5 countries in 5 hours

I am not going to write now about why I have done this, all I am going to say is that on Friday I left work after 11.5 years of working for more or less the same company, swapped my work gear for my ski and climbing gear and yesterday jumped in the car and have started a journey around the world. I have no real idea how long it will last and only have the first few months planned. I have not thought too much about it philosophically, I have for want of a better expression jumped up into a strong wind and want to see where I land.

These next 6 weeks I am touring the Alps, a journey I have dreamed of for many years. I plan to ski, snowboard and climb my way anticlockwise through the alps, skiing at least one resort in every alpine ski country.

My first stop on this journey is Munster in Northern Germany, where I am visiting an old University friend, Barbabra and her family, it seems fitting that after many years in the rat race and rarely being able to make time for true friends (you know the ones, where when, you meet up after a long time apart you never talk about your past, only the present and the future,) I have come here to break my journey south.

So now the reason for the blog title - there cannot be many places in the world that in only 5 hours of driving you can pass through 5 countries in more or less a straight line. Counting the UK as my starting point, I then passed through in such quick succession, that I felt partly cheated (no Zolls or passport controls anywhere!) France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Not even a Bienvenue, Willkommen on the autobahn, not even the sexy voice on the SatNav mentioned it. I just sort of guessed from the road signs that I was border hopping - my own personal Gumball Rally, but without Jodie Kidd as my navigator.

Tomorrow I have an 8 hour drive to Switzerland where I hear there are Freshies in Gstaad, so an early start to ensure at least a half-day on the piste on either my new Tanker 172 or my new Atomic 175 carvers. I am also checking into a hotel run by Mike and Cathy Horn, if you want to see what a true contemporary explorer looks like, visit http://www.mikehorn.com/ .......incredible man!