Travel is an addiction. It gives me a physical buzz. Every time I step off a plane, a train or a bus and into a new city or country for the first time the sheer physical pleasure of discovering somewhere new makes my heart beat faster. When I am not travelling, I dream about how I am going to satisfy my addiction next.

I'm 26. I have a growing awareness that middle age is closer than I would like, and a suspicion that I might not have achieved all that I could with the time I've had so far, and with every passing year, it gets worse. Whenever I think about the source of this existential self-doubt, it comes down to one thing: such a big planet, so little time to enjoy it.

Since leaving school, I've been to university, done an MA, failed, done an MA again, passed, and for the last year I have been working as a travel consultant for a school travel company. It's been a fantastic job, and one that's given me opportunities I never even considered a year ago: I have been paid to travel, to France, Germany and Belgium; I have written plenty of advertising copy for the company and for my portfolio; I have been able to afford to spend two weeks' holiday travelling around Mexico with my girlfriend, Rachel; and I hope that I have given something back by making it possible for other young people to travel, and to appreciate what it means. But travelling vicariously isn't quite good enough. I have finally come to the conclusion that I am never going to have both enough time and enough money to really travel - certainly not before I retire. I hope one day to be able to travel, and write, and be paid for it - but until then, I have handed in my notice and will deal with being penniless when I get back, when I get back.

Initially, I felt that the logical next step after Mexico would be South America: start in Chile, soak up the southern hemisphere's summer, and perhaps stop off in Cuba on the way back. Then indecision set in, and I began to think that as this might be the only chance I ever get to really travel I would be better off going somewhere totally different. The current plan is South East Asia: Thailand, India and Nepal.

That's not the only change: I am no longer going alone. I need someone to share my experiences with and to keep me motivated, and my friend Chris will be that person. As I lived with Chris for a year when we were undergraduates, I'm confident he doesn't have any nasty or annoying habits, other than the ones I already know about. Rachel will also fly out to see me, probably about halfway through my trip when we should be in India.

What do I hope to have achieved by the time I come back? A greater awareness of the diversity of human culture and of the scale of planet we share, definitely. A greater awareness of myself, hopefully. More writing experience, as long as I keep myself motivated enough to hunt down some Internet cafés. To have laid the foundations for a future career in travel writing, possibly.

Thanks for reading this far. Next time there will be less psychoanalysis and more jokes. Hopefully.