I am starting to write this in a bit of a food coma. We are at a camping site, for the second night, in Pisa. On Monday we left the campsite in the Alps on the Swiss side and headed towards Italy, going up a mountain in the meantime and catching the few bits of snow still melting in the high altitudes. We stopped at a little spot with a bit of slanting snow, and I pranced around in the white (cold) slush and then climbed up higher where all the blueberry bushes grow. There were a lot of mosquitoes circling the bushes but I don’t think they minded me as much.

In the morning before we left the campsite I went for a little walk with my coffee and discovered that the little forested area that covered the campsite ground opened up quite suddenly to a quite deserted dried up river bank. This was an amazing view to the surrounding mountains, and I took this opportunity to do my first drawing of the trip.

We crossed the Italian border on Monday afternoon and parked in the town called Stresa, on lake Maggiore, for a little walk around and a cold soothing drink. I went down to the somewhat brown and unpleasant looking water to take my shoes off and walk around the slippery rocks for a bit to cool down my feet. We witnessed a very clumsy and stressed duck family, the mother duck kept losing her ducklings, and the scene made me very uncomfortable so after watching for a few I had to leave. I found another dead thing – a rotting fish in the water – for my “Katana’s dead nature studies” project.

I noticed that the mountains on the Italian side are so much more greener and covered in forests rather than have exposed rock like the Swiss mountains. I also noticed the sudden decrease in cleanliness and an increase in reckless – or weird and unpredictable – driving.

We found a campsite for Monday night just outside of Arona and right on the lake as well. After setting up quickly we had to go for a quick dip in the water, to cool down mostly and instead of using the showers, which we would have had to pay extra for. That night we were too lazy to cook dinner so we went for pizza (without cheese) and pasta (with unfortunate few specks of meat which I had to dig out… I am guessing it was cooked together with a meaty pasta). That campsite was full of Germans, and of course that night Germany played Portugal 4-0. The Germans were happy and mostly quiet and friendly. In the evening we decided to get the playing cards out for the first time. Since neither could remember any suitable game, we settled for Black Jack (with pretty much half made-up rules I think). Whiskey was taken out of course, and I got the cup which still had remnants of coffee, so I ended up with a coffee-flavored water-down whiskey. Not a good combination.

In the morning we swam in the lake again, as a wake-up and a morning shower, two in one. The water was a bit cold but still and lovely. We drove through Genoa on our way to what we thought will be Florence, but ended up being Pisa. In Genoa we had a very unfortunate start – the driving was insane, the parking place was invaded by some strange men selling pieces of colorful string as bracelets (for 40 euros as a starting price!). Jonathan managed to get away with giving them 2 euros for the sad piece of string they had already put on my wrist even though I was sternly declining. The incident made us uncomfortable and we didn’t want to leave poor Troopy all alone with those men. Eventually we figured it would be okay, and went to find a vegan place to have lunch, having googled “vegan Genova”. Very fortunate for us, we did just the thing! And what an amazing place it was, really. Cibi e Libri. Lorenzo, who served us, was very friendly, and we had a good chat about our adventure, he seemed enthusiastic and even gave me a little pastry present to go.

After the lovely food, we slowly trickled back down to Troopy parked by the port. Luckily, the car was untouched. Maybe I am being slightly too paranoid, or maybe I have had too many robbing incidents.

We started driving toward Florence, but it all turned sour for a bit when Italian driving and confusing tiny-lettered signs really did get the best of us. In the end, we drove to the outskirts of Pisa, loaded up our fridge at a supermarket, and found a campsite that seemed alright. On our way to Pisa, we stopped at a beach on the coast, and I had my first Mediterranean swim of the year! Or a few years, to be exact. It was wonderful, the water was only a bit cold, and once I swam out a bit further, I could see the mountains and the slowly setting sun. Bliss!

We sat up camp and here I am going to go into “what do vegans eat” because Jonathan made a really impressive chili! It had three types of beans, celery (my contribution), tomato paste, tomatoes, mushrooms and spices and such. Absolutely delicious. He made a whole pot so we had plenty for leftover burritos today, and that is why I am in a slight food coma right now.

