Travel Planning: It's Getting Serious

With travelling comes a lot of planning (well duh thanks Captain Obvious). Yes yes, I know that is pretty evident but I'll be honest, I would not have thought of most of this stuff on my own. We now have only 5 weeks before we leave and that is an extremely scary thought for many reasons, the main one being we really just haven't planned very much. In these upcoming months I have spoken to a lot of people who have previously been on this trip or similar, many of whom would say winging it is the way to go. However, I have definitely decided this way is not the one for me. I am not the kind of person to just rock up somewhere and feel comfortable sleeping there for the night, I need to have done my research. Also not too keen about sharing a bathroom with strangers but I'm very aware I might have to deal with that just a few times.

Anyway, planning accommodation counts as a big thing, therefore an obvious thing. This is going to be a list of the little, less obvious things. The things which I didn't anticipate to need as much time and thought, but oh boy they do.

Medical: ok well this is a bad place to start, kinda a big thing. Recently I've been researching what vaccination boosters I might need and whether or not Malaria pills are necessary (that one seems to be debatable). Malaria is present in some parts of Laos and Cambodia, although catching it is extremely rare and taking Malaria medication is not a pleasant experience (trust me I've been there). A visit to the Doctors 4-6 weeks before travel to check that all is well and seek professional opinion goes on the list for sure

Clothes: How many should I take? Long sleeved because of mosquitos? Short sleeved because of heat? Shorts? Trousers? Going out clothes? Underwear? Swimmers? ...as you can tell I have not quite tackled this one yet

Technology: This one completely depends on how you wish to spend your time and how/if you want it documented. If you just want to be at one with nature then damn son go for it, I would suggest an emergency phone though. I personally know I will have a better time with both my phone and my kindle, at first they were all I deemed necessary. However, it now seems we will both be taking our DSLR cameras, a go pro, and there is even talk of taking a laptop for video editing. Luckily, I have a small MacBook Air, which is light and very portable. Sounds an easy enough decision to make without too much thought, notwithstanding the probability of valuables getting lost and/or stolen -.- One must determine whether that is a risk willing to be taken

Luggage: What the heck am I gonna put everything in?!? Pretty much from the get go I just imagined using my old hiking rucksack *cough* never been used *cough*. But nope, not good enough. There are whole articles dedicated to helping travellers choose the right backpack for them. The right, brand, fit, size, litres (I had no idea backpacks were measured in litres). It's crazy the amount of thought needed in comparison to the amount I had given: nada

So yes, those are the 'little' things on my mind at the moment. Planning long waited travels can be stressful, but once there I'll be relived I took the time and effort to make sure I am safe and I have the best time possible.

Lon x