Although in this day and age we are just as likely to get mugged in London as we are in Lima, the fact is we’ll be travelling through some desperately poor countries where our appearance alone will present us as wealthy, affluent foreigners (despite us probably looking more effluent than affluent). We’ve prepared ourselves as well as we can in terms of security of our possessions but our personal safety is also a prime consideration. Avoidance is always key; don’t wander in dodgy parts of towns and cities alone late at night, don’t display valuables, be careful at ATM machines etc.
However, even with preventative measures in place, there is still a risk there that can’t be ignored and to help us be prepared for this extreme scenario we enlisted the help of Trevor Leech and Sean Murphy of Jujitsu Guernsey. Trevor and Sean are a 5th and 4th Dan respectively, with over 55 year’s joint experience in Jujitsu, a Japanese art of weapon less fighting. They are affiliated with the United Martial Arts International Guild and World Budo Kai. With limited time, they taught us the fundamental basics of responding to a personal attack. The focus was on breaking free from the hold of an assailant to allow us to run away fast from any potentially threatening situation. They taught us that an attacker never expects their victim to react in a fast, targeted manner so with this element of surprise you are already altering the balance of control. Self defence is about moving in such a way that makes it difficult for an attacker to maintain their grip or hold on you, in addition to possibly striking a sensitive part of their body. No matter what the size or strength of an aggressor, you can cause sudden pain by striking their nose, eyes or groin. If grabbed from behind, a sharp slide down the shin with your heel in addition to stamping on their foot will cause enough pain for them to loosen or release their hold on you, providing an opportunity for escape. Even if pinned down on the ground with your hands held tight either side of your head, a fast ‘snow angel’ downwards movement of your arms shifts the assailant’s centre of balance forwards allowing you to knee them forwards and momentarily incapacitate them. Although the focus is not on fighting, we did practice punching effectively (ie not like a girl with your thumb inside your fist). We were both told we pack a mean punch! We are enormously grateful to Trevor and Sean who freely gave their time to demonstrate and educate us in some basic self-defence. We plan to practice these techniques regularly so the response becomes second nature. The bottom line is that is someone wants your wallet or your camera and they're pointing a gun or a knife at you, you give it to them. No question. This knowledge is absolutely for the worst case scenario but should it arise we will be equipped with the vital skills. If the ‘bear hug’ from behind is from an actual bear let’s hope the same moves apply! Emma
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The car modifications are coming on great and Bee-Bee is really starting to look like she’s ready to drive around the world. One area that is problematic with the Hilux Surf is the fact that it doesn’t have any roof gutters or rails thus making it challenging to fix any kind of roof rack onto the vehicle. Once I had pulled the roof lining out we had a better idea of how we were going to solve the problem. Initially we had plans for a grand full length overlanding safari style roof rock, the plans of which you can see below. I took the plans to several local metal workshops and waited patiently for them to get back to me with quotes. Like many companies we’ve encountered most didn’t bother to reply at all and some needed serious chasing whilst one or two came through with the goods straight away. The quotes for the rack varied ridiculously from £600 right up to £2900. Unfortunately the company who quoted £600 could not carry the work out for another month. It was at this point that we decided to take a new approach to our problem and contacted Norman Logic. We decided that we’d go with a more simple approach to fixing our roof tent to Bee-Bee. Matt Norman suggested we made up two simple roof bars that would be fixed directly through the roof into the internal cross members of the vehicle. The roof bars would also be joined together in the middle with one cross brace to offer rigidity and to stop any twisting that might happen. The base plates have a threaded bar that fits through the roof and is bolted up from underneath. This new approach meant that we’d save a fair amount of weight on materials but would lose some valuable storage space. We wanted the tent to sit as low as possible so that the vehicle isn’t too top heavy; Matt carried out some complex measuring and a couple of days later we had a rack on Bee-Bee. The bars fit perfectly and Matt did a grand job of making sure everything is water tight. The roof doesn't flex at all with the rack and tent in place and loaded with two fully grown adventurers. The rack also has brackets on either side allowing us to switch which side of the car we place the awning. The brackets also act as security stoppers in case the tent comes loose and slides sideways on the roof bars. Overall Matt Norman at Norman Logic did an amazing job, the welding is nice and neat and the whole project was well thought out and executed perfectly. We can't thank and recommend him enough.
