The Start of the Journey

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to all of those places you see on a map and only know by name from reading them on the page in front of you. Lisa Fairy and I felt that as residents of a relatively small country it would be possible to see every place that has a name and experience it first hand.  It is one thing to look at a map, or to look at a book with a write up and pictures.  And now with the rapid development of the Internet and the World Wide Web you can even see some places through a webcam or by using Google Street View. BUT being there is something else. We decided to challenge ourselves to visit every city, town, village and hamlet at least once in our lifetime. If it is on the map, it is worth visiting. We know that some places don't have very much going for them except a few houses, but sometimes you hvae to look deeper to discover the hidden treasures of seemingly dull place. Once visited every place can be ticked off the list.

The challenge will involve the two of us visiting each place together. If it is possible to stop our mode of transport, we will, and spend as much time as we can or as much as the place deserves.  There will be occasions when there will be very little time to explore the location and although it will be added to this blog, and therefore ticked off the list, it will also fall into the category of 'Must Visit Again'.  Some places, especially those local to us, will receive many visits.

As this blog gets bigger we will be relying on readers to inform us of places we missed.  This will greatly improve our chances of completing this challenge within the next twenty years or so, health permitting.  We will occasionally include places already visited in recent years to this challenge as long as we have photographic evidence to prove it, but our main goal is to video some of the features of each place and hopefully discover new things by talking to the locals. All photos and video will be taken by myself, my wife Lisa Fairy or my a member of our immediate family if we both want to be in the video. No pictures will be copied from books unless stated and credited for reference or historical purpose and no video will be grabbed from the Internet. There is no point in cheating ourselves.

As we are a family of four our children will appear in some of the photos. We are sure that as time progresses and they get older they will start their own adventures without us. These will not be included in this blog.

Thank you for reading this.  I hope you will check back regularly to get updates and information about the places we have seen.

Ian and Lisa