Travel Journal Entry - Day 1

Day 1 - 7-8/4/15, Bangkok

The flight was 11 hours but seemed to take forever! I didn't get to sleep much so I'm pretty much aligned with Thailand time - its 1am right now and I can't wait to go to sleep. 

Thailand is mental. We managed to work our way round the train system (which uses tokens instead of tickets!) and get a tuk-tuk to our hotel after about 4 hours. Tuk-tuks are like the happiest death traps ever. Our hotel is lovely, and everyone is overly friendly, in a nice kinda way. Everything is super cheap.

Khao San road is like the biggest assault on the senses ever - so many lights, and people, and noises, and so much hustle-bustle. There's vendors everywhere asking if you want pad Thai, scorpions, ping pong shows, bracelets, and funny little frog instruments. It's amazing.

Now I shall fall asleep, listening to the air con and feral cats, whilst staring at the awful hat Nick bought. x

The flight did indeed seem to take a hell of a lot longer than 11 hours. I watched a couple of films, tried sleeping, read an entire book, ate food, and still I seemed to have too much time to twiddle my thumbs. Oh well, it was the excitement I suppose. I struggled with sleep for the next few days actually, sleeping about 6pm and waking up around midnight, then on and off sleeping with pins and needles for the next 7 hours or so - none of which fits either English or Thai time. Maybe it was the malaria tablets, maybe it was the heat, who knows?

Excited to finally get off the plane!

Bangkok is full on bat-shit crazy. So noisy, cars everywhere and people everywhere, with bikes and food vendors in between. Khao San road is like they thought, "Let's ramp this up a bit!". We turned the corner and literally stopped in our tracks. 'Woah' was all I could say. It's too much to take in at once. The noise level is incredible. Just one walk from one end to the other will get you offerings for a suit (why on Earth you would need a suit for backpacking, or even for Bangkok, is beyond me), several ping-pong shows (we asked where one was and the guy tried to lead us to a tuk-tuk saying "20 Baht, 20 Baht!!". No thank you! Never let them take you somewhere in a tuk-tuk for that sort of thing and never fall for the 10/20 Baht tuk-tuk scams. You'll end up in trouble. Always take a tuk-tuk or taxi to a place you would recognise and walk the rest of the way), bug delicacies, all sorts of random foods, clothes, and a whole lot of weird and wonderful tack.  

Hill tribe friend!

We sat outside an abandoned building (that actually had a club inside it) and listened to some guys play guitar and one of those boxes you sit on and bang; they were pretty good actually, even if they did miss out the bigger English words. Whilst sitting there, we must have been approached by no less than 20 vendors, most of which are women from the hill tribes selling little bracelets and such. I bought a couple of bracelets and then this one lady picked up that Nick was tipsy, shoved this ugly ass hat on his head and he happily bought it. When he took it off, his face was just like, 'WTF is this?'. Creased me up.

Nick and his happy hat.

ENP and Chiang Mai soon! x

Travelling Companion

I think it's important, when you're travelling, to either be with someone you know you can stand for long, isolated amounts of time, or just go by yourself. This may sound mushy and sentimental, but words can't describe how happy I am to have Nick by my side.

Sure, he has his faults, like we all do; sometimes he smells, he has a lot of gas, he needs business cards that say 'Sorry for the harsh words I spoke out of hunger.' and he has this disgusting bone on the back of his foot that sticks out, like a velociraptor with it's hind claw chopped off. I'm not delusional either, I know we're going to argue; we're going to be tired, hungry and cranky, fed up of being cramped up on trains and spending hours in transit. We're going to get lost (especially if I'm navigating), and miss a train or two, and more than likely have something delayed. So, no, it won't be blissfully perfect, but at the end of the day I know he's always got my back, and I've got his.

In amongst all of the flights, trains, buses, motorcycle taxis (yep, that's our modes of transport so far) we're going to experience some amazing things. I'm only aware of a few of them - a Norwegian water park, the Austrian mountains, snorkelling in Thailand, landing in Sydney - but I have literally no expectations for each country, and it makes the whole thing so much more exciting knowing I have Nick next to me. It makes me feel safer, knowing he'd be there to hold my hand, or roll our eyes at each other over something silly, or avoiding making friends. I know he'd follow me somewhere adventurous, and lead me to a few places I'd be scared to go; he'll get me moving when I'm feeling lazy, and we'll keep each other going when all we want to do is give up and go home. 

So, no, I don't think travelling is going to be one, big, romantic walk in the park (you don't take 80kg backpacks to the park, for one), but I do know that I couldn't find anyone better, including myself, to be travelling with.

