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

9 days....

Well the farewell was 10 times bigger than I anticipated! I still can't get my head around just how many people showed up.....!!! Also, there was some dude there having his 21st and I'm pretty sure all my mates well and truely out numbered his.....how embarassing!

Still - it was a fantastic night and a big huge THANKYOU to everyone who came....!!

I finally have my Russian, Vietnemese & Chinese visas in my hot little hands...about time too...it bizarre to see them in my passport. It hard to believe how many months of head aches there was just for a couple of little stickers in your passport....

Well I am well and truely organised now. I have bought everything I need, recieved my final pay from work, and now everything is just sitting in a giant pile all over our spare room....

I'm going to one more trial pack this weekend before the final pack is done...just so I can get an idea of the weight.

Also - I can finally see the weather on the day I arrive...! 33C & light showers at the moment....and will probably stay that way for a while....

I have added a photo album to the left of the page aswell....I'm not actually sure if i'm going to use it or not so if you look and there are no pictures...I apoloigise....!

Ok, I think thats all I have to say...apart from the fact I am REALLY REALLY EXCITED!!!!!!!

Jess

14 Days....

Well, I finally finished up at work yesterday. It's a bit weird, becuase I thought I would be really upset.....but I wasn't. I was just void....I had no feeling at all. As I over analyse everything, it kept me awake most of the night just trying to work out why didn't seem to feel any emotion about it. The only conclusion I could come up with is that perhaps the whole trip thing hasn't actually hit me yet. It's as if I don't believe I will actually leave until I have gone.

Don't get me wrong, I am completely beside myself with excitement about leaving....however the idea of leaving my family and friends for an indefinite period of time hasn't really sunk in. It concerns me a little, because it either means I'm made of stone (which I know I'm not), or its going to hit me really really hard soon. As you can imagine, I'm not looking forward to the moment it all hits me....

I've felt myself getting worked up a little bit. Just about dumb stuff, which shows to me that I am little bit anxious about going. So its a nice mix of being anxious and excited...which is a pretty cool feeling. I've always found the weeks leading up to going somewhere is the best feeling in the world. All that excitement and preperation.....awesome...

It is also really mad to be able to say that in two weeks time, I will have landed at Sydney Airport and will be waiting to board my flight to Ho Chi Minh City....wow!!

All the guys at work gave me a really awesome card with some pretty funny messeges in it, and they did a collection and gave me $225 in cash. So that was awesome....thats like another 2 weeks travelling in south east asia!

I have my farewell party tonight at the pub, which should be good. Theres about 30 - 40 people going. Its a really shitty day outside, which means the pub shouldn't be overly packed. I should be enjoying all this bad weather, considering its about 34C in Phnom Penh in Cambodia at the moment....!!!!

Till next time...

Jess

25 Days....

I thought I better post on here to let everyone know my russian visa came through!!! So now I can finally start sleeping ok again....

Not to much to talk abot this week. I finish up work next week which I can't wait for. However, it's quite a funny feeling walking around there at the moment. I've worked at Clive Peeters for nearly 6 years (since I was 16), so to think I am leaving and never going back there is a pretty surreal feeling. I have changed so much over the years I have worked there, and will be leaving people I have known for longer than some of my closest mates. I have pretty much grown up there! However, I certainly don't feel bad leaving. I think I have well and truly had enough of retail for the minute. But you never know, I'l probably end up in retail in the UK because I wont be able to find anything else!!

I had a trial pack of my backpack a couple of weeks ago, to see how heavy and how much more room I had to fit stuff. It only ended up weighing 9.kg!! And I just about ahd everything in there I needed. It was a weird sight looking at all my clothes and stuff on the floor ready to be packed. I was like "This is my life for the next 10 months.....", but it didn't look any where near enough...but I think I have everything covered.

