Travel Resolutions for the New Year

Well it is that time of year when people ( not all of us ) make those new years resolutions for all sorts of things.  Maybe it’s for a healthier lifestyle, spending more time with loved ones, change of career etc……..  Without actually making it a resolution I was always ‘all over’ what country I was going to visit in the coming year and my leave was already submitted and approved. 

We make resolutions for everything else. Why not travel?

People always ask me how I get to travel all the time, and my response is I just save.  I have a holiday account that a minimum $50 - $100 a week goes into.  52 weeks a year gives you a nice tidy sum of $5200 for a trip.  Even at $50 a week that’s being saved that’s still $2600 – these days you can get a pretty awesome holiday for that.  Not all my trips are not attached to ‘U beaut’ travel agent deals.

Maybe NOW is the time people, for you to start SAVING money and see some of the world you live in first hand.  It doesn’t always have to be an overseas trip to constitute as a holiday.  Staycation’s is the newest thing on the block ( not MY thing ) but visits in your own city / state / country can be just as rewarding and relaxing as travelling 5 million kilometers to a far away destination.  Something for you to think about.

So your Travel Resolution for 2011.  What will yours be?

• Go on your first cruise.
• Spend a weekend somewhere without internet access
• Drive cross country.
• Finally learn how not to over pack.
• Visit more places where I know people.
• Be in more travel pictures and get out from behind the camera.
• Take at least one guidebook-free and paperless trip.
• Take better notes. I might think I'll always remember the name of that fun-looking restaurant or weird sign I want to translate, but it's easy to forget when you're taking in so many new things.
• A place that you have always wanted to visit since you were a kid
• Catch up with friends made on previous trips from other countries
• Send a post card or write a letter. Texts, emails, and tweets are fine, but nothing beats getting something in the snail mail from an exotic destination and that you were thought of.
• Start a Bucketlist – life is too short.  Get out there and LIVE it
• Find a quest. Climb Ayers Rock.  Swim the Great Barrier Reef . Visit every country that starts with B because that’s what your name starts with. Travel great distances to find petroglyphs or animals.
• Go somewhere new
• Determine 3 Places You’ve Never Been To And Plan A Trip To One
• Keep Better Track Of Where You’ve Been
• Learn a language for your pending trip

Got you thinking…….  Well it should …………….

Google a map of the world and start to think of where you have always wanted to travel to and make it a reality in 2011.  My mum had always wanted to travel to Canada and it was the same response each time ‘next year’… well ‘next year’ never came for her and it is now in her memory that I can achieve my trip that I will be doing it in twenty eleven.

Open a holiday account, set up the automatic transfer from your pay, make an appointment to see your local travel agent and turn that ’dream’ trip of yours into a reality.  Whether it is to see a show in Sydney, sit on a beach in Fiji, play the pokies in Vegas - it is your 'dream' and only YOU can turn it into a reality.

Happy New Year to you all and cheers to new places and faces in 2011…..

My Travel Log Book

So how do you keep track of your travel escapades?

Keeping count of which countries you visited?

Where do you put those cute little entrance tickets you get from attractions?

Where can you get your new friends to sign and write comments?

If you like to keep track of miles flown – seat numbers etc……… ( yes I am that anal )

Some people collect patches, magnets, plates, spoons, stamps, stick pins, foreign money etc…….. ( yes I also do all that but NOT spoons or patches )

Well some years ago I came across a web site called the Globetrotters Logbook.

The Globetrotter’s LogBook - Countries of the World is a pocket-sized souvenir book for people who like travelling. Every one of the world’s current 193 countries (and their 58 overseas dependencies) are listed in alphabetical order, complete with flags, capital cities, information, details about their time zones, currencies, land area, population, interesting travel-websites, etc…………………

Each country has room for a small personal souvenir: the rubberstamp from the hotel where you stayed, some fun words of farewell from your ski instructor, your own personal copy of that beautiful postage stamp you loved so much, a dried petal from your favourite flower.  Whatever you want to keep to remind you of your trip. I have my travel guides from different countries sign my book – new words I learn in other languages – those special mementos of weird bag tags, concierge tickets from great hotels ( like the Burj in Dubai ) etc….

