Name: Milly Newman
Age: 18
Place of residence: Devon
Occupation: gap-year student going to study law at Cardiff University

I remember reading through the details of the Netjetters competition when my mum handed me the advert and getting quite excited. I was already planning to travel for six months or so before going to uni, so this prize would be brilliant. The next morning, I went on the Guardian website and rambled 500 words about myself. I never expectted to hear about it again - after all, no one really wins these competitions.

When, a good month later, I got a letter from the Guardian saying they'd been attempting to contact me and I was on a shortlist, I couldn't believe it. That alone would have been something to tell the grandchildren about (not that I've got any).

Anyway, I phoned and arranged to meet the next morning at the Guardian offices in London for a chat. I tried asking how short the list was but no one would tell me. It wasn't until later I found out over 1,000 people had entered. They promised to let me know soon, but I didn't expect my mum to phone me at work the same night to tell me I'd won! I think my main feeling was shock, and that I'd wake up the next day to find out it was either a joke or they'd made a mistake or something like that.

Since then, I've been trying to take the whole thing in. At the moment, as well as the excitement of leaving England and its miserable weather, I am very nervous at the thought of travelling alone. If you ask anyone, they would agree that I have little common sense or sense of direction so I can't help feeling that I'll end up alone in a completely strange country with no one to turn to for help. Or at least for the three months before my friends who are leaving later catch me up.

I was already firmly set on the route I wanted to take before I entered, and that has been no problem. I exchanged a few e-mails with debs.w from Bridge the World, then went to see her at their big outlet in Camden Town. She couldn't have been more helpful with ideas to get the best from my trip, such as a stop at Ayres Rock and travelling overland from Singapore to Bangkok. For anyone who is travelling, I would definitely say go to the travel agents in person, sit with them for an hour or so and then you can find exactly the right route for you. For a big trip, it's more reassuring than doing everything by computer.

Apart from organising my route, I feel scarily unpre pared. I have a new passport - if you're going to Oz, it needs to be valid for six months after you get back - and had injections (ask your doctor for details a good month before you leave), but that's about it. My main aim has really been to raise the money I need, so I've been working full-time - a big hello to everybody at Holes Bay in Poole - and hoping everything else falls into place.

One thing I've found about travelling is that everyone knows somebody somewhere I'm going, and has useful advice for me, which is great. Also, other travellers are very sociable. On the train back from London, I met two guys - one from New Zealand and one from England - who had done a lot of travelling and we easily filled a two-hour journey talking about their/my travels. I picked up lots of useful things from their experiences and also got some hope that I won't end up completely alone!

So, if anyone else has any advice, particularly about Vancouver, my first stop, please pass it on. How cold is it in Canada? Where are the best bars/cafés/hostels/things to do? I promise to try out all the best suggestions so I can pass on my opinion of them!

Until next time . . .

Name: Sam Rowbury
Age: 29
Place of residence: London
Occupation: civil servant

My entry was written on a dark, Sunday evening in London. The rain was spattering the window and I was desperately trying to push away the thought of work the next morning. So, I wrote about how frustrated I was with my job and how wonderful it would be to see lions and elephants in Africa. This was very therapeutic but I never for a moment dreamt I would win or what that would actually mean. Fate decided to call my bluff.

Most people spend months planning a trip like this. I've just had a few short weeks. Deciding on a route was the first thing. When you're presented with the whole world, it's a little overwhelming - particularly if you have never even been outside Europe. I started off by trying to do everything, but I soon realised it would be better to focus on a few countries. So I listed my priorities: I wanted to visit friends in San Francisco, see Southern Africa, go whale-watching in New Zealand, go skiing (anywhere) and spend lots of time relaxing.

Eventually, I fixed on a route that would allow me to do all this. So it's New York and overland by train to San Francisco; then Fiji for New Year; travel down through New Zealand for a month; Sydney for three weeks with a stop-over in Alice Springs, before flying to Johannesburg. I'll spend about three months in Africa and I'll figure out my exact route later but I want to take in Zanzibar, Namibia, Tanzania, Cape Town and, if I can, Madagascar. There's a solar eclipse that will pass through the region next June so, if I still have any cash left, I'll stay on for that. It took me ages to come up with this itinerary and I'm sure it will all change once I'm out there but, for the moment, it sounds pretty exciting to me.

