Two Months to Go: What to Pack

A year ago, going to Southeast Asia was just a pipedream. Well, we're going. In two months. Hurrah! We're surprisingly organised! We fly out to Bangkok, spending three nights absorbing the sights, smells and sounds of this Thai city. I've heard a lot about Bangkok and I'm very excited to experience it myself. We then have a mixture of beach/ island stops and more built up city environments. 

It's difficult to know what to pack. I plan to travel light since I'll be spending a lot of time wearing my backpack in queues for planes, trains and boats. I'm not sure what size pack to take. I've already got a 60L but I think this will be too big for me for this trip.

I probabaly need to work out what I want to take and then decide how big a backpack I'll need to fit it all. In terms of clothing, I think the key thing is to take pieces that will go with other things, possibly in a similar colour palette. I had a little play around on Polyvore to create some travel outfits. Here's what I've got planned:

Vests, shorts, and longer linen trousers are a travel wardrobe must. Then a bright patterned scarf will add a pop of colour and will also double up as a shoulder cover-up for temples and on cooler evenings. Shoes are my biggest pickle. I don't think we'll do enough trekking to justify packing walking boots, but I plan to take a pair of trainers, and then a pair of thinner pumps for exploring.

A bit of evening glam. A while ago I wrote about multi way dresses. Well, I did some more research and I found a black one on ebay. I'm really happy with it, although I've found that it's surprisingly heavy because of all of the fabric. It will be a perfect travel dress because you really can style it in so many ways. I like the low V strapless look. Teamed with pretty sandals and some bright jewellery, I'll feel a bit more glam for evenings out.

 

I plan on indulging in just a little bit of beach bum and good book time. Trusty flip flops will, of course, find their way into the bag. I want to take a cute sun hat but then they always get squashed in bags, don't they! I also want a new bikini that flatters my shape. I bought some new swimwear for honeymoon but I'm not sure it looks as good two years on! I like this wider strapped halterneck polka dot bikini with ruched sided bottoms.

Finally, for relaxed nights watching the sun set over the sea, I've bought a couple of pairs of thin patterned trousers, like this pair from River Island, which could be teamed with simple block colour vests or tees and a chunky necklace or scarf. All of these would double up for sightseeing days and dinners, too.

I love planning holiday outfits and I consider myself to be a pretty awesome packer, once I've decided what I'm taking (it's all about tight rolling!). It's a bit different planning for this trip because I'll be packing for different environments and different activities. At least we don't need to pack any cold weather gear! Have you got any travel packing tips to share? What would be on your perfect holiday packing list? 

*My friend is currently on a travelling adventure and has so far visited areas of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. If you fancy a gander at some informative, funny and well written posts about the adventures of a twenty-something in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, you can check out my friend's travel blog posts here on 'Travelling in Rollers'.

Four Months Until Lift Off!

Our Summer travel plans are coming along nicely and we've now pretty much worked out where we want to go and where we'd like to stay. Originally, we wanted to 'roam free' and book our accommodation as and when we decided to move on. We only have three weeks to explore, we're going to popular spots where rooms get booked and prices increase quickly, and we've stumbled upon several beautiful hotels we like the look of. So, in the end, we've got ourselves a fairly fixed itinerary. 

I cannot wait to ride this cable car in Langkawi, a beautiful island off the West coast of Malaysia where we're planning to spend three nights in a little chalet hidden in the rainforest.

JohnMiller Photography on Flickr

"While we devotin' full time to floating!"

Darlin' it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me! Up on the shore they work all day, out in the sun they slave away while we devotin' full time to floating, under the sea!

~ Sebastian, Disney's The Little Mermaid ~

All dressed up and ready to dive!

In 2011, I had my first open water diving experience and I absolutely LOVED it. We completed the first part of our PADI Open Water while we were in the Maldives as part of our honeymoon trip. It was amazing to be able to learn how to scuba dive together and we were lucky enough to see manta rays, reef sharks and so many beautiful collections of coral and fish. It definitely took a bit of getting used to and M had a bit of a facial hair + scuba mask issue, but in the end we were both putting our full trust in our regulators, making hand gestures like pros, and making friends with Nemo's relatives. This little adventure into the underwater world has left with a bit of a taste for diving! 

You may have read that we recently book flights for a three week trip around parts of Southeast Asia. We plan to make stops in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Most nights now involve a Google search of something and the most frequent search we've made is where to dive? We've read that Koh Tao is the best of the Thai islands for diving, so it looks like this may be the place for us to complete our PADI and get a couple of fun dives done. So exciting! Ah, the daydreaming continues...

Have you completed any diving in Koh Tao? Do you have any dive school recommendations or any tips for accommodation?