Two months until my round the world trip commences!

I first started thinking about my trip in April 2011, since then I have done a lot of work trying to save up for the trip, organise my itinerary, get granted my sabbatical and researching safety, what to do and what to bring! I hve been thinking about this trio for so long yet it is hard to believe that in less than two months I will be leaving the UK, hopefully for 12 months!

I am trying to ‘wing it’ as much as possible on my trip because it’s going to be such a long and varied trip. The thing that I love most about travel is meeting new people from all around the world and if I have a very basic itinerary it will enable me to be more spontaneous and to travel where I like with who I like.

I have been researching different destinations and safety by reading various travel blogs, mainly from fellow solo female travellers who have done a trip of this scale before me! Reading the blogs has put my mind at rest because every blogger seemed to have the time of their life on their travels and many said that they felt safer in Asia than they ever have in a Western country! I have also bought the majority of my clothes and equipment for the trip which is alot harder than it sounds! I will no doubt lose a considerable amount of weight whilst on this trop so I have had to take this in to consideration when planning my travel outfits and bikinis. I also want to save some room in my backpack so I can buy some souveneirs in Asia.

Soooo, what have I been doing during the past few weeks apart from planning? I have been making the most of the time I have left in the UK by visting friends and trying to tie up loose ends. I have also been getting my travel vaccinations each week. I decided to buy the Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies vaccines alongside the free ones offeredg by my GP. They are costing £325 which is a large chunk of my travel budget but I decided that money doesn’t mean anything If I’m not here due to a crazy tropical disease! I have also bought a kindle 3G with my Christmas money which has free internet access all around the world. It means that I can always email my family to say that I am ok whilst on the road.

Christmas fancy dress fun! (I told Santa that all I wanted for Christmas was to have a safe and fun round the world trip!)

It was hard thinking that this time next year I will be spending Christmas in Asia or Oceania! Will I be on Bondi beach, trekking through the rainforest or watching glow-worms in South Island New Zealand….No one knows! I had a lovely Christmas with my family, we even went for a curry on Christmas day!