Great Expectations

It's strange how ideas pan out. My original idea back in 2007 was to complete the Mongol Rally, all 10,000 miles of it, in a Reliant Robin. That idea gradually morphed in to a trip by double decker bus to Ethiopia. In the same way, I'm pretty certain that back in 2010, as I sat waiting for an interview with a bank manager, thumbing through pictures of tuk tuks, maps of the Middle East and shipping information from India that I had no idea that the tuk tuk rally would morph quite as much as it did. I wonder what I would have done with the five brand spanking new tuk tuks I would have bought with the money the bank were strangely prepared to lend me. The fools. I must have been convincing I guess, but now, I'm not sure I'd get many takers for a road trip by tuk tuk from Egypt to England via Syria.
Anyway, we aren't going to Syria. I'm prepared to give this information out to those eager team members waiting to find out where we are going. Syria is a very nice country, the people are amazingly friendly, there are sights aplenty, but....it's not in Europe, so we aren't going.
The levels of excitement are increasing. So they should I guess with just 8 days to go. I've been packing (yes, packing ! Already !) I'm usually the sort who will throw a pair of pants and a toothbrush in a bag with two hours to go before my flight, but I've been trying to work out what we really need (barbeque, pickled eggs, sleeping bag, single malt whisky) and what we can do without (chair for the mother in law, glasses, shreddies). I think it's going fairly well so far.
I've been in contact with a few of the teams as they make their final preparations. Team Milly have now remembered to pack a working engine. Good idea. I also popped in to see Team Chameleon as they were applying graphics to the Proton. Richard and Mark are a father and son team. They were the first team to sign up, the first team to buy their vehicle, but strangely one of the last to get their graphics on (not THE last, eh, Ralph or the Nightmares ?). I won't spoil the surprise, but she is looking pretty classy. I was impressed. Definitely impressed in a different way to how I was when first seeing the 'pink monstrosity' of Team 12 or the graphics of the Mobster.
Mark is looking forward to the trip of a lifetime with his Dad. He knows there will be good times, tough times, pleasurable bits and sometimes hard work, but he is firmly expecting it to be an amazing experience.
Now this is where it gets nerve wracking from my perspective. People having great expectations. This isn't a week long package tour to Benidorm, this could well be (and hopefully will be) an experience that most will remember (fondly I hope) for the rest of their lives. We have a couple on their honeymoon, who should quite reasonably expect this trip to be the best holiday of their lives.
But, and this is the best part, it's not really me that's making this experience what it is. It's the teams themselves. I must admit, I've been blown away by the effort that many have been putting in to their vehicles. So many people originally thought of what was going to be the most sensible, reliable car to take, to make it around in one piece. But look what we have ended up with....an elderly Morris Minor, a rebuilt Lotus (not exactly famed for their reliability), ancient camper vans, a fibre glass limousine, an ambulance with over 400,000 miles on the clock and a sturdy oak table inside. Illuminated spice racks.  Lunatics, the lot of you.
I'm looking forward to next Friday for a number of reasons. Firstly, I'm off work for a month. Secondly, I can't wait to see the vehicles in their finished states. Thirdly, I want to get on the open road. But mainly because, by Friday, if it hasn't been sorted it'll be too late to worry about it. Three years in the planning and we'll be off to see the continent.
See you at the start line boys and girls and don't forget your passports.