Getting us ready for the Big Trip
As well as getting the vehicle ready we have had to do some "personal development".
It has been a very steep learning curve!
Listed below are a few things we did to get our knowledge and skills to a better level.
It has been a very steep learning curve!
Listed below are a few things we did to get our knowledge and skills to a better level.
Driver Training Rockingham (for both of us)
Cheryl never knew our Scarlet 4x4 could do what she did.
The best thing we did here was use out own vehicle on the day, getting used to how the Scarlet 4x4 handles - rather than the centres own, very different, vehicles.
Rockingham Land Rover experience.
First aid course for Mark (Cheryl already knows her stuff)
An emergency First Aid Course at Warwick University:
Mark says:
"I have mixed feelings about this course. The fact that the first aid content was useful goes without saying...but the chap in the photo was a bit of a tease.
It seemed to go really well at first, we got on great, and I did loads of mouth-to-mouth...
But after the course Resus Andy did not return any of my calls - I feel cheap and I feel used"
Mechanics course for Cheryl (Mark is already handy with a spanner)
Russian Lessons for Cheryl
Приключения Скарлет 4x4
Cheryl had a basic course in survival Russian from Alexandra Dowds at http://www.learnmorerussian.co.uk who taught her the basics of Russian - which was invaluable!
Cheryl had a basic course in survival Russian from Alexandra Dowds at http://www.learnmorerussian.co.uk who taught her the basics of Russian - which was invaluable!
Other preparatory stuff
Vaccinations
It can take a few months to sort out the various jabs needed for a lengthy trip.
A visit to the travel clinic at our local GP gave a list of the various jabs we needed and were recommended.
We were limited to two jabs a week - one in each arm - so we felt like pin cushions for a coupla months...
Some were free on the NHS, others we paid the GP clinic to do, and a few the GP gave us prescriptions for, but we had to source elsewhere (we chose Boots Masta)
A visit to the travel clinic at our local GP gave a list of the various jabs we needed and were recommended.
We were limited to two jabs a week - one in each arm - so we felt like pin cushions for a coupla months...
Some were free on the NHS, others we paid the GP clinic to do, and a few the GP gave us prescriptions for, but we had to source elsewhere (we chose Boots Masta)
Mental prep
We're not complete strangers to travel and lengthy overland trips, but being dependant on and responsible for your own vehicle brings a whole other series of stressors that we hadn't had to worry about before on commercial truck trips.
A series of UK weekends away to try out kit, daily routines and who does what gave us a whole new "To Do" list of further modifications to tackle, before we started going away for longer periods and then eventually for a month to Morocco (see the Test Trip page). We returned from this with lots more ideas to make life easier, but we don't think you ever really get there and have a "perfect" set-up. We still had niggles and annoyances on the Mongolia trip, stuff we wish we'd took, stuff we took that we'll never use again, and further modifications that, time and finance allowing, we'd still like to make...
One thing is for sure, had we not done the test weekends and longer test trips we think the six-months on the road would have been unbearable for us!
A series of UK weekends away to try out kit, daily routines and who does what gave us a whole new "To Do" list of further modifications to tackle, before we started going away for longer periods and then eventually for a month to Morocco (see the Test Trip page). We returned from this with lots more ideas to make life easier, but we don't think you ever really get there and have a "perfect" set-up. We still had niggles and annoyances on the Mongolia trip, stuff we wish we'd took, stuff we took that we'll never use again, and further modifications that, time and finance allowing, we'd still like to make...
One thing is for sure, had we not done the test weekends and longer test trips we think the six-months on the road would have been unbearable for us!