Like Kelly, I am completely new to blogging, and to be honest I’m not too great at writing neither. I was often told ‘you write how you speak’ in my school classes, and English was never my forte. Instead I excelled in number crunching and drawing pretty pictures…
And drawing pretty pictures became my profession over the past several years, in the form of a graphic designer. I’ve had experience running a design business, working for a design agency and working as a freelancer – something I intend to continue with whilst travelling – I would hate to lose that creative touch! Alongside design, I have always loved photography and I’m looking to improve on this before we travel to South East Asia. However, this will mean spending more time on manually taking photos, which I don’t think will bode too well with Kelly, who can be inpatient at times.
In terms of travelling, I have probably only seen about 2% of the world and my bucket list continues to grow day in, day out. My favourite holidays/trips have been a Euro Rail Trip with 3 of my best friends and surprisingly a cruise with Kelly and her family. Not ‘surprisingly’ because it was with Kelly and her family they’re great (better get that in), but because it was a cruise, something I had never considered before and didn’t think I’d need to until I was retired. However, you just can’t beat waking up and being in a completely new destination to explore. Not only that, but you are travelling when you are eating, drinking, dancing and sleeping (4 of my favourite things)…it’s a win win. These fast paced trips, cramming in all the sights/activities in have grown to become my favourite, and me and Kelly love the challenge of arranging them.
I would say I’m an organised person (Kelly will tell you differently), however I’m a ‘late organiser’, whereby all plans are made just in time and not 2 months before they need to be…erhem Kelly. Everyone that knows me will say I’m tight with money, whereas I’d say ‘sensible’, I certainly take after my Mum in that aspect! And truth is, if I wasn’t sensible, I wouldn’t be able to afford this South East Asia trip. It’s fair to say I’m an ‘obsessive saver’, yesterday I used ‘Quidco’ so I could save 8p on a JustEat order, yes 8p!
The main priority for this blog, in my eyes, is to keep family and friends updated of our 8 months trip around South East Asia. I feel it is the least we can do, after banishing them all for so long. As well as posting all about our adventures, I’d also like to share any tips we may have or things we’ve found out to help others.
In the meantime, here are my feelings towards our South East Asia trip…
- Duration of trip: Expecting 8 months
- Countries visiting: Dubai, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and China
- Country most looking forward to visiting: Myanmar
- Accommodation most looking forward to staying in: Sloth Hostel, Bangkok, Thailand
- Expected main events: Full Moon Party Thailand, New Year’s in Singapore and LEGOLAND in Malaysia of course!
- Most scared of: Seeing snakes and slow-worms (which are the same as snakes!)
- Gadgets taking: GoPro 6, Canon EOS 1200D, MacBook Air, iPhone 7
- Best purchase: universal travel plug adapter (way too easily pleased)