Yes, there are only 7 months left to plan! I don’t know if I’m super excited about leaving, or super terrified at the prospect of everything that still needs to fall into place in this space of time.
The main thing, however, is that we now have our bike (see post: Transport has been arranged!) and in one sense I feel like we are ready to go, that all the things between now and December are loose ends that need tying up. If only it were that simple!
Another achievement of the month just gone (feels more like evaporated) is that the National Autistic Society have endorsed the project and we are now going to donate excess funds raised for the project to them. I am really happy about this, not least because Sofia and I have benefited enormously from the organisation. Without the support they provide through courses like the ‘Early Bird’, and the local support group which arranges coffee mornings and special trips, I would not be here today talking about taking a journey with my daughter across Africa.
Certainly when you are a parent of a child with autism, nothing can quite equate to having the opportunity of meeting other parents who know and understand exactly what you mean, who don’t judge your child, and will always be ready with ideas on new ways of looking at situations that might help with understanding and finding solutions.
With these two outcomes this last month, I am hoping it is a down hill ride to December. We still have lots to do in terms of raising sponsorship and donations, and will we be selling window stickers at a biker haunt near you over the summer. These will also be available on our GoFundMe page – there are no limits to where I can send one!
Still to come is the bike getting a paint job, and we need to start readying it for the trip. Thoughts about petrol carrying capacity weigh heavily on my mind these days and so a new more detailed level of planning needs to start taking place. Maintenance training will need to be done soon as well, so far I have only topped up the engine oil, apparently there are 2 other oil wells which take different oil, and I can’t even find them at this point.
I have to say though, all is working out perfectly. Even more so now that we have the bike and sidecar. Sofia loves riding in the sidecar, and I love driving it, so with these very big boxes ticked, I am now certain that we will not slip our leaving date of December, in fact, in the coming month I hope to set the date specifically and start to work on our launch location.
In the mean time, please donate £3.50 (£3.75 international) and get your own window sticker to show your support. http://www.gofundme.com/africawithautism
Sponsors:
AdventureWithAutism 