Top 10 roadside sales

I'm sitting waiting for my washing to dry. Here is a list of the best things we've seen for sale on the edge of the road:

1. Rocking horses, garden gnomes and giant plastic Statues of Liberty
2. Smoked catfish
3. Bowl of boiled eggs and jar of mayonaise
4. Lots of lovely turnips, onions, carrots and gherkins
5. Wicker chairs and wicker swans
6. Honey in many different shades
7. Rocking giraffes
8. Brushes and broomes
9. Sunflowers
10.Industrial gloves

Lorry Jewellery

In a hotel in Volgograd, Russia having a rest and a shower after one night of camping and one night sleeping in the car, which was extremely uncomfortable (35 degrees, steering wheel always in wrong place). Had a very close shave on the road yesterday so have totally lost my nerve overtaking - which is a bit worrying given that we have 8000 miles still to go. The sheer scale of the drive is sinking in now - we can just about manage 350 miles a day due to heat, tiredness, stress and road conditions. We are driving all day, stopping a road cafes and stalls for a stretch then carrying on. Am loving it.

Anyway, recently in the Ukraine we were attracting a fair amount of flak from large lorries carrying logs and bales of hay so we decided to pimp the Roo up a bit and bought this:

Tears and Towropes

Reached the ukraine last night after four relatively smooth days, having driven through france, germany, holland and polland. Only mishap was related to finding an errant sponge in the engine which caused the roo to break down on a roundabout and much hilarity. Now staying with Jon's family in law in Vimmitsa being plied with vodka, caviar and gawdy coloured cakes. Kamikazee driving by log lorries and Ladas, jars of pickled cherries being sold on the side of the road. Today we are heading for the black sea for some coastal camping. Next stop Russia.

Rally Eve

It's about 1.45am and I've finally finished packing my 5 bags - technology bag, food bag, car bag, personal stuff bag and camping bag. Somehow it's all fitted into the Roo's tiny boot, with only a small amount of stuff going on the roof. Tonight feels a bit like Christmas eve. I'm a bit jittery and nervous. I can't believe it really is tomorrow, after all this time. Anyway, wish me luck lovely people. Not sure when I will next be checking in - we are supposedly leaving Hyde Park tomorrow at 12.30 and then getting to Germany THAT NIGHT. Then Krakow the night after, then Prague where there's the big rally party, then Odessa, then who knows where. I just wanted to say a big huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who's given me money. You've all been more than generous. Next time, from some road side Motel Tx

What is it all about?

Adam (the photographer coming with me) and I have got different reasons for doing this trip. I've got quite a few, but the main reasons is this: to understand how big the world really is. You can never really get that when you fly.

But when you're driving to a place, you eventually understand in real time, the distance you're covering, and therefore the size of the earth.

Does that make any sense? So, the thing I'm interested in is how many meal times does it take to get to Ulaan Bataar? How many sunsets will I see? How many biscuits will I eat? It's all about making distance a real thing, rather than an arbitary measurement. So this will be an important piece of equipment:

Time to think silly

What with injections, visas, last testimony wills, oaths, timing plans (yes, for all you fallonites reading this!) money and then more money, the whole thing's got a bit too serious. After all this is meant to be fun.

Tomorrow we do a trial full pack and see how much stuff fits, or doesn't fit into our tiny boot space and roof racks. Then we pack again with 1/3 of all our stuff, and this is when it gets tricky. What is more important...Kite or chair? Inflatable canoe or inflatable bed? Haribo or dried mashed potato?

Either way, I've asked Tony to strap this to roofrack, so that when we're driving slowly through villages we can provide some entertainment:(a commercial bubble machine)