Andy Someone once told me I was a quitter, well today I quit my job and it feels great. With quitting my job comes the realisation that what we have been planning for the last year and a half is finally coming to fruition: in just 43 days Emma and I will embark on our adventure of a lifetime. It is glaringly apparent that we still have a lot of work to do; the lists are longer than ever and every woken minute is spent thinking about the trip. For me the planning and preparation are half the experience and I have loved every minute of it. Now that both our work places know we are leaving we can seriously step up our promotional media and hopefully get some last minute local sponsorship; although I’m not holding out much hope. Of the 150+ local companies we approached only 4 had the courtesy to even reply with an answer (incidentally all said ‘No’). If anyone is interested in sponsoring us, you can download our local sponsorship pack below. Andy
This weekend saw much progress in our logistics and packing. Our equipment acquired until now was packed into our new ‘Wolf Boxes’ to get an idea of how much (or how little) space we still have and how everything will fit into the back of Bee-Bee in some kind of ‘Toyota Tetris’. We have identified all the equipment items that we still need to source and purchase (the lists and spreadsheets detailing this reach new anally-retentive organisational highs). The interior of the back has been carpeted; it took Andy several hours which may have been a result of the super potent epoxy he was using (he looked a little dazed afterwards). The storage drawers are securely fixed and the fridge mounted on a sliding shelf from the rear. We have spent our first night sleeping in the roof tent... OK, it was only parked on the drive and we had to go to work in the morning but it got the expedition butterflies fluttering...
Emma There are few monumentous milestones in our lives; our first words, our first steps, first day at school, first time we ride a bike, first kiss, our first car, first day in a new job... For round-the-world adventurers those first shaky steps up a ladder into what will be our home for 2 years, 2 months and 9 days will always be treasured.
Our roof tent was surprisingly easy to set up; two clips at the front and one at the back and it ascends into position on hydraulic arms. Inside is surprisingly Tardis-like; we can sit fully upright and have around the same space as a double bed. The tent comes complete with a comfortable mattress and pillows and is roomy enough when closed to store a duvet and sleeping bags. There is a built-in light in the ceiling and various fabric pockets and an overhead cargo net to store essentials. This really can be a room with a view (or several)... 3 of the sides have doors which roll up completely and the front end has a semi-circular window. For those hot, tropical nights, each opening has a mosquito netting flap which can be zipped up to fend off blood-sucking invertebrates. Although our test-run was on the cliff top at the southern point of Guernsey, lying there we could imagine gazing out across snow-capped mountains, palm-fringed beaches and tranquil lakeside’s. For our global journey, this is Home Sweet Home. Emma Over the last couple of weeks we have been really busy working on and ordering things for our adventure. It’s been exceptionally exciting to return home after a drab day at work to discover huge parcels containing adventure goodies.
Our home for the next two years has arrived, our roof tent of choice is a Maggiolina Airtop; this should offer enough protection from the elements whilst still being practical enough for daily use. Our possessions inside the car will be equally protected inside Flatdog Wolf Boxes; which are a great cheaper alternative to the many more expensive boxes that are available. We have also purchased our new wheels and tyres; we have chosen to replace the impractical, but incredibly cool looking 33 x 12.5 fatties on alloy rims with more sensible 265/70 R16 BF Goodrich A/T’s on steel rims. These new tyres have a much stronger sidewall and can handle all the extra weight we will be carrying. This size tyre is also readily available anywhere around the world whilst the 33 x 12.5’s are tough to come by. Our food and drinks will be nicely chilled inside our Waeco CF-40 fridge freezer whilst the Coleman Duel Fuel stove takes care of the other end of the temperature spectrum. The car will also be fitted with a Bushranger hot water shower, so we can keep nice and clean(ish), that we purchased from the lovely people at Taubenreuther. All our auxiliary electrical goodies are going to be powered by an Odyssey PC1500 battery, which provides a unique combination of deep-cycle and high-current performance. This ‘house’ battery is isolated from the car batteries leaving the fridge, camp lights to run all night without flattening the starter batteries; It can also act as a jumper battery if the starter batteries fail. We have slowly been buying various ‘soft’ items too, clothing, sleeping bags, bedding etc. We have been well impressed with the quality of Berghaus clothing and are totally loving our –10 °C sleeping bags; although judging by the weather in the UK this week we might need a few blankets too. Andy Most 'young?' people, when their parents/in-laws go away on holiday for a month would be breaking out the sound system and advertising 28 days of non-stop parties. Not us loser travel-type geeks... we have transformed the lounge into 'Adventure Planning HQ'. Over the next 4 weeks we want to engross ourselves in full-on research and start amalgamating facts and info that we have accrued over the last 16 months (has it been that long?). We pillaged Guernsey Library of all its Lonely Planet guidebooks, brought our computers downstairs, stocked up the fridge hibernation style and banned all television. 800 days has officially moved up a gear and is gaining momentum...