The Globetrotter's LogBook also features a Vaccination Log in which you can keep a structured and up-to-date record of the jabs you have had as you embark on your adventurous life.   There is also the detailed Flight Register with details of your seat, airline, plane type and city pairs flown.

It is a dandy little book and I won’t travel to a new country without it – it is as precious as my passport – well maybe not quite - but nearly.  I try and get a rubber stamp with the date on it, generally from a post office or depending on the laxity of the immigration staff, at airports.  Otherwise in tough countries like Latvia and Cuba where they wouldn’t stamp my book I purchase a lick lick stamp to pop into it.

If you travel heaps – this book is certainly for you.  My last entry was my from new Ukrainain friend who served me 12 days of vodka’s on my Black Sea River Cruise.  He wrote it all in Ukranian and I had to get a hostess on my Emirates flight to translate his message which was super cute.

These will be the small things that will be forgotten with the passage of time – but not me, I have my Globetrotter’s Logbook at the ready for my next new stamp and for my next new guide / friends to write something….

I ♥ showing my book to people and it is something nice to reflect on every now and then and sometimes also serves as a bragging book to people.

Check out the book at : http://www.globetrotterslogbook.com/default.htm  

One Bag One Year - Are You Kidding?

I sat last night and really thought about what I am going to take with me on my trip.

I’m going for 14 months.  One backpack, one day backpack and a travel satchel.  Doesn’t sound like much right?

The condensing of one’s life belongings has been made a little easier, as I have had to pack my whole house into a shipping container, which is now sitting somewhere in Brisbane waiting for my eventual return.  So already I had to decide what I would and wouldn’t need for my last 5 months in Oz.  Amazing how much ‘stuff’ one doesn’t really need.

I will have a day backpack that will carry the stuff that is too important to put in the BIG backpack.  You know the stuff you can’t live without – the charges for all the appliances, personal diary, memory cards, notebook the large camera that sort of thing.

My day to day bag will carry the smaller but just as important stuff.  The Ipod, the point and shoot camera’s, the phone, passport, my bloggie, more memory cards, money matters etc…….

Then the Pièce de résistance – THE BACKPACK.  This will house the clothes, the toiletries my 3 pairs of shoes and all my purchased the knick knacks until I can get to a post office to send them.  Okay when I say it all like that – how much room do I need?  Surely I could fit all that in a 55L backpack?

I have never been a backpacker as such.  I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have travelled with a backpack in my travelling life.  All but ONE I would call successful stories.

The very first time was a 28 day Contiki European tour 10 years ago.  I was a lot younger, so backpack was the obvious choice.  It was a 4 week tour with an additional 6 weeks added for good measure in Turkey, Egypt and Africa.  I borrowed the bag from my Aunty Beth, who sang it’s praises and had used it extensively on her travels stating it was the best bag in the world.  Well for the younger folk, it was one of the old fashioned backpacks which you could only load from the top.  So if you needed something you had to pull everything out to get to the bottom and repack the whole bloody thing.  NOT SUCCESSFUL.

I travelled on a Contiki tour of Scandinavia and surrounds in 2007.  It was a ‘Concept Tour’ meaning we were going to be staying in hostels and cabins.  No tents – but not really the type of tour one would take a suitcase.  So after some homework and not wanting to go without all the nessessities, I bought a 80L backpack.  Well have you ever filled an 80L backpack before?  It was MASSIVE and it was cumbersome.  Once it was on my back, I did okay – the main factor was not to fall over and look like an upside down turtle OR trying hard to not knock some-one over on my turning circle.  I  always needed some-one to help me heft the bloody thing on my back. NOT SUCCESSFUL.

Europe was also done the same year with the same said backpack.  This was an Intrepid Tour from Berlin to Venice – solely only using the public train and bus system for 3 weeks.  I thought Scandinavia was bad and we had a coach – public transport was a nightmare carrying this sucker, just ask anyone on this tour stories of me and my backpack.  I do recall ‘bag lady’ was one of my nicknames. LESSON NOT LEARNT.