'So You're Actually Going, Then?'

We took a big step yesterday, and set our date for leaving. And applied for our visas. And (eep!)... booked our flights! So guess what? We're actually going!

Well, worst comes to the worst, we're going to Thailand at least, on the 2nd May 2015 - here's hoping their little civil war has simmered down a bit by then. We could either have a flight from London to Sydney, or to Bangkok and a weeks stop on a beautiful Thai island for the same amount. The only thing we haven't booked yet is our flight from Bangkok to Sydney as the dates aren't available yet, and our accommodation as we don't know when the cheapest flight out will be. 

Our accommodation is stunning though - a bamboo bungalow right on the beach of the secluded Koh Phayam island. It's got snorkels and surfboards to use whenever you like in the crystal waters, proper showers, lovely beds all kitted out with mosquito nets - and electricity! But only between 6pm-10pm. And we had to upgrade for that, as the basic hut didn't come with power sockets. How can we afford such luxury when we're supposed to be backpacking? Well, we're just pushing the boat out a bit at a whole £13 a night! Seriously?! The basic hut was like, £8! The bus from Bangkok is £10, and taxi transfers are going to cost us all of £5. The whole lot will probably cost less than one of our air fares. Crazy.

We're just waiting to hear back from Australian Immigration, which should be in the next day or two (hopefully) about our visas. The whole process was a bit daunting though - I was first to apply for my visa and get the flights all together, and there's just this little wiggling in your stomach of excitement and nerves all at once.

I've got a bit carried away this month in general really - I bought my walking boots, some Converse instead of Toms, a mini first aid kit, a travel towel (it's genius!) and a sleeping bag. I'll put a picture up soon, when I've collected more.

It's More Difficult Than It Seems

Today has been tough for me in general - hell, this week has been tough. We've got sale starting, a new area manager to get used to, and I feel like I'm drowning in things to do, but today was hard.

It's this poxy song from Nickleback, I think it's called 'Photograph'? It's the Friends one, that they play for the last episode? I'm using it as the background song for a little farewell montage, but if it shuffles on my iPod... well, that's it. I burst into tears along the A13 this morning. Then, when I got into work, I saw someone's resignation taped to the noticeboard and phoned the solus store's manager - and cried down the phone to her too. It's hard being a manager sometimes.

I think some people assume that because it's us doing the leaving, that it must be easy; that we don't care, or can't love people enough to stay. That's not true. It's difficult beyond words, and here I go welling up again. I have to stop myself clinging on to family or friends longer than necessary, or crying uncontrollably every time I see them, because I know these casual moments can only last so long and there'll come a time where seeing my family will be a huge deal. I know that everyone will want to come to the airport and that's going to be incredibly hard. There'll be my Mamma, doing her best not to cry and getting a little red nose anyway, and my Nanna just blubbering away in the corner, and my Aunty Egg trying to hide the fact that she's leaking tears. Then there's everyone else giving death-grip hugs and I'll actually be an emotional wreck. On one hand, I don't want people to come to the airport so their lasting memory isn't of me balling my eyes out, but then I don't want to deny anyone, or myself, of that last hug. I do wish Australia wasn't quite such a long or expensive flight away.

I really want to write a little family post, so that when we go and I give them the link, they have a nice little thing to read, but I think I need to work up some courage for that one. 

On the plus side, the goodbyes will be behind us this time next year and the hardest bit will be over.

Travelling Wish List

The past few days I have quite literally made myself go all cross eyed, searching the web for some quirky gadgets and essentials for our trip. Below is a list (that I'm certain will keep growing - so keep checking back!) of want/need items.

Scrubba - Portable Washing Machine

This cool little dude is the reason I started this list. I saw it on Firebox.com - if you've never been there, check it out. It's like a site for people with too much money and a sense of humour, but every now and then there's a product of genuine good use. Basically, this is like a washboard in a bag and folds up super tiny after use. Chuck some water in there (and preferably some sort of cleaning agent) and you won't have to turn your pants inside out! 

Desirable accessories:

Soap Leaves - exactly what it says on it's very small tin, and won't leak into your luggage.

Travel clothes line - comes with little pegs so you don't have to tie it/hold it for hours.

LifeStraw Go/Water To Go

Is this water sanitary? It looks questionable to me! So you may have seen the original LifeStraw? It makes Bear Grylls look a little bit silly; stick it in an algae and bug infested pond, lake, puddle or just dodgy restaurant tap water and voilà! It's like Brita filtered water without the waiting. Although this won the Saatchi and Saatchi award in 2008 for 'World Changing Idea' it needs to be used then and there at the water source - not always convenient. Then came the LifeStraw Go and every other filtering water bottle on the market, i.e. the Water To Go. 