Emma For the last couple of months there has been a bit of a lull in the car preparation whilst we concentrated on other areas of our trip planning; this is all about to change.
The spare bedroom at my parents house is already full of car part boxes and over the coming weeks they are going to multiply like little cardboard rabbits. We have our work cut-out as we use the car on a daily basis, but we have formed a plan and it seems like a good one. Before we go into that, A WORD OF WARNING; from this point onwards this blog post becomes very techy and probably quite dull unless you have a keen interest in car cooling systems and roof racks. Phase One: The Roof Rack After spending countless hours on the internet downloading every interesting picture (they do exist) of an expedition roof rack I have come to a final decision on what will work best for us. The main problem with our car selection is the lack of roof gutters or roof rails. Essentially our little Bee-Bee has nothing to fit a roof rack too. After seeing the prices of expedition roof racks coupled with the lack of fixings I came to the conclusion that it would be better for us to get something custom fabricated. Custom normally equals expensive; enter Paul Bromley. Emma met Paul through her current job and had mentioned to him about our trip. Paul owns and runs a garage (Les Landes Garage) and knows a stack of people with all the expertise we need. After a chat with Paul we have arranged a ‘sponsorship in kind’ kinda deal with him. I’m keen to do as much work on the car as possible, but as winter is fast approaching I don’t really fancy working on our driveway in the pouring rain. Paul has agreed that we can do work in his garage and has offered up his expertise (which I will definitely need) at a discounted rate. He has also agreed to build us our roof rack for free. In return we will promote his garage and he will become one of our support partners. Paul is a genuinely nice guy and has a wealth of knowledge on anything practical; I can’t wait to get cracking and learn as much as possible from him. Phase Two: The Cooling System Over the last 8 months I have learnt an incredible amount about how our beloved 17 yr old Surf works. Out of all the mechanical areas of the vehicle that are going to need upgrading for such a trip, the cooling system is one area that needs the most attention to ease my mind. We are planning on visiting some hot countries and with a fully laden vehicle this can seriously put a strain on what is typically an engine that runs hot. The 1KZ-TE engine is notorious for boiling over and this can lead to burst radiators, split pipes and the worst-case scenario, a cracked head. The hot engine coupled to what is generally regarded a pretty useless temperature gauge is a recipe for disaster. After much research on the Hilux Surf forum, I have put together a plan which will safeguard our engine from blowing its top. Before I do anything else, I’m going to fit an auxiliary digital water temp gauge and sender just to check what temperature the engine is running at the moment. This should give me a good idea of how successful my mods are. I will be keeping the original gauge and sender working as a back-up (not that it ever moves from halfway). Next on the list is to fit the Kenlowe extractor fan on the bonnet, somewhere at the back with the vent facing the windscreen. This should improve the airflow through the engine bay and radiator no end. Apparently these fans can lower the engine bay temp up to 12 degrees, and with a black car in sunny climates that should certainly help keep all the temps down. We’ll check how effective it is once the digital temperature gauge is installed. In colder climates the fan should cunningly help de-ice the windscreen. One of the major design flaws in the radiator on the automatic models is that the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) cooler is based in the lower half of the radiator. When under strain the gearbox oil can heat up excessively, the hot oil from the gearbox is then pumped through the bottom half of the rad. Instead of cooling, this can act like a heat exchanger and warm up what should be cool water in the radiator before pumping it back into the engine. Literally not cool! As the vehicle is 17 yrs old and not knowing the full history of it I’m going to fit a new replacement radiator from Milners to ease my mind, at £115 this could be a saving grace. Whilst I’ve got the front end in bits, I’m going to stick an additional ATF cooler in, I’m planning on sticking this inline before the radiator so the oil is cooled before it enters the radiator for extra cooling. This additional cooler will not only help keep the temperature of the gearbox oil down (essential with a fully loaded car) but will also help prevent the gear box oil boiling up the water/coolant. My final cooling system modification is a very simple but effective one. The fan on these vehicles is of the viscous type. This means that is has an oil operated clutch in it. When the engine heats up, the oil changes consistency and the fan starts to grip more and turn faster. Over time the oil can slowly leak out and make the fan less effective. The oil in the fan can be replaced with a different consistency making it kick in slightly earlier cooling the engine more effectively. With the front end looking so bare, it seems that now would be a good time to install a new tubular winch bumper. The winch bumper obviously facilitates the option of fitting a winch, but also reinforces the front end should we every encounter a deer, kangaroo or Indian truck driver. After much internet hunting that generally led to dead ends I have managed to hunt down a man fittingly named Monster Truck Man (or MTM to his Hilux Pick-Up Owners Club forum buddies) who can make us one for our model of car that costs much less than the U.S versions I found so easily. Once all these modifications are done I will be happy that our beloved Bee-Bee engine will be suitably prepared for our trip. Andy It is important to both Andy and I that we are not merely tourists on a whistle-stop tour within each country we visit. We want to experience what life in each country is really like; laugh with local people, stuff ourselves with regional foods, get drunk on foreign boozes, become lost in wilderness realms and stumble upon indigenous wildlife. On the same note, we are conscious of it being a one-way arrangement; all take and no give. For this reason, we have decided to team up and work with a few local non-governmental organisations in several of the countries on our 800 days itinerary. Our trip is already a low-cost endeavour so unfortunately any financial support for these charity organisations would be minimal. What we can offer however, is our time and extensive knowledge (well, we have plenty of time). We are willing to help wherever needed and are focusing on community based educational, social and environmental projects. We are hoping to arrange running educational courses or groups in our area or expertise. For myself, I will run short courses on local environment and wildlife (collecting bugs, measuring plants, identifying birds). Andy will run art workshops which could include drawing, painting, textiles, photography, woodwork and sculpture.