2009 I travelled for 4 weeks on a Tucan trip of Central America, Cuba and Panama.  Now I had learnt my lessons from previous trips and purchased a much smaller backpack at 55L.  Now this was the way to travel.  I also trialled the packing cubes and they were brilliant!  It was a great bag – I didn’t end up taking as much and it was much more easier to handle ( shock horror ) and no help required getting that onto my back.  This trip was also solely using chicken buses and the sort and I wondered WHAT was I thinking with the 80L MONSTER all those years ago?

So now I embark on my 14 month trip with my backpack in tow.  Stay tuned for the pre-pack dramas on what I WANT to take and what I CAN actually fit.  That will be a whole entry on it's own.

Let the packing the backpack games begin???

PS: Any hot packing / travelling tips are welcome.

I AM A FLASHPACKER AND PROUD OF IT

At first take – it is NOT what you think.  So get your minds out of the gutter.

Flashpacking according to Wikipedia:

Flashpacking is a neologism used to refer to an affluent backpacker. Whereas backpacking is traditionally associated with budget travel and destinations that are relatively cheap, flashpacking has an association of more disposable income while travelling and has been defined simply as backpacking with a bigger budget.

The origin of the term itself is obscure.  The term also reflects a growing demographic of travellers who are forsaking traditional organized travel, venturing to destinations once the reserve of more adventurous backpackers, and the increasing number of individuals who leave well paid jobs or take career breaks, using the time to travel independently, but with greater comfort and many of the gadgets they are accustomed to at home.

I have never been a backpacker as such.  I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have stayed in a hostel – not that I am hoity toity – but I am a hotel gal through and through.  With my adventures I will know I will certainly be roughing it in certain countries, but I am prepared for this and as precious as it all sounds, I am ready to TOUGHEN up PRINCESS and just make the most of what experiences come my way.  Just between you and I, I do have some nice accommodations also planned – a little pampering I am guessing will go a long way to keeping me refreshed during my 14 month odyssey.

Yep, I think they have me pegged. 

Hello my name is Bernie  - I am a flashpacker.

A Flashpacker checklist:

Mobile phone – check

Notebook – check

Ipod – check

Ipad – something has to go and unfortunatly the Ipad just doesn’t make the cut.

Drinking camera – check

Normal camera – check

Digital SLR camera – check

Yep I think I definetley fall into the flashpacker category.

Other terms floating around the place also according to Wikipedia are:

Backpacking

Good old backpacking is a term that has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Terms such as independent travel and/or budget travel are often used interchangeably with backpacking. The factors that traditionally differentiate backpacking from other forms of tourism include but are not limited to the following: use of public transport as a means of travel, preference of youth hostels to traditional hotels, length of the trip vs. conventional vacations, use of a backpack, an interest in meeting the locals as well as seeing the sights.

Gap-packing

"Gap-packing" is a neologism used typically to refer to people who backpack to several countries in a short period of time whilst on their gap year between school and university, or between university and their first job.

Hello, my name is Bernie and I am a Flashpacker!!!!

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love? Measure in love

Seasons of love. Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes!
Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died.

It's time now to sing out, tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends
Remember the love!
Remember the love!
Seasons of love!

Oh you got to got to
Remember the love!
You know that love is a gift from up above
Share love, give love spread love
Measure measure your life in love.

Travel Doctor - Vaccinations - Needles - Drugs - Pills - Pre-travel Preparation is the Key

I can’t afford to get sick while I am away.  I have a few down weeks here and there ( recovery from long or full on trips ) but I really don’t have the time or the inclination to handle a sick Bernie while I am away.

Pre-travel preparation is the key people……..

I am not a sick person by nature – I seem to have a pretty good immune system ( according to Dr Bernie ) and I rarely get sick when at home – short of the seasonal flu ( touchwood )

Most travellers need to seek medical advice 8 WEEKS prior to departure.

For those going to live or work overseas need to seek medical advice 6 MONTHS prior

For those leaving at short notice IT IS NEVER TOO LATE to seek advice

BUT apparently 50% of overseas travellers become ill while away from home …

People heading overseas, particularly to developing countries, are often at risk of diseases endemic to the places they are visiting. The diseases are mainly associated with:

Inadequate sanitation and hygiene and can lead to diseases such as Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Cholera, as well as traveller's diarrhoea.

