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The Plan
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Tickets bought, equipment packed, jabs administered, i-pods loaded, notices handed in, tonsils taken out...the countdown begins!
The story actually began a long time ago (12mths) in a town far far away (Luton). In the space of a week the cunning plan was hatched; Verdi was made redundant, Andrew handed in his notice, the landlords were informed and the wheels were set in motion.
With the sniff of adventure in the air, itchy feet on the ground and extra money in the bank (thank you Polaroid!) we hot footed it down to Southampton to live rent free in Andrew's parents second home. The initial plan was to stay for about 4 months giving us time to pay off our uni debts and save a sufficient amount for the trip....this soon turned into 6 months...then 9 and low and behold 12 months later we're still here...obviously can't get enough of a good thing - the UK weather!
Being the modern, free spirited yet somewhat frugal people that we are, we took this as the opportunity to de-clutter our lives (Verdi's shoes and handbags and Andrew's DVD collection aside - far too precious!) we embarked on a car boot frenzy. 5 cold, wet and miserable boot sales in Wales later, we had sold (or depending on your outlook 'off-loaded') all that the British public were willing to part with good money for...it really is amazing what crap some people will buy. The rest went to charity.
Before we knew it September had crept up on us and, although we had managed to collate a slimmed down list of our planned itinerary (from 50+ countries down to 44), we were still in debt, driving a desk, and no closer to booking a start date for our big adventure...we decided it was time to bite the bullet and commit to a date. We ventured into STA Travel on Saturday 10th September and what seemed rather impulsively booked our one-way tickets to OZ with a weeks stop over in Hong Kong! Let the fun begin.
Over the following weeks we trawled the internet in an effort to book accommodation in Hong Kong, Macau, and most excitingly; Sydney for the Christmas and New Year period! The proverbial rocket had been lit as we organised our insurance, inoculations, passports, visas, equipment, International driving licences and most crucially...crammed our i-pods with enough music to last 2 weeks...continuously!
It soon dawned on us just how many day-to-day things there were to organise / cancel; direct debits, phones, Sky, internet, bank accounts, sell the car etc before we could start to get excited about the reality of leaving. It's turned out to be a fortuitous decision to 'wing-it' around the world after Sydney, as we wouldn't have had time to fit in all the planning.
The rough 'plan' as it stands is; Australasia into South East Asia, taking in the likes of Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet and India along the way. Moving on to South America and then making our way up through Central America into USA and finally Canada. We are hoping to fit in a couple of months work en route to bolster the bank account - maybe in Sydney/Melbourne and then California.
Some of the more astute among you may have realised that this is not actually the 'whole world' but we spent 6 weeks backpacking around Europe after we graduated and have decided to leave Africa for a later date.
Although this is the outline plan, as the saying goes 'The best laid plans...' so we might just end up going wherever the wind, money or a whim takes us!
Verdi's tonsils now safely removed - never again to be inflamed, painful and inconvenient, we can get on with the fond farewells and the leaving PARTY.
Latest Comments (2)
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Jealous!! (reply)
Dec 9, 2005 09:40 EST by m-l
Hiya pals, just to let you know that it's foggy, grey and miserable here in Harlow, and not much better in London either. Am I jealous of you in the sunshine? Mmmmm....VERY!!
Glad to hear that you're enjoying yourselves. Look forward to reading your stories when you get a chance.
I will be downloading my photos from your leaving do and add a link on here next week, so you can all s... show all
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What a Plan! (reply)
Dec 6, 2005 07:18 EST by blobbus
All the best wishes to Verdi and Andrew on their world travels.....everyone back home is thinking of you and wants your to have the time of your lives.
Fly, fly and soar away to your dreams you lovebirds!!
Love...
Mr. and Mrs Blobbus...and TR1
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