Step into the unknown

My mother said to my father after she got off the phone to me, in the aftermath of my first skydive, that she didn't think I would ever be the same.
Maybe an exaggeration, but certainly this was one of my greatest fears, and something I never, ever believed I would do nor wanted to do.
Overcoming a fear as big as it was, was a huge thing for me and I believe in some way opened my mind to the spectre of travelling to places and experiencing things that I fear. If you observe my face, I truly believed in the first and second photos that those breaths were my last. Skip to photo 3! Oh yeh! :)

First Step

So my name is Neil Ahern.

I am a soon-to-be out of work journalist from Dundalk in Ireland, who spent four and a half (or so) happy years plying my trade for the Irish Independent's sports section as well as the Evening Herald sports section. Alas, I have decided to go on sabbatical for an indefinite period.

While I very much enjoyed my work and am proud of what I have achieved by the age of 24, since I began forging my career (incidentally, almost straight after I finished college) it had always been my intention to go and see the world at some point in my 20s; see things I would have never even imagined and develop a new understanding and a different perspective on life, culture, society etc.
I have always been fascinated particularly by people who have been to far corners of the planet, experienced completely different cultures and societies to our own and have come to develop measured, worldly views on everything. That is something I would love to one day have.

Some force is telling me that now is just the right time for me to go, and most certainly my one-month journey to New Zealand last January played a part in convincing me that time waits for no man; while my youth and my hairline are on my side, I should get moving!
Also, while it played no part in my original decision, the recent tragic death of a friend, Andrew Dunne, at age 25, was the most unfortunate of reminders, but a reminder nonetheless, that life is too fragile to hang around and wait for things to happen.

First stop is Africa. I leave Dublin for Nairobi, Kenya on November 12 to begin a 35-day bus tour, on November 14, down the South East via Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, finishing in Jo'burg, South Africa before I return to my humble home for Christmas - an occasion I hope to never miss as long as I'm alive! Also, it will be a first chance in 3 months to spend more than three days with the dearly beloved, Emma.
I will endeavour to update my blog regularly, which will hopefully keep a log of as much of my adventures as is physically possible. Hopefully some of you will keep up-to-date and keep in touch with me through this but it will also serve as a nice little travel log for myself.
Hope you enjoy and please keep in touch people!

Love and kisses,

Neil.