Boyne Island

Welcome, everyone, to my travel blog.

I've done a bit of travelling in my life, but never really had a chance to satisfy the travel bug. It seems that each trip just gives the bug more time to latch on. If I'm ever going to settle down then I probably need to fix that...or at least that's my excuse for this trip. I've worked for Boral ever since I finished university and I'm coming up on the end of my seventh year now. I figured shortly I wouldn't have the opportunity to just up and dump my life for a 12 month junket...and I'm 30 so I'm expecting that my travel demographic is going to shift as well...maybe.

I've been planning this trip for about a year now, visiting the countries less explored, to see them before they hit the major tourist trail (although it is probably too late for some...but alas). In March 2011 I finally started some real planning; like actually contacting a travel agent and booking in my leave. At the time I was working on a project to re-sheet the 2 main runways at Sydney Airport, but we expected that to be well and truly completed by mid-May. Sure enough, it ended last Wednesday (8th June)...haha.

So between then and now I've packed my life away at Dad's house, and said farewell to Rick, Sonia, Julia and Claire (the only family I've got left in the country right now). Amazingly my Dad is currently in South Africa, my sister is in Europe and my cousin is in the USA. Perhaps the travel bug is genetic?
The plan is a bit fluid, but the general flow is Africa, Middle East, Africa again, UK, Eastern Europe, Spain, South America, North America, then home. Sounds simple, right? Famous last words which I'm sure I'll try and laugh off later.

As I surveyed my pile of gear on the loungeroom floor I couldn't decide if I had packed too much or too little. What do you need for a year on the road? I'd be visiting four different continents, multiple ecosystems, and experiencing an array of climates. There would be deserts, mountains, rainforests, snow, sand...the list went on. I had pretty much every vaccine in existence pumping through my veins, so in the end I decided to do what I'd done for most of my life: wing it and hope for the best.

I would be taking a 75L backpack and a smaller daypack, and I tried to make a mental note of what I was jamming in them:
-Notebook Computer
-500GB portable hard drive
-Media player
-Good digital camera
-Dodgey, but indestructible, pocket digital camera
-Battery charger
-Head lamp
-Mini speaker
-Travel pillow
-Travel sheet
-Travel towel
-Travel Air bed
-Gore-tex Jacket
-Poncho
-Waterproof stuff sack
-Summer sleeping bag
-Winter sleeping bag
-Batteries and chargers
-Alarm clock
-Divers watch
-Passport and itinerary
-International Drivers Licence
-Cash
-Travel money card
-Bank Card
-Credit card
-Toiletries
-English-spanish dictionary
-African phrase book
-Novel
-Clip-on koala toys (for the kids)
-Australian flags (for the adults)
-Underwear
-Socks
-Beanie
-Gloves
-Thermals
-Cargo pants & jeans
-Fleece
-Shirts and shorts
-Pluggers (thongs)
-Boots
-Tennis ball
-Sense of adventure

I had now idea if this was an appropriate amount of gear, but only time would tell. Here I come, world!Read more