Last year I wrote a blog saying the dream was over due to financial constraints but given that I then paid nearly two-thirds of that cost just to go to Laos I thought I’d just pay whatever it cost this year as I haven’t had any other holidays in 2009 due to my participation on the TESOL course in the first half of the year.

Anyway, that ‘dream’ is now a reality and I have been doing my preparation for the trip to Rome, Naples and Tunisia but I don’t necessarily mean looking at guidebooks and webpages. No, my “research” has meant watching any films made in these locations. For Italy, this has included ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006) where the inside of Caserta Palace near Naples provided the backdrop for a scene or two.

Of course, there’s also ‘Roman Holiday‘ (1954) which I had never seen before until recently. I was quite surprised to find myself enjoying this kind of film and will now even try and hunt down a few of the sights used in its filming. Also, made me a bit sad that I will not have my girlfriend with me in the Italian capital.

Two years ago I spent my birthday (August 8th) on a plane to Australia, last year it was to Laos and this year is no different. I will be spending my birthday alone yet again taking the plane from Rome to Tunis in Tunisia and then (hopefully) taking the 7 hour bus down south.

A few films have been set on location in Tunisia with these including ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’, ‘The English Patient‘, ‘The Raiders Of the Lost Ark‘ and of course the Star Wars saga where four of the six movies were filmed in Tunisia with the most memorable being ‘A New Hope‘ and ‘The Phantom Menace‘ Going in search of some of the sites used in those two films in particular is my main reason for taking my first trip to Africa and I am very much looking forward to the challenge of getting round Tunisia.