Welcome!

It may well seem a little premature to discuss plans I have for 2 years time, a lot of my past plans have changed or disappeared in a lot less time and of course there is no gaurentee this will be different so if you believe that to be the case I'd suggest you stop reading now.

My belief as to why this will be different is that this is a trip I have been planning since my last trip ended in March 2009 when I flew home from Berlin. I had taken a while in setting a date to leave which not coincidently is exactly two years from today 12/09/2012. I have had this date in my head for several months now and a lot of planning has already been done and there is so much more still to do.

So firstly a little bit about myself:

I am currently 27 years of age and will be 29 when I start the trip. I currently work in a youth hostel in the beautiful Peak District. The company doesn't pay an amazing wage but it does allow me to save a considerable amount of money due to the fact that a very minimal amount is taken from my wage each month for accommodation and bills. The place itself is a village with not a great deal to spend money on. This amounts to be generally being able to put roughly 3/4 of each months wages into a savings account which is how I am looking to fund the trip. I am saving in other ways too, I recently quit smoking which saves me a great deal and boozy nights out are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. My only real expenses are buying food and paying my internet and phone bills.

The trip itself then:

I will be flying from London to Rome, I will then be spending a few weeks in Italy before heading east through Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. I had initially planned to go into Iran and Pakistan but for many reasons not least the current situation in Pakistan I have currently decided against this. So from Turkey I will fly to Delhi, India and then spend several months in India, the actual amount will depend on whether I can extend my visa in neighbouring Nepal where I will also spend a few weeks. Next I will fly from either India or Nepal to Thailand where I will do a loop through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and then back into Thailand. I will then go down to Malaysia and Singapore and then over to Indonesia, again the length of visa I am able to get will affect how long I spend here. Eventually I will head back into Malaysia and fly to Los Angeles where I will spend a few weeks chilling out. I then plan to fly to Bogota, Colombia where I will go through Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and finally Brazil.

Rome to Rio.

Quite a trip hey!