This is what I am taking:

CLOTHES

Shoes:
Salomen Hiking Boots
Brooks running shoes
Haviana Thongs
Tee-shirts:
x4 tee shirts
x4 singlet tops
x2 long sleeve tee’s (to wear under t shirts)
Jumpers:
x1 Fleece Jumper
Jackets:
x1 Gortex Rain Jacket
Pants
x1 Jeans
x1 long quick drying pants
x1 ¾ quick drying pants
Underwear & Socks
x14 bonds underwear
x12 long socks
x3 bras
Pajamas
· x2 shorts & singlet combo pj’s
Hats
· x3 Bandanas/Head Bands
· x2 Caps (stussy hat & hurley hat)
TOILETRIES
· x1 Shampoo/conditioner combo
· x1 Liquid Soap
· x1 Moisturiser
· x1 Hair brush
· x1 Roll On Deodorant
· x2 Micro Fiber Towels
· x1 Micro Fiber Face Washer
· Toilet Rolls
· x2 Chapsticks/Blistix
· Baby wipes
· Hand sanitiser
FIRST AID KIT
Band aids
Bandages
Sewing Kit
Shoe Laces (x1 for Salomens, x1 for Brooks)
Swiss Army Knife
Bushmans Gel (x3)
Sun cream
GUIDEBOOKS
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia & The greater Mekong
China
Scandinavia
ELECTRONICS
Ipod + Charger
Digital Camera + Charger
Power adaptors Asia, Europe & The UK

Doesn't seem like much hey????? I just can't think of anything else to take!!

Anyway, that covers everything I needed to write about at the moment. My Chinese & Vietnemise visas are due back in about 2 weeks and then I'm good to go...scary!

Cheers,

Jess

33 Days To Go

Ok, so first off I apoligise to all the regular readers of this blog for the lack of updates. Everytime I sit down to write I think that what I am about to write is stupid so I stop....however I realised I am writing this blog for myself aswell as everyone else so now I will write what I want....

33 days to go....god I can't belive how quick this is all comming up now. I finally gave my official letter of resignation to work last week. That didn't really come as any major suprise...although some of my managers said they were hoping I might change my mind. I think at the moment...I'm more excited about finishing work than actually going overseas...!

I'm still waiting on my Russian visa to come back...there was some delay because of public holidays etc. Everything appears to be ok though.....although I don't think I will be able to sleep properly until all my visas and my passport are back in my hand.

Aside from my visas, I pretty much have everything else organised. My friend Brad is in Vietnam and Cambodia at the moment and has been keeping my informed of different places to stay. One thing he has mentioned to me is how him and his friends have not booked any accomodation the whole way through South East Asia. So I have now decided to take the same approach. I think it will be a bit of a laugh to rock up in each place and have to find somewhere to sleep. Well, it will probably be funny until I can't find anywhere to stay....then it will probably really really suck. But I'l cross that bridge when I come to it...! I have booked my first 4 nights in Ho Chi Minh City but thats it.

The whole South East Asia segment fo my trip is pretty much as organised as it can be....I'm going to spend the next 2 days going through China again and making sure I am happy with everything I have semi-planned.

I have finally started sending out invites to my farewell on the 23rd of February. That should be a bit of fun. I just need to make sure I don't drink to much, because then I will probably just cry all night...which is never a good look when you have had a few....!

Ok, well I think that is everything I need to write about today. Will update again soon once I get my visas back....

Cheers,

Jess

No title.....just rambling as usual....

I had a list of thngs to write about from the past few weeks....but I have put that list somewhere in my room, quite possibly on the floor, and considering I can't actually see my floor at the moment there probably isn't a high chance of me finding that list....!

Camping at Wilsons prom last week was probably one of the best times I have ever had. Who would have thought something as simple as sleeping in a tent, drinking too much and seeing wombats would be so much fun? No seriously, it was more than that. I haven't really had break from work in ages, and I haven't had a break from planning my trip either. So it was nice just to chill out for a few days and do something completely different.

One thing that was really awesome about camping was seeing all the stars. I know that sounds quite lame, but it really was amazing. Hayley, Jimmy and I went down to the beach one night at about Midnight and just lay on the beach looking at the stars. It was crazy, you could see millions of them for miles. Being a bit of city girl (but not really because I live in Montrose), I don't ever remember seeing anything like it. It was funny, we'd downed quite a number of drinks by that stage, and I was getting to that "I'm so drunk and I need to say whats on my mind" stage, and found myself saying to the guys "Wow, what if I never come home? I'm never going to see stars like this again". To which Jimmy replied "Your not moving to a new univerese, they have stars in Asia too".

