Getting ready…

I LEAVE THIS WEEK !!

I have everything that I need – or at least what I think I’m going to need – bought and *half* packed. I say *half-packed* because every time I get to the final stages of packing where I have roughly found a spot for everything I’m bringing with me, I zip my bag to then find a pair of socks, or a stray t-shirt that I’ll ‘figure it out later’ where its eventual home will be inside my 42l bag. The thing is, time is ticking and there’s soon going to be no more options to ‘do it later’. It’s going to get to Saturday morning and I bet I’ll still be trying to figure out where I’m going to jam in my first aid kit or medicine bag, but as long as I’ve got my bikinis and sun tan lotion I’m fine. Priorities right?

It really has been some month getting organised to go away. I got the last of my travel jags at the beginning of the month and I’ve just finished my last work shift, so it really is all systems go from here. The next couple days are going to consist of getting last minute bits and pieces, photocopies of my passport and insurance policies and my e-visas for my first couple of countries to make border crossings that little bit easier. It’s also a wise idea to carry some extra passport-sized photos for impromptu visa applications directly at the border..rumour has it that officials swipe minimum 30$ for the privilege of snapping a photo of your tired, moody face after a lengthy journey to get there. And they get away with it as well since at that point, you’ll pay the price if it means you get to your hostel even 10 minutes quicker to finally get a kip. So ill be making myself semi-presentable and trudging down to the nearest Tesco for a lil’ photo shoot this week as well. I’d quite like to keep those 30$ for myself thanks v much…

Ill upload a photo of my main pack and my day pack and a rough summary of what’s going to be inside it / what I’m going to be living from for the next year. It’ll be interesting to look back at the end of it all and see which items made it the entire way round with me, and act as evidence during the moment of silence for the things that didn’t quite make the cut perhaps half way through…

My next post will either be the night before I go or while I’m in the air en route to my first stop…SRI LANKA!

Stay posted – its about to get a lot more exciting from here on in and I CANNOT WAIT to touch down in the 30 degree heat and most importantly not have to de-ice my car in the mornings…