What's made it into the backpack?

So here we are, less than a week to go, we're 'mobilised' and it's time to bring together all of the items that have made the cut that will actually go into our backpacks for our travels.

There are a few items that have a big significance to me so I'll take you through why they're so important as well as giving you a run down of what else I'm bringing that I think will be vitally important on our travels.

Running shoes

My trusty Nike Lunarglide+5 running shoes - the comfiest I've ever had and these babies have already seen some fair mileage, but they have a lot more to do yet!

To me these are a must to take on my travels. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I absolutely love to run. Back home I run as part of a running club (I'll miss you Westbourne RC!), plus I run for pure enjoyment as it makes me feel better instantly no matter what mood I'm in. Running gives me the remarkable capacity to both help me think about things going through my head and to also help me drift away from the things that are on my mind. So to imagine my life in a whole new environment as well as a new career without the escape that running gives me is almost an impossibility.

Above all else I think I'm going to absolutely love running around new places, using it as a way to explore. Even this week as I've moved to my mother-in-law's in Creekmoor, Poole - an area I do have a good bearing of but not 100% - I went for a long run to get re-acquainted and explore local routes I didn't know existed, and I loved constantly changing my route to go where I want and using my own sense of navigation to make sure I remembered my route home. Fair to say I won't always have the best self-navigation on my travels, but as long as these hold up I'll get home in one piece!

Tablet

The Hudl tablet from Tesco - rave reviews already and you can add me to the list!

For all my wanting to live a technology-free life, these days it just isn't possible (plus how would I blog?!), so an important decision was made to try and find one device that could meet both mine and Claire's needs on the road - and taking a bulky laptop wasn't going to work. So we decided we'd 'get with the times' and get ourselves a tablet, but being on a budget meant we couldn't go for an iPad. After much research and deliberation we settled on the Hudl from Tesco as it was supposed to be the best low budget tablet out there at the moment and I'm already hard to part from it! It's slim, light, works really fast, and above all else it's able to contain all of the apps we're going to need on our travels such as Skype, Facebook, Kindle, email and of course - Football manager!

iPod

As we decided to go for the android based system of the Hudl tablet, we knew that we wouldn't be able to sync our music we already had on iTunes, so making sure we had good iPods that were fully loaded with all the music we're going to be able to put on it for the next 2 years of so was massively important.
Both of us have spent ages collaborating playlists, buying more music, asking friends for music and then re-collaborating our playlists again so that we have playlists that we can simply have on us for a couple of years and not get bored of!

I've had a big help in getting music from one of my best friends Adam (who is in the amazing band called 'Lost in the riots'), and he has taken time to create personal playlists he thinks I'll like so I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks bud for all your help!

Clothing:

• New teaching attire (chinos, khakis, shirts, tie etc)
• Running gear
• swimshorts
• x1 hoodie
• x1 waterproof jacket (emblazoned with the mighty Southampton FC - representing of course!)
• x1 Saints shirt

Other than these, I won't be taking hardly any other clothing other than the bare essentials and t-shirts. I've been told that clothes are dirt cheap out in South East Asia and that I should travel light and just buy more out there - a plan I'm sticking to! The Top Gear Vietnam special where they bought tailored suits for about £60 also gives me encouragement that this will be easy to do and if they can find enough clothing to cover Clarkson, they'll have enough for me! Although, I've also heard that there are issues with getting the right sizes out there as a man as I might just find that I'm either too tall or broad for their standard sizes (me? broad? I know, I laughed too).

Shoes:

• Multi-terrain trainers (for all occasions!)
• Espadrills (for lounging)
• Wetshoes (for swimming without fear of something biting my feet) 
• shoes (for teaching)
• Fliflops (for.... flipflopping)

Gadgets:

• Bridge camera
• Mobile phones
• Rechargeable battery station + batteries
• Pacsafe (to tie up our backpack and keep it safe from thieves)
• Underwater camera
• iPod speaker

And the pick of the rest:

• All items required for my eyes - prescription sunglasses, contact lenses, ray-bans etc..
• Malaria tablets
• Emergency medical pack + medicines
• Diary + fancy pen (for writing in style)
• Essential documents (certificates, visas, passports and so on.... probably THE most important bunch of items!)