In the tropics, mosquitoes carry diseases such as Malaria, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever and Japanese Encephalitis.

Longer journeys or stays, particularly if backpacking or staying in budget accommodation, may involve other disease risk.

So no matter how careful one is – there are just some things that are out of our control.  In the BIG scheme of things it seems silly to me to be spending all this money on all the tours, airfares, hotels and cruises to scrimp on $1000 or so of vaccinations and malaria tablets and pills to keep me healthy while on the road!

In some instantces – some countries need proof of vaccination required for entry.

So what is a vaccine? 

According to my wonderful world of Wikipedia and Google research:

Vaccinations are methods of introducing antigens into your body to get your body's immune system to react to them by producing antibodies to kill them or inactivate them, which will give you immunity to the antigen. In other words, vaccinations can be shots (or other types of injections under the skin), liquids taken by mouth, or intranasal sprays that give you a small dose of something that can't make you sick itself, but is just like or similar enough to something that would make you sick if you got it in its normal form. They are given to you made with the right antigens to make you immune to the disease or infection from which you want protection.

The vaccine in a vaccination contains either a "dead" (inactive), or a weakened form of the potential invading microbe (viral or bacterial). These are called the antigens in the immune system.

Our bodies use these antigens (weakened/dead virus or bacteria) as templates to create the perfect antigen-fighting antibodies. When the antibody is shaped just right to be able to match up with, and hook on to that kind of antigen, it prevents us from getting sick even when the attacker is "alive" in the wild. The antibodies do this by holding on to each antigen and disabling its ability to attack and link up with our cells. Meanwhile, other immune system cells help in the fight and clean up the debris.

A healthy immune system remembers the pattern for every antibody that it has made (either as a result of vaccines, or those created from actually having had exposure to the pathogen in the wild). It can make these antibodies when it detects the same or similar microbes in the wild (normal strength) because of the "immunity" you have from the stored patterns. If these microbes enter the body in the future, the immune system can very quickly find the right pattern and start making the matching antibodies. That way, the immune system can quickly make those matching cells again to protect us from that same specific microbe (and sometimes strains that are very similar).

GO IMMUNE SYSTEM right!!!  Amazing how our bodies work.  I ain’t going to question with what has been proven and tested – but it does sound weird that tomorrow night I’m heading to the doc’s to get my first of 3 jabs of Rabies over a 3 month period.  One serve of Rabies coming up!!!!!!

Above and beyond that I have already been tested for Turberculosis to document my immunity before travel.  I then will get the test repeated 3 months after I return to make sure I am still unaffected. 

Polio is up to date

Tetanus, Diphtheria and Whooping Cough is up to date

Measles, Mumps and Rubella is up to date

Chickenpox – check

Hepatitis A – check

Hepatitis B – check

Yellow fever – check

Additional to the above I will need to get:

The good ol’ influenza – we are leaving this one till later so I can get the next years strain

Need to update my Typhoid

Meningitis

Need to update my Cholera

Rabies – over 3 months

Malaria:  This can be done various ways – I will be doing the good ol take tablets 2 weeks prior – during the trip and 2 weeks after the trip – this is the most cost effective as I will need approximately 20 weeks worth of pills!  There is an alternative of one tablet per day but at $5 a pop at 20 weeks ( $700.00 ) I have to draw the cost line somewhere and take on the inconvenience of popping a few extra pills to keep that cost down.

 All in all – GO to the travel doctor if you are travelling off the beaten track.  You just cannot put a price on your health at the end of the day.

Safe travels xx

Contiki is the word – Brave or Stupid?

I have booked FOUR Contiki tours for my trip next year. May – to end of June 2011.

When I tell people I am doing a Contiki tour – those who know my ‘actual’ age are the first ones to pipe up ‘Aren’t you too old for them now’!  But I think I am in that age group where I still consider myself to fit into the ‘younger’ ( albeit on the upper scale ) category but consider myself too young for the ‘older’ coach style tours.  I just cannot picture myself on and Insight tour with 40 of my closest blue rinses hooning around Europe at the pace of a snail ( sorry to all the oldies that don’t fall into the blue rinse category – I know how you feel !!)

