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

Once Upon a Snowy March Weekend

What's going on with the weather? It's nearly April for goodness sake! I had a great weekend away visiting friends planned, including a trip to Bath Thermea Spa, but the drive to Reading in snow and ice scared me. So, instead, I (more or less) hibernated at home this weekend.

On Friday afternoon I missed a girly Twilight movie afternoon with friends to delivered a lecture to only around half of the first year cohort. It was an afternoon lecture on the last teaching day before Easter so chances of full attendance were already pretty slim, but Mr. Snow didn't help the situation! I stopped by my friends after work for a catch up cuppa and hear about their afternoon. Friday night was a salt and pepper fish and chips night, snuggling up under the blanket, cat on lap, and watching The Constant Gardener.

Saturday morning, up and to the gym for an hour or so. Hot shower followed by a scummy plate of huevos rancheros and catching up with MasterChef UK. Travel update: We also booked a hotel for our stay in Bangkok. It is FIT. I'm so excited to stay there in August!  

Infinity pool overlooking Bangkok

Later on, we met up with friends for drinks on Lark Lane before heading back to theirs for a competitive games night, including Categorically Speaking (a 'fake' Scategories), Pass the Pigs and John Lewis' Gender Wars. Conclusions: Girls rule!

Sunday was a shlomp day. I spent most of it in my pjs marking essays, drinking hot chocolates, catching up with online pretty and watching Legally Blonde on TV. "Bend and SNAP". Veggie burger tea and yummy homemade fruit crumble pots, followed by a lovely bubble bath to round off this low key weekend.

Today was the first day of the student holiday and work was very quiet indeed. It was a nice change from the busy last few weeks, but isolating. I took Jacques to his third veterinary acupuncture session this afternoon and tonight, we're going for a Nando's and cinema date night to see either Side Effects or Identity Theft.

Hope you had a fun weekend and the snow didn't ruin any plans!

"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?   

 

Once Upon A Snowy January Weekend

This weekend was lots of fun! What did I get up to?

• Our big boss men approved our holiday time and so WE BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS (see here for earlier trip related rambles).
• My best friend is getting married in less than three weeks. All very exciting! We braved the snow in our heels and went for a meal at Carluccio's followed by lots of dancing. My amazing little bowl of  amaretto chocolate cake (it had a suitably Italian name, but I can't remember it!) gets a feature spot here, as does the bride-to-be in all her hen do finery.
• Saturday morning and afternoon was all about relaxing with a girly spa day and lunch. 
• Home with time for a couple of episodes of The Wire and a hot chocolate.
• A 30th birthday do, with a gorgeous cupcake tower.
• Breakfast date with friends at the Tavern Co. Their 'American' breakfast, which comes with a syrup pancake on the side, is the best Sunday morning breakfast. I was too busy eating to remember to take a photo so this one is taken from Tavern Co. webpages.
• A post-breakfast game of Articulate.
• Curl up on couch for another episode of The Wire (nearly finished! Last two episodes of Season 5 to go).
• Over to Manchester to see Davad Bazan in a small, intimate venue with a well stocked bar.

Take that, ice and snow. You couldn't stop our fun!

What did you get up to this weekend? Did the snow stop any of your plans?

Dreaming of Thailand. #JanuaryJoy

Today's #JanuaryJoy is to plan a trip. I love to travel and planning trips, or having them ahead of me in the calendar, helps to keep me motivated. We have been dreaming of taking a trip from Thailand to Singapore for ages and I'm hoping that this is the year we can save enough money to do it. I'm going to use today to do a little more planning (read: daydreaming) about our adventure. 

When we first graduated university, me and M did the InterRail backpacking thing. We started in Chinon, France, where M's nana lives, and ended our journey in Riga, Latvia, where we stayed with M's uncle and his family. In between, we visited some brilliant places in Western and Eastern Europe, met some fun people and generally had a blast. 

A more energetic me at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, 2006

We've not been able to take such a long period of time to travel since, but we have always tried to take holidays where we can explore and get a feel for a different lifestyle or culture. Asia really appeals to me. The colours, the tastes, the culture. We plan to fly into Bangkok, and use overland trains and boats to travel through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Train-ing in Thailand

We also fancy doing some diving while we are in Thailand. We started our PADI qualification on honeymoon and it was an amazing experience. I felt privileged to be able to explore a new underwater environment, and it definitely got the adrenalin pumping! This is about all we've planned. There's lots more to think about, I'm sure.

First, how long do we 'need'? I think the longest time we'll be able to take from work is three weeks. I hope this gives us enough time to 'taster tour' the area, staying off the post-uni/ gap year trails as much as we can. 

Second, when do we go? I'm limited to travelling between July and mid-September. This might mean we'd be in some areas during the monsoon.  

Third, where do we make our stops and where to stay?

Image via Lonley Planet

I started a Pinterest board a while ago and used it to keep track of travel inspiration. I've not added to the board for months, but I'm going to get my adventurer hat back on today and start searching the web for travel tips. 

Has anyone been to Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore? Anyone had experience of the overland train journey we're planning to take, or of any diving schools? 

Any recommendations from anyone who stumbles upon this page would be brilliant!