As Formula 1 begins to wake up from it's long summer slumber, a group of Sidepodcast commenters from all over the world are beginning to prepare for our trip to next week’s Belgian Grand Prix. If you’ve been around the comments over the last couple of months you’ll no doubt have seen mentions of plans and our excitement. However we’re like a huge family here, and an official Sidepodcast trip wouldn't be the same without the comments.

We’d miss you all too much. So while our group of 11 or so are away we’ll do our best with rural Belgian 3G and wifi to keep you all involved in the entire experience. From our luxurious mobile homes to being track side, we want you to be there too.

Getting involved

We’re just starting to prepare ourselves for this epic trip, but we could really do with some advice. A number of us have never been to a Grand Prix before, and while this is extremely exciting it also means we’re not entirely sure if there are any essential items we need to bring (other than earplugs and probably some waterproofs).

So we need your suggestions;

• What should we pack?
• Is there anything we should aim to do?
• Should we try and walk the track?.. is that even possible?

If you’ve been to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps before, for the GP or another event;

• Is there anywhere we should go?
• Any good viewing points we should check out?
• Any perfect places to see drivers?
• Is there an ideal place you can recommend we check out for a meal in the evenings?
• What did you do when you went? Feel free to give us stories from your own Grand Prix trips.

So with preparations out of the way let’s concentrate on how you can be involved throughout next weekend.

• Our mini road trip from London to Spa-Francorchamps needs some music! We’re looking for any suggestions regarding ideal playlists we could tune into while on our way/way back.
• Remember the Sidepodcast Banner? I hope so. Well I figured it would be nice to have some more banners with us over the weekend, so if anyone has any suggestions as to what should be on the banners (I’m currently planning one for 5livef1) then please pass on any thoughts or requests, I’ll do my best!
• Do you have any requests for photos? Maybe a snap or two of your favourite driver or team member? We’ll all be taking loads of photographs and will try our best to get any particular shots you may ask for. We’re thinking of setting up a dedicated flickr or drop.io site where you’ll be able to see any photographs we upload over the weekend too!
• Is there anywhere at the track you’d like us to visit in particular? Let us know in the comments and we’ll try our best to make it happen.
• As is Sidepodtradition, no doubt we’ll be asking the comments for both drink and food suggestions throughout the weekend too.

We really would love to have you all involved, so if you’ve got suggestions or requests related to our weekend, please don’t hesitate to add your thoughts.

I’d also like to remind everyone of another slightly larger meetup that’s happening next week which you're all welcome to join us at, Pat W has written about it in more detail.

Whether we see you in the pub, or in the comments we hope you'll get involved in some way and share this experience with us!