The other day I was reading a post by A Brit and a Southerner  (so it their fault in effect) and they had written about an interesting challenge called The A to Z Challenge, 2014 for ALL bloggers not just travel bloggers.

As we didn’t exist in the virtual travel blog world a year ago, I had not heard of it. What I read about the challenge both amused me and made us interested enough to have a go this year. As rookies we read a few comments, but it may have been a bit late as I had already filled in the official form to register, incorrectly at that but the challenge organisers kindly fixed it for me. What the comments indicated was that this is not an easy task and is one that requires extensive planning, not to mention commitment and dedication.

Further reading indicated that we should have been well underway by now in our planning. However, I/we love a challenge and this one is a beauty.

So what is the “The A to Z Challenge” all about? Well:

1. You MUST post EVERY day in APRIL (except Sundays)

2. You start on the 1^st of April with the letter A (is there any irony in the fact that this is April Fool’s Day?)

3. Then everyday after that, except Sunday, which is a day of much needed rest, you then follow the alphabet. So April 2^nd is B, April 3^rd is C and right up until the last day of April which is the letter Z (remembering that Sundays are excluded)

4. So that means 26 posts, OK! One EVERY SINGLE DAY. You also need to have a CATEGORY which ours is of course TRAVEL (TR)

5. Then you must have a THEME for your posts, not just random stuff. After a lot of thought (not) we chose “A weird and Zany world” – see we are already into the spirit with our theme encapsulating the A-Z. I had to point that out to you, as it could be a high point for us. So please follow us, help us and support us in this exciting challenge. Actually this is quite an interesting theme as there are some very weird and zany things in the world, right?

6. Some people might call this a spontaneous decision, others an impetuous one (Ok, Gordon) Regardless, as rookies we will undoubtedly make mistakes but I am hoping many of you will give me a reminder, like where is “C” which is due on the 3rd April.

7. So on April Fools Day – April 1st we will deliver our very first post in The A to Z Challenge 2014 and it will be the letter A.

LOOK out for THIS image EVERYDAY and for the correct letter and remind me if I have had a lapse, and please share it with the hashtags #aweirdandzanyworld and #AtoZChallenge on Social Media.

We are so pleased that some of our travel blogging friends are also participating in this year’s A to Z Challenge. We will be closely following their progress and of course showing our support for their efforts.

We hope that we can be ‘back up support’ for one another when it gets to the mid way point especially, which is apparently akin to the nervous breakdown zone. Regardless of whether you are participating in this challenge or not, WE would love you to give us all some help, feedback and general motivation.

Here are some of the other travel bloggers who are involved and we would encourage you to follow and support them also throughout April 2014 and beyond. If I have left anyone of the list please let me know so I can add you and update this. Now seriously, apparently we should be planning some of our posts. Maybe after a cup of coffee…..

A Brit and a Southerner

Chasing the Donkey

A Southern Gypsy

A Passion and A Passport

A Taste of Travel

Travelling Book Junkie

Wish us all luck, it should be a great challenge indeed and a great way to network with like minded frazzled friends. Now that coffee.