Tonight it’s raining and parking in the city is a complete nightmare. I trail round for nearly fifteen minutes looking for a vacant space. To be honest, I nearly give up at one point and go straight home. So much for being up for a challenge!

Eventually, I find a spot, throw the car in and scuttle to the bar under my umbrella. All Bar One isn’t too busy as it’s a wet and miserable Monday night, but it seems that everyone else from the office is already here. They’re sitting in a cosy huddle round a group of sofas, itineraries spread out on the low coffee-tables between them.

Several of my colleagues turn when I approach, umbrella dripping on the floor. I stand there shivering and uncertain.

‘Is there room for one more?’ I say nervously.

‘On the sofa or on the trip to Peru?’ Blake Chadwick challenges.

‘Both.’

A cheer goes up and the girls jump up and come to hug me and haul me round in a happy dance. Minny comes over and gives me a kiss. ‘We’ll have great fun, Annie. It’ll be fab. You wait and see.’

They all budge up and I squeeze on to the sofa with them. Blake Chadwick pours me a glass of wine and hands it over, giving me a wink. ‘Nice one, Sexy.’

Shaking, I take the glass. I’ve said it. I’ve said it out loud. There’s no going back now.

I’m going to Peru.

While I shake and shiver and sip my Shiraz, Sarah Bennett runs through the practicalities of our expedition, but I barely hear her I’m still so shocked by my momentous decision. I have to call Lauren just as soon as I can.

Our trip takes us into Lima, out to the Nazca Lines, then into the Atacama Desert – all of the places I’ve been dreaming about from my travel guide. Then we move on to Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, Cusco and Lake Titicaca. When we’ve had time to acclimatise to the thin air of the Peruvian Andes, the second of our two weeks is spent hiking the Inca Trail through the ruins of Llactapata, Sayaqmarka, Puyupatamarka, Wiñay Wayna and up, up, up, up, up to the magnificent pinnacle, the lost city of Machu Picchu!

The names, exotic, unfamiliar, sing in my head. Sarah talks about the practical aspects of our trips – the equipment we’ll need, the money side of things. But already I’m lost in the mountains of Peru. I can see myself swathed in a traditional poncho, striding along the ancient pathways of the Incas, breathing in the rarefied air, taking in the vast, expansive landscape. I’ll be an explorer, an adventurer, treading the historic trails of ancient people.