So what's the difference between the two? Price, essentially. LifeStraw comes in around £40 per bottle, WTG at around £25. They both claim to have patented filtering technology, so I can only assume they have different ways of getting rid of bugs - on one hand LifeStraw was first, on the other, WTG claims it came from technology used by NASA. Have you heard the story about NASA investing millions creating a pen that can be used in ANY environment, including zero gravity? The Russians used a pencil. Just because it's NASA doesn't mean it's the best. As you can probably tell, I'm steering my preference toward the LifeStraw, and the deciding factor was this: WTG cleans 200 litres per filter - additional filters can be bought of course. LifeStraw can filter 1000 litres before it gives in. By the time you factor in this cost, are you really saving money? And what about when WTG reaches the end of it's 200 litres? Am I going to start getting little bits come through? What if I don't change the filter properly? But most importantly - I have to carry extra filters. We don't have that kind of space. Also, the LifeStraw is more aesthetically pleasing, and that's more important to me than I'd like to admit! Which is also a problem that continues to the next product...

Timberlands - Classic Yellow Boots

I wanted something that come up a little bit higher than your average walking boot, and this is what popped up. We're going to be on trains and walking around city centres so as far as I was concerned, these would be perfect; sturdy, well made, normal looking (goes with jeans!), comfortable, waterproof, and, oh yeah, normal looking! So I don't look like a really old tourist who favours comfort above all else! But they'd still get the job done perfectly fine, right? Right? Apparently wrong! Nick summed them up as chavvy builder footwear and I'd look like a bloke. I asked a close friend who does plenty of hiking and walking thinking she might say 'Well they're not the best, but they'll do the job.' - she didn't even entertain the idea. Put blankly, don't be stupid, get a decent pair or you'll sorely regret it. So, here's my sensible choice....

Hi-Gear Snowdon Women's Walking Boots.

They're built for walking, waterproof, and they don't look that bad. I'm going to try them on today probably so I'll let you know the outcome - they're also a quarter of the price of Timberlands, which means I could get these, two LifeStraw Go's and a Scrubba for the same price! Maybe I'll just have to get over looks, at least until we've dropped our bags off at camp and I get to wear these babies...

TOMS

I've never worn a pair of these before, I probably wouldn't usually wear them because it's not a ballerina pump, but different countries call for different measures! A lot of people rave about how comfortable these are, and they can pack down nice and flat into my rucksack; they're light and they won't make my feet horribly hot. They'll be a welcome change from the boots, that's for sure. I'm going to ask the girls on one of our other concessions if they get many back as faulty to see if they'll last. It doesn't have to be this design either, they do some lovely lace ones, but I am partial to a little travel design - it's appropriate! And they'll go with anything. Total justification.

Biolite - Portable Stove

At no point on our travels will this be of any use to us. Probably. But it's so cool! Again, another item found on Firebox (the site for people with too much money). You fill the little thing up with twigs and off it goes! It'll even use the energy to charge devices through a USB port. The downside? You can hardly fit pots and pans on there, even if you wanted to carry all that around. It's probably just big enough to heat cans, like a hipster tramp, which will keep Nick happy as he can just eat beans forever. Not really essential around Europe, but maybe good for the outback. Maybe worth the £150 investment, I've not decided yet.

Wait a minute, just realised, we can filter some water using our LifeStraw and heat up Pot Noodles on this thing. Hmm....

GoPro

Pretty sure these little things are the smallest, most rugged, waterproof, high definition cameras in the world. Used by professionals for high resolution, fast paced sports footage, whether that be scuba diving, snowboarding, or motorcycle racing, and also by the average person to create pretty cool time lapse videos and fish-eye stills. You want a picture of you at the Grand Canyon, but want the whole Grand Canyon in it? This'll do it. Again, not an essential (Nick has one, and I own about five cameras) but Nick gets really protective of his one, and he likes to delete practically everything, so it would be nice, I guess.

Travel Towel

I had no idea these things existed! If I did, I probably would have bought one a long time ago; they come in any size, ranging from face towel to bath towel and fold up really, really, tiny! They'll feel funny at first, as they're microfibre, but we'll get over it. Really cheap too - you can get most for under £10, and they come with some sort of coating to stop it getting mildewy and mouldy, and a bag so your stuff doesn't get wet. Genius.

