Road

If you’ve got a vehicle that’ll go the distance and you’re crazy enough, you can try driving to Australia. Bring a Sat Nav, a four-wheel drive, spares for everything, mechanical and linguistic competence, and an undaunted spirit. Doing it for charity will garner you much-needed moral support.

An easier option is the world’s only UK to Australia overland service, Oz Bus, which drives between London and Sydney via Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, South-East Asia and Indonesia. It departs about three times a year for £3850 - and you can pay in installments, which is extremely cool indeed. Accommodation is in tents (ideally your own) and occasionally guest houses or bungalows, and two meals a day are included, making this the cheapest overland option we’ve come across.

If you are going to travel this, another idea would be to start a blog about it. It’s a great way to keep family and friends updated on where you are and what you are doing and it’ll also attract fans who’ll bolster you up on those days when nothing seems to be going right. Plus it’s amazing how quickly word gets out and how you can be helped by strangers on the ‘Net.