Wigan man takes four flights to continue his huge journey to the Philippines

Chris Woodward left his home in Newtown in September to travel to Wigan in the Philippines.

He wanted to raise money and awareness for men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club, which supported him when he was struggling with his mental health.

The 41-year-old reached Turkey, passing through several European countries, by November, when he suddenly had to return home following the death of his uncle.

But he always intended to resume his challenge and on Monday he set off to continue his journey.

His original plan was to fly back to Dalaman Airport in Turkey, where the first part of his trip ended.

However, Chris found it would be expensive and difficult to resume his challenge there and travel through Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman to Sri Lanka.

He would need to pay for journeys on ferries and aeroplanes, as well as for visas, so the costs would quickly mount up.

Instead, he decided to fly to Colombo, in Sri Lanka, saving around £2,000, and then continue backpacking.

But travelling to Sri Lanka was not straightforward, with Chris choosing to take four flights to get there to save money.

He planned to take a flight from Liverpool to Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, with a 15-hour stopover before flying to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

After another 15-hour layover, Chris would fly to Dubai on Tuesday and will have a five-hour layover before his flight to Colombo, which he should reach late on Wednesday.

He will not be camping in Sri Lanka due to wild animals, but has plans for home stays.

In a video on his Coal Pit to Coconut Facebook page, Chris said: “I’m just going to take a backpack with me with a limited amount of stuff, carrying up to 7kg, again saving on the expense of the travelling. Otherwise that would have been included and I think with all the four flights I have to get, I have saved myself something like £200 there.”

Chris is looking forward to seeing the sights of Sri Lanka before continuing his journey to the Philippines.

Donate to his fund-raising for Andy’s Man Club at www.gofundme.com/f/backpacking-from-wigan-england-to-wigan-philippines.