Photo by Mikhail Koninin

Yesterday marked an official milestone ahead of my travels. My resignation was finally officially passed over to the big bosses (I handed it in a month early to help give them time to replace me before Christmas) – so that means there’s really no going back now. Not that there was even a chance of me cancelling. My leaving party is on the horizon, I’m planning in lots of visits to see people before I go and I’m making sure I fill my boots with all those yummy Christmas foods in case I’m not back by next Christmas. It’s all starting to become a bit real now and I can’t quite believe how little time I have left at work – by the time you read this I will have just four Mondays left on the job! Everyone in the office is really excited for me, they’re all counting down for me as well. It’s such an amazing feeling to know how hard I’ve worked and for how long, and to now finally see that light at the end of the tunnel – that tropical sunlight beaming down at me. I’ve got just one more round of jabs left and everything else is finally falling into place, my plans are made and I’ve even started organising my travel wardrobe. So I thought it was about time I gave you guys an update on my plans for travelling:

My trip kicks off on January 6 when I fly out to Bangkok. After a couple of days sightseeing, shopping and eating in the city, I will head to the beaches and islands off south Thailand. Of course I’ll be taking in the standard backpacker route via Ko Pha-Ngan, Ko Samui, Krabi and Ko Phi-Phi. I’m looking forward to a lot of time spent snorkelling, swimming and pretending to be a mermaid. I’m meeting some friends when I arrive, so I’m sure there will be a lot of partying and fun to be had – the perfect way to start the new year if you ask me, and I’m looking forward to starting my trip with a bang. I’ll be spending a month and a half covering this ground, then for a complete change of pace, and to get my visa renewed, I’ll be heading to Vietnam for two weeks where I plan to travel as much of the country as possible – a LOT of food will be consumed here and I’m looking forward to visiting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Halong Bay looks beautiful and I would love to go on one of the river tours.

Photo by Jessica Morales

When I head back to Thailand, I’m heading straight to Chiang Mai in the North, where the experience of a lifetime awaits me. I have booked to spend a week volunteering at an elephant sanctuary where I will be caring for, feeding and bathing elephants for the week. It is a dream come true to get to do this and I am beyond excited. I’ve not even set out yet and already I know this will be a highlight of the trip for me! My week there will be followed by another week or two in Chiang Mai, followed by a trip further north to Pai. I’m really looking forward to Pai – I know already from everything I have read and seen of the place that it is definitely somewhere I will be wanting to stay for a while. The next leg of my journey will be to visit Laos for a week or two spent relaxing, taking in the scenery, visiting temples and dolphin spotting. After Laos, I’ll be heading to central Thailand, particularly the national parks and Sukhothai Historical Park. And then I might give myself some more time in Bangkok before heading to Cambodia for a few weeks for another huge highlight of my trip. I’m planning on staying at a yoga, meditation and health retreat for 10 days where I will be trying out a vegan diet, will be visiting the Cambodian temples, spending a bit of time just looking after myself and treating myself to a few massages. I’m really looking forward to this part of the trip and I’m pleased that there will be opportunities for me to explore the country further. I’ll have to head back to Thailand to catch my flight to Oz for the next leg of my journey – at the moment I plan for this to be around May but that is open to change.

Australia is very unplanned at the moment, but I know I have a lot of friends to meet and catch up with – plus I have several people coming out to meet me for stages of my trip here so it’s going to be a busy few months! I’m planning to travel around as much of the country as possible, and I’m hoping my friends will be quite scattered so I can use them as a guide for my travels. I’m really looking forward to checking out the surfing – my goal is to learn to stand up on a surfboard without help. I’m also looking forward to spending some time in the cities, particularly Melbourne, and of course the beaches – Bondi looks amazing! And I do have a little dream in the back of my mind of doing a bit of a Golden Coast road trip, but I’ll definitely need some friends to keep me company. I haven’t decided yet if I will need to work while I am in Oz – I will assess my funds along the way and will see if I want to pick up some more cash. I had planned for three months there, but I already know I’ll be extending it to at least four months.

In New Zealand, I will again be visiting a few people, old family friends, but I’m also looking forward to having some time to myself to explore. I haven’t got a plan yet, but I’ve definitely got a few things I really want to do – like visiting the glow-worm caves, whale and dolphin spotting, I would love to see the Southern Lights, I fancy a lot of outdoor activities, so more surfing, walking and climbing would be good. While I’m in NZ, I’ve also decided that I simply have to get a flight and go to Fiji, no matter how much it costs me. It just looks like paradise and I think I need a little taste of heaven. I have an idea in my head that if I can find a job in Oz or NZ to raise some more cash – I would love to raise enough to stay the full year and to fly back to Australia for new year to watch the fireworks at Sydney Harbour before catching my flights back to the UK via Dubai on January 6. Whew. Quite a trip huh?

I’m still researching places and working out my exact route, so if you have any suggestions or advice, please do leave a comment!

PS. I’d love if you would vote for me in the UK Blog Awards by clicking here and here.