In less than 24 hours I will be embarking on the most exciting adventure of my life. Since I won the competition nearly a month ago I’ve been kept busy by doing all sorts of things including filming a wedding and a fashion show, adding the finishing touches to a golf video and attending my sisters wedding as well as going to work! Because of all these little goings on the trip of a lifetime didn’t really sink in until a couple of days ago when I was doing some research on various people who had perished in the disaster. It was then that it hit home. I was about to see probably the most famous ship wreck in the world, something I never dreamed I would do in the 20 years I’ve been interested in it. I was about to go to the very spot where 1,523 people lost their lives on a cold, moonless April night. I was going to be within feet of the ship where people’s lives changed forever, where people said goodbye to loved ones, where entire families were wiped out. I was not only going to see a ship which, at the time, was the biggest, most luxurious movable object in the world, but a gravesite. A sad reminder to all mankind that we are not perfect, that when we think we are better than God him(her)self Mother Nature can push us aside with a lazy swipe of her hand.

Whilst I’ve had time to reflect upon the trip and brush up on my research I’ve experienced a whole host of emotions. Obviously I’m excited as well as nervous, but also sad and angry at the same time. Although it sounds odd that I should feel this way, when you read the countless accounts of the Titanic disaster you soon realise just how tragic it all was. Although the lifeboats were only capable of saving half the passengers on board the ship, only a quarter were actually saved. Why? When numerous ice warnings were sent to the ship why were they ignored? (In one case a ship which was issuing such warnings was told to “keep quiet” as the wireless operator was sending 1st Class passengers messages to loved ones). All these incidences and many more culminated into one of the biggest maritime disasters in history. The bow of the Titanic, still standing upright and proud two and a half miles under the ocean, is a reminder to us all that we are vulnerable. Although I’m not too worried about being down at that depth with her, and the submersibles are quite safe, the Titanic is also a reminder to me that nothing is unsinkable, and something, however unlikely, could go wrong. Therefore although confident, I mustn’t become complacent.

So where do I go from here? Well this time tomorrow I’ll be heading to St John’s in Newfoundland, to do something only a handful of people in the world will ever get the chance to do. And because the Titanic is an interest to such a large group of people throughout the world, I want to share my experience with as many of them as possible. I will try and keep the web log up-to-date as best I can, detailing my trip and my emotions toward it.

Let the journey of a lifetime begin!