Of course there's more, as well as things I could've bought but have decided to wait and buy out there, all because at the moment I have to try and somehow fit everything I already have into the backpack as it is!

So if you're at the airport next week and you think you see a giant Turtle collapsed on it's back unable to get up, it'll probably be me weighed down by my bag - give me a hand up if you pass by eh?

Becoming 'mobilised'

Yesterday we moved out of our flat and into my mother in law's, where we will be storing our few remaining possessions and residing for the next few days before we fly out on March 5th. Moving out of our flat was taking the last step we needed to make ourselves fully 'mobile' - by which I mean living out of our backpacks.

This involved ridding ourselves of the possessions we've spent the last 6 years gathering together, selling anything we weren't going to keep that would be worth a few quid and chucking anything that wouldn't. It makes you wonder why we bother getting all of this in the first place?

It's an amazing feeling being mobile, knowing that home now is simply wherever we sleep at night and we have nothing to tie us down so we can go wherever we want, whenever we want. In fact, I can hear the Bohemian lifestyle calling and I have no problem answering and giving it a try...

So what did it take to 'mobilise' ourselves? Well it took a hell of a lot of hard work and stress and most of all: planning. It took about a year of clearing debt so we can leave the country owing to no one but our student loans (which I don't care about), it meant focusing ourselves to decide upon a plan of action and a line of work which will enable us. It means being free of furniture, free of a car, free of insurance, of phone contracts, of gym membership, of a rented apartment, of responsibility, of ANYTHING that can tie you down.

It's not until you decide to do something like leave the country that you actually look at those things that do actually tie you down and would need sorting if you were to follow through. And It's not until then that you realise how many shackles you accrue over time, without meaning to but that western civilisation compels you to accumulate, so ridding myself of them is a really liberating feeling. As a result I don't want to ever tie myself down in so many ways ever again!

This is me for the foreseeable future!

For a full list of all the things we needed to do to leave the country and start our travels, check out this post on my wife's blog.

How the greatest films fuel the desire to travel

After my recent post about the 3 biggest influences that made me want to travel, one of my friends was surprised that I mentioned Sonic the Hedgehog as an influence, since then I've given further thought as to what would influence a person to travel.

My instinct is always to analyze the things I love the most and as we all know, there's probably nothing more influential these days than movies. Due to the emotive power they possess, you grow up with them, you have a film you watch in every mood and you grow old with them too.

After some thought I realised that some of the greatest movies of all time share a very common theme: Things start on an equilibrium, then comes the dis-equilibrium where someone leaves home, and when they do that's when the story really begins and eventually ends in some sort of re-equilibrium. Take a look at this list below, it contains arguably some of the greatest films of all time, in fact I defy you to have not seen at least one of them:

Peter Pan
Alice in Wonderland
Batman (Christian Bale trilogy)
Star Wars
Star Trek 
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Wizard of Oz
Lord of the rings
Forrest Gump
Any James Bond film
Any Indiana Jones film
Harry Potter
The Beach
Almost Famous

The theme occurs throughout these films, whether someone returns back to their original setting or not. Either way, someone leaves home, goes to new places and the whole story comes about from that life change.  

The same can be said for many books as well including any of my favourites about Robert Langdon (The Da Vinci code, Angels and Demons, Inferno), The Alchemist, and The Hobbit to name but a few.

Why's Batman on the list of films you say? Well although he lives in and defends Gotham, he left Gotham as a young man, travelled, learnt new skills and returned as the man we know him to be. He wouldn't be Batman had he not left Gotham in the first place, so it's a worthy inclusion on the list.

I suppose that's what I like to think will happen with myself; I'm nowhere near the finished article yet and I won't be until I step outside that comfort zone. Obviously I plan on coming back (most of the time!), but when I do return I want to have had such an experience that it makes me the man I'll be for the rest of my life.

So there you have it, if you can think of any others that belong on this list let me know as I'd love to hear them, otherwise what are you waiting for? No one knows how your story will go, but if these stories tell us anything it's that it won't fully begin until you make that journey into the unknown...

