You 'ave a ruhm?

After many days of searching online and scouring Craigslist and all kinds of hotel and hostel sites, we were thinking that budget accommodation in Whistler was gonna be impossible to find. The hostels are either unclean or uncheap or badly located. But after emailing all the best deals we found the Clock Tower - time share condo complex in the centre of Whistler village right next to the lifts; self catering studio units for 60 USD per night. And it's paid for. With all this planning that's the first thing we've actually shelled out for (apart for some jabs). We are really doing this!

Route tweaking

We have two weeks left before we need to take the plunge and book the flight tickets. The first leg from Helsinki via London to Vancouver for 23.3 is already reserved. We have been looking carefully at the route. Tokyo at the end seems like a great idea but it will be winter and, unless we win the pools, we won't have the money to go skiing for a good amount of time and get out to the bigger ski resorts.

Also we have looked again at Easter Island - it is taking us two flights but we realise it is a great chance, surely the only time we will ever go, and because of the Oneworld flights it is possible so we have to do it. The Galapagos Islands off Ecuador would be great but we just don't have the money for the 2-3000 euro each that it costs - let's see how we do - if we are ahead of budget maybe we can think about it and head north from Lima to Ecuador and check it out. Anyway, Easter Island is in and we are really happy with the rest of the plan. We looked at ways to use the extra flight to get in more Caribbean or Pacific islands. With the Caribbean we would have to go through Miami or back to Puerto Rico - so to get in Barbados for example we would need two extra stops. We could easily add in just Miami but it doesn't excite us that much (it would if we had the funds to make extra side trips to the Bahamas!).

So we looked at the Pacific. We worked out that, by sacrificing Ayer's Rock we could fit in NZ south island by plane rather than have to get the boat there. And we can sacrifice Ayer's Rock and Melbourne and include New Caledonia. This option is a bit of a holy grail for me. We might never go to the Pacific again and I really want a Polynesian-type island on the itinerary. Especially as we probably won't be able to afford a side trip there - and also because going overland from Sydney to Melbourne is a nice way to explore that part of Oz - like Santiago it does mean a backtrack flight and a bit of backtrack overland but I think that is worth it for New Caledonia (and Easter Island).

The 1st Pallo Racketlon

On Sat 16th Feb we had the first Pallo Racketlon at Finland Tennis at Itakeskus, a tournament where 8 of us competed in matches containing table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. We had Teemu, Antti, Atte, Perttu and me from Pallo and guests, Kille, Niclas and Pete. Pete had an atrocious hang over and didn't do his skills justice early on. Antti was the dark horse and missed out on a finals appearance thanks to the drawing of lots when he, Teemu and our special guest, Niclas, finished level in the group stage. After drawing our match in the group, Kille beat me in the final. 

The day went really well for the most part, except for some confusion when the group stages were tied. It was also a bit odd that we didn't always stick to the table tennis... tennis order and that quite a few games finished early. But it was great that nearly everyone came away smiling and wanting to do it again. We were all pretty well matched too so next time maybe a league with 6 players would be a good format.

Thanks especially to our guests Kille, Pete and Niclas who had great spirit all day. Nice one guys. At the sauna Teemu got to collect the long overdue Pallo MVP trophy for 2007, which he shared with Antti, Ville and myself. Antti would rather cut of his hands than have to take it home and try to convince Virpi to put it on the mantlepiece.

Last week in Kotka

Beats and Styles rolled into the Sokos Hotel in Kotka and delivered the usual all action party for the 70 or so very drunk guests. Control was at his outrageous best and was either towering over the audience up on the crowd barriers or writhing on the floor. I had a bit of backing tape confusion and got to enjoy using the famous orange B&S strat thing for most of the set, after unusually breaking a string - the key third string - very important for that Invitation to the Dancefloor funky disco chord riff. There was good action in the solo spots - of course Charles brought the house down with Crazy as ever. 

Unfortunately it ended on a bit of a low note. There are so many gigs coming up in the next few months and there is a big new shiny set to learn and rehearse - because I am going away the new guitarist needs to learn the stuff. So, it was my last gig. Of course I am gutted but also it was expected. I am just so grateful to Jaakko for bringing me in and giving such an amazing experience. I cannot speak highly enough of him. As a performer, writer and producer his work speaks for itself. But it is his energy, enthusiasm , drive and humour that make him so special and such a great guy to be around. Thanks also to Ernie for making it happen for me. I really have been blessed to get to work with more talented people. Man that Charles can sing...

Last week in Tahko

There were lots of smiles last week. There were a couple of bangs on the slopes - thank heaven for helmets - and we enjoyed disco bowling and the spa. The biggest hit was probably the ABC at Pirkkola, which is like an oasis in the desert after a few hours with Ryanair. Matty bossed the slopes and my mum and Allan got some practice in before taking in some big slopes in Norway. For me it was an incredible experience to be on such a great family holiday. I am so happy everyone enjoyed themselves and I can't wait to do it again.

More next week...

To protect myself from the invading Saxon hoardes I have procured some suitable headwear; my first snowboarding helmet; only 19EUR; in preparation for the big mountain.

On Weds 13th Beats and Styles play Kotka wth MC Delicatessen on guitar.

