Ed does the AA This the account of Ed Powell, a man in his 20s exploring SE Asia and Auckland. My moto - "Bringing the world together, 1 step at a time"

So this is how it starts, I'm sitting next to my friends, Dave Brae, Amy C and Jezzer watching the classic film that is 'There's somthing about Mary' and I couldn't help but think that I will miss my lazy Sunday afternoons doing nothing. Dave keeps using my Mac (which I will miss when I leave) to check his facebook site so he can ponder over his soon to be wife (thats Emma) and how sexy she is. Meanwhile Jezzer, Amy and I are the singletons in the house who are throwing insults at him for being too smug that he is getting married and we're not. Firstly, I would like everyone to know that I'm no Aaron Sorkin or Bill Shakespeare so don't expect any award winning writing. Just expect the usual banter that you would get from me if I was there in the flesh. Anyway, back to the point that is this week I had an email from Mark, my very helpful agent from Worlds Apart to tell me my e-tickets have arrived. Ok, can someone please explain to me how an electronic ticket can arrive? I take a stroll down to the agency where a guy who has either drunk too much calpol, or has had too much sun (as we're in the UK, i'll go with the first option) hands me the tickets - a print out of an email. HOW IS THAT ELECTRONIC? My point is that my tickets have arrived and I'm thinking crap, I've got stuff to do. Many people ask me why I'm going away?? The truth is there is not a clear cut reason, I mean I love Chelters. I have made some amazing friends in the 5 years that I have been here and I will leave with so many memories. Whether it’s stealing stuff in certain states of conciousness in my first year of uni, trying to share a stage with Jamie Hill or trying to teach people my sense of humour (some/all people still struggle), its been fun. I think my best memory (and there’s many) would be discovering The West Wing. My brother once told me (and it took him 15 mins to get to his point - he's a writer and had to include every single flippin piece of detail) that his vicar (he works for a church) told him that with him being in leadership has never dealt with an issue that has not been covered on the programme. I like to think that this will be true with me and my travels. I've watched and read books on Ray Mears and trust me, The West Wing prepares you more. Whether its dealing with guilt, independence or feeling alone, its dealt with it. I like to think that when I'm in the middle of nowhere with no accommodation for the night and a monsoon kicking off, I'll cast my mind back to the The West Wing and think, "what would Leo do" and I'll be ok. At this point I would like to thank my bro, Jamie Hill and Steve/Min Clarke for lending me the series, and for their counselling when I completed the 7 season journey. Whilst I'm on the subject of DVD's, if anyone has any of my collection, please could they return them. Anyway, enough from me for now, I'm still recovering from a birthday boat trip around Gloucester (not much to see, but the company was great). I will post throughout my travels, please don't correct me on my spelling or grammar ( I still don't know my There from Their). In the words of Jed Bartlett, "What's Next" Ed?