Luke Skywalker looking to the stars in Star Wars: A New Hope - he seeks a life beyond his native Tatooine.
I've been doing this same thing out of my window at work for the past year!

'Del Boy' mode

As the calendar flipped over to February this week, Claire and I have been in a whirlwind of organisation, sorting some of the last bits before our departure. This has involved changing our addresses, cancelling accounts and most stressful of all, selling our possessions.

We're moving to Claire's mums for 10 days before we fly out and the only things we are keeping whilst we are away are the essentials, which will be stored in the loft (thanks Mandy by the way!). All of this means that everything else we own has been up for sale, which has pushed me fully into 'Del Boy' mode.

I can't bear to throw out something I could potentially make some money back on, so we've both been constantly advertising our possessions on Gumtree and Facebook on a first come first served basis. Dealing with responses has become almost a second full time job whilst working my normal 9-5, especially with my well practiced skills in haggling (I'm the expert, so if Claire is selling something she checks if I'm happy with the price first before going ahead).

All of our furniture will soon be gone and I've even managed to flog my mattress and pillows to a guy I know from work. I never thought someone would pay for a used mattress and pillows! Del WOULD be proud.

All of this is actually good practice though as haggling will certainly be a valuable skill on our travels - one I've honed selling insurance in the past as well as further "crash courses" during trips to Turkey and Egypt.

This has kept me so busy I've barely had time recently to think about the life changes that lie ahead - but the quicker I sell all our stuff, the quicker I can get back to focusing on Vietnam, sunshine and noodles.

So, anyone want to buy a Peugeot 206? 60k miles on the clock and in great nick, I'll sort you out a good price once Rodders has cleaned the blimmin' thing. Cushdy.

TV stand? Peugeot 206? Used mattress? I got em all in stock...

Fighting the fears

One of the things people who are looking to go travelling will likely encounter at some stage or another are negative stories about the places they're about to visit from either friends or the media - no matter where in the world they're headed. As well as this, I've been facing a weekly cycle recently that probably ranges on the bi-polar: Sunday night/Monday morning I'm scared out of my wit and keep saying to myself 'do I really know what I'm getting myself and Claire into?', then come Thursday/Friday all I want to do the second I've finished work is pack my bags and jump on a plane and never look back!

Last night (a Sunday) I was full of excitement after the initial high of seeing the scenery of Vietnam in the program "coffee trail with Simon reeve" on BBC2, it looked beyond beautiful. However after a while, the program descended into a different view of Vietnam that certainly attempted to take some of the shine off my excitement of going. 

It doesn't take much at the moment to activate my apprehension as I'm under no illusions about the size of the life change we're going through and how much of the unknown we are heading into, but it made me think is this just typical scaremongering?

Don't get me wrong, I'm aware of the potential threats about living abroad in any country. But It's not like I'm walking into a hostile region, so as long as I keep myself to myself like I normally would then surely I'll be just as safe as I am back home right? I don't want to sound naive as I know Vietnam is still an emerging country in the shadow of a still relatively recent war, but I've heard way too many good things to put me off. 

Claire rightly pointed out to me that you could make any country look bad through the power of one TV program and it made me think that if you showed a foreigner looking to move to the UK a show on London's gun crime and Brits fighting in the street when drunk problem then they'd probably be scare-mongered too!

So there it is, I can't help that my fear will attack me again and again before my departure, but I know that is a natural process, especially as moving to any new country and culture is one of the scariest things you can ever do. I also remember that any place can be made to look bad, you just need to know where to avoid and like any country in the world - just stay out of trouble (after all, I wouldn't set foot in Boscombe, Bournemouth - so I just need to remember that ANYWHERE in the world could have a Boscombe!)

So be aware of the dangers, but not paralysed by fear because of them, remember all the good things you've heard and remember that if you've heard a lot more good things than bad things then it must be good - after all, bad news always spreads faster and further so the less you hear the better it is. Plus, what's the fun unless there's a little risk?

And above all else, I just need to keep calm and MAN UP!

