Hello and welcome
to my travel blog which I am currently writing on my bed in not-so-sunny Brighton&Hove. Not the most exotic of locations to begin my tales of travelling but I think that this serves as the starting point of what will be an incredible, terrifying, exhausting and mind-blowing year.
But why write a blog?
I will be completely honest with you and admit that this blog exists for some selfish purposes. Not only will it be a nice memoir for me to reminisce when I am old and grey but it is also a way for my to keep track of my ideas while I am travelling (or planning travelling). This blog also, conveniently, acts as way of keeping in touch with family and friends while I am away and hopefully can act as help for anyone else thinking of travelling Australasia/Asia.
Let's start at the very beginning
To set the scene I thinks it's best to outline what my plans for this exciting year abroad entail. When I say plans, I mean that in the loosest of senses as these plans are currently no more than a few scribbles of biro on A4 lined paper (but I do believe that this is how all of the most amazing ideas of the 21st century were born).
The plans so far....
The trip begins with me, my dad and my sister Bonnie leaving LDN Gatwick for Auckland, New Zealand on the 10th of December 2014. On out way to the other side of the world we make a three day stop over in Singapore from the 11th to the 14th of December then continue to NZ.
New Zealand
The great thing about my time in NZ is that I will be doing it with my family (including my cousin Oli) and a campervan. The plan is to do a road trip around the north and south island stopping in olaces recommended to us and doing once-in-a-lifetime-type activities. For example, we WILL be doing a sky dive at some point, a crazy idea I had which was completely out of character. We will also be having Christmas and New Years in upside-down land, soaking up the rays while we tuck into christmas dinner (BBQ) and watching the fireworks go off in some far-off city. This five week trip is probably the last big family holiday we will do together so we are going all out!
Australia
After New Zealand I will wave goodbye to my family and set off to Sydney airport. Past this point my plans become much more abstract. Ideally, I would like to travel by Greyhound buses up the Eastern Gold Coast of Australia, taking in all of the amazing beaches and exciting cities along the way. Hopefully, I will be meeting up with some fellow friends who are travelling in Australia during my time here. My trip would end in Cairns, in the north of the country which is situated near the Great Barrier Reef (somewhere that I have always wanted to visit). I will then fly back to Sydney and fly from there to Singapore.
Singapore
Although I have very little information about Singapore, I am not too fussed about spending much time there. I think I will do a bit of travelling there for a couple of weeks to see what it has to offer but then move onto Vietnam
Vietnam
My interest in Vietnam started relatively recently when I started to hear about backpackers travelling there. Before then, it hadn't even crossed my mind to visit there, although the more research I do on the area the more excited I am for this part of my trip. I am up for this part of my trip being more of an exploration of the country with few solid plans, as hopefully by then I will be more confident with this whole travelling thing.
Thailand
Thailand would be my next destination, a classic on the backpackers tour of south-east Asia. this part of my trip should offer me well established travellers paradises. This is where I would like to complete my open-water diving PADI course (on an island called Ka Tao) as it is cheap and beautiful (http://www.scuba-junction.com/) . Of course, I could not visit Thailand as a British traveller and not experience a Full Moon Party but I am also excited to go off the beaten track and enjoy both sides.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a must on my to-do list. My ex-flatmate Tom grew up here and would not stop going on about how amazing it is! I also know a few people who are living out there at the moment and I can imagine that at this part of my trip it would be nice to see some familiar faces. I have heard that Hong Kong is expensive so would like to use this part of my trip to earn some money with my TEFL qualification and the skills I have learnt at Uni (primarily, how to facilitate a wicked game)
China
This part of my journey is completely unplanned. All I know is that I want to see some of China while I am out there, I mean it would be rude not to!
India
As my trip to India a year ago is what sparked this whole idea this is the best way to end my journey. I must fly back from Mumbai not longer than a year after I left the UK so before that I would love to visit much more of this amazing country. I definitely plan to visit Rajasthan, as when I was in Mumbai people recommended it as an area of immense beauty. My mum and dad travellled in India when they were younger so I would like to follow their footsteps, visiting places like Kerala, Manali (in the mountains) and Goa (where I may meet with my family for a couple of weeks). Other than that I am excited to see where I discover while travelling. India is where I will spend the most time (at least three months) before I return to ol' Blighty and finally accept reality.
It will be very interesting looking back on these preliminary plans after I have returned and see how much I actually stuck to them.
So that's my plan so far, if you have visited any of these places or think that I am missing somewhere please comment on this post with you recommendations as I hope to plan my route from suggestions given to me.
Thank you for reading, even though it was probably quite a boring a self-centred post and please if you are thinking of travelling around this area at the same time let me know!
Love,
Emma x
