R&TAdventures This journal will document our planning and our trip to Europe that we have been waiting for - for many years. We will go for six months and travel through many countries. There will be a certain amount of planned activites but lots of room will be left for spontinaity.

The planning of our trip has been a lengthy one. Tony has six months long service leave and I have to ask for time off without pay. I hope they let me have it!

We have research many European countries and Tony has asked the passengers on his bus if he should go to varuos countries such as - Albania, Monetinagro, croatia and he gets a good critique of the countries. I must mention at this stage that Tony has many tourists on his bus that visit the Healesville Santuary and the Yarra Valley.

We have borrowed all the Lonely Planet books from the Library and a European road map book and spoken to my daughter Alex as she has been to most of these places.

One of the major things that we have established is a network of people around the world of other likeminded travellers. This has been through CouchSurfers.com and Homelink International. I have sent many emails to people all over Europe and we have about 24 contacts of people of whom we can stay.