Hey guys, so if you follow me in Instagram or Twitter (If you don’t, don’t worry you can start today =P) you’ve probably seen that I’ve been travelling quite a bit lately. Be patient and I’ll get there with all the latest information for you.
Alright, so let me tell you how this new idea started. Over a year ago, I was talking to one of my friends and, considering that she was finishing university and I already wanted to leave London for a while now , we thought it would be a good idea to go on a trip =D.
The thing is, as soon as I start planning a trip I get overexcited and I want to go EVERYWHERE. I wanted to take over the world but at the end we decided to go to Asia.
The original idea was to fly from London to Beijing and then work our way down from there and do China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
It was a 9 month plan, around 30 days in each country, more or less. Most of the countries are connected by land so that makes it easier to travel. Booking flights can be restricting sometimes. To get a good deal you need to book it in advance and booking it last minute makes it pricey. Using buses, ferries and trains makes it more convenient, at least it is for me anyway.
But during this year things changed and she was not going to be able to join me anymore. I decided to continue with the trip on my own, I was already too into the trip to change my mind. So then something else changed.
I came up with this crazy idea, and a big challenge as well, of doing the whole trip by land/ferry, basically NO PLANES. Which meant that I couldn’t take a flight to China, well I could but that was challenge #1.
So I did a bit of research and checked which routes to take to get there, until I found the one that suited me perfectly.
I saw that I could make my way to Moscow, if you do it by train it would take around two days. It would be something like London – Brussels, Belgium – Warsaw (via Cologne), Poland –Moscow (via Minsk). Then I could take the Transiberian train straight from Moscow to Beijing, which takes around 5 days. So it was possible (EVERYTHING is possible).
So after searching, checking and making a decision, I thought it would be a waste to just travel all those kilometres without even enjoying those amazing countries that I was going to cross, especially because I have never been to most of them.
At the end, I decided to go from London to Cologne, Germany by coach and spend the day there. Then, a night train to Warsaw, Poland, though I was going to stay in Krakow, rest there for 4 days. After that, a coach to Minsk, Belarus (such an interesting country) for only 2 days. Later, a train to Russia where I would go to Moscow and the Baikal Lake. The final destination before China, would be Mongolia where I would do some tours around this beautiful country.
That extra bit would take roughly an extra month and then yes I would start my 9 month trip. But in this way I get to see some new countries that I’ve never been to and I’m not missing that opportunity.
But, as always, I was missing the money. Money is always the issue for us travellers. So after months of hardcore saving, moving out of my house, staying over at friends (which I will ALWAYS and FOREVER be thankful to, you know who you are) I had saved enough money to make my dream come true.
And so, I quit my job and I set a date; 6th of August, that was the day I was going to leave London. I was leaving the place I called HOME for 4 years, the place where I had my friends and my “family” away from home.
You might be wondering “Why so dramatic?”. Well guys, the truth is that I’m not planning on going back (only for holidays and visiting friends, one day).
Also, from next week things will change in the blog. I’ll be posting every day some advices, budget, what to see, a bit about food as well, a part from the usual posts. So please be patient with me, I hope I can provide you something useful a part of some funny stories. If you have any ideas let me know and I’ll do my best.
Leaving the comfort and stability is always scary but exciting at the same time.
It’s the beginning of a new chapter. Would you like to join me?
Well, sit tight and enjoy the ride ;).