A welcome and a few thank yous before I start.

 Welcome to my blog, if you are new to the story.  I should explain that I started blogging in 2011 when my brother and I went on an epic trip around Patagonia.  During the course of that trip, I began to write about my brother with an increasingly ironic tone, teasing him for his interest in all things mechanical (aka "winding gear", now abbreviated to "WG") and his known propensity for thrift.  The Bro became more and more fictionalised, and now exists in a space entirely separate to the real brother.  You should bear that in mind when you read this blog and the "Wrinklies on the Road" blog about our Patagonian adventure (see the tab above).  I hope it makes you smile.

With 11 days to go before I leave home this time, the training has come to an end, and I'm resting and eating for the next week or so, with some Pilates and maybe the odd run.  I've walked more than 850kms since the start of the year, and it's funny how my focus has become more about the training than the eventual walk in the last couple of months.  I have had the great good fortune to have the glorious Tal y Bont Forest as my training ground.  It's stuffed with paths, tracks and gravelled roads, similar terrain to that I'll be walking on the Via Francigena, and has offered an abundance of circular walks ranging from 8km to 30km, absolutely perfect for building up my fitness and stamina.  So thank you Tal y Bont Forest, you've been a great friend these last four months.

Thank you to Meggy Moos and her human, Martine, who have offered excellent and enthusiastic walking company and entertainment periodically, and been an invaluable support.

Thanks also to Whalley Warm and Dry, for their amazing post-purchase customer support with replacing, quickly and with no fuss,  new boots which were causing so much pain that I feared I'd not be able to do the walk.  I now have much happier feet.

Huge thanks to The Other Half for his patience and support, particularly during the above boot issue, and for putting up with my tedious updates on planning and progress.  It is very much appreciated.

And to the Pyjama Party girls, Mazza, Cazza and Sazza, for much needed laughs.

And to every person who has or will sponsor me, I am immensely grateful.