The book is about breaking away from comfort TV, turning redundancy into adventure and travelling to all those places that mesmerised me as a child. So what's it really like to trek along the Inca Trail?

What about climbing Kilimanjaro; or chilling in a hammock in Zanzibar, or getting lost in Stone Town. I yearned to visit the Amazon as a conservation volunteer and wanted to search for the remote Bolivian town of San Vicente where Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid supposedly met their end.

But no amount of inspirational songs could break me away from leaving my career at the car plant. You know how it is. Long term pension, nice workmates and a comfortable job and as your hair line recedes so do your thoughts of taking that year out to travel the world. All that changed in 2002.

Yes, I got made redundant. I was nearer 40 than 30 but knew that this was my moment. Luckily my wife agreed, so we studied our globe and set out a plan to become explorers. I didn't need TV and would cope without meeting the lads at the pub each weekend. Maybe it would give me something new to talk about when I returned.

Mr Benn, the bowler hatted, animated cartoon character was my inspirational childhood adventurer. He would leave his home in Festive Road and head to a nearby fancy dress shop. Once dressed up, he would walk through a green door that always led to adventure in a faraway land.

After two decades of waiting for another adventurer to take his place on TV, up popped Michael Palin, who showed us the intriguing world that lay through the departure gates at Heathrow airport.

After watching his adventures, I refused to watch 'Wish You Were Here,' ever again. With the car factory closed, it was now our time to follow Mr Benn and find the door that always led to adventure. If you are going to fly long haul from Heathrow airport you may as well come back with something more tangible than a suntan.

Travelling is not all about deep tans and ticking off must see places. The experiences of climbing Kilimanjaro and trekking along the Inca Trail are only minor parts of the journey. Take time to drift through village markets, make time to meet the locals rather than point and shoot at them with your camera. Getting lost in north Peru, lodging with families and being chased by wildlife was when we felt challenged and invigorated.

We never returned to the UK to live. On a good day I can see kangaroos across the paddock from our front door and I've learnt to catch fish from the nearby beach, but I do yearn for country pubs, rolling hills and my family.

I hope you take the chance to live your dreams. Maybe it's trekking the Inca Trail, or climbing Kilimanjaro. Maybe it's about waking in a strange town, listening to foreign voices drifting from the cobbled streets below as you contemplate fresh coffee at a local café.

Or maybe it's about staying local, discovering those villages, woodlands and footpaths you race past each evening on the way home.

This is our story...

The Creative Nomad