Well hello there!

Or should I say hola, bonjour, guten Tag, ciao, konnichiwa, nei ho, namaste... welll you get the picture.

This is the first in what I hope will be a fairly extensive series of blogs about my various travels. I'm easing myself in gently as the first things I'll most likely write about will be my trip to Malta in a couple of weeks' time, shortly followed by a family holiday in North Cornwall, before the Big Trip: my boyfriend N and I heading off around the world for six months. Along the way I'll also be posting about the planning that's going into my travelling round the world, including packing, choosing the best gear and deciding on a route. You are of course free to shout at me if I don't update the blog regularly.

I will also shortly be setting up a Twitter account to accompany me on my travels @wherelaurawent so please follow that too if you're so inclined! I'll let you know when it goes live so you can read my shorter travel-based ramblings.

Just as a little introduction to the Big Trip, as that will form the bulk of this blog: it will be for about six to eight months, probably leaving the UK in September, and taking in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentia and Chile), New Zealand, Australia, South East Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) and India. I'm nervous as I've never been away from home for that long but also excited as it's finally all falling into place! We haven't booked anything yet - probably going to go and see the travel agent in a couple of weeks' time, so things will get a bit more concrete then - but I already have a huge wishlist of things I want to do and places I want to see, and I can't wait.

I guess all I've got to say is thanks for stopping by, and please wish me luck!