All the Gear and no Idea...

Life is all about decisions.

What you’re going to eat, what you’re going to do next, how you’re going to react to things. All of the decisions you make colour and shape the direction in which you’re currently going. The impact of these decisions will not always be apparent in the short or even medium term. But eventually your decisions will impact you, be it the result of the slightly uncooked curry you ate from the street vendor on the left instead of the right or deciding to go to the gym in the mornings.

So. I’ve make the big decision to go on a long trip. My mind is made up and my soul has already migrated to the starting point. Making the decision to go, believe it or not, was the easiest part of decision for me. The hardest (and I’ll admit the most fun and frustrating in equal measure) was the preparation. What was I going to need other than obviously the plane ticket to my first destination? The answer is a lot more difficult than you would think. Once I made that decision to go, I felt like everything shifted around me. My choice coloured and influenced every single decision I made from then on out. I was suddenly much happier to chill out at home and do essentially nothing, than go out and spend money doing other things. Admittedly, I missed out on some great adventures while doing this, like a trip to Tel Aviv with one of my closest girls, but I had made my decision.

There were a multitude of questions I had to ask myself when I actually began to think of my journey in practical terms, rather than just the vague abstract idea that I had been treating it like. Firstly, what kind of travel was I going to be doing? How long? Where was I even going? The moment I decided to travel and received the go ahead from work for my sabbatical, my head became a huge melting pot of where, when, how and what sights? I wasn’t even seeing or thinking about countries individually but rather all I saw was a massive pot filled with country names, destinations and sights all mixing together with no discernible start or end.

And then began the questions. When people found out that I was leaving, they all began asking me a variety of questions which I started to dread hearing. “Well... what’s your plan?” or the more direct “What route are you taking?” I knew the answer to NEITHER question. I STILL don’t know the answer to those questions, and I’m leaving in 3 days. Scary thought, right? The difference between back in November and now though is that I’ve grown a lot more comfortable with the idea of living nomadically for the next long while. I’ve fallen in love with the idea of not having to commit to a destination for a specific number of days or weeks. I love the idea of going somewhere, not liking it and just moving on, or landing somewhere, loving it and staying for as long as I like.

My actual first port of call after everything was confirmed was YouTube. I wanted tangible and visual proof that I was making the right decision with my trip and with the side of the world that I had decided to visit. Basically, I wanted validation that I wasn’t going to end up on my own somewhere and just be completely miserable. Through all of the beautiful travel vlogs I had spent countless hours (days, possibly even weeks…) binge watching, all of the articles and blogs online that I came across, I finally felt like I had a clue about what I was doing.

I had settled definitively on backpacking as the style of travelling I wanted to engage in and had watched multiple videos on how to pack effectively, what to pack and what backpacks were the best to buy. By the end I had a comprehensive list of everything I needed to buy, so I endeavoured, of course, to start buying it all. From the backpack, to the packing cubes. The first aid kit, to the flashlight, I bought anything and everything that I believe will help me in my trip... and if it doesn’t at the end I’ll be honest and tell you what was absolutely useless.

The list I ended up with looked a little like this and I’ve included some rough prices. My outbound flight from Dublin was booked with Qatar Qirways. Most of the miscellaneous things such as packing cubes, locks, waterproof phone case, sleeping bag liner, resistance band and the microfiber towel, I bought from Amazon. The first aid kit, medicine and DEET repellent were bought in Boots and everything else was bought from AliExpress.

Of course, accompanying all of this seemingly frivolous spending, I’ve scrimping and saving like a mad woman. Along with savings I already had, I set up a standing order at the start of each month so that effectively the larger majority of my salary went directly in to my savings account and the rest was spent on relevant bills and utilities. I have a horrifying looking excel spreadsheet called “The Ultimate Asia Spreadsheet” that goes through every single cost I have per month including social activities with friends. The excel also includes associated pre-travel costs including the cost of my injections, travel insurance and the cost of possible visas I may need for certain countries that need to be purchased in advance. My sister began to hate me, but I still maintain that I would much rather over-save than under…

The injections you will need will differ wildly depending on what parts of Asia you want to visit. Across the board though, Tetanus, Hepatitis A and Typhoid are highly recommended. If you’re looking at trekking or going out to remote villages, then on top of those the Tropical Medical Bureau recommends that you also get shots for Hepatitis B and Rabies, however be wary as these two need to be done well in advance of travel as they require more than one course of injections. If you’re visiting Indonesia, then you’re looking at also needing a Poliomyelitis injection and so on and so forth. If you’re looking at taking a big trip like this, look at the region that you’re going to, and see what’s needed. If you’re unsure, pop into your nearest medical centre and they should be able to guide you. I ended up getting injections for Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Tetanus, Diphtheria and Poliomyelitis. I felt absolutely wonderful after (in reality I was horrifically sick afterwards with a fever for a couple of days and my arm hurt for nearly a week following the injections). I’ve included a brief table of what was suggested for the countries I looked at potentially travelling to, but check your local medical center for more information. If you’re in Ireland, then the TMB is what you need; https://www.tmb.ie/destinations

The yellow marker denotes where the TMB had these as secondary vaccinations that are needed if you're travelling to rural areas or trekking

Visa wise, I had to make some a definitive decision in Ireland. I was flirting with the idea of going to China, but a visa is needed to visit the country. Not only is a visa needed, but it has to be done before hand, and you have to apply for it in person at the Chinese Embassy in Dublin. As I wasn’t really too pressed on making China a big part of my trip, I decided to let it go. I can visit Hong Kong which is visa free. Otherwise, most other countries in this region are visa free for Irish citizens, or visa on arrival. The only exception to this rule is Vietnam, where you need to apply for a visa beforehand before going, however you can do this application online.

So, 5 months later I’ve done it all (I think). I have my backpack, packing cubes, first aid kit, clothes, other assorted accessories and toiletries, plane ticket, travel insurance and injections all done. I have it all laid out nicely below. Anything I'm missing, I've decided that I'll buy it while I'm over there. As it stands, my bag is pretty packed up already, and I'm actually debating on cutting down on some of the clothes I've decided to bring. Clothing wise I've packed five pairs of shorts, two pairs of workout leggings, four crop tops, three T-shirts, two vest tops, two dresses, two denim skirts, three bikinis, two sarong/beach-y type skirt things, a pair of sliders/flip flops, flat black dressy shoes, small walking shoes and assorted underwear and sports bras.... So yeah, it's quite a bit. I'll be travelling in my "bulkier' clothing to save space i.e. black jeans, hoody or denim jacket, long sleeved top and runners.

The first 2 and a half weeks are more or less planned out, not by me, but by a good friend of mine. She’s joining me at the start of my trip for a bit and then we’ll be parting ways. The first few stops are Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, El Nido and Coron. After I’ll be flying straight to Bangkok and then will figure out my life from there on…

I'll catch you on the other side..

Babs