How time flies

When I started this blog, this adventure was all just magical dreams.  It was so far in the future, it felt like I would never manage to get there.

But time has moved forward, the days kept disappearing.  To begin with slowly, but last month went at a phenomenal speed.  Were now at the last leg of our journey before flight from the UK.  It feels so good to be at this place now.  We have done most of our planning (and have completely booked all our trains, buses and hostels in India), the rest we will plan along the way.

I feel very fortunate to be partaking in this traveling with an amazing friend and companion.  I really don't feel like I could have done this with anyone else, and sure we annoy the hell out of each other, but I think our personalities and strengths meld well together, especially on a long trip like this.

So thank you to everyone who has helped us take this massive leap into our dreams, and I hope you follow us on our trip, because as well as being magical it will be downright dirty, messy and funny, and its going to be one hell of an adventure.

To Asia and beyond....

View Traveling in a larger map

I though in this entry I would give you guys some info on where we are going, and what we are seeing.

Here is the google map of our travels with the main places we are seeing, and the general route we are taking.

I thought I would list some of the things I really want to do/see while we are there that aren't just the ordinary ones you hear about

India - Chittorgarh Fort - Just looks really epic, and exciting

Vietnam - Ha Long Bay - Andy's sister went and said it was incredible

Cambodia -Angkor Wat - Largest Hindu Temple complex in the world, I have a feeling this is going to be amazing to photograph somehow...

Thailand - Wat-rong-khun - The white temple is just absolutely stunning, I saw a photo a while back, and it is something that I have to see.  Take a look at the link as it is gorgeous, in white stone, and the sculptures are amazingly detailed.

Singapore - Singapore Botanic gardens - Its free what more do you want?

New Zealand - Black Water Rafting - Going through caves in complete darkness in a rubber ring, while glow worms light the caves like stars around you... YES PLEASE!

There are plenty more!  If you have any exciting suggestions please leave me a comment!

Camera to a good home

So there is 153 days left before I go or  less than 5 months if you prefer, my original draft of this says 186 days to go, which says 1) I am lazy about posting on my blog and 2) shows how much faster time is going now.

There is still so much to do and decide although the plans are looking much better now, much more concrete its much more about finalizing how much time we shall spend in each place after Hong Kong, and also how we shall get around etc.

I am much more aware and worried more than ever about the fiances of this trip now, as Andy made me do what I have (will most likely continue to try and do) been trying desperately to avoid, which is look over my savings.  I am very good with the whole picture but I am horribly rubbish about little details, such as where is all this money coming from....  As I already knew Andy has alot more money than me, although I have been trying hard to save, I have been overspending on "FUN" which now seems to be a swearword until we depart Britain. I now have the grand sum of £5 to spend on "fun" a month.

The problem for me is I still have my student overdraft, which needs to be paid off, and It looks like I will have to sell my beloved Canon camera to pay for it.  I had been worried about taking it with me as it is worth abit, and its also incredible big and heavy for carrying around with me.  But it does make me sad to sell it, as I want someone to love it as much as I do, which is stupid and sentimental, but its how I feel! Saying that though I'm now starting to think about what camera I will buy to replace it as I will need something fairly good but light, and if anyone has any ideas please comment!  I like the look of the Olympus Pen, but I haven't really been looking all that much.

We should be booking the rest of our trip around the 25th which is amazing!  I really can't wait now, although there is still so much to sort out!

Year Of The Dragon

Well this is a very overdue post, so apologies for that!

I feel like 2012 is mine and Andy's year.  Its the Chinese year of the Dragon, which is a symbol of good fortune, and also mine and Andy's Chinese sign too, which in Chinese Astrology means it is a very auspicious year for us!  So very good for traveling.


Speaking of traveling... we have finally booked the  first leg of our journey.  We spoke to a very helpful guy called James in STA travel, who we sorted most of the details out with for the whole of our trip.  Unfortunately we couldn't get all our tickets in one go as most Air Travel companies only release tickets 11 or 9 months in advance, so we are booking the rest in May.

So we are now the proud owners of tickets to leave the UK on the 14th October to go to Goa!  Which is pretty amazing as we are traveling around India for 5 Weeks meaning we will be there for Diwali, which will be really interesting, as I only know a little about the festival.  We are then traveling onto Hong Kong, and thats all we have booked at the moment, but is it the start of our little adventure!

Me and Andy also went for lunch with his sister Lisa, who has just completed an equally amazing adventure with her boyfriend Rob, to get any travel tips from her.  Its was really good to hear her stories, and get more of an idea of where to go, what to do and how things will actually cost!  One of the main things me and Andy want to do now is cooking courses as we both love food.  Lisa was telling us of all the delicious meals they learnt to make while doing the courses, and you seem to get a real sense of the traditional foods of each place.  Lisa has finished her blog now but it really is worth reading if your planning a trip!  You can read it here!

So that was our exciting February!