Sunshine! lots of it. Shorts, T shirts and flip-flops ( thongs or jandles) these are alien words to me, and my god my legs are pale!. These notions of heat are welcome, but they are strange! hopefully they will be the norm in what is to be the start of the next adventure.

I'm sitting in a beautiful apartment in Nice, on the french Riviera. The warmer temperature isn't the only pleasant change ive had from the mountains. For two weeks now i have been alcohol, caffeine  meat, carb and English free. I Run, do yoga and Calisthenics every day, read books and (hopefully you noticed) catch up on my blog.

All This spiritual and body cleansing has left me feeling newly invigorated and, near as to makes no difference, entirely bored...

...which is why i am fully packed, two days before my flight leaves. That's a pretty mean feat when your surviving on a fairly short turnaround of clothes.

I'm most excited about the prospect of using this:

I'm taking a sports climbing set up, rope, tent, sleeping back, running shoes, a few maps, a camera and not the fainest idea and i am heading east. In fact i'm leaving Europe...just.

It could be a pretty pea brained idea. I might lug around a climbing kit around a totally flat landscape, or lug around a camping kit and fail to get away from towns, tourists and hostels or...or...or...

Well it is an adventure i seek. France was a nice culture change, but i speak the language already. Once you get over the fact that they stop working at lunch, they park anywhere and don't pick up their dog s#!t, its really not that different.

I have a secret weapon that i am taking with me. Something that complements me, makes up for my weaknesses and reassuringly will stop me falling to the floor when i run out of talent rock climbing. Is a rather beautiful something to:

I don't know how, but have convinced this elegant girl, Robyn Hawes, to come adventuring with me for a few months and i cant think of anyone i would rather set off with. She might be the kindest animal in this world, but i have been fooled before, the girl is tough; a lovely mix of caring and driven that is otherwise rarely seen within the same character

I've a big backpack, a few months to waste, a brilliant companion, a plane ticket... 

SO...Turkey then

(if you have suggestions for touring, adventure or even a good pub in Turkey, please contact me in the comments below, facebook or email. At this stage I will be travelling western turkey: from Istanbul to Izmir to Bodrum to Fethiye to Antalya to Capadocia to the Black sea, in no particular rush. )