Goodbye England - hello adventure!

This last week has been one of mixed emotions: from the excitement of leaving work, the stress of getting the last items sold before we leave and then the constant stream of leaving parties where I said goodbye to colleagues, friends and family.

There have predictably been lots of beers, tears, cake and hugs. Above all else though, there's been nothing but goodwill to me and Claire as we prepare to head out on our adventure on Wednesday and that's really helped me make it through what I thought would be really hard goodbyes.

One of my best friends said that "you have nothing to worry about, because we'll all be here waiting for you when you get back, waiting to hear all your stories." and he is spot on. This is was one the best things I could've heard because for years I had been thinking about this adventure, but I was worried about leaving my family and career behind and I was worried about missing out on everyone's lives. However I had no idea back then that everyone would be so supportive about it and that nearly every comment I would hear from friends and family would involve 'if you've got the opportunity, you should go do it' in some form or another.

Although I don't think I could've done all of this any sooner, nor would I have, I do wish I could've known beforehand how positive people would be about it. No matter though, as although I'm not that religious or spiritual I do have a belief that most things happen for a reason and therefore the timing of everything up until now is just right. Plus with the fantastic modern invention of Skype, I'll be able to easily stay in contact with everyone back home, so there really is no reason not to go! In fact, if you're reading this and you've ever had the same thoughts holding you back, then please take heed of this and feel free to discuss it with your loved ones, as you have no idea how supportive they can be.

What's next for us? Well... we fly on Wednesday from London Gatwick to Vietnam, land in Ho Chi Minh on Thursday morning to spend 4 days on a mini holiday before meeting with the British Consulate to sort out our documents for our work permit. Once we've finished that task, we get picked up and taken to our location where we'll be living for the next year - Tan An (which is roughly an hour south of Ho Chi Minh in the Mekong Delta). Once there, we'll just need to wait for our employer to finish up our work permit and then before we know it'll be time to teach our very first class as English (TEFL) teachers!

So to all of my family and friends, I thank you for your amazing support but I choose not to say goodbye, I choose to say arrivederci - which is Italian for "until we see each other again". Because this isn't goodbye forever, it's simply goodbye for now. My next update will be the first one on our travels, from the other side of the world! But for now, I'm outta here man!

Our long awaited adventure starts now.