DEPARTURE DATE: 28th February 2015
HOMECOMING DATE: 8th September 2016
ASIA (3 months)
This is the part Ash didn’t look forward to. He was mostly scared of getting lost and having no way of finding our way; he was scared of language barriers and scams; he was scared that he was going to starve to death as he’s not big on spicy food (neither am I). I tell him this is the fun in travelling, however what didn’t help that it started as a whirlwind two-week tour of Thailand transformed into an itinerary of at least six weeks, and eventually 3 months!
Hong Kong – 1 week
Vietnam – 3 weeks
Cambodia – 10 days
Thailand – 5 weeks
Malaysia – 5 days
Singapore – 3 days
A Week Over Already – We Still Haven’t Seen The Sun
We’re Gonna Miss You, Hanoi
Central Vietnam: Historic, Beautiful… But SO Touristy
Buses, Boats & Bikes In Saigon
A Difficult Visit To The Killing Fields Of Cambodia
A Relaxing Time In Sihanoukville After The Heartache Of The Capital
An Incredible Week In Siem Reap: Angkor Wat & Meditating With A Monk
Songkran In Bangkok: One Of The Craziest Festivals In The World
More Water Fights, Street Food & Accidentally Joining A Parade In Chiang Mai
One Of The Best Weeks Of Our Lives Volunteering At Elephant Nature Park
Art In Paradise, Chiang Mai
Goodbye Chiang Mai, Hello Bangkok, And A Day In Ayutthaya
A Surprising Paradise On Koh Phangan & How Not To Survive The Full Moon Party
Koh Tao: Our Favourite Thai Island
And Then We Fell In Love With Koh Lanta
Krabi, Railay And The Most Beautiful Beach In The World, And Climbing 1,200 Steps To A Temple
Our Final Weekend In Thailand: Undiscovered Khanom
You’re A Pretty Cool Country, Malaysia
Our Final Destination In Asia: Singapore
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND (14 months+)
I’d had this part planned since the first time I even thought of a round-the-world trip. However, it all COMPLETELY depended on where we worked. 6 weeks in and two jobs, our plans had already changed twice!
This was the main itinerary for our travels:
- Road trip from Cairns to Sydney, stopping at Magnetic Island, the Whitsundays, Fraser Island, Brisbane, Byron Bay and as many places with stupid names as possible
- Stop off in Sydney for a few days
- Live in Melbourne, visit the Great Ocean Road
- Trip to Uluru during the year
Instead, we ended up doing farm work for 3 months before living in Brisbane for 6 months, and visited Melbourne & Sydney on short trips. Our east coast road trip then went the opposite way to above, starting in Brisbane and finishing in Cairns.
Unfortunately we ran out of time in Melbourne to do the Great Ocean Road, and ran out of money to go into the Red Centre. 😦
Our Australia Story So Far
An Update From Down Under
A Change Of Plans – Again
Three Days In Melbourne
A Day At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
10 Things To Do In Brisbane
An Update: My Australia Travel Plans
Christmas In Australia: When All Your Plans Go Wrong
A Road Trip To NYE In Sydney
Australia Zoo Vs Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
We Finally Got To See Sydney Properly
A Year Working In Australia: An Overview
Starting Our Australian East Coast Road Trip In Noosa
Driving On Beaches & Swimming In Lakes On Fraser Island
All Aboard The Freight Train: Sailing The Whitsundays
I Thought Magnetic Island Was Supposed To Be Sunny
Cairns & Snorkelling The Great Barrier Reef
Surrounding Cairns: Beaches, Rainforests & Waterfalls
Spotting Wildlife In Mackay: Platypuses & Kangaroos At Sunrise
New Zealand is one of the few places I didn’t really have planned out. My itinerary consisted of Queenstown and Milford Sound. In the end, we visited Auckland, Rotorua, Hobbiton, Wellington, Wanaka, Queenstown and Christchurch for three weeks on a very limited budget.
I’m Sorry Auckland, But I Don’t Really Like You
There And Back Again: A Day Out To Hobbiton
Don’t Go To Rotorua With No Money
Museums, Views & More Hobbiting Around In Windy Wellington
North Island To South Island Journey In Pictures
Christchurch: A City Rebuilding Itself
A Day Trip To Mount Sunday: Discovering Edoras
Is Wanaka One Of The Most Picturesque Places Ever Or What?
Rainbows In Queenstown & The Worst Milford Sound Cruise Ever
UNITED STATES / CANADA (up to 3 months – ended up only being 5 weeks!)
It’s safe to say this part of the trip went tits up, but we will return!
The original plan was to hire a car with a couple of friends, but none of us saved enough to do it. Originally, we were thinking of doing a coast-to-coast trip from west to east, but then we decided a south-west trip with some of Canada thrown in would be pretty awesome.
INSTEAD, we still visited Canada. We flew into Vancouver first to stay with a friend we lived with in Brisbane, then visited relatives in Christina Lake and Kimberley, and embarked on an incredible week’s road trip with my aunt & uncle through Kootenay, Banff & Jasper national parks before ending the whole trip on a high staying with a cousin in Banff town.
And technically, we also did visit the USA in a very unexpected way. As it happened, flights direct to Canada were super expensive and our cheapest option was to fly to Hawaii and on to Vancouver. Even with 5 nights in a hostel (who knew there are hostels in Hawaii?!?), this saved us over $350. Well, it would be rude not to!
So our plans may not have gone fully ahead. We are planning to come back Stateside to do that road trip, and hopefully our friends will be able to too. But our replacement plans? Well, I think they’re pretty awesome, don’t you?!
That Time We Had The Same Day Twice
A Road Trip To The North Shore Of Oahu
Hiking Hawaii: Amazing Views Of Oahu
Hawaii On A Budget: How I Did It For $300
Falling In Love With Vancouver (& Tim Horton’s!)
Relaxing In Kimberley: The Bavarian City Of The Rockies
Mountains, Lakes & Glaciers: Road Tripping The Canadian Rockies
An Orcadian Abroad 