She-Wee

Because I think they're so weird! But in all seriousness though - what if we're trekking through somewhere in Oz? I do't want to have to be squatting in some dense bush of some sort and have venomous bugs crawling on my bum. This way, I can pee like a man and keep an eye out for anything trying to eat me. Cue Argus Filch and his creepy 'Got to 'ave ya wits about ya!'

Some Essentials:

-Waterless Wash Kit - for those days when you can't get to a shower.

- First Aid Kit - because we're bound to get a few bumps and scrapes, and I'm first aid trained, don't you know!

-Mosquito Repellant - because the little fuckers love me!

- Compact Sleeping Bag - for hostel nights, where you don't have a clue what's manifesting in that bed sheet! But definitely not one of those ridiculous sleeping-suit things that make you look like the marshmallow man. I'd just roll away in that, and I can't imagine getting comfortable without some knowledge of sleeping space. Or one of those sleeping bags that come with a silly tent for your head. Why?

This time next year, I'll be able to give you the low-down on how well it all worked for us, and how much I wish we'd bought a BioLite and Pot Noodles.

Savings etc.

I know Zee, I haven't forgotten about my five influential books. I'm getting there, I promise!

Nick sold his motorbike last week, which I thought, at first, was a silly idea. It's a mean, powerful, sports bike, that's wicked fast and super exhilarating - if you like feeling as though you'll die any moment - and perfect for the upcoming summer months. He worked his butt off to get it, and is still paying it off now, plus he only used it for one summer; in my eyes, he hadn't finished having fun on it and I was certain he'd regret selling it so soon.

Now though, I'm thinking it was actually a rather good idea! He lucked out on another bike that, to cut a long story short, will only set him back the cost of registering it as a UK vehicle. Which means he now has £4,000 in savings! Woah! We could literally leave for Australia now if we wanted - which we most certainly do, but won't. Because we've got our plan and we're sticking to it! The more savings we can get, the better chances we have of making everything work for us. I've heard quite a few stories, actually, of people that have gone out there with the minimal amount of money, thinking it sounds a lot ($5000), when in actual fact, when thinking of the cost of living, is only going to sustain you so long. If we want to be able to enjoy ourselves for a little while and adventure about a bit, every penny helps.

Nick's also in high spirits because his savings are exceeding mine, competitive little freak. But it's ok, I'll catch up. Not only that, but I aim to be at a certain level within Herbalife by the time we go, so I'm still getting a small income whilst travelling.

To be fair, the thing I'm happiest about is the fact that I enjoy riding on the bike with Nick again. I'd forgotten what it felt like to not fear for my life, or constantly be working to stay on the bike after every corner - seriously, that thing was better than the gym! - and I couldn't remember what the mile straight looked like because I've had my eyes closed for the last year! I no longer have to crap my pants every time we pull up to a red light, because the damn thing had so much power I never knew if Nick would wheelie or not. It was that lack of safety, or trust in the bike, that really took the enjoyment out of it for me. Don't get me wrong, it was an amazingly exciting bike, but not well suited for a pillion. The new bike reminds me of when we first met and we'd ride around for the fun of it, and I was happy just to hold on tight and watch the world rush by. 

This day, next year... I'll be in my last week of work. Holy shit, I'll be unemployed for the first time since I was sixteen. I'll actually be leaving my store, I won't be a manager anymore, and it'll belong to someone else. They better take good care of it!

Conference Revelations

One of the issues about leaving the country, for good, is that I actually have quite a good job that I genuinely enjoy.

Whilst Nick has a job that he worked his butt off (sometimes for free) to get to, I don't think it's fully satisfying for him. He often comes home tired, grumpy, moaning about some person or some thing that continually pisses him off. Admittedly, some of them to me seem petty, or funny - the one that really gets me is the accountant who washed his Mac keyboard in the sink. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached a new level of stupid here. His bonus scheme stinks, too. However, I do remember being in a job I hated and all those niggly things just build up and up until they just eat away at you. So I think, for him, Australia is a fantastic alternative to job searching over here. At least he has a trade that's in demand and fairly well paid.

Now I don't mean to brag, but I've always been the highest earning one in our relationship and that's a status I'm a little wary of losing. No, wait, let me rephrase that - I'm wary of being paid less than Nick; I'm more than fine with being on par. I don't mean this in a competitive, belittling, or feminist way at all, it's just I've always been so independent with money that the thought of not having enough of my own concerns me. I don't like the fact that I may contribute less to the rent, or food or petrol, or that I might need to ask for money at some point to get me by. I know that Nick wouldn't be bothered - I know I'm not at the moment - but it would make me feel so awkward and needy. I'm sure there's some psychological explanation about fending for myself at an early age, or being management and therefore a control freak or whatever, but, y'know, I'd just like to be able to pay my way.

