Ooooh...Unagi

I keep seeing the Co-operative Travel advert where a guy booking his holiday witters on about what he wants to do. He finishes by saying:

“I want to spend time enjoying my holiday, not months planning it.”

Well I must be the odd one out as I’ve been doing nothing but plan for the past 6 months! Granted, he’s probably booking a 2 week all inclusive holiday to Gran Canaria but still, it kind of irks me. I’ve actually enjoyed all the reading and discussions I’ve had with like-minded people about my trip. If anything, my grasp of geography has vastly improved! (Do NOT ask me where I used to think Morocco was!!).

The more I think about where I’m going and what I might (or will in some cases!) be doing equally excites and petrifies me. It’s no secret that I am a classic wimp. Which is why doing something like this really takes me out of my comfort zone. I like to be organised and know what I’m doing and where I’m going. This, coupled with a ridiculously bad sense of direction, has planted a seed of doubt in my head. It’s like the angel and devil on either shoulder. One’s saying “Go for it!! You will have the time of your life. Do what makes you happy, sod the rest.” The other one’s saying “Are you frickking crazy! Sit your ass back down, get a career and have babies”. Haha, I added that one on the end for dramatic effect. Babies indeed! But that seems to be the growing trend amongst my circle of friends.

Although settling down is something that some are all too happy to do in their early twenties, it’s something which completely freaks me out. Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy for those that have chosen that path. They know what they want and they have it. Part of me is envious of that – I wish I knew what I wanted and where I’d like to be in say 5 years but then, for me, that’d be pretty boring. As I said before, let there be ADVENTURE!! Bring it on…well maybe just a little bit…see how I go yeah?

My safety blanket will be the travel insurance. Searching for the “right” cover was a mind-boggling experience. I thought car insurance was a ball-ache…well an ache anyway. Excess? Breakdown cover? Whaaa…errr…eenie meanie minie mo. Well it was more like – “That one’s the cheapest and if Iggy Pop says it’s alright…”
Travel insurance is a little more complicated. This is one thing I can’t afford to hold back on. I feel I have the essentials sorted though and managed to get a pretty good deal. DO NOT get insurance from a travel agency. They must make a fortune given what they quoted me.

It’s not the nicest of subjects to be thinking about. Like car insurance, you hope you never have to use it but best get decent coverage rather than the absolute basics just in case. Rather than legal cover and car key replacements I have to think about medical expenses and repatriation. The latter ensures that if I die, I have cover for the cost of flying my body home. Lovely! I have unlimited funds to cover my medical expenses which is good. Although I don’t plan on dying (of course!), I do feel like I should make the most of my insurance somehow. I might adopt the same annoying hypochondriac syndrome that the recurring character in Scrubs (Mr Corman) suffers from. Hmmm, full body scan…where do I sign. Seriously though, I really don’t want to get ill. I’m not very sickly but when I do fall ill, it hits me tenfold. It’s as if the germs in my body wait until they have a sufficient gang and then play havoc with my insides. What can I say, my body hates me!

So basically I need to have my wits about me. Safety-wise I’m not going to have anything worth stealing. I’ll be taking a camera which I desperately hope will stay with me throughout my trip. I don’t want to lose any photos! Passport and cash are the obvious items to lose/get nicked. Again, I have a back-up for both of those too but it would be a pain in the arse to sort out. It’d be wishful thinking that nothing will go wrong. I’m not that lucky unfortunately! Although I have a brown belt in kickboxing and would like to think I can handle myself…the likelihood is I would scream and run in the opposite direction. According to the standard gap year advice, that reaction is exactly what you should do. Nothing’s worth getting stabbed for. Not sure they worded it like that but I got the picture.

In the meantime I do wonder weather I can learn to sense danger…Do I have Unagi? Stupid YouTube won't let me upload the video to my blog so a link will have to do. Sorry guys!

221 days to go! Ages away but a countdown's a countdown.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

“Life passed most people by while they’re busy making grand plans for it” Johnny Depp, Blow

The idea of travelling has laid dormant in my mind for years, crept to the surface slightly after graduating, but was bypassed for, what seemed at the time, more important matters.

Enter my good friend Helen. A lovely young lady who worked in the same office as me for a few months. In that time she mesmerised me with heady tales of her time in far flung countries. I listened in amazement as she described dreamy experiences like they were nothing more than a typical day’s tidbits. While I was sat at home experimenting with a new font on my CV, Helen was playing Maasai tribal dress up before setting off on an African safari trip. While I was channel hopping on a Sunday night, putting off the inevitable final sleep before the working week began, Helen was surrounded by the clear white sands and translucent waters of the hidden Thai islands. You get the picture. The funny thing is, Helen’s the same age as me. While I’ve been sat around fretting about what I should be doing and trying to plan out my life, Helen’s been living hers! Helen was part of my wake up call and I will always be truly thankful to her for that.

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From a young age my Dad repeated the same message to me. “Don’t forget the 5 Ps. Preparation Prevents a Piss Poor Performance." Perhaps not the wisest of words to say to a young child - “Daddy just said piss. Tee hee”.
Nevertheless, this maxim has forever stayed with me and I have always strived to embody this. If the shit hits the fan - an often occurrence in my life so it seems - at least I can rest assured that I tried my best. That’s all you can ask for really.