I have had to learn about all the different types of immunisations you need. In the past I have had bad reactions to vaccinations so I am spreading the injections out over a few weeks to lessen the effect. My friends have taken great delight in listing all the horrible insects that will be waiting to infest me. These include a horrific creature found in freshwater lakes in Africa. Apparently, it swims up your urine and then attaches itself inside you with a sort of barbed grappling hook. My friends insist I must pee in staccato bursts to reduce the risk.

On the practical side, I've fixed everything up at home. Work has been very good and given me six months unpaid leave. I've paid off my bills, cancelled all my standing orders and redirected my post. I've found someone to rent my room (my wise and generous landlady even said I could have it back again when I return).

But the hardest thing has been the thought of leaving my girlfriend. I will miss her terribly and, although she is going to try and come out to meet me at some point, it will be months before I see her again. As my departure date has got closer, we have found ourselves spending as much time together as possible - squeezing out every last minute. Small things take on an unusual significance - our last trip to the cinema, our last Sunday morning. But she knows I love her very much and will always be there for her, no matter where I am.

So, after all the planning, I'm nearly there. The tickets are booked. I've bought my rucksack and sleeping bag. I've had the jabs. I've got my passport and visas. The world's waiting for me. I wonder what it will be like.

Name: Sue Stubbings
Age: 51
Place of residence: Cambridge
Occupation: works for the county council's education department

I started my entry for the Netjetters competition with the sentence "I am 50, fairly fit and fed up". None of it is true any more: yet another birthday has crept up on me; I have started a fitness regime (a grand name for running up and down the stairs every day) and I am certainly no longer fed up. I consider myself to be the luckiest and most excited person I know.

I have never won anything before, probably because I've never entered anything. I cut the Netjetters advert out for my son, who is "resting" after finishing his degree. Having been desperate to travel for many years, on a whim I decided to enter myself. The words came easily as I imagined travelling for six months and all the places I wanted to go. I then forgot about it.

My colleagues at work still laugh about my reaction when the Guardian contacted me. Apparently, I had my mouth hanging open, couldn't utter a word and then started shaking. Since that day my whole world has been turned upside down and it has been a frenzy of activity. There was a trip to the Guardian two days later for an interview where it was confirmed I was chosen. My three children happened to be going to London that weekend and we had a wonderful, very alcoholic time. They are as excited as I am.

There were many immediate issues to be tackled:

Work - in the jargon of my job in Education Welfare, would I be given "authorised absence" or would I be "taken off roll"? After an anxious week, I was given six months unpaid leave for which I am extremely grateful.

Money - this proved to be worryingly easy as the bank was very accommodating. The fact that I could be 76 when I finish paying off the loan didn't seem to worry them.

House - my son is currently in residence so it was decided to get in a couple of lodgers to help pay the bills. This means clearing my and my daughter's bedrooms, a mammoth task as tidiness is not a family trait. I do not know if anyone will fancy her orange and turquoise walls.

The most pleasurable decision to be made was my route. Having the whole world to choose from was a bit daunting. The major choice was Africa or South America, as there were not enough air-miles for both. South America won. The final route is India, overland to Nepal, back to India, on to Singapore and around Malaysia, to Bali, Australia and New Zealand. Tahiti was to have been next but was crossed off by the airline no longer flying there (bang goes my fantasy of garlands and a grass skirt). It's straight on to South America and back home with a stop off in Spain. Not bad!

I have never travelled alone. It is very scary - but I have been getting loads of advice from experienced travellers. I decided to join an overland trip from Mumbai, where I first land, to Nepal. This will give me time to find my travelling legs and get used to it all. The tour leader does not know yet that he/she will have to help me find a Net café every week. This tour ends on December 24, so it is going to be Christmas in Kathmandu.

I have spent the last decade making a lot of changes in my life and getting to know more about myself. The past year or two I have been restless and frustrated by not having the time or money to travel. Turning 50 did not help. It all no longer matters.

This trip and its timing feel so right. I would love to share my luck and this adventure and hope you will join me on the Net!

The Netjetters' tickets have been organised by Bridge The World, specialists in around the world travel. Tel: 0870 4447474 (www.bridgetheworld.com).