I was thinking about all of this at my works conference. I work in fashion retail, so we dress pretty, go up to head office, look at all the new stock, find out how the business is getting on and drink champagne. Lovely day! And it's always at the conference that I sit and think, 'Wow! There is so much growth in this company, so many opportunities, that in five years time I could be anywhere!'. Which is probably very true, and who knows? Maybe in ten years time I could be an area manager (international, of course!), with my own company credit card and shiny company car - I'd finally have an Audi! - but then again, I might not. There are some managers who have been in the company for 28 years. Woah! The thought of another 28 Christmas sales makes me want to bolt right this second.

It only takes me a few minutes of thinking to realise that my prospects for moving country far outweigh my prospects of staying. It's a whole fresh start, I could be anything I wanted! I am swaying towards conservation and working with animals - 'You can do that in England!' I hear you say. Well, yes, I could. But I'd be giving up a decent job to go and volunteer to scoop poo in a country that is almost constantly cold, without any qualifications to bump me up the ladder. I know I'd be in the same position in Oz, just a whole lot warmer, but that wouldn't matter, because we're going there to travel, and explore, and do new things.

The point is that, yes, I would miss my job and I'd miss being in a form of employment that I know and am good at. But what if I'm even better at feeding koala bears?

This day next year... we'll be getting our jabs sorted. Ouch!

One of Those Days

The thing about holiday time from work is that, if you don't take it, you miss out on paid time off. So rather than miss out on that opportunity, you end up taking holiday for the sake of it. The thing about doing that, is that you end up being bored. Like me.

Don't get me wrong, I could have had a multitude of things to do and people to see. It's just that when I have an opportunity to be lazy, I like to grasp it with both hands and then I tend to find myself wandering around aimlessly. I should probably just read, but instead I just make myself busy procrastinating.

Being bored did get a whole lot more fun today though! Do you know how cute baby turtles are when they're flipper-ing (What do you mean that's not a real word?) off to the sea? Seriously. Youtube it. And did you know that there's a rollercoaster in Norway that lets you experience weightlessness twelve times? And that an average inhabitant of Belgium will consume 22kg of chocolate annually? Oh, and Romania has a 'Merry Cemetery', in which the tombstones are painted bright colours and poems are etched onto them.

This is all I've done for about two hours, just looking up random facts about the countries that we'll be visiting. I am definitely making it to that rollercoaster. The only thing I actually managed to achieve today was my very first Herbalife Wellness Evaluation (thanks Zee!). I think it went ok, but mainly it was nice to have a chat with Zee.

This day next year.... I'll be putting my Alice dress on Ebay, just in time for prom season.

Getting Started

It's something that many dream about, few set out to do, and very little achieve. But someday, we will travel.

Blah, blah, blah - cliché alert! I know, I know. But clichés weren't created by chance you know, they do happen to be popular notions.

Where do we want to go? Australia, mate! Of course. Why? Because it's sunny. And, um, other such reasons.

No seriously, we've picked Australia because it's so diverse and so different from what we have to experience in our own country. The economy is better, finding a job is easier, the beaches are beautiful, the opportunity to save money is unbelievable, and we have family and friends to help us out whilst we're there. How many people manage to grab an opportunity like that in their life time?

When? Well... Hopefully around May next year. We are saving like crazy! I'm pushing the bonus' at work, I've become a Herbalife distributor (Yes, that's right, I sell Herbalife! Contact me if you'd like more info.), Nick's selling loads of crap on Ebay, he's asked (and got!) a payrise, etc. etc. So there's some big hope between us and we've got a lot of drive. If we could pay our way around the world using those attributes alone, we'd already be there.

As if Oz isn't a big enough trip to pay for by itself, we'd also like to backpack around Europe just before we leave. Y'know, whilst we're still up this end of the Earth. We've got this all planned out too (I'll detail in a later post), catching trains and ferries through all the different countries, but again, it's all about the money.

So, what progress have we made towards this journey? Well, you, my friend, have joined us at precisely £1450 towards our £16,000 goal. Ouch. We've told our families, who seem to be taking it well - although I have received a 'when are you coming back?' talk from the mother in law. Um. Fingers crossed, we're not. We've told our friends, who have also been supportive albeit one, who is very sad to let us go, and Nick has told his work. I'm not telling mine yet until it's all decided and final, a.k.a. the visas are on the way.

So there you have it! Welcome to our journey! This day next year we'll be... tying up loose ends, starting to pack, selling last bits and pieces, spending as much time with our family and friends as possible and getting excited about finishing work.