I’ve spent the past few months stalking the library renting out dozens of travel books swotting up. I thought the hardest part was making the decision to go travelling. Oh ho ho no. For me, the challenge has been deciding on where to go…well more like where not to go this time round. Hence the giant leap from a few months in Australia to a RTW trip. The more I read, the more I fell in love with certain places. I now have a list. A very long list. A wish list of places I’d like to visit and sights I’d like to see before I kick the bucket.

My current itinerary for my first adventure:

Japan - 1 month

Unfortunately it will be autumn when I visit Japan so I will have missed the much talked about cherry blossom (sakura) season. Instead I’ll be looking to trek Mt. Fuji, ride the Shinkansen, immerse myself in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, visit the temples and gardens in Kyoto as well as the bamboo grove…and so on. I have a month to explore this beautiful country so the list of experiences and places to visit is mighty!

Thailand - 6 weeks

I have applied for a four week volunteers placement at a Hill Tribe community project. There is the option to teach children English…those who know me will be laughing out loud at this moment. Not only am I useless with children, I think I’m allergic. I’ve always had a weird phobia of children. They freak me out!

During my free time I hope to learn how to cook Thai food (properly!) and explore the markets. Once my voluntary work has ended I have two weeks to travel down to Singapore for my flight to Australia. I hope to do a bit of island hopping ending with a Full Moon Party on Kho Phangan.

Australia - 6 months

I will land in Melbourne and fly out of Brisbane. As I will be spending a large chunk of my trip here, I hope to find a job to fund my activities. I’m not entirely sure what I will do in Oz. I’m thinking that this will be the most social part of my trip so will inevitably leave a lot to chance. What I do and where I go will depend on who I meet and what the job prospects are like.

New Zealand - 6 weeks

I will land in Auckland and fly out of Christchurch. This is one part of my trip I haven’t read too much about just yet so, for now, I’m not entirely sure what I will be doing!

Fiji - 7 -10 days

This is where I get to relaaaaaax…I will be island hopping and generally doing chuff all. Maybe a bit of snorkelling but it depends if I can be bothered to move from my hammock.

USA - 6 weeks or so

I will land in LA and am thinking about travelling down to San Diego for a few days but it will depend on how much money I’ll have left when I reach America. I will be booking a little tour from LA to San Francisco. I will then spend a week in San Fran. I’m debating whether to fly to Chicago for a few days or go straight to New York. Once I’m in NYC I’d like to visit Boston and Washington DC and hope to book a trip to Niagara Falls. I’d like to spend a week in NYC, a week in Boston and a few days in Washington DC. Again, it depends on the pennies.

London - August 25th 2012

I will arrive back at London Heathrow where - judging on America’s portion sizes - I will be fat, skint and teary as I embrace my parents and wave goodbye to my year of adventure. Back to reality.

The planning and preparation has been an uplifting experience. At first it was slightly overwhelming with how many things I needed to think about and decisions I had to make. Now that everything is starting to fit into place I can finally start to get excited. Until I booked the first element of my trip, this was still a dream. Now it’s going to happen it’s something I can look forward to. I can’t actually remember the last time I was this happy - without the aid of alcohol, chocolate or s….unny weather ahem.

I will be uploading thoughts, anecdotes, quotes and hopefully photos. Firstly, so I have a written account of my time before, during and after my trip to look back on. Secondly, so my Mum knows I’m still alive while I’m away. Finally, and perhaps an ambitious after-thought, it’d be nice if I could be a part of someone else’s wake up call, like Helen was for me.

Once Upon A Time...

The Dream

Do you remember the lesson you had in primary school where the teacher asked you what you wanted to do when you grew up? At that age answers included princess, fireman, astronaut etc etc. It’s just one of the occasions in life where random dreams tumbled from the mind but, to many, will never be achieved. To me, travelling has always been that preposterous out-of-reach dream I’ve had and never really spoken about. I always placed it in the box of things I’d love to do but will probably never get round to doing. So far the list includes learning to play the drums, snowboarding, learning a new language, going to Glastonbury…and so on…

Now that’s all changed. I’m doing it. I’m actually bloody doing it! While I’m at it, why stick to one country? I’m dreaming big.

The Trip

What started off as a few months in Australia has turned into something a bit more ambitious.

Manchester - Tokyo - Bangkok - overland to Singapore - Melbourne - overland to Brisbane - Auckland - overland to Christchurch - Fiji - LA - New York - London

The Reason

To me, 2010 has been the giant kick up the arse I have been subconsciously craving for for the past 3 years. Since graduating in 2007 I’ve been trapped in a series of ruts. I’d go through a period of extreme motivation and achieve so much, then I’d get comfortable and settle on what I had and didn’t really think about anything else. After a while, something would rattle me, and I'd shift back to the beginning again.

I am bored. I am tremendously bored to the extent that I want to do something completely out of character. For some reason I tend to work better when challenged. Perhaps it’s the competitive spirit within as whenever I’m told I can’t do something, I don’t stop until I can do it.

Now 2009, that was my year. In the space of 2 months I’d passed my driving test, bought a car, started a new job and ran 10 miles in my fastest time yet. The latter meant so much to me as only 8 months prior to the run I was in a pathetic state. I’d just started training after the major lurgy which had swallowed around 7 months of my life. I’ve always been pretty active and reasonably fit and I wanted that back. Challenge set and challenge achieved.

I want 2011/12 to be the new 2009 for me. I can’t wait to break free and create my own experiences and adventures. I’m sick of waiting around for something to happen. Departure date is Saturday 27th August. I’m going…and perhaps I’ll never look back…