Paul and Helen
Name and age - Paul (57 in June 2011) & Helen (52 in March 2011) Crittenden (married September 2009)
Hometown - Ramsgate, Kent, England
When did you start your travels? - June 2010
Reason for taking this trip - it began because Paul took part in the Mongol Rally (London to Ulaanbaatar) in 2007 with his brother, felt it was a rush and wanted to go back and experience the countries, especially Kazakhstan and Mongolia - I'd felt wistful waving them off in 2007 - and it was out of this the idea of a short 3 month trip began - as we began planning the trip it grew from 3 months to two years as we realised all the other places we wanted to see - other factors in our decision to travel is age, we didn't want to leave it until we were too old - we also did not want the trip to be entirely selfish and are raising awareness for three charities through our schools project (Landy's Adventures) which has its own separate website - ultimately our goal is to complete a true circumnavigation overland
Why did you decide to drive? - like driving - felt too old and unfit to backpack
What type of car are you driving? - Land Rover Defender 110 station wagon
Did you make any modifications to your car for this trip? - main modifications include additional on-board fuel tanks increasing capacity from 80 litres up to 215 litres - on-board water tank with a capacity of 110 litres
How did you save up or finance your trip? - savings from before we left (not sufficient) - small amount in sponsorship but very tiny against the actual cost (would like more but not getting much luck so far) - small income from writing, beginning to earn money when and where we can!!
How long do you plan on traveling? - anticipate two years
Where do you plan on driving? - we left UK via europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Russia, North America - currently in Mexico - plan on continuing south through Central and South America to achieve second antipodean point in southern Chile as part of circumnavigation - and then return to Europe via African east coast (although actual route dependent on local politics by the time we get there)
What were your family’s and friends’ reactions when you told them about your trip before you left? - Most were very anxious, and some though we were being a little irresponsible! It took a while to convince elderly parents that we were grown up enough in our fifties to take on such a big adventure. Friends were supportive and encouraging in the main.
Did you speak Spanish before you left your home country? No, not more that 'Amigo', 'Por Favour' and 'Manana'.
How much Spanish? Are you taking more Spanish lessons as you travel? If so, where and for how long? Not lessons, but we are actively interested and learning quite fast from our interactions with people we meet.
Do you have a favorite place or country that you have visited during your trip? - everywhere we have visited has been a favourite for different reasons although the one consistent reason for all of the countries we have visited has been the friendliness of the local people
What was the weirdest thing you experienced on your trip? - not sure about the weirdest but the maddest was driving a Jeep the 5,000 miles from Anchorage in Alaska to Pensacola in Florida while we were waiting for our own vehicle to arrive by container ship from Vladivostok to Seattle - there have been plenty of weird coincidences, people offering help before we even knew we needed it.
What was the worst border crossing? - emotionally it was getting our vehicle out of the clutches of the North American officials after the ship had landed (and the most expensive by far) - the second worst one was probably getting out of Ukraine, where they confiscated some of our medical kit.
Would you do it again? - yes
Do you have a blog or a website describing your trip? - www.goingoverland.com