I did have to get approval for my bookings ( due to my age ) and I am unable to share with a young whipper snapper also because of the age ‘thing’.  I am also forced to pay a single supplement – as who in their right mind would want to share with an OLDIE like me!!!!  Even after all this, I still think it is worth it and needless to say my application was approved – with no cajoling or bribes needed.  

The tours all run consecutively, so it will be a 55 day long party with Generation Y.  In my defence I am on the cusp of Gen Y and Gen X so I should be able to keep up with all of my 192 potential new friends that I will make, give or take a bad egg or 2, which just comes with any group touring, no matter what the age demographic.

In my research there is also a new Generation called the Z Generation – where to from here? What will the next Gen be called as there is not much room to move from Z.

So what is the difference between the generations?

Generation X is the generation generally defined as those born after the baby boom ended, and hence sometimes referred to as Baby Busters, with earliest birth dates seen used by researchers ranging from 1961 to the latest 1981 at its greatest extent.

Generation Y is also known as Millennial Generation, Generation Next, or Echo Boomers. The earliest suggested birth dates ranging from mid to late 1970s to the latest in the early 2000s.

Generation Z, also known as Generation I or Internet Generation, and dubbed the "Digital Natives," is the following generation. The earliest birth is generally dated in the early 1990s.

So based on the above – I could technically also be travelling with Gen Z aswell.

Okay so I could handle one generational gap, but 2 – maybe I’m biting off more than I can chew – YEAH RIGHT!!!!!  I’ll show those ankle bitters a thing or two.

How to consume $700.00 of alcohol in a week. 

How to back up after a BIG night of drinking.

How to NOT lose a camera while drunk ( okay so maybe I can’t help with that )

How to take great drunk photos and have them loaded and tagged the next day on Facebook

I think I would be an asset to the Gen Y coach tour and really am looking forward to meeting some new friends along the way.  I am a big Contiki fan and have travelled with the company twice.  Four weeks Europe and 3 weeks Scandinavia.

Needless to say that at the end of the day my new found ‘younger’ friends will not know the true age of the ‘travelling granny’ and am thinking I will aim for the grand ol’ age of 29!  I think I may pass – mention 30 to them and they’ll think I am a 100.  Oh to be in my 20’s again.

Wish me luck on my quest to keep up for 55 days on the party trail of Europe, Ireland, Spain ( with a stop in Ibiza ) and of course the beautiful Greek Islands of Mykonos, Ios and Santorini.

I have already apologised to my liver in advance for the hammering it will get.

Top 10 Useless Travel Gadgets

According to Travel NineMSN.................

 

When it comes to travel, the number-one rule of packing is: less is definitely more. So you certainly don't want to weigh yourself down with a bunch of unnecessary gadgets. While some travel gadgets, like money belts and ear plugs, are very useful, there are those that are more trouble than they're worth. Here are some best left off your packing list.

The StashCard

This travel gadget comes from the "seems like a good a good idea at the time" file. Designed to look like a memory card, the StashCard allows you to hide your valuables, like money or keys, in the unused PC card slots on your laptop. The problem is that your laptop will be the first thing a thief will target. So you'll not only lose your computer, but all your money, too. Why not slip your credit card into your iPod case while you're at it?

The chamois towel

Whatever you do, don't even think about buying one of these synthetic towels. First launched as a swimming towel, this glorified car chamois must be kept moist to work which means you'll be left feeling wet and clammy no matter how much you pat yourself down. I can tell you from experience that it won't dry your hair, it won't cover your modesty, and, if you're in a cold climate, you'll freeze before you dry!

Compression bags

These are the travel equivalent of Space Bags, the huge vacuum-sealed bags on the infomercials. The idea is that you put all your clothes in them, zip them up then push all the air out through a special valve at the bottom. Then — hey presto — your clothes take up much less space. The problem is, when you pull your clothes out to wear them they'll be wrinkled beyond use. If you really want to save space, try rolling your clothes rather than folding them. It not only creates more room, but also helps minimise creases.

