This blog is written as we wait for boarding at Birmingham Airport, listening to snatches of conversations in languages I understand, half understand or cannot recognise. Lots of families travelling over New Year as, I assume, like us they are seeking to avoid the expensive days either side.

We are flying to Bangkok, via Dubai. It will be late evening on 1 January when we arrive, and so we will miss the New Year’s celebrations with friends and family for the second time after many years of seeing the New Year in with people we know and love. So Happy New Year to you all. Last New Year’s Eve we were in Knayakumari, and we started our cycling trip through India on New Year’s day. It has been quite year since then professionally – with the usual ups and downs. But I am really looking forward to exploring Thailand by bike, shedding a few pounds and reading some interesting books. It should be a fascinating next 2 months. We will try to blog when we can, but that is all dependent on getting access to internet. It was not a problem in IT-saavy India but not sure about rural Thailand. We will just have to see what happens.

We are planning to start cycling on Friday but have 48 hours to explore Bangkok before then – as well as the small matter of rebuilding the bikes. So we will post again when we have something interesting to report.

In the meantime, Happy New Year and I hope you have a more enjoyable time than being stuck in a large cigar holder with wings as it travels to Dubai!