We leave the UK, the Tories take power and predictably myopically create a double-dip recession that is both unnecessary and excruciating.
We travel through the tranquil country of Tunisia and less than a year later more than two hundred people have been killed in nationwide unrest that has seen a dictator ousted, but no peace restored.
After seven wonderful months living as locals in Egypt, the country erupts into a revolution that currently teeters on the knife edge of ushering in a new era or being crushed by the depressing juggernaught of a criminally corrupt cabal that has held power for 60 years and could, depressingly, claw its way back to total control.
Africa was a possible direction once, but then Sudan's internal crisis meant that wasn't an option as the British Embassy wouldn't support a visa application to a country on the brink of breaking into two.
So now we are in Jordan. So far it is peaceful, but there are murmurs of discontent here too. Widespread support for a King who is a ruler and not a figurehead may prevent an uprising, but prices are crippling and unemployment curses too many people for there not to be disquiet.
North of here and on our desired route lies Lebanon, teetering on the brink of another civil war. If it erupts, Syria will be sucked in to some extent. Not that that immediately effects us: we can't get a Syrian visa. The embassy here said that we can only get one from London. Not an easy problem to solve, but one we must because if we don't we are stuck. Having us two Jonahs trapped here won't be good news for Jordan.
