A Serious Case of Wanderlust

There's rarely a 'perfect' time to do anything.

To give you a quick run down of where I'm at in my adult life, I'm about to embark on my last 'I must do this before I have kids' attainment. There are other things on the list that I wouldn't mind in the least if they also happened (a trip to India for example), but I now know, I will not die if this doesn't happen. I do know that now, I will be a much more complete person for making this expedition through South East Asia. In case you were interested, my three goals in life to accomplish BC (Before Children) were these: Live in more than three countries (and by live, I mean hold a permanent address to which someone mails you something -- including my own country, I'm now onto country number four), move to and permanently set up residence in China (check), back-pack through South East Asia (two more sleeps, baby!!!).

Not that I need to, but I want to justify my reasons for my upcoming adventure.
*I have itchy feet. Jason and my family thought that could be remedied by marriage but alas, it's incurable and will probably terminal. It is also slightly infectious, although some are born with built in immunities...you never know until you hold your passport in your hands...
*Some people collect shot glasses...I collect passport stamps and its taking me freaking forever to fill up this dang huge Australian passport -- Jason will fill his before I do mine even though I have more stamps than him...this is the only time my competitive streak lashes out.
* I also collect scarves and fabrics from other countries...meaning I have to go to other countries to collect them...
*My current neighbouring country is Vietnam and is less than three hours away -- how can I not go visit?
*Everyone loves Australians so I consider this trip good for country relations.
*I have to go to Thailand this month and I could fly but that costs the same if not more than by going by land and going by land is way more fun.
*I don't have kids yet so I can survive with just one back pack...when we have kids, we will be figuring out how also to survive doing this with only two back packs between us (when the kid gets older, he can carry his own). I have every intention of giving my children the most informative geography lessons in the world so when they go back to America one day and they meet someone else from Australia, they won't say things like "Australia, oh that's where they filmed the Sound of Music!". But we won't go there right now...

*We've been in China exactly a year now -- time to celebrate by getting 'out' a bit! Not to mention that we haven't really taken a holiday (vacation) either. Shanghai was the closest thing but even then, we spent the last 2 days of our 4 day stay helping a friend who'd had his passport stolen. Messy stuff.

*Its freezing, cold, and wet in Nanning right now. Enough said.

Just like having kids, moving house or eating a block of fair trade, organic, dark chocolate, there isn't really a 'perfect' time to travel. One should be studying, working, saving, house-keeping, relationship-building, baby-making...doing all the other things that people have deemed are a much better way for you to spend your time. But we've a business opportunity in Thailand (who can say no to that?!) and while it seems that we're poor and living off the savings of the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (um, one day when we can chat in person, I'll explain), I honestly can't find a reason not to go, travel God's beautiful jungles and explore the countless beaches, markets, cultures...its my dream come true! And to do it with the one I love...can life get any better than this? Yes...I think it can...

So, switching gears a bit here, what does one take on an intrepid journey through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and possibly Laos? Well, since you asked...

(Sorry about the drab lighting in the photos -- I was forced to use a flash because it seems that since we've informed our flat (apartment) we'll be leaving, she is blowing every light bulb in the house. Its an effort to inform us what she really thinks of us I'm sure.)

Two pairs of shoes: My Chaco sandals and my Pearl Izumi runners.

I LOVE my Chacos! Albeit, they took a little while to break in but I love that they're functional, yet pretty enough I can wear with a dress. I also love how you can tell another Chako wearer by by the Z shaped tan line on their feet. BEST SHOES EVA! (One day, maybe I'll get paid to say that!)

Ooh, that looks like a lot of stuff. I promise you its not. Keep in mind we're leaving for a month. I know, this is probably boring you to pieces but I'm getting a kick out of it. So let's break it down a little, shall we?

Camera battery charger and adapter -- first thing I packed.

First aid kit: bandaids, tiger balm (great for mosquito bites and stuffy noses), Ibuprofen in a Tylenol bottle (cause I had a smaller Tylenol bottle -- I don't take Tylenol and the Ibuprofen is for emergencies), some natural insect repellant (no deet!), um, safety pins, natural sunblock (SPF 25), cranberry pills, tissues (made from recycled paper -- toilet paper's a luxury around here). Handkerchiefs -- trying to save a few trees around here.