The Urinelle

For the uninitiated, the Urinelle is a disposable cone into which women can urinate without having to squat. Personally, I'd much rather squat behind a tree than try to aim into a paper cone while standing up. What if you miss? And what, pray tell, are you meant to do with a warm paper cone full of pee once you're done? Walk around like it's a cup of coffee until you find a rubbish bin?

Passport holder

While a passport holder might look stylish and may prevent your passport from getting damaged, they're really quite impractical. You'll invariably spend more time extracting your passport from and putting it in the holder at the check-in desk, security and the departure gate than it's worth. I find the best place to store my passport while going through airport formalities is in the front pocket of my cargo pants. Beyond that, your passport belongs in a money belt.

Disposable underwear

Underwear you can simply "wear and toss"? Talk about unnecessary and wasteful. Is it really that big of a deal to wash your underwear and bring it back with you? If it is, then why not just buy the cheapest underwear you can find and wear them until they need tossing? Or better still: go commando! Personally, I'd choose comfort any day over scratchy underwear you run the risk of getting a paper cut from

Wearable sleeping bag

Seriously, a sleeping bag you can walk around all day in? Who comes up with these ideas? Besides looking cumbersome and awkward, not to mention completely ridiculous — think Gumby meets the Michelin Man — what happens if you need go to the toilet in a hurry? Also, considering many hostels don't allow sleeping bags these days, you're likely to get thrown out before you even make it to bed.

Cotton shoe bags

These cute little bags are designed to put your dirty shoes in to protect your clothes. Besides the fact that they'll simply get dirty and require cleaning themselves, they're not waterproof so are completely useless if your shoes are muddy and wet. A plastic bag is far more effective and what's more they're usually free.

Travel humidifier

Now I'm not someone who relishes travelling in hot, dry climates — or hot, humid ones for that matter — but is a travel humidifier really necessary? My thoughts are if you can't survive a few weeks away without perfectly pleasant air humidity, you shouldn't have left home in the first place.

Garment steamer/travel iron

Any gadget designed to make you feel like a laundry slave while on holiday — that includes the portable washing machines — isn't recommended. Almost all hotels, and many hostels these days, have irons and laundry facilities available for guests. And really, you're travelling; so who cares if your clothes aren't pressed to perfection?

365 days - A Challenge Photo Shoot

"365 Days". A Challenge to Shoot a Self-Portrait every day for a year. To push myself to be creative. A reason to get the camera out of the bag every day. To document a year in my life"

Andrew G

Sometimes I can be creative - most times not. 

I saw on TV a few weeks ago Andrew Günsberg ( the guy with the locks from Australian Idol ).  He set himself a challenge to shoot a self-portrait every day for a year.  His reasoning was to push himslef to get creative and a reason to get the camera out of the bag every day. 

Well I certainly don't need help in the latter part of the statement - for those of you who know me - me and my camera are like x------x this close!  But I think the idea is a valid one and something I could look back on after I come home and for years to come.

I'm going to implement that on my 12 month journey - I really like the idea.

I am travelling for approximatley 404 days - so that's alot of Bernie camera time - but as Andrew mentioned it is an interesting way to document a year in your life - especially as I will be just about in a different place each night - I just need to channel my inner creativity.......

I am also going to select a photo of the day and pop that into a Facebook folder - I hate coming home after a 2 week trip to scour all my pictures to find 'that awesome' photo I took on 'what day' ????  I mean ALL my photo's are good ( of course ) - but there is always that WOW photo.

I generally have 2000-3000 photos from a 2 week trip.  Who wants to guess how many photos I'm going to come home to after 12 months.  I hate to imagine - but my motto has always been that you can never have too may pictures. 

Check-out Andrews photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewgunsberg/3708092010/in/set-72157619664755998/  

Flight time v's Destination - the STATS!!!

I have just been looking through my flight itinerary and it is pretty impressive, even if I say so myself.  But to actually sit down and look at some of the stats it really starts to sink in that there is a downside to travel - and something that just cannot be avoided.  Okay it is all great to travel and it is a life experience that you just won't get anywhere else...

BUT

People forget the 'non' fun part and that is the part of AIR TRAVEL. Airports, checkin, security, the cost of airport food, customs, immigration, airport staff ( who NEVER seem to enjoy their job ) and the list goes on.  I would love to complain about airline food but I actually like the stuff so that is a positive in the airlines defence.

