My name is Bev and I'm the one doing the writing, uploading and photography. Alan is my husband of 23 years and he is in charge of scary insects and other emergencies.

We decided to go backpacking for a year in India, South East Asia, New Zealand and Australia, and left the UK on 29th October 2009.

Alan was 67 when we started out, I was 49 - hence our trip became known to friends as 'OAP and HRT on Tour'.

This site was originally intended as a repository for photos and a few captions to keep friends and family up to date with our travels. Then it seemed a good idea to share some more detailed info about our experiences in case it might be of help to other 'grown-ups' thinking of taking a gap year.

See links on the left to a blog for each country visited. If you are interested in some background, such as packing lists, it can be found here.