Nicky Holden, husband Paul and their two children have left Teesdale on a trip around the world, reporting back in regular bulletins to The Northern Echo.

Here Nicky explains how she put the trip together, with the help of Trailfinders and huge pile of travel guides.

WHEN we decided to spend five months travelling overseas this winter with our two children aged eight and ten, we embarked on a massive logistical task that has proved to be exciting, engrossing, and unbelievably time-consuming.

The world was, as they say, our oyster, but initial discussions about where to go and when were quickly swayed by both emotional and practical considerations. Our route had to comply with the restrictions on round the world air tickets (of which more later). The children's needs and priorities had to a factor (would they be lonely, bored, or even frightened at times?) It is a general rule when travelling, that happy kids equals happy parents.

We wimped out of taking the children anywhere regarded as unpredictable or dangerous by the Foreign Office, which is, after all, a bit like an anxious parent when it comes to handing out advice to travellers. What's more, we felt that the children would get more out of a long stint away if they visited countries where English was widely spoken.

The weather had to be great throughout - no point fleeing the British winter to get someone else's bad weather. The children are keen to see lots of different animals, and to do a lot of sport. In our son's case this includes extreme sports, though we have had to warn him that even in New Zealand, the adrenaline capital of the world, a bungee-jumping centre for eight-year-olds may be hard to find. Paul and I want to walk, dive and snorkel, ride bikes and horses, visit galleries and museums and enjoy our children enjoying themselves.

I suppose in the end the itinerary is a fairly 'soft' one, concentrating on the English-speaking Southern Hemisphere. It must be admitted, too, that our travel arrangements are long on comfortable bed-and-breakfasts and cottages, and short on Ray Mears-style battling with the elements. Yes, I want an adventure, but not too much of one, thank you very much.

It became clear early on that, to avoid having to stay in boring chain hotels, we should book accommodation before we go, as we are travelling at a time when the entire Southern Hemisphere is on the move (main school holidays are around Christmas in Australia and New Zealand). As young backbackers we would no doubt have set off with a bunch of visas and vague intentions, but alas, travelling hopefully is not for us more mature types with family in tow.

Our first step was a visit to Trailfinders for some help.

Trailfinders is an independent travel specialist, founded in 1970 as an advice service for the more adventurous traveller and now grown into a highly professional operation with 19 travel centres worldwide, and more than six million customers so far. Paul and I set off to the nearest branch in Ridley Place, Newcastle.

Trailfinders can handle all manner of complex bookings over the phone, but we felt we needed a face-to-face consultation. Indeed, the company's main asset is its fantastic staff. Unusually, the company requires no formal educational qualifications to join, the only stipulation is a proven passion for travel, and extensive knowledge of at least two continents (that's continents, not countries).

Only one in 20 candidates who apply get chosen to join this well-travelled bunch, all staff undergo a five-week training course, and are closely supervised at branch level before they are let loose on the customers. Consequently, you make your travel plans with the enthusiastic help of people who actually know how long it takes to drive from Melbourne to Sydney, or sail down the Nile, or trek to Machu Picchu because they have done it. And if they don't know themselves, they are probably sitting next to a colleague who does - there are 36 staff in the Newcastle office alone.

Trailfinders staff have instant access to the booking systems of over 600 airlines, rather than acting simply as intermediaries as many travel agents do. Our consultant, Nicola, put all our flights in place first, working within the number of stops permitted (seven) and the mileage allowance (29,000) on our British Airway/Quantas round-the-world tickets.

Moving on, we started to look at the nitty gritty of our trip. Trailfinders can book hotels for most budgets, train tickets, car hire, camper vans and all manner of walking tours, balloon trips and safaris to satisfy even the most jaded traveller.

Their sophisticated booking system means that staff can see availability straight away on any travel options. But it is their attention to detail that really won me over. For example, Nicola took us patiently through our New Zealand camper van booking, pointing out the opening times of the office for collection and return, and suggesting (quite rightly) that we may not want to dash straight from the airport to an out-of-town camper van depot. She suggested that we spend three days in Christchurch and collect the van after this. Common sense maybe, but just the sort of practical advice that is hugely helpful but depressingly hard to come by. Indeed, so helpful was Nicola that there was only the smallest of strangled yelps from husband Paul as he handed over the credit card.

We staggered out dazed but elated. The flights were booked, the camper van was booked, the Fiji luxury resort was booked (not a very cutting-edge travel option I agree, but after all that time in a camper van...) and the electronic visas for Australia were on their way. Trailfinders organise these, fill in a simple form and, through the wonders of Australian immigration, have you on their computer when you enter the country.

Later, I tried to work out how long it would have taken to put even these basic arrangements in place using the Internet, particularly out here in Teesdale, where we are scheduled to receive broadband shortly after something even quicker has been invented.

At any point from now, I can add other elements such as car hire and ski accommodation to our booking and it all becomes part of the same itinerary. I can view our booking details any time on the Trailfinders website. Furthermore, I can get a yes or no answer to questions such as "Do we need a separate visa for Swaziland?" by picking up the phone. Sometimes there is no substitute for expert advice on tap.