After I laughed at my drunken statement, began to think about what Jimmy said. He was right, I'm not moving to a new universe, but I might aswell be. One thing that has come to light over the past couple of weeks is how difficult this trip really is going to be. I mean, lets be honest, I'm exactly taking the easy road here am I? Some of these places are almost third world countries, filled with people who will never see what I have or what I will see in my life. People who I will never be able to understand, verbally and emotionally. I think & I hope that this trip will be a really big eye opener for me.

Anyway....on to other things.....!

Trip planning stuff has been pretty intense this past week. I came from Wilsons Prom to an email from my travel agent organising my Russian Visa saying that I couldn't apply for my Visa more than 3 months in advance....which sent me into shock mode. I spent thursday, friday, saturday & sunday freaking out and trying to work out a way to get into russia. I swear I didn't eat or sleep for those days. Anyway, come monday we had it all sorted so I applied for my visa this morning...fingers crossed it comes through in the next 12 days.

I have keep sending my passport off in the post over the next 6 weeks to get my Russian, Mongolian, Chinese, Vietnemese and Cambodian visas sorted. Everything has just crept up s god damn quick....!

I sold my car yesterday which is great....gives me a bit of a boost for my savings for the trip. Plus public transport vs. paying petrol at the moment means I should be saving more money now than ever.....

Anyway...I think that covers everything that may have been on my list for now.

Later,

Jess

Anxiety & The Workings Of The Human Mind....

Ok, so the title is probably a little more in depth than what I am anticipating writing about....however it seemed somewhat appropriate for some reason.

First off, I would like to apoligise for the lack of updates....my intetion was to update my blog on new years eve. But when I got home, I was sick as a dog for some unknown reason so the pos never eventuated.

Anyway, onto other things.....

Today, it is exactly 9 weeks until I leave. Starting to get closer now. To be honest with you, I am actualy starting to get a little stressed out about the whole thing. Ive had people commenting for the past 3 or 4 weeks that I have been losing weight, which was not intentional and I didn't even notice...Ive been pulling my hair out tring to work out why Ive been losing this wieght, I realised I have probably been stressing more than normal about the whole thing. Plus I've had some other shit on my mind too, which doesn't help. But I'm actually starting to panic a little bit about the trip...

It's somewhat amusing, because as I have sat here for the past week trying to work out what it is I am actually nervous about, its all fallen back to one thing. Its not the travel side of things, the language barrier, the un safe areas. No its none of that......

Its actually me I'm nervous about.

I know I'm going to change on this trip. I know it. I know i'm gong to become a different person, because your surronds influence the way you think about things....and I'm going to be surrounded by some pretty surreal things. In my previous post I wrote about how happy I am with myself, and the person I am. But I know I'm going to change......a bit of a catch 22 really.....

I have a lot of questions within myself about my life that I need to answer. I know they are questions that no one else can answer for me....questions I can only answer when I'm ready to be completely honest with myself. I guess you can't be honest with other people like your friends and family until you are completely honest with yourself. I hope that this is something that I can begin to do while I'm travelling.

The whole concept is petrifying though. The idea that you are happy as you are....but knowing that you will change. Although that chane will surely be for the better, what if other people don' accept it? I guess that means they were never really your friends in the first place....but still. It doesn't change the fact you still want them to be a part of your life.

What amazes me is what anxiety and stress can make a person do. I mean, I'm only a little bit stressed and I have lost nearly 5 kilos. Imagine what could happen if I got really stressed. There has been some nights where I have woken myself up from some kind of anxious pain in my stomach and my mind. I guess I just didn't know what to associate it with...

I dont know....maybe I'm just reading to much into my thoughts again. Which is what I do every now and then.

Anyway.....I'm going to stop there before this gets wayyyyy to indepth.....!!!

I'm off camping on Monday with Hayley & Amy which should be good fun. I went out and bought a new tent and everything..... Should be a laugh anyway...and good to get away for a few days from my brain and its stupid thoughts.......!!!

I will attempt to update when I get back. As this trip gets closer, theres going to be more and more going through my head....so these posts should start to get interesting. Stay tuned....

Cheers,
Jess