The things I'll miss the most

As the time for us to go and begin our adventure draws ever closer, I've begun to look at everything around me in my life through rose tinted glasses. I'm already using the phrase "this'll be the last time I do this for quite a while!" And naturally it's made me think about the things in my life I'm going to miss the most while we're off on our adventure, so here's what I'll miss the most:

My family and friends

This almost goes without saying, I'm really going to miss them all, my friends who I see often and play football with each week and my family. Without their support I wouldn't have the courage to chase my dreams like we are. Having seen more of them recently thanks to Christmas, the pangs on the heartstrings were stronger than ever but they'll all be here for us when we get back. Above all else I feel terrible that I'll miss seeing my two young niece's who have only just begun to know me - but hey, hopefully I'll be the cool uncle to them and I can show off my tan when I come home!

Watching my beloved Southampton F.C

Although I don't go to see them as much as I want to, I'm really going to miss going to see live matches at my church: St. Marys. There's many reasons, most importantly of which is that I always go with my grandad and watching Southampton together has always been our special bond. Other than that I'll miss the boozy away days with my mates, plus Southampton have actually started to come good again and I'm really worried that the best period in their history will coincide with my absence! That said, you can rest assured I'll either find a bar and watch games at ridiculous hours of the night or I'll find an internet feed and get my fix of the saints by hook or by crook.

My PlayStation

Claire won't like this inclusion, but I can't deny it. I've always been a gamer, I think I always will be, in fact I'll probably be gaming with my great grandkids until mfriends

 can't hold the controller as they're crippled from arthritis. I'll be taking my tablet with me which will be loaded up with games, but nothing beats the experience of a console with superior graphics and gameplay so for this reason I know there'll be times I'll miss my PlayStation.

Cider

You might expect me to put a cup of tea wouldn't you? Well I think there's more chance of me finding a half decent cuppa in south east Asia than there is of finding a pint of cider. Sounds silly, but I know there'll be a lot of hot days and although I'm sure to have supply of cocktails not far away, I'll miss that ever so British, ever so refreshing taste of a cold pint of cider on a hot summers day.

So these are the things I think I'll miss the most, I'll come back to this post on my return and it'll be interesting to see what I really did miss. Anyway, I'm not going forever so I'll experience them all again before I know it, but in the meantime I'm going to surround myself with the above as much as I can while I can!

The 3 biggest influences that made me want to travel the world

As I've broken the news of my impending adventures, I've told some people that its something I've always wanted to do. A couple of people were surprised to hear this as they hadn't heard me mention it before which didn't surprise myself as I haven't revealed it to many before, but I'll let you in on what's influenced this secret, burning desire over the years.

I took some time recently to have a real think about what's been behind this desire to get out and see the world and there's a few things:

One is the fact that growing up, I didn't holiday much so when I did for myself at 20 (during a legendary 2 week lads holiday in Ibiza) it ignited my passion to see more beyond the grey skies of Britain.

But when I thought about it there's been an influence all throughout my life that fueled the desire more than I realised; someone who's set the example by seeing the world. He's an adventurer who can't sit still for a nano-second and someone who's been everywhere, in fact you'd struggle to think of somewhere on any wannabe travelers wishlist that he hasn't been to: be it rolling hills, snowy peaks, deserts, bustling cities, beautiful beaches, tropical jungles and even... a space station?

Sounds a bit odd doesn't it? But the truth is my biggest influence is fictitious, he's not human, he's not even 4 foot tall and..... he's blue.

Anyone who knows me won't be surprised to know that since I was a kid I've actually had a borderline obsession with Sonic the Hedgehog, but as a travelers role model he's actually spot on as he never sits still for a moment, he gets his fair share of excercise and he lives for adventure.

Him aside there's plenty of other things that I realise have influenced me, namely some of my favourite films that tend to center around an exotic location and a hero. James Bond taught me that life is about jetting off to adventures in search of a woman, fine food, fine booze and all of the other finer things in life (sure he often had a mission, but that's not what I paid attention to!), whilst the great Dr Henry Jones Jr (but don't call him Junior) also lead they way for me by instigating an interest in foreign culture and history.

No, these aren't perhaps the most spiritual of guides that could set me on my path, but they were my childhood heroes (who am I kidding, they still are) and they're as good a set of role models as any.

So what are we all waiting for? Pack your running shoes, your Walter PPK and your whip and let's go on an adventure!