Preparation

There goes a lot of planning into a trip around the world in a small plane. There is the job of getting the plane itself ready for the journey - installing addition equipment such as a HF radio a ferry tank etc.
 Then there is the planning of the route. It has to be planned so that you land in airports where Avgas
is available - and in the East, Avgas is a rarity. You are obviously also better of staying away from trouble areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In most countries in the East to need to have advanced permission to over fly, so a specialist in getting permits makes things easier.
 But should some go wrong, it is important to have the necessary survival equipment.
 I purchased most of the survival gear over the Internet - and then had it delivered to a Mailbox office in Delaware. I then picked it up on my way from Atlanta to New York.
 Probably the most important item though, is a life raft, and mine is a RDF raft I purchased a couple of years ago in England. It is a 4 person self-inflating raft with a canopy.  Flying over the Atlantic from Canada to Greenland and on to Iceland and Europe requires that I had a survival suit as well. Without it, the is no way I could survive a ditching in water that - even in summer - is only a couple of degrees warm. Imperial International (www.imperialsuit.com) makes the suits my friend Robert and I wore. We were wearing the suits all the time while over water - but only done up to the waist!
 To survive a ditching I also carry a small " spare Air" mini scuba bottle (www.spareair.com/product/index.htm), that will allow about 20 breaths of air in case the plane should get submerged before I get out!