To late now I am committed, after a wonderful few days in 2013, hitching from San Fransisco to Los Angeles and telling a young girl on a hotel reception as I was desperate for a room a white lie that I had covered the whole USA from East to West, I feel that I can`t get out of doing it as only to correct this mistompena, sure to be spelt wrong.

6 days some folks have done it, lets hope its not that quick, theres going to be some sole searching times and I have butterflies writing this thinking about them, the last few day I have been watching some short films on YouTube, one I shouldn`t have entertained at all.

Heres a good one, with the cult movie maker John Waters, he talks of the most difficult bit of the journey that is walking away from your home front door, the last four words I just love, and is what wanderlust is all about.

I have decided to do this for charity, main reason is the fact that a lots of folks ask me what I`m doing next and is it for charity, all the money raised will go to Shelter Box, non on Hotels food etc : I will just take the goodwill offered.

I found the best way to raise money is to totally do it in the ways that you enjoy, and I am sure the people that pull a 300kg sledge to the North Pole and beyond enjoy that too.

Anyhow Rotary Club is my thing and Shelter Box is there thing, so any monies at all is going too buy a box that contains a massive tent and goods to keep a family of 10 for 3 months, in a disaster zone.
So I booked a tour of the Shelter Box H Q and time to try out my camping gear, nap sack and hitch hiking, here`s my rides down to Helston and back.

Thank you too all the drivers that gave me lifts down to Lands End well Helston in Cornwell, I went down myself to have a tour of the working of Shelter Box Head Quarters, 4 hours and 30 minutes from Andover to Helston, I`d say thats quicker an driving yourself.

I felt very privileged to be walking around on a tour with other folks some future fund raisers, some wanting to find out more before they picked a charity to fund raise for. Now 15 years a massive world wide organization, each box helping a family of 10 in conflict or disarter zones

Pictures speck a thousand words says an early Emperor of the Xia Dynasty in China about 4,000 years ago, so I guess you get the drift.

Also a major part of travel that we all love is meeting and mixing with the locals

So the hard works been done, my nap sack packed and unpacked over the past 8 weeks, 4 kgs body weight lost, but 11kgs in the back pack. I have walked somedays 10 miles into the Hampshire wilderness, seen parts of my local area that I didn`t know eggsisted (GMSC) GOD MY SPELLINGS CRAP.

The tracker is all revved up and ready to allow you to monitor my progress, just click the SPOT logo below to see how I’m doing.

Well its started no turning back now, in the que immigration USA I thought I was going to get a grilling,no the customers office insiteded that I take his routo Highway 40, and havnt you been watching the TV. Avoid this and that he said and if your not raped or murdered you’ll be sucked up by a tornado GOOD luck.

With a lovely couple in Andover Mass found via Airbnb bit like posh couch surfing,two Rotary meetings one downtown Boston an one here in Andover Friday 19th then away, I can see a problem already I won’t want to move on

Its time for me to move on, the whole reason for the past two days ways to start in Andover Mass and go into Boston to talk to The Roteract Club at Fisher Collage Boston, and what a fantastic time I had thank you young Roteract members, I spoke for 20 minutes emptied my bag onto the table, told a story and asked the to think differently about things. BINGO I got cake

Thank you Donald for running me around, picking me up and dropping me off, not able to be done without.

Then this morning at 7am BIG BOYS Rotary Club

That`s Andover done and dusted, been down with the big wigs, and Carrie from the Historical Society is giving me my first lift out of town tomorrow at 9pm in a retro type car she said, can`t wait to see it, then I am well on my way and very ready to go, as my head is now in the correct place for hitch hiking.
Ready to meet guys like this that insisted on doing Benny Hill impresions while following me, after seeing the flag on the back of my pack, Oi Mr you like Benny Hill

I am losing days so this is the bit I like on the traveling front we lose days very quickly when working day to day time flies by. Saturdays towns and city hotels full up all of them quickly, so its a night in the Bivi bag tent this is the reason for bringing it along.
Carrie from the historical society in Andover MASS a fascinating lift with a historical insist to local housing and clothing in witch she specialized in, I had my own personal historian for a good 200 miles, can thank her enough we had lunch in a favorite Diner of hers and a wonderful visit to her family home and tour of the massive woodland grounds, so so beautiful I felt wonderfully privileged to share the journey with her, thank you Carrie for that special treat.

We drove into the Hotel Car Park to be greeted by her old friend who she was spending the evening with, the hotel full and three others full too in Norwalk, so a night rough camping, its my first time, so off I go looking for a spot, I have read all the gurus books and listened to them specking watched many a video, now I know a bit for myself.

1. Don’t trust old ladies that smile a chat nicely for ages and advise me to walk up the road and camp near the community pond, as they call the cops!

Funny situation arises with all ending well after 10 minutes of explaining, we don’t get this sort of thing around here Sir was what I got and a case number.
I was camping on the edge of a families property and a great evening concluded with marshmallows in the fire pit and beer with the family and myself putting the world to wrights.

So one minute a fugitive on the streets to a friend of the family, not able to say goodbye as I was away as soon as it was light, after a very lonely night in the tent, its rained so hard, its a Bivi bag not a tent as such, the rain drops hit you hard and its loud, also you have to keep the thing zipped up so it tends to condensate inside the bag. It was a low moment after the Police thing then the lack of rides earlier that’s were the Police had spotted me over 2 hours on numerous occasions. What with that and a massive sense of what have I let myself in for kicked in.
I used the house hosepipe to clean of everything it was all wet anyhow so it didn`t matter, separated what I had managed to keep dry and the wet stuff over two bags, I traipsed off down the road, its now Sunday morning and the odd car passes, and a taxi driver pulls up, ” You want a cab ” No thanks I said, as he pulls away, I shout after him driver ” Am I going the correct way for South” ” No but hop in I`ll take you Downtown ” so I hop in the back theres a young girl in the front, and she asks where am I from, England I explain what I`m doing, then I broke down in the back of the taxi with there kindness.

You need to get past New York they said, we will drop you at the Railway Station GO GRAND CENTRAL, Times Square, 34th Street, Penn Station. Go though those doors there onto the platform here is my number if you have any problems GOOD LUCK, GODS WITH YOU, and I`m out of the taxi away up the stairs just as the train pulls up, on I get paying on-board.
A wash and a shave on the train carrying my bags into the toilets, all cleanly shaved and smelling half decent I sit down and listen to Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits on a very early small shuttle that Fletcher my daughter had loaded for me the first song not by Dylan, was one of hers, I had said a while back that I had liked, so I was perked up until Dylan came on and every word seemed to be about my last 24 hours.

Your getting a lot of writings as there’s no USB Plugin on this hotel P.C, not a bad thing as the photos make me lazy, so I`m well past New York I surfaced at Penn Station had breakfast in a diner paid for me by a table full of retired folks that a spoke at non stop for 15 minutes about what I was doing, they wanted to give me money.

My deal is, NO MONEY, NO BEER, what I will except is FOOD and SHELTER (accommodation) I have turned away lots of folks wanting to give me money for the charity but I`m asking them to go online and I give them a card with all the details, so if your one of the many here you go www.justgiving.com/theadventurebaker

I finished up in Atlantic City where my good friend Ahmad is staying he wasn`t able to pick me up as he was driving his wife back from hospital with there first born, so a driver his best friend arrived, Ahmad is very keen on Rotary and is a inspiration for me, he runs the Cross Egypt Challenge a scooter Rally that been fun for me for the past 3 years. We have two Rotary meetings to attend in Atlantic City over the next two days so I`m haled up here.

Look for page 2