Packing hand sanitiser for a year?

Choosing what to pack is never that easy for me. However, when the time came I was pretty certain about what was going to make the cut and what wasn't. Here is a rundown:

Things that were never going to make the list:
High heels
Hand sanitiser for a year (my dentist's burning question was how to pack this for such a lengthy trip!)
Make up
Our fantastic camping coffee machine! 

Items of contention:
Tent (considered very early on)
Sleeping bags (made the cut)
Bottle opener (came along)
Leggings (Did not make it. They're not pants yet I've worn them travelling before)
Yoga mats (Surprisingly yoga mats made the cut!)
Rob's Tigers (Took out last minute)
Hair dryer (Yep. Update on usage to follow.)

Items we perhaps forgot:
Tiny stove (We think we intended to bring this!)

All considered, only a few days in, I think we have packed fairly well. Today we have made a good dent in our first aid kit with both of us somewhat sick with different ailments. As well as our sleeping bags and first aid, electronics and toiletries took up much of our packs. Once rolled, our clothes packed down well into compartments.

What made the cut, clothes and shoes excluded

Kat's clothes and shoes

Rob's clothes and shoes

The resulting suitcase as we got ready to jump on the plane pictured below...we wish! Packing evaluations to come.

Life as in-betweeners

The storm before the cyclone

With only 10 days until we leave on our adventure, I seem to switch by the moment from a sense of disbelief, excitement, anxiety and anticipation. On the 15th of December 2014 we moved from our unit in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to live with my mum and sister to the east of the city. It has been a busy time with us selling many of our possessions, moving and storing what was left, preparations for the big trip, a range of Christmas and New Year celebrations, a trip to Toowoomba, (Queensland) to spend time with Rob’s family and friends and a short beach "holiday before a holiday”. Tomorrow we drive back to Brisbane for our final Queensland visit and then fly to Melbourne for one final week that includes my brother and his fiancee's wedding. 

2014: selling and moving phase!

Rob and I have talked about our adventure many times over the past year to many different friends, families and even strangers. It has been very odd as it has gotten closer and our story has changed from a trip that is starting in 50 days, to one beginning in a month, to only a fortnight and now just 10 days. As it draws nearer to us doing what we have both dreamt of doing for a long time I have felt more and more disbelief that the day will arrive. It is amazing that we have the opportunity to journey to other parts of the world. We both feel very lucky that we are able to take on such an adventure and do it together. At the same time, our trip has been a long time in the making and part of me is raring to go whilst the other anxiously questions if we are actually ready. One moment I think we have done a good level of planning whilst leaving a great deal of flexibility still in place, another part panics when I realise we still only have our first night of accommodation in our first stop: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and only a vague idea about going to the beach and seeing some wildlife. That, however, is what good travel is made of. Vague dreams and opportunities for spontaneous adventures with people and places. Additionally, making the best of every opportunity is a good travel mantra, which really is no different from daily life. Money helps, and hopefully our saving efforts will serve us well.

Getting into travel mode at Tabletop
Mountain, Toowoomba

In-betweeners and goals

It has been a fantastic holiday period seeing our family and friends but it is also a very in-between state for us. I feel like we are already travelling in some regards then something reminds me we are still in very familiar territory. I have had a few moments where I have thought about whether this is what I/we “should” be doing right now, but have then remembered that I don’t believe there are “should’s” in life. A timely news article that I read yesterday provided advice to what people should be doing in their 30’s. (You know, the kind that appear around this time of year.) It was probably confirmation bias but everything I read affirmed my ideas about travel, this stage of life and what I want from life in general. The key messages I took out of it were:

Don’t be afraid of taking risks.

Society tells us by 30 we should have things “figured out” but this isn’t true; all adults are   winging it.

By chance, I got "The World" in 

a Christmas White Elephant!

You must continue to grow and develop yourself.

and something I vividly remember pondering whilst travelling in Italy:

The biggest regrets are most likely to be things you did not do rather than those you did, i.e. try everything.

These messages will inform the goals and dreams of 2015 for me as we set out on our big adventure. 

Volunteering hopes

I found out today about a potential volunteer opportunity in Ho Chi Minh. We are both keen to volunteer in Vietnam somewhere if we can be of use and despite our lack of Vietnamese. This good news made me even more excited about our time there. I am sure Rob will find something too, either before or when we land. We were keen not to end up in a more “voluntourism” type role that can sometimes mean an experience for the tourist and very little for the community, often at a hefty price tag. Not that I am against putting money into good causes, but sometimes it is hard to ensure it is getting to the people that need it nor do I wish to pay for a “feel-good experience” if that is all it is. It will be interesting to see if my opinions on this change over the trip. Perhaps I am over-cynical. At the moment these kinds of views are what has prompted us to find volunteering roles through our connections and/or when we arrive in the country. 

When dreams become a reality

Yesterday whilst waiting to be let into a cinema to see the Lego Movie I got a promotional email from Air Asia. A sale was on and we could potentially book our first flights at a significantly cheaper price.

All of a sudden "Everything (was) Awesome!" as I envisioned our travel dreams which suddenly seemed a whole lot closer to reality.

Source: Shoop Training and Consulting

By the time we went to bed that night we had booked flights to Kuala Lumpur for day one of our adventures:

January 13, 2015! 

Today we booked two more flights within Malaysia and one to Vietnam:

Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu
Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Kumpur to Ho Chi Minh

In a whirlwind of booking, our first few destinations were now confirmed! We planned to have under a fortnight in Sabah, Borneo, a few days in KL before heading on to Vietnam for a month or so. 

Our first destination: Sabah, Borneo
Source: Tropical Research and Conservation Centre