There's something wonderful about airmail letters. The image to the left shows the outside of some of the airmail letters I sent home from Europe and Africa between 1991 and 1992. When you hear that in the UK alone, there were 400 million less letters sent through the Royal Mail in 2010 compared to 2009 that you can quickly see how email has taken over as the main form of written communication in the UK, at least. 

And yet, looking over those letters I sent home, they invoke a lot of nostalgia because of their sheer physical presence. They are battered from their journey from Morocco, Algeria, Spain, Ghana, Zimbabwe or France, usually by way of stains and greasy finger marks.

They have the stamps from the country, such as the King of Morocco, or Arabic lettering from Algeria, or the black star and national airline of Ghana on them. All have red and blue edging to distinguish them as airmail too. Airmail letters are light and flimsy but they have character. They have travelled as hard as you have to get back  to the recipient. They are exciting to open and, as so well illustrated, they keep well, unlike their digital equivalent.

I do like email. It's efficient and cheap. And yet, at the risk of sounding like an old fart, airmail is more romantic than email. It is special because someone has taken the effort not only to write the letter but also to find the airmail and take it to the post office. It brings back a little bit of the spirit of the country you sent it from and people have waited patiently to receive it. And that is the essence of airmail for me. Airmail is slow in our fast paced world. It captures something intangible which an email can never deliver which is the time you have lived through and experienced to be able to sit down and share your journey.

Do they still print airmail letters or 'blueys', as we called them in the Army?

I can't help but be moved when I read Peter Gostelow's blog about his journey through Africa on a bicycle. Now, he is in Uganda having just come through the DRC and his photos and words show how friendly are the people and beautiful is the countryside. 

Life on a bicycle is so simple and Peter illustrates this so well. He is cycling through National Parks in Uganda where there are elephants within a hundred metres of him. He is cycling along tracks where there is no traffic and staying in hotels for $5 a night. Wonderful. 

Take a look at his video below with the elephants in the background.

Since starting to write up my diaries from cycling through Africa 20 years ago, I have come across a few artefacts which I had completely forgotten about. Much of what I have found are letters I wrote to Penny which, fortunately, she kept. What struck me was that these days it would be unlikely that I would be writing letters or sending cards to friends and family. I am sure that most of my correspondence would be via email or text.

And that would be a shame. I found two letters to Penny which were written on hand made cards which I bought from traders in the camp sites we stayed in Niger and Burkina Faso. One was hand painted and the other was a small piece of batik. I have scanned them and placed them below. I think they are rather beautiful and they show some of the subtle but super things that would have been missed if I had merely sent an email.  

@worldcyclevideo shared this video with me today taken by Blanche about cycling in Andalusia, Spain in the Spring. When my brother and cycled through Andlausia in 1991, it was late summer, hot and dry. Not like the lush green scenes you can see here.

I saw this on Twitter about Ross Noble riding around Britain on the 500,000th Triumph motorbike to be built to raise money for charity. Should be interesting to follow. 

It's a wonder that anyone travels around the world when we have so much of the world delivered to us through our televisions. In the UK, the BBC broadcasts amazing wildlife, history and anthropological programmes, as well as travel and adventure programmes. 

 But, there is nothing like experiencing the world out there for yourself. You can't beat seeing Victoria Falls up close. You can't beat seeing the stars above you when you are sleeping out in the desert. You can't beat the hospitality of the wonderful people you meet when you are out there. You can't beat the smell of a Mumbai slum which you will never experience just by watching 'Slum Dog Millionaire'. 

 Unless you actually travel to these places you see 'on the box', you will be missing the essence of the places you see on television. Many people want to do adventure travelling but prevent themselves doing it for irrational reasons. I admit it. I had irrational fears about cycling down Africa twenty years ago, but Dan and I did it anyway. 

 On that thought, I have put together my top ten irrational fears about adventure travelling which could have prevented me from doing it. What do you think? Do you have any fears you would add to the list? Add a comment below if you do!

  My Irrational Fears about Adventure Travelling

1. 'Do they have lavatory paper in Africa?' - I'm serious. I was worried about this before I left!
2. 'How will we eat in Africa?' - Millions of people live in Africa. How do you think they live? You may have to eat some unusual things but you will survive. Get used to it.
3. 'How will we change money?' - Money does make the world go around and, if you need to change it, someone will be there to help you do so when you need to. It's surprising just where you can change money in a developing country. 
4. 'Will the authorities be offended by what's written about their country in my guide book?' - We did worry about what the Moroccan authorities would say about the 'Western Sahara' notes in our Rough Guide. So, the night before we went into Morocco from Ceuta, we tore out the offending pages. Laughable, now! 
5. 'We need small mountain bikes to cope with the terrain' - We were not experienced enough with cycling to realise that we needed big frames on our bikes to make long hours in the saddle each day comfortable. Cycling across Africa is not like a mountain bike race. We were carrying lots of gear and the roads were, mostly, pretty good not to warrant the small frames we bought. 
6. 'We can't leave our bikes anywhere because we will be robbed' - It was staggering just how many villages we cycled through in Africa where we left our bikes in a public place when we were shopping for supplies. We were robbed three times but always when we were staying in a campsite or hotel. We would have crowds gathering around us and our bikes but everyone was always respectful and didn't touch a thing while we weren't there.
7. 'We don't have enough money to travel' - Money is a big issue to get right. But, you don't need much money to travel. It's all too easy to spend a lot of money on flight tickets, expensive kit and costly hotels. Save your money, be frugal and you will be able to travel quite far with a little money. 
8. 'If we leave our jobs, it will have a negative impact on our careers when we get home' - I left the Army and Dan left a large technology company to go on our journey. Going away had a very positive effect on our careers, in fact. There is more to life than work. 
9. 'How will we get essential supplies?' - There are parts of the world where it's difficult to have things sent to you (For us, it was suitable tyres for the bikes) but the post office system around the world is pretty good and, with the spread of internet access around the world, the speed at which you can ask for supplies to be sent through is much faster now than in '91/'92. 
10. 'It's too difficult to cycle down Africa' - The thing with long journeys is that you always keep the end in mind, but you break down your journey into monthly, weekly, daily and hourly goals in your head. That way, everything becomes possible. Cycling down Africa was not too difficult when we lived like that. 

I'd love to hear your comments on my list!

This video shows some pretty eye opening canoeing. I'm just amazed at how they stay upright. Anyway, I hope this adds some entertainment to the site while I add my diaries!

Without ropes, this guy climbed the Eiger on his own in less than three hours. Watch this stunning video to see him do it. 

I have just set up a new blog on this site onto which I am publishing my travel diaries from August '91 to July '92 in their raw state. My intention is to use these as the basis for the book of them which I am aiming to have published by the end of this year. 

I will publish a daily post covering, at least, one day of the journey. I encourage feedback on the posts. Let me know your thoughts about them and how I can improve them. Let me know what you would like to hear more or less about. Anything!

You can read the first post here: http://www.twoforafrica.co.uk/2/post/2011/05/andover-portsmouth.html

There's one thing that I'm learning about writing a book. It's challenging to fit it into a normal working day. Nevertheless, it's deeply rewarding by way of the memories it returns and the reminders about just how liberating adventure travel is for the soul.

When I get a chance, I've started reading Mark Beaumont's book, 'The Man who cycled the World', about his world record setting race around the globe on a bicycle. Much of what he writes about in starting off his adventure had similarities to our cycling adventure, in terms lots of planning, injuries and fatigue. It's a good read.

But, the point is that to write a book requires discipline. You need to write consistently to make sure writing the book does not take longer than the journey.