I remember going on a work training course a while back, and in one of its more touchy-feely moments, everyone was asked to stand up in turn and say something in life that they felt grateful for. A lot of the people before me stood up and said that they were grateful for the chance to work and go to new countries and places. When it came to my turn, rather than go with the more obvious things – family, friends, health, Tottenham being rubbish – I said much the same: I was grateful for the chance to travel in the world as much as I have. But giving it some thought, I expanded on the theme some more as well: it is my belief that it really is a small world, and so, given enough motive, free time, and spare cash, I feel that I can travel to pretty much anywhere that I would like to.

The reason that I bring this up here is that in the summer of 2009, when it came time for Heidi and I to take our first summer holiday together, my mind went through this same thought process as I tried to establish where to go. On one side, I felt that we could go pretty much anywhere and that nowhere was unreachable, albeit with the constraints that we had only two weeks in which to travel and that I had to start my journey from close to home. Where to? I started narrowing it down, first thinking that I desired to explore more in China. At this time my province count was getting up towards twenty, and the germ of the let’s-go-to-them-all plan started to crystallise in my mind.

What did all of this mean to me at that point? It meant that this next holiday had to be somewhere new in China. Secondly, wherever I chose to go for the holiday had to be somewhere picturesque and visual, to allow me to indulge my photographic leanings. Finally, of course, the place had to be slightly unusual, or at least interesting, maybe off the beaten track somewhat. No sitting on a beach, sleeping. When I put all of these criteria together, pretty soon the options narrowed down to one choice: Tibet. I started the planning, and as organising the trip came together, two added bonuses appeared – we could actually go to see Mount Everest along the way, and then finish the trip off by going into Nepal. I promised Heidi it would all be great, and she agreed before I could give her time to change her mind.