After a few busy months of travel we were looking forward to a week in Chiang Mai to relax. The plan was to treat ourselves to a nice hotel, get some work done so we could top up the bank account and eat loads of good food and just generally look after ourselves a bit better for a few days. This became all the more important after having spent a fortnight in Myanmar where I’d been ill pretty much constantly and where we’d had little or no wifi to allow us to work.
You don’t tend to hear a lot of positive reports about Bangkok in our experience. Renowned for everything from temples and palaces to seedy go go bars and night markets, it’s well known globally for its reputation as a party city for backpackers and for some of the more outrageous elements of its nightlife.
I can’t quite believe I hadn’t heard of Bagan until we added Myanmar onto the itinerary for this trip and started researching. It’s the ancient capital of the first Myanmar empire and home to over 2000 pagodas of all sizes and styles with some dating all the way back to the 11th century, like the famous Ananda Temple. If you’re wondering what things there are to do in Bagan, read on!
The 3 days in Bagan we spent biking around exploring temples and watching sunrises was one of the most incredible experiences we’ve had in South East Asia, so naturally we started writing this blog the minute we left so we could share some tips!
Advice & Tips, Itineraries, Travel Planning
How to Plan the Perfect Travel Itinerary: Step by Step Guide
Everyone says you should write about what you enjoy for the best blog posts so here goes! I am a massive geek and one of my favourite parts of travelling is when I get to sit down for a couple of hours and plan the perfect itinerary for countries that we plan to visit. Exciting I know.
Advice & Tips, Australasia, Australia, Itineraries, Travel Planning
25 Free & Cheap Things to Do in Sydney
Australia’s most populous city and often mistaken as its capital, Sydney is one of the best places in the world for a city break. Whether you prefer museums and galleries, parks or architecture there’s so much to do here that a week will fly by. Best of all, there are loads of cheap things to do in Sydney that will make a stay here far more budget friendly – we stayed for new year so there was a 7 night minimum stay and we had to find plenty of ways to make our budget stretch!
Bula! You’ll hear this at every turn as you travel through Fiji, as locals welcome you to the islands. It is without exception the most friendly and welcoming place I’ve ever been.
Advice & Tips, South America, Travel Planning
Visiting the Amazon Rainforest: What to Pack & How to Prepare
One of our most interesting travel destinations of 2016 was our time spent in the Amazon Rainforest. We decided to take a trip to the Peruvian Amazon during our 3 weeks exploring the country
First things first, before you fly into New Zealand for your epic road trip, you’re going to need to do at least some planning. Luckily, unless you’re visiting in peak season, the benefits of exploring in a campervan are that you can stay very flexible and plan the specifics of your route as you’re travelling. To help you out, we’ve prepared a handy list of our top New Zealand road trip tips to get your started.
Itineraries, New Zealand, Travel Planning
South Island Driving Itinerary: Picton to Christchurch in 3 Weeks
This post is a follow up to the itinerary we posted for our two week road trip around New Zealand’s North Island. It was surprisingly popular so we thought we’d share our South Island driving itinerary with you as well in case it helps you to plan your travels.
Australasia, New Zealand, Travel Planning
North Island Driving Itinerary: Auckland to Wellington in 2 Weeks
From volcanoes and simmering lakes to rugged coastlines and beautiful beaches, New Zealand’s North Island’s got it all when it comes to great scenery. I’ve already written about our favourite hikes on our two week road trip through the island, and this post is a deeper dive into our North Island driving itinerary from Auckland to Wellington.
Advice & Tips, Australasia, New Zealand, Travel Planning
8 Really Simple CamperVan Essentials For New Zealand
The below are a few camper van essentials. Some are specific to New Zealand but most might be beneficial for any novice camper van traveller. We’re currently touring New Zealand in a 3-berth Nissan camper for 5 weeks.
Our journey through South America was pretty amazing. We moved quickly compared to many travellers as we knew there was a lot to fit in within our South America Itinerary, but the pace was by no means uncomfortable and we enjoyed every second!
One of our favourite South American cities, Lima is a great place for ambling around and enjoying the cafe culture. I always love a city with a coastline and beaches, and the ocean views you get here are just stunning.
Choosing what to pack when fitting your life into a small rucksack for the foreseeable future is never easy. Having never been out of the country for more than 2.5 weeks before our round the world adventure started, we really struggled with packing.
Wow, we’re finally here! Well, we’re at Gatwick airport, enjoying some food while we wait for our flight… 3 hours to the airport, 3 hours to check in / security / take off and fast getting used to long waits in transport hubs 😉 but really, at this moment in time, it’s all just part of the fun!
So the time has finally come, my last day of work was today (OMG) and Sarah left a week and a half ago. Knowing that I won’t be back working for over 8 months is quite a strange thing to think about really, but you can’t go travelling around the world with a 9-5 (unless you get paid for it – lucky buggers!).
As you’ve probably already realised, I’m quite into planning – lists / spreadsheets, you name it, for planning this trip, I’ve done it all. Rob on the other hand tends to be a bit more laid back… almost horizontal in fact so relaxed is he about this trip! And amongst all of the research I’ve done and the time spent sorting through the details, nothing was quite so intimidating as The Packing List.
The hardest part of planning our trip, apart from making the decision to go in the first place, was definitely deciding where to go and what route to take. We knew that for us, this was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see as much of the world as possible, and that realistically we had to put a limitation on how long we spent out of the workplace.