9,500 thousand miles later and I'm here! Flew Heathrow to Rome quick hour stop and straight to Rio took about 14 hours in total. Had a great flight really nice Alitalia plane. Then got picked up at the airport and witnessed some pretty horrific driving on my way to the Copacabana! Just checked in 5 min walk from the beach, got a city tour at 1pm it's 10am local time here 29deg! Then meet the rest of my group at 7! All going ok atm!
Have a great trip Tom - having caught the travel bug a bit later in life ( i.e. when I could afford it) I admire anyone wanting to do so - it will be life changing. Enjoy !
Looking good tom, I am sat in airport waiting for my flight, Manchester to dual to jakarta to lombok. A day and half travelling urging. Then on a boat to 1 of the gilli islands