As I type it's March 2012. It's hard to believe that come July it'll be the third set of ralliers heading out since I did it. Driving across the Gobi Desert in my little Nissa Micra was more-than-likely the most fun thing i've done and its with a slightly heavy heart that I think its very unlikely i'd ever go there again. In 2016 Max will be eighteen so it's conceivable that we could do the rally together but for two things. Firstly, it's tough to wave goodbye to family for that amount of time and i'm not sure i'd want to do that again. Secondly, from a practical point of view, in four years it may be too easy. More and more roads are getting built every year and I recall being surprised how long the tarmac lasted in Kazakzstan. The road leading to Mongolia's capital was shiny and new and I suspect will reach further out soon too. It's no exagerration to say that at some point it'll just be one long road from London to Ulan Bator.

Hindsight it also a wonderful thing when it comes to preparation. Asking people for advice before we left we were conistently told two things.

#1 Don't rush it.

#2 Don't pack too much stuff.

The first point is dependent on how much time you can get off work (and how much that's going to cost). I got five weeks so that was my limit.

The second point is interesting because you can be told it as much as you like and you'll still pack too much. You just will. If you'd like to know what i'd advise packing then you see my suggestions over at the kit list page.

I wrote a diary for quite a bit of the rally but inexpicably stopped as we hit the Russian / Mongolia border. I did however continue to use Twitter so if you're interested then you can read my diary (and twitter) entries here.

Go read; My Diary, Kit List.