“Is this it?” Three little words, but one helluva big thought. I was asking myself if there’s more to life, if the existence which most people would give their right arm for was enough. Self-indulgent with a capital “S” and “I”, I decided, so I tried to pretend I’d not raised the question at all. Until it entered my mind again. And again.

And that’s how it started. I wasn’t unhappy, work was fine, the social life was busy and fulfilling, the flat and garden in West London appealed as much as ever, but I wanted something more. A 44-year-old man who friends would regard as risk averse was considering moving out of his comfort zone. I started seriously thinking about taking a career break, and the more I thought the more I liked the idea.

So I bought books, I bored friends with the idea (I suspect most of them thought it was “just a phase”), I worked out if I could afford it, I mentioned it in passing to my parents to see if they recoiled in horror (they didn’t, at least not when I was watching anyway), and I began to resolve that when my year-long contracts at Five Live and News 24 came to an end I wouldn’t renew them. I would tell the bosses I was going to disappear for six months while at the same time telling them how much I loved them and how much I wanted to come back afterwards.

And that’s what I did, and now I’m days away from departing. My first destination is New York where friends await. Then it’s Montreal and Vancouver before I head to South America for two months. In Argentina I’m taking the biggest leap outside my comfort zone by volunteering to teach English and learning Spanish. I did a TEFL course in January, so I know what it’s like to stand in front of a class of expectant students who believe that you’re about to tell them something useful. Radio, I realised at that point, has the advantage of not allowing me to see the audience. As for the Spanish, I’m trying to get ahead by listening to 16 Linguaphone CDs. I almost booked a guesthouse in Lima without resorting to lo siento, habla usted inglés? (I’m sorry, do you speak English?) but in the end I gave in. And, of course, the reply was “yes, how can I help you?”, spoken with only a hint of an accent.

I’m back in the UK briefly over Christmas before I head to Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Singapore and Thailand. In New Zealand it’s no accident at all that my visit will coincide with the arrival of the England cricket team, meanwhile I plan to take what looks the most enticing of train journeys between Singapore and Bangkok (providing me with the flimsiest of arguments when I’m questioned about my carbon footprint). And that will take me through to the end of March, when I will return... to the same flat (which I’m renting out in the interim), the same friends and – I hope – much of the same work. And by then the answer to the question “is this it?” had better be “yes”.

Need to know

Julian Worricker booked his flight through Trailfinders (0845 0585858). The flight cost £2,710 and leaves London for: New York, Montreal, Vancouver, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, London, Sydney, Auckland, Bali and Singapore, then from Bangkok to London.

Visas: Only one visa was required, for Australia, costing £12.

Follow Julian Worricker on his travels by visiting his blog

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