I'm sitting writing this in Heathrow Airport, London, while beginning a 24 hour journey via Doha, Qatar and Seoul that round about this time tomorrow will see me arrive in Gangneung, South Korea, home of the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey in Pyeongchang.
Next week sees the cream of the sled hockey world come together for the 2017 World Championships, as the USA, Canada and the rest of the elite nations battle for world supremacy and a vital tournament win in one of the last major competitions before the Winter Olympics next year. Even more importantly, there's not just pride to play for if you miss out on the knockout rounds, but placing - as the top five teams in this tournament will qualify automatically for the Winter Olympics, with the bottom two needing to play through a qualification tournament for the rest of the places.