The website launched, Matthew turned his focus towards keeping it fresh and up-to-date.

He came up with an idea to travel right across Mexico, while keeping a diary to be published online every week during the journey.

His trip has been called simply, "In Mexico".

Matthew talks to the website that loves Bristol about the tasks and challenges he faced as the "In Mexico" journey was conceived and eventually launched.

Keeping visitors interested

Matthew's trip starts in Mexico City

To be successful online, your product has to be good and it has to be innovative.

Mexperience delivers content to tens of thousands of people world-wide every month about Mexico via the Internet, so my product is information.

Although some elements of a website like Mexperience will stay the same for some time, some of the information will change quite regularly, or has to be checked to ensure that what is published is still accurate and relevant.

The germ of an idea

One was of keeping the site completely updated was to move back to Mexico to live.

It wasn't practical for me to do that, so the concept of a documented journey emerged as a good compromise.

I decided to undertake a journey across Mexico's 40 or so key locations.

The trip would enable me to gather lots of new information, stories and pictures that could be integrated into the website.

It would also present an opportunity to write and publish a 'travel diary' online, which visitors could follow while the journey was taking place, watching the stories and events unfold week by week.

Not as easy as it appears

"You’re going on a sponsored holiday, then," remarked a friend when I explained the journey concept to her. Not exactly.

Matthew will travel 18,000km across Mexico

Many things that seem romantic and dreamy on the surface need a lot of support and planning to make them work properly.

The In Mexico project was like this.

I spent many weeks during the summer talking to people about the In Mexico idea, thinking through some of the complexities it would present and writing down notes.

By the end of August I had created a draft briefing for the project.

I re-drafted about five schedules before I finally formed a proposal that made practical sense.

Getting sponsors to take notice

Once the concept was set out, selling the idea to potential sponsors was a critical task.

Getting people to sponsor In Mexico was challenging, partly because it is an unusual project and, to my knowledge, it’s unique so there’s nothing for potential sponsors to compare it to.

I was seeking services to facilitate the journey (like hotel stays) – but even this was not easy.

The Mexico Tourism Board in London fully endorses Mexperience and my trip, and this helped to open a few doors with potential sponsors but it didn’t make the task of obtaining the required sponsorship any easier.

Pulling it all together

The logistics involved in undertaking a journey of this type are significant, and complicated.

Besides needing to keep the company going in the UK, there was the need to maintain and develop the website and crucially, get the travel diary and pictures published online every week.

My friend Matt Fletcher, who is also company secretary, plays a key role in this task.

We don't have the resources or people to run an "HQ" style operation, so we needed to make the project happen without one.

I'm carrying a laptop, which enables me to update my journal, download the pictures from my camera and work on the move.

I could have run the website from my laptop in Mexico, but this was perceived as too risky, and there were other factors involved that persuaded us not to do this.

So instead, I'll email the completed work back to the UK each week, where it will be integrated and published.

The internet's unique reach and capabilities are enabling us to create something which only 10 years ago would have been virtually impossible.

The countdown begins

With the idea, plans, sponsors and equipment in place, it’s time to begin the countdown!

I’m travelling from England to Mexico City in mid November, where I’ll spend three weeks finalising the requirements for the project and securing some services locally for the journey.

On December 9th, In Mexico begins, with the first diary published online December 16th and weekly thereafter.

Each diary will include a selection of pictures from the locations I visited the previous week.

The journey will also reveal how Christmas and New Year is celebrated in Mexico.

By the time it is completed in April 2003, I will have visited over 40 destinations and travelled over 18,000km by road, air, sea and rail across Mexico.

I hope you’ll take the time to log on and follow the In Mexico journey online as it unfolds.