We have recently confirmed our first 800 days local project partnership with Emmanuel Children’s Home in Kerala, Southern India http://www.emmanuelchildrenshome.com/ . This project was established in 2000 with 12 children; the home now has 160 residents including orphaned children, vulnerable young women, boys and girls from extremely impoverished single parent families and youngsters with physical disabilities. The home provides shelter, food, education and security for poor and disadvantaged kids irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social and financial status. Children who come from distressed or broken homes are provided with special care for their physical, mental and emotional health, nutritional, developmental and educational needs. We are looking forward to spending at least a month with all of our 800 days local partners and being able to give a little bit back. Emma A question that has been put to us on a several occasions is how “green” our adventure is, after all we will be covering thousands of miles in what has been described as a “gas guzzler”. We undertook some pretty complicated sums to compare our carbon footprint if living in Guernsey for 800 days compared to 800 days spent driving around the world.
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases (mainly Carbon Dioxide, CO2 produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, refrigeration, transportation etc. The average carbon footprint for a person in the UK is 70kg CO2 per day. Need a refresher on Carbon production, the greenhouse effect and climate change? Check out this clip. We calculated our Guernsey carbon footprint using an online ‘carbon calculator’- answering a series of questions about daily activities to produce an estimate of our individual CO2 production. This gave us a figure of 127.66kg CO2 per day, for both of us combined. This is based on sharing an oil and electricity run detached house with 2 other people in Guernsey, driving a car to work and back every day, taking 2-3 long-haul flights each year and eating local and imported food. On to the CO2 production of adventuring... Diesel cars generally have a better fuel economy than equivalent gasoline engines and produce less greenhouse gas emission. Their greater economy is due to the higher energy per-litre content of diesel fuel and the intrinsic efficiency of the diesel engine. A diesel-powered vehicle emits 10-20% less greenhouse gas than comparable gasoline vehicles. Whilst adventuring we will be self-sufficient with the majority of our energy coming from the diesel engine (charging a 12V electrical system to power lights, laptop, fridge etc). In addition to this we will have a multi-fuel stove and the occasional wood fire. The majority of our food will be sourced locally. Now for the sums... creating a path of our rough route in Google Earth we estimate an approximate distance (excluding Africa) of 103,000 km. The approximate distance of crossing the Pacific Ocean by ship is 12,100km so our total diesel-powered mileage is 90,900 km. We calculated the carbon cost of our shipping distance but concluded it would have a negligible effect on the total figures. The weight of our vehicle is only 0.0022% of the average weight of a cargo ship, therefore producing only 146.3kg CO2 for the entire Pacific crossing of 4980 Nautical Miles. Bee-Bee the adventuremobile holds 65 litres of diesel and does 402km per tank, so we use 0.162 litres per kilometre. Multiply this fuel usage by our total distance and that’s 14,726 litres for the entire journey. Still with us?... good. Each litre of diesel produces 2.66 kg CO2, so in total our travels will produce 39,171 kg CO2. Divide this by 800 for the number of days travelling and we get 48.96kg CO2 per day, for both of us combined. In conclusion, we will produce 62% LESS CO2 per day, proving that our planned adventuring lifestyle is significantly more sustainable than living in Guernsey/UK. Emma |
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