The kids at Lindsey’s school have frequently asked questions like ‘What, you’re going to see the whole of the world…How long does that take?’ When planning a round-the-world trip, you soon realise that there are so many places you want to see that a year is not actually that long, but that’s how long we’ve got! So, after months of planning, numerous changes of mind and lots of research, this is the route we’ve come up with:
First stop is India where we are taking part in a volunteer project. We stay in the Himachal Pradesh area of India after a day in Dehli and a three day stay in Jaipur, during which time we’ll be dining and staying with a local family and we’ll be having ‘orientation sessions’ during the day; these involve learning more about the volunteer projects, Hindi, the Hindu caste system and contemporary Indian issues,; going on an elephant ride at the Amber Fort; watching a Bollywood film and shopping for our outfits for the project - Lindsey will have to wear a salwar kameez, which she’s very excited about as they are generally far more beautiful and colourful than Western clothing, and Rich will be in lightweight trousers and shirts. (So just like a normal day at work really!)
Then we head up into the Himalayas to begin the project work. The project will either be working in a local school, school for disabled children or working in a child-care centre (also known as Aanganbari). The latter are primariliy concerned with providing a safe, hygienic space for children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to such a space. They also help care for the health of mothers, pregnant women and children. Neither of us are sure which we’ll choose just yet.
View of Himichal Pradesh (looks amazing)
As part of the project we also trek and camp out in the Himalayas and visit the Taj Mahal.
From here our plan is to travel to Nepal. We’ve always wanted to visit the area and as we’re so close it be fantastic to experience life there. There is the small problem, however, of the monsoon which may call for a rethink. If we can get to Nepal, our plan is to do some trekking and visit Kathmandu and the Chitwan national park.
After Nepal we’re heading back to Dehli to fly out to Singapore. Here we’re going to catch up with Lindsey’s brother Danny and his girlfriend, Dahlia, and we’re already looking forward to Singapore’s offerings of Western food and proper hot showers which, after a couple of months in India and Nepal, will be a god send. We last went to Singapore 3 years ago and found it to be such a friendly place, though we spent a small fortune - we’ll have to be a bit tighter with the budget this time around! Hopefully Danny will splash out on a few delectable dinners for his little sister!
From Singapore we plan to head north up into Malaysia where we plan on visiting the Perhentian Islands to learn to dive.
Just a taster, think its going to be tough here!
After a bit of touring around and seeing the sights (Rich really wants to see the Petronas Towers; Lindsey is prepared to have her mind changed, but currently she feels that ‘if you’ve seen one skyscraper, you’ve seen them all!’) it’s onwards up to Thailand. Lins has been to Thailand before but explored mainly the north and we both visited Phuket last time so still a lot to see and do.
From Thailand, it will very much depend on what we have already done. If we extend our stay in India and Nepal we will probably just visit Cambodia as time will be running out. If Nepal turns out to be a no go, we will take a route from north Thailand into Laos and Vietnam, then head back into Thailand via Cambodia.
Returning to Bangkok we fly out to Australia where we will be based for a few months. Neither of us are keen on the fact that everything there appears to have to capacity to kill, maim or eat you but everyone we know who has visited it raves about it. We’ll probably take th fairly typical backpackers route up the East coast, and will include the necessary trip to (but not up) Ayres Rock.
As we’re staying in Australia for a few months, we’re going to stop living the life of reilly and find work (mainly to afford to be able to carry on the fun when we leave!).
After Australia, we’re heading off to New Zealand for a couple of months to explore. After seeing Shep’s photos of both islands, we’re keen to do some sea kayaking and, possibly, more trekking here. Numerous people have tried to convince us that this is the place for sky diving - ummmm, not so sure!
New Zealand explored, it’s off to Fiji. We don’t know what to expect here as neither of us know very much about the place apart from their supposed obesity problem (thanks to Mic for his detailed analysis at 7 in the morning after a night out!) , some political unrest, and some beautiful beaches.
Looking at this photo the place looks stunning and well worth a visit.
From Fiji we head up to LA. America is still very unplanned at this stage; we are keen to take in Canada as well, especially the Rockies. For Lins, seeing the Grand Canyon is a lifelong dream so, hopefully, she’ll have to get herself a new dream 12 months from now!
After America it’s the long and sad journey home but, at the moment, that’s a long way away.
