After much consideration I decided that on the whole it would be difficult to get my 'roots' (hair roots) touched up whilst doing this trip. This means that I either had to accept that my hair will be half blonde and half dark; my hair will be very short; or....I had to dye my hair as close as I could back to my natural colour. So this Saturday I did the deed and coloured it as close as possible to my natural colour. It has been quite a surprise, although on the whole I am pleased with it. I look very sensible now, classy rather than brassy!

Spent today playing with this website - it's amazing what applying a style sheet does to the professional look of the site.

Things are still in flux, for example we have to purchase a flight from Samoa to Fiji in addition to the RTW ticket. Today I found out the Polynesian Airlines sell an air pass called "The Triangle Pass" which is just a bit more than the Samoa-Fiji flight and takes in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. So perhaps we'll go to the Kingdom of Tonga as well.

We had the first of our vaccinations on Tuesday and are in a quandary about whether or not to have the Hepatitis B and rabies injections that are recommended but optional. We got to the clinic early and so were looking around the travel shop beforehand and chatting to the guy who was manning the shop that day. It was interesting talking to him and he had been to some of the places that we are going. With that and talking to the doctor (who had been to even more of the places and gave us some good tips) it finally feels real that we are going. Up until now it has all felt a bit unreal. Here is todays trivia - the heights of the places that we are visiting in South America :

Quito	2850
Galapagos	500
Lima	2500
Iquitos	122
Cuzco	3600
Machu Picchu	2430
Puno/Titicaca	3800
La Paz	3700
Sorata	2600
Coroico	1850
Santiago	300
all heights in metres

I was fired today - a course of behaviour which is typical of the stupidity of the City of London (I was planning to leave six working days after the notice period finishes) and confirms my wishes to get away from all of this for a career break. Concerning the holiday: the planning and purchasing is going apace, we've now booked our hotel in Quito (Hostal Darwin) which looks very comfortable and safe, and we are slowly becoming more consumed, more obsessed with the idea of the journey.

Today is the first day of our around the world trip blogger. The trip is still very much at planning stage although the tickets have been booked. We have a rough itinerary which can be viewed at our itinerary. What is known is that we are definitely leaving on 29th January 2002. Estimated back in the UK at the end of July, but likely to be later than this. Or for those who know us, earlier than this due to running out of money!