To make this slightly more humorous, I wanted to tell about my unfortunate trials and tribulations of toilet use. (Yes I do have the LCD Soundsystem song in my head as I type this). Basically I seem to have been collecting amusing toilet stories. Here are a few: when we were at the Italian campsite two days ago, I managed to walk into a chemical toilet disposal cubicle instead of a normal toilet, wondering why the toilet seat was huge (is this a specific toilet for large people?). Then a strange encounter with an English lady at a cafe, I walked up to the door, the toilet was dark and slightly open. I pulled on the handle, it didn’t give, but I thought maybe the door is heavy. I pulled again, and out of the darkness I saw a face apologetically looking at me. After a few more minutes she came out. I don’t know what someone could be doing in a dark toilet with an open door, when the light switch was clearly marked and the light worked. Of course the latest episode happened today, when I managed to get myself stuck in a cubicle because the lock was stiff and wouldn’t open…

I think the lesson to be learned is not to expect much from foreign toilets.

Today we took the train into Florence and spent the day sightseeing, criticizing the tourists, admiring the seeming American tourist overtake of the city, and I got some art in, by visiting the Uffizi.

I think I like Italy. Tomorrow Pisa and then onwards to the next bit!

By the way, did you know you can send us messages through the map feature? And leave comments on our blog posts? Please feel free because we’re feeling a bit out of touch, especially without internet most of the time.

This is a tale of 2 meals, disappearing mossie bites (finally), more thunderstorms, the boredom of motorways and silly IT mistakes that end up with late nights and uncomfortable tents…

It started with good intentions – we had a bag of dried shiitake mushrooms that we felt we couldn’t just throw away. The first night, barbecued in the pit, they weren’t so bad. But then we had the rest of them soaked overnight and used in the next day’s evening meal. I’m not sure whether the flavour of too many rehydrated mushrooms was the problem, or the rubbery texture reminiscent of slug…actually, I don’t think I’ve eaten slug so I might just be wild guessing there…but either way it was lucky we were sooo hungry that we at least got a good meal down us before abandoning the mushroom project to the recycling. After that I hope we can be excused for the particularly good meal the following night – 3 courses of tasty food (even if the leek and potato soup looked a little pondy, it was still delicious, and not just in comparison to spongy ‘rooms). Washed down with a glass of wine. 

That brought our stay in St Michel to a close, and for me the beginning of the journey into the less well known. We had one last tour of the swimming spots in the Herault Gorge, stood on top of the Roc Castel in Le Caylar admiring the approaching thunderstorm until it struck me that…well, it might actually strike us, and then headed off via a quick dive into the waterfall at the Cirque de Navacelles.

Then came too many hours on the motorway – Troopy isn’t a fast and loose type and prefers to take his time getting places, which is all very well but gets a bit tiring for the crew, so by the time we rolled into Grenoble looking for supplies we’d had enough of the 3 lanes of tarmac for one day. Another push up the road towards Chambery found us a nice campsite for a brief night stopover though, and time to post the week’s photos. That however turned into a bit of a ‘mare as IT glitches, slow internet and fatigue-induced pilot-error ended up with 1 of us up at midnight keeping the other awake with unavoidable shuffling about and probably avoidable mutterings. The 16-yr old Jura came out at this point, followed by a trial run of the pop-up tent for emergency isolation.

But another day, another adventure! Yesterday we had a much more interesting trek over the mountains through Chamonix into Switzerland for an appointment with my old friend the Spider Bridge. I did my second ever jump from the 190m water pipe bridge and Katana’s friend Valentyn did his first ever from anywhere. Katana did a couple of zip wire trips across the valley and we had some good cheese-free pizza and found a friendly campsite, and some beers. Watching the World Cup on an outdoor TV under an umbrella on the campsite were a few Swiss types whose mood improved dramatically through the evening, and we were ably served by a jolly chap, in multiple languages. At some point in the day I also noted that all signs of the midge-mauling I received at Salagou have now gone, and my legs are back to their usual shape and colour. So I guess I am again a blank canvas for the insect world…and since we are now camped next to Lake Maggiore, right by a wide reed-bed, I’m a little nervous!

