Now that summer is over (boohoo) and I’m back in the UK after my great American adventure, I’ve suddenly realised how soon it actually is that I’m leaving again for the next big trip…yes that’s right, I’m off in a matter of weeks (7 to be precise), and I’m going Around The World!
Plans have been made, flights have been paid for, friends have been convinced to come along for the ride, and this is really happening. I am finally setting off on my dream of seeing the world and I couldn’t be more excited…I’m like a little kid on Christmas Eve, except it’s going to be 7 weeks worth of this. 7 more weeks of preparation, itinerary planning, hostel booking, visa getting, guide book reading, vaccinations (ouch), sorting, and finally packing, unpacking and repacking before I board that plane to Bangkok on the 5th of November at 9pm!
I’ve even started getting all the little things together that I’m going to need – I mean, I don’t really need much…this summer in America has taught me that less really is more, but there was the odd thing that I thought might be necessary, or useful, or both. So far I’ve bought a world travel adapter plug (yes, one of those magical ones that has all the different country plugs in one unit) and some packing cubes – the one thing that annoys me about backpacks (and backpacking in itself) is the fact that you are constantly unpacking and repacking your bag, as every time you get something out of it, you have to pull all the stuff on top of that thing out as well. So I bought a set of Eagle Creek’s incredible packing cubes, one for t-shirts and vest tops, one for underwear, and one for shorts. They help to keep everything neat and tidy inside your bag, and they’re great for keeping dirty laundry separate from everything else too!
Over the last few days in particular I’ve been going a little crazy with all the little things I need to do and I’m actually not doing too badly with whittling these things down. I’ve made an appointment with the London Travel Clinic to get all my vaccinations (ouchies), applied for my Australian eVisitor/ETA visa (and had it granted within a few hours), got an appointment booked at the opticians to get new lenses (I want monthlies instead of the dailies I have now…there’s no way I’m carrying around 6 months worth of daily contacts in my bag!), and am midway through filling in the form for my Vietnam Visa (this one is quite confusing…the visa only lasts for 30 days but I can’t work out if those 30 days start counting down from the date of issue or the date of proposed entry into the country…any help would be much appreciated).
There’s a few other things on my (very long) list of items I need to get and things I need to do before the big departure day – such as booking our first hostel in Bangkok, and deciding between the Oz Experience or Greyhound buses in Australia – but I’m trying to spread out the excitement a little bit, otherwise I think I might explode. I wish there was a better way to explain how I feel about it, but all I can say is I. Am. So. Ridiculously. Excited.
Roo Around The World 