AMBITIOUS explorer Peter Jenkins is planning to become the eighth person in history to travel around the planet using nothing but his own two feet.

The 53-year-old , who lives at the aptly named Pathfinder Way, in Redhouse,will be swapping the comfortable surroundings of his new-build property for the great outdoors from April 2015.

Peter, a renewable energy consultant, will leave his job and spend three years trying to get around the world in aid of Cancer Research UK and Unicef.

The enormous charity project has been named WorldWalk4Aid, and a sizeable target of £2m put up as the inspiration for Peter, who plans to cover 15,500 miles, 28 countries and five continents.

“I am undertaking this to raise awareness of the charities around the world,” he said.

“The remit is to carry on the work around schools and colleges across the country when I am done.

“It is a giving project, not an ego trip. It’s about helping thousands of others.”

Peter will travel totally solo. He has been in correspondence with American world trekker Steven Newman, who completed a solo walk around Earth between 1983 and 1987.

He has sought advice from Steven on a whole range of topics, from making best use of the experiences he has during the trip, to safety and how to approach the more dangerous countries around the world.

“Everything carries a risk. The guy I have been talking to in the States, Steve Newman, he had some issues. He could’ve died five or six times, but the world has moved on since then,” said Peter.

“The biggest danger comes from traffic. There is much more traffic on the roads now, than there was for Steve. I know the risks I’m running. It might not be such an amazing feat when it’s finished, if it didn’t carry a certain amount of risk.”

Peter will avoid carrying any of the money he hopes the world’s population will donate as he travels. Carrying hard cash carries its own risks and attracts attention, but he said he will request money donated online.

The trip is not free and Peter will need to raise £30,000 to cover emergency medical fees and food before he even starts donating to the two charities.

He is hoping to take advantage of corporate sponsorship, with preliminary talks held with Berghaus to organise clothing.

Peter plans to take flights from Singapore to Australia, Australia to the USA and from the USA to the UK, in order to complete his challenge.

He hopes to negotiate free flights with the various airlines ahead of his departure.

The aspiring explorer has used the example of Davina McCall and the £2.2m she raised for Sport Relief as his reason for setting such an ambitious financial target.

“I understand Davina is a celebrity, and she raised that amount in a couple of months, but if I can raise the profile of this I can get there in three years,” he said.

“Steve Norman wrote a weekly post in his local newspaper and it grew from that. People have interest in stories from around the world.”