me keep my travels alive in my head while I dream of finishing. So there’s possibly a little bit of a lack of motivation to finish what I’ve already got.

That said, I only have 3 countries left to write (two already started) before I am done with what I have. That’s an exciting and scary prospect!

I’ve been quiet on here of late because I’ve been hard at work increasing my book’s wordcount.

I’m now up to over 61,000 words, which feels like a lot but I know I still have a long way to go before I finish – especially as I still haven’t finished the travelling I need to do!

I still have a couple of countries to write before I reach the end of the trips I’ve taken so far, and a lot further to go with my 3-month expedition to Australia, but here are some of the sections I’ve written of late:

• Watching whales off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands in Australia before spending the evening stargazing with a Celestial Navigator
• Escaping from cockroaches in Venezuela (ok, it was only one cockroach, but it was huge)
• My dad getting drunk in Menorca and instigating a Pied-Piper Conga situation to the delight of children and irritation of adults
• Unexpectedly swimming with a giant sea turtle in Egypt while out for a quiet snorkel
• Kayaking in the Norwegian Fjords and being surprised by how cold the water was, because sometimes I haven’t got as much common sense as I’d like to think.

Starting this book has given me the opportunity to reminisce with friends and family about some wonderful memories, as well as the chance to reflect on how lucky I am to have seen so much of the world already.

I can’t wait to plan my next trip, but first, back to the keyboard…