So today I leave London and head on a slow meander across the American continent towards Argentina. That’s the theory anyway.

There have been a few refinements to the trip, mostly caused by circumstances beyond my control. I don’t want to talk about it, mainly because it gets me angry and wound up. Suffice to say it is very likely I will have to fly back at some point towards the end of the year, in order to finally sort out all the stuff Southwark council are too lazy/incompetent to do.

Another refinement on my backpacking trip around America is that I am not taking a backpack. I have, in fact, replaced my backpack with – ‘real’ backpackers shriek in horror at this point – a wheelie bag. Last trip I found it increasingly tough moving on every day with everything strapped to my back, even though I pack light and am rarely carrying more than ten kilos.

Croatia, not ideal for a wheelie bag…

There are times when I’ve looked on with smug satisfaction at people trying to manoeuvre wheelie bags. Dubrovnik old city was a good example and the Sahara desert was another. However I don’t anticipate too many situations like that on this trip and I don’t think it merits the aching shoulders I get from toting my pack from place to place. We shall see; if I’ve got it wrong then (genuine) backpackers will be able to look on smugly as I struggle to weave my wheelie through the crowds or carry it up five flights of stairs to my hotel room.

Sahara Dessert, another place not to be travelling with a wheelie bag

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Like all good trips around the Americas, I begin in …Reykjavik. Yes I know Reykjavik is in Iceland, however my original flight had a 17-hour layover in Reykjavik so I thought I would take advantage of that and extend it to four days. Weather isn’t looking so great for it but never mind.

Anyway, the plan for the next twelve weeks or so is that I have a few days stopover in Reykjavik and then head out to Seattle and the Pacific North West. From there I carry on down the West coast to San Fransisco where I join up with a short tour through some national parks, to Las Vegas. Then Los Angeles, across the border into Mexico, travel across Mexico (plus a dip into Guatemala) eventually getting to Cancun on the other side and from there I have a flight up to Fort Lauderdale for the TBEX conference at the end of October.

Then we shall see.