I will be travelling approximatley 74,543 miles as the crow flies, which is about 119,965 km!  To put that into perspective I am 35km just short of being about to travel around the world 3 times based on km travelled.  I did look at the moon stats but it is approximatley 420,000km to the moon, so I wouldn't even get halfway there - as impressive as that would have looked!

I will pass through and visit approximatley 45 airports and travel on 15 different airlines - some of which I haven't even heard of.  But in some regions it is the only way to get there.  That moto 'life is just too short' will come into play in these instances!!!!

Actual 'sitting in a plane' comes in at 151 hours - that figure doesn't seem so bad does it?  9060 minutes.......What would that work out to be?  That could be 18 days of 8 hour sleeps? Or to really look at it it is literally spending 6.29 full days sittting on a seat only just big enough to fit your frail elderly grandmother who is a size 6! 

I have added my flight itinerary on my home page - check it out - next time you think what a lucky devil I am remember it is is not all cocktails and foreign men - there is a down side to the travel bug but one unfortunatley that can not be avoided for any holiday maker.

Okay so the 'stats' start to not look so 'impressive' now.  There is alot of airport and airplane time and I think I will push to the back of my mind! I'll keep thinking of the exotic cocktails and the foreign men thank-you very much!!!

Visa Visa Visa

My new passport arrived last week.  I got the larger one with 80 pages in preparation of having enough room / pages for the stamps and visa's that I expect to get on my journey.  It was sad to see the last one go - besides the fact that it still had 6 years validity - my passport photo didn't look like I had just served 10 years hard time in a prison somewhere!!!  Needless to say this photo isn't as good - but I would like to know why you aren't suppossed to smile in a passport photo?  I guess if you have just come off a 15 hour flight you are more likely going to look like your picture with no smile than some-one who has holiday glow getting their picture taken forgetting just how long that hell flight actually is before they reach their paradise!

My main concern is the visa's I need to get while I am on my trip.  Normally they are not such a big deal.  Most consulates are represented in Australia, you send your passport off with forms and photos in tow and in approx 2 weeks your passport is back.  The tricky thing with an extended trip is whether the visa once in your passport is valid from the time it is put in there or does it start from when you land in that particular country.  I have done the home work and I need to get 14 visa's in total.  4 of those I can get before I go, 4 of them I can get on arrival, I need to get 2 in London, 1 in Cape Town, 1 in Paris and one has to be pre-applied for off their web site and approved for before landing in the country.

I just need to have faith in my organisational skills and be a little patient.  When I want things done it generally means yesterday and not all things can be hurried - especially when involving foreign consulates. I have their local addresses and I have google mapped where they are in relation to where I am staying - the best I can do for my piece of mind................

Shopping - Not the Fun Kind

Well I am off to the 'CAMPING' and hiking shop tomorrow after work.  Anaconda.  I need to make some practical purchases - like a wet / all weather jacket that I will actually use.  Mainly in Mongolia, China, South America and Antarctica.  I've always bought the cheapy versions from KMart on the off chance I may use it.  I have a feeling that it will be an essential artical of clothing.  Also on the list is thermal underwear which I have never owned but also apparently highly recommended for the cooler parts of the trip.  That will be a good look on my Contiki tours ba ha ha ha ha ha..... Other purchases needed and hopefully I can purchase while at the CAMPING shop include a Swiss Army knife and also a good pair of walking shoes.... Oh yeah I'm shopping - but not the fun kind - like going food shopping.  I might head to Mt O after and buy something fun for the Contiki side of the trip......

Welcome to my Blog

I said I wouldn't join Facebook and those were my famous last words a few years ago.
I now consider myself a self appointed Facebook Queen.

I was confused about blogging and asked what the hell would you 'blog' about?  But I am happy to say that I see the value in blogging my trip, as D Day looms 6 months away - it will be a great way to  keep a record of my journey, share the up and downs of travel, as I traverse 6 Continents, approx 45 countries and endless miles of air and road travel and of course introduce all my new friends I am going to meet along the way!

Stay tuned for the itinerary and all comments-feedback- tips are always welcome!!!