And on Sat 16th it is the first Pallo Racketlon; any excuse for lots of silly games and sauna.

Next week...

The next week is going to be full of action. First up we have seven of my English family coming to Tahko for a long weekend. Two weeks ago Miss Deli and friends had a great time and there was loads of snow.

Should be a baptism of fire for my uncle who will be driving in Finland for the first time, in the middle of the night, for about five hours. 

We're not ready yet

With just over six weeks to go the nervous excitement is starting to build and many loose ends are starting to be tied up, even if some are in need of double knots.

Here is a status check and look into the hollow mind of an Internet-addicted RTW planner...

Flights - are looking good. The biggest expense, one of the biggest decisions, all questions have been answered, just waiting to see if our favourite airline, Finnair, answers the same in both our languages. The Oneworld site has been very useful but all the difficult questions have been answered on the Lonely Planet forum by seasoned RTW flight experts.

Countries and climate - Miss Deli and I have a fairly good idea of what we are getting into. We are kinda following the Spring out the US, which leads to the start of the afternoon rains in Central America, mild weather in South America and the start of the ski season by the time we get to the high Andes. We also have spring in NZ and Oz and perfect time for Indochina.

Finance - not the best news to find out that my bank, Lloyds, is the worst to travel with in the UK. Which cards, which bank, what belts and what other security measures we will take during overland travel are currently hot topics.

Gear - my research has me thinking that we should be packing extremely light; I mean very, very light. This means that we are going to have to spend on new sleeping bags and some other specialist gear. I have been eyeing up trail shoes, retractable ski poles (for those flat bits when we are snowboarding big mountain), sleeping bag mummy liners, waterproof bags and rain ponchos. We will send our snowboard stuff home from LA (shame we won't have it in Chile) so deciding if we should take warm stuff through Central America is a dilemma. We plan to save money by buying most new gear in the US.

What else - well, I have the aching arms from a jab session with doctor Arnie, who needled me all over; there is a new lock on the closet door for our valuable when we are away but we are still waiting to hear about the flat rental; unfortunately Spanish is a language neither of us have practiced but hopefully we should get by in CA with tourist Spanish though I am on the look out for a good phrase book; I have a new passport - let's hope it doesn't run out of pages if those Latin border guards get carried away; and I have a lot of lists... a lot of lists... and I have nearly finished the FunkiDeli website, thanks to Niclas' help.

MC Delicatessen

Intro to the DEliTOUR

Like all the best plans it is likely to change.

After nearly six weeks of planning it looks quite like this. The itinerary has some pretty fuzzy logic behind it. It has been sculpted by taking into account place we want to go, things we want to do, rough timing and weather, things we can and can't afford, and travel options, including flight packages. 

Helsinki via London to Vancouver and Whistler for some snowboarding. Via Dallas to LA for a drive around the West Coast for a weeks, probably checking out SF, Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Lake Tahoe (maybe for more snowboarding). 

Then ditching the car and going overland to Baja, the rest of Mexico, and on through Central America; Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 

From San Jose in Costa Rica we fly to Puerto Rico first, and then on to Venezuela, where can check out some Trinidad by boat. From Caracas we fly to Lima in Peru, which sets us up for the big overland leg (a big 'U') via Bolivia, Chile and Argentina to end in Rio. 

We have flights out of South America from Rio via Santiago and taking in Easter Island before heading on to Auckland in New Zealand. We have the opportunity to explore both NZ islands before hitting Melbourne, Ayers Rock and Perth (we have been to the East Coast of Australia before so we want to see some more of it).

After that we fly to Singapore before overlanding in Malaysia, Thailand and perhaps elsewhere in Indochina before flying from Bangkok to Tokyo and then back to Helsinki.

The near-East, mainland Asia and Africa have to wait for another day. And the keen-eyed will have noticed some omissions such as, the Galapagos Islands (due to cost), French Polynesia (cost and connections), Cuba (flight package restrictions) and other Caribbean islands (cost and connections). Though with all these we can see how we are doing with the budget and time. With the flight package we have we have complete freedom with the dates and can even change the route (though that incurs a charge). We have the freedom, resources allowing, to take extra flights, trips or sleigh rides, as we so desire.

MC Delicatessen

 

Welcome to the FunkiDeli blog

Like all the best plans, we changed it.

The start of 2008 was going to herald the launch of Delicatessen Music & Marketing; a vehicle to better enable me to balance my daily working life and my knowledge, experience and interests. For the time being though music management, consultancy and licensing, and marketing planning will have to wait.

It is with great thanks to our sponsor that we can announce that, from the end of March 2008, Miss Deli and I will be undertaking the DEliTOUR; a round the world journey, taking in thirty countries, the best part of a year and, of course, the world’s greatest delicatessens... probably.

It is sad for us to be leaving behind friends and family. And also heart rending for Miss Deli to be leaving such a great place to work. I am abandoning the best live band I have ever had the opportunity to play with, and one of the most exciting musical opportunities I have been given.

That said, our sadness will be probably be tempered by some of the distractions of travelling. And, course, this may be one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that people often refer to.

Hopefully this blog can help us stay in touch, help our friends come and find us, give you a chance to berate us, and generally give us another record of our journey.

MC Delicatessen