We got here today following the Orient Express over the Simplon Pass, even reaching the remains of the winter’s snow amid the alpine flowers, before descending into Italy for an early evening swim in the lake. The Germans on today’s campsite seem particularly cheerful for some reason…

Well here we are – the countdown has hit zero days. We’re off…eek! When I thought about this moment a month or 2 ago, I thought about following up Inspiration with Trepidation, thinking it might be appropriate today. As it turns out the trepidation has diminished and this should be titled Anticipation. We’re about to go on holiday for a week in the South of France after all! Once we’ve managed to clear and clean the house we have a few days of sunshine (hopefully!), wine-tasting, swimming in the Med and a bit of sailing to look forward to. Vegans on a mission can also have a nice relaxing time just like anyone else 😉

OK, there are things ahead that warrant a little nervousness – I’m still waiting on my Iranian visa, and as always the situation in various countries en route needs watching for safety – and next week there’s the small matter of a 190m bungy jump I seem to have committed myself to. That deserves trepidation!

Katana continuing here. I asked Jonathan a few days ago what was he scared of about the trip, and he replied very bravely with “nothing”. I don’t believe that is true, but seeing as how he is trying to maintain this idea that everything will be dandy, I won’t go into his fears now.

For me the biggest fear is that I might lose my documents. This comes from the fact that to replace my passport takes about three months, and I don’t want to take three months out of my life to be stuck somewhere unable to travel outside of the country, fearing that more and more time is wasted on just waiting. Another fear is that something would come up to cut the trip short. But most everything else is doable and treatable, so I don’t see any significant risks that can’t be avoided or fixed.

We got a med kit and bought extra bits and pieces for it, and I had a fun time going through it all. I think if I wasn’t an artist, I would have been in the medical field, diseases and cures fascinate me! I think the most exciting time I had in preparation for this trip was my first-aid course.

The hardest part of leaving is saying many goodbyes. For me it is an ambivalent goodbye, because even after Africa I am not sure I will be here or there, but I definitely know my time is London is up. Perhaps I will find a place in Africa that I can call my own, or maybe I will get homesick. Let’s see what happens!

Everyone knows that being vegan means not eating animal products, right? But there’s more to consumption than eating…and what we wear is an important part of that. I’m sure the majority of people these days also see wearing fur coats as unacceptable – a luxury item made of dead animals? Well…how about all those leather shoes?  Leather is animal skin too. OK – shoes are not a luxury item…but is the choice to use leather rather than alternative materials not just the same thing as choosing a coat made of animals? Perhaps leather is a better quality material and its about practicality, not perceived luxury or status, or availability?

Well, we don’t think so – and there’s lots of evidence to suggest that cruelty-free materials are now superior to the leather counterparts. When I went sailing in the Global Challenge race in 2004-5, I was supplied with a pair of deck shoes by Vegetarian Shoes of Brighton as an alternative to the leather ones worn by the rest of the crew. Made of a breathable microfibre, the material was developed to have the same properties as leather and yet not suffer the degradation by a salty marine environment that damages leather. After the race,  where they were worn daily on the foredeck and around the boat, that pair of shoes lasted another 8 years of general summer wear – with a fair amount of getting wet in salt and fresh water as well as wandering around town. They were only retired last year as I’d pretty much worn through the soles – the leather-replacement uppers were still in good shape.

So when we came to look at our needs for an expedition through the desert, there was only really one place to go. This time round we’re wearing something more suitable for the desert – Retread Bush Boots. Lets see how well these work out as expedition footwear – they don’t feel like a compromise!

Of course…this is just one of many companies supplying a great range of footwear – if you’re looking for something a little more high-fashion for a night out in town, maybe Beyond Skin have something for you?

There’s lots of options out there that don’t involve wrapping your feet in bits of animal…