My toiletries: one eye shadow, one travel mascara, one tiny eyeliner and one lip gloss, bobby pins and hair ties, Doctor Bronner's 18-in-one magic soap (hair, face, body -- its environmentally safe, fair trade, and extremely convient), conditioner, coconut oil, natural fluoride-free, sodium laureth sulfate free toothpaste and a nifty foldable travel toothbrush that Jason's mum gave me. Femine stuff. And hair mousse -- sure its in a can and not very earth friendly but this way I don't need a hair dryer and I live in China for crying out loud -- I'm doing my best to leave a small carbon footprint, ok?! And that's my fabulous blue travel towel up the very back there.

Vegemite -- I told Jason its essential to ward of the mossies...he may make me take it out though.

Oh yeah, you can see my passport photo-copy and packets of extra passport photos in case we need them for visa purposes -- Jason has the ligit passports with his stuff right now.

Ah! Can't leave home with out this one...second thing I packed. I was pretty stoked to find my friend had a copy of Lonely Planet's "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" guide book. I've tried other guide books and honestly Lonely Planet's my favourite. Call it patriotism (they're published in Australia) but I honestly think they're well written, fun and inspiring to read. Writing for them would be my dream job!!! Guess I've got a ways to go but one day -- you'll be going somewhere and I'll be like "hey, did you check out what I wrote about Hanoi? Or did you see my list of best vegetarian options in Nanning?" Of course, it would be in a Lonely Planet only...I'm such a fan, I should seriously make myself a t-shirt....and I'll stop there (insert "Dork" here).

Of course I never leave home without my 'Kleen Kanteen' (that's how its spelt on the bottle -- I am totally shamelessly plugging my as of now preferred brands -- if you have a stainless steel bottle that you think is better, go ahead, send it my way and if I like it, I'll plug it too! But it has to be stainless steel -- no BPH or alzheimer causing aluminium for me. And yes I spelt aluminim correctly!).

My iPod Touch -- stocked with my Chinese lessons (ha! like I'm gonna study on vacation...laying on the beach listening to...Chinese).

Hand sanitizer -- cause I'm still human and scared of some germs.

My small pile of clothes: two pairs of shorts, one cotton skirt, one cotton dress, a few tanks and camis and some shoulder hugging cotton blouse thing so if I go into a temple or mosque I wont cause any monks to stumble over my incredibly chiseled upper body, my underwear (which you don't need to see), three pairs of socks and togs (that translates to swimmers......you know cossies...oh, excuse me...bathing suit). I'll be wearing the one jumper (sweater) I'll be taking since it will still be cold when we leave Nanning

Did I mention Lonely Planet's SEA on a Shoestring?

My back pack's from REI -- I really like it cause it doesn't weigh anything and is still water proof, pretty solid and comfy for me to wear. I can't remember what size it is (maybe if I was getting paid to write this review...) but its not more than 50 litres. I'm fairly certain its only 45. If you need bigger than 50, I think you're considered 'high maintenance' on the back-packer scale (That was for you, Cam -- you're welcome). We got it at one of REI's brilliant used gear sales for next to nothing. And my sleeping bag is North Face, duck down (shamefully I admit it -- all my vegan friends, please don't hold it against me). Jason's packing our little two man tent with his stuff -- hoping there'll be some beach camping happening but its also useful protection against mossies at night.

I'll add a few other little things, like I just realized I haven't packed my torch (flashlight) and I'm taking our powdered greens that we drink every morning. And my camera of course. And we're thinking of doing a video blog entry just cause we have a video camera and we like this swish site called vimeo. And I want to take a book for pleasure reading but I'm kind of stuck for that one right now...at least I'll have my Lonely Planet...two or three more sleeps for me to figure that one out. We may have to push our departure till Saturday cause we're moving all our stuff moved out of this apartment before we leave and moving into a new place when we get back -- the adventure never ends...and Jason hasn't started packing yet!!!

The rest of our house looks like this:

And blogging's not helping me get any work done on it.

Love the Intrepid Adventurer -- 13th of January, 2010