The "see ya later" email....

Evening all,

this is the email I sent out to just about everyone I know. I got pretty emotional sending it and though you avid readers might enjoy reading it....

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Hi Everyone,

As most or all of you know, on Saturday, I am leaving Melbourne to go traveling again.

I wanted to send an email to all of you; family, friends, fellow backpackers and old work colleagues to say a big thank you to you all, and also give you all a bit of an insight into how this trip came about.

When I first decided to plan this trip it was just after I came back from New Zealand in April last year, where I met Ben and Naomi from the UK . Both of you guys are probably partly to blame for me wanting to go away again, as you both (in your own unique way!) re-introduced me to the traveling lifestyle that I had forgotten since coming home the previous year.

It wasn’t until around September that I actually started to make it known to a few of my close mates that I was actually leaving. In my own mind, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of something until I was 100% sure in my own mind of where I was going, and exactly how long I was going for.

You see, when I first started thinking about going, it was just going to be a 2 month trip through Vietnam , Cambodia & Laos . Then I realized there was I bus I could catch into Southern China , so then I was going for 3 months. Then I started reading about this train you could catch across Mongolia & Russia from Beijing called the “Trans Siberian”. That appealed to me more than anything, so then I was going for 4 months. Then, I found out just how easy & cheap it was to catch a bus from St Petersburg in Russia to Helsinki in Finland . From Finland , the possibilities of travel were endless, so I started to make more “in-definite” definite plans.

So, I’m leaving Melbourne armed with a one-way ticket to Vietnam …and now face the adventurous task of slowly finding my way overland across Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , China , Mongolia , Russian, Finland , Estonia , Sweden , Norway , Denmark , Germany , Spain & Portugal …eventually ending up in England .

It seems that from the moment I told all you guys at work back in October, the time just completely flew. Honestly, I don’t know where these past 3 months have gone.

However, the main reason I wanted to send this email to you all, is to say a big massive thank you.

I thank all of you who have come to my many many farewells over the past two weeks, those of you who have put in for the various presents and signed the cards with your beautiful words. I also want to thank those of you who couldn’t make it to my various farewells, but have still made the effort to call, stop by my house or send a card to wish me well.

I want to send out a big thank you to all the managers and staff at Clive Peeters, who have put up with my constant talking about traveling, traveling and traveling. I know, as well as my previous managers do, that there is no way I would be able to do this trip with out such a fantastic job, or have been able to survive so long waiting to leave without working with such fantastic people.

However, the biggest thank you of all is to all you guys who believed in me from the word go. The people who didn’t think I was stupid or irresponsible for leaving my family, friends and career. The people who didn’t think it was impossible and actually believed in me as a person to be able to make this work. Those people – I give you the biggest THANKYOU….and I will always always remember your support….!

So, consider this not a good bye email, but a “see ya later” email. Because we all know that I will be back in Melbourne one day. However, I hope to see you guys first as you travel around the globe!

Cheers, and see ya soon

Jess xx