So Far, So Good...

It's now Wednesday 19^th May and I am just about to undertake the sixth day of my journey. And with five days of travel behind me, I've been reflecting on my journey and consider how it has gone and what I have learnt so far.

In five days I have travelled all the way from Land's End to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. I have made a total of 17 bus journeys, two of them open-top, four by minibus and another four by fairly elderly double decker. I have travelled on two ferries (one of them whilst still sitting on a bus), on a former commuter train which I thought had been scrapped long ago – and which by the end of this week will be - and on a refurbished London Underground train.

And all things considered ,it's a case of so far, so good. All the buses I have taken have turned up pretty much on time – except one which didn't turn up at all, forcing me to wait more than an hour for the next one. Generally, I haven't had to wait for ages at bus stops and that's a lot better than I expected.

Bus drivers have, on the whole, been friendly and genuinely helpful, and from my vantage point at the top deck of a bus – open top or not – I have privileged to witness some tremendous views and a lot of truly stunning scenery that I would never have encountered behind the wheel of a car.

I feel rested and relaxed and I'm beginning to wonder why more people don't do this.

However, having now passed through four counties, and having just passed the night on the Isle of Wight, I'm preparing to make the short voyage back to the mainland in some trepidation.

I'm heading for Portsmouth now and then travelling onwards to Brighton and things, I suspect, are going to change because I am starting to travel through much more heavily-populated areas. More people means more cars, more congestion, more out-of-town shopping centres. More importantly, more cars could mean more delays caused by traffic congestion, and therefore longer waits at the bus stop.

So, will it all become a lot more difficult from now on?

Well, we'll see....