Grant Feast & Jade Francis

Grant and Jade

Grant Feast & Jade Francis

Welcome to our Travel Blog!!

Back in 2012, after being together for just over two years, we both decided to give up our jobs and backpack around the world together.

After much debating on where our adventures should take us, we decided to move to Vancouver, Canada for a year and take part in the Working Holliday Scheme, so off we went on the 16th April 2013..... but upon arrival we changed our minds as we both wanted to see as much of the world as possible over the next year.......and so off we went moving across Canada, down into the States and then across to SE Asia where the bigest part of our trip would be.

After many ups and downs along the way we finally arrived back home in London on 5th December 2013 after 232 days on the move......here's the story of our journey....

The places we visited on our around the world trip 2013...

Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia
Seattle, Washington (USA)
Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Lake Louise, Banff, Alberta
Calgary, Alberta
Toronto, Ontario
Niagra, Ontario
Montreal, Quebec

United States of America

Boston, Massachusetts
Harvard, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Washington DC, Columbia
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Cleveland, Ohio
Indianapolis, Indiana
Chicago, Illinois
Mattoon, Illionois
St Louis, Missouri

SE Asia

Singapore
Melaka, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
Penang, Malaysia
The Langkawi Islands, Malaysia
Koh Lanta, Thailand
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
Maya Bay, Thailand (The Beach)
Phucket, Thailand
Krabi, Thailand
Koh Samui, Thailand
Koh Tao, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Kanchanaburi, Thailand (The Bridge Over The River Kwae)
Sai Yok, Thailand (Hellfire Pass)
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Pai, Thailand
Chiang Rai, Thailand
Pak Bang, Laos
Luang Prabang, Laos
Vang Vieng, Laos
Vientiane, Laos
Hanoi, Vietnam
Hue, Vietnam
Hoi An, Vietnam
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dalat, Vietnam
Saigon, Vietnam
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Battambang, Cambodia
Bangkok, Thailand
Lop Buri, Thailand
Ayutthaya, Thailand

The places we visited in our travels of 2014...

Europe

Berlin, Germany

The places we visited in our travels of 2015...

Europe

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The United States of America

New York City, New York
Newport, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Boston Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts

The places we visited in our travels of 2016...

Europe

Paris, France
Porto Del Carmen, Lanzarote, Spain
Teguise, Lanzarote, Spain
Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote, Spain
Arrecife, Lanzarote, Spain
Dublin, Ireland
Killeney, Ireland
Budapest, Hungary

The places we visited in our travels of 2017...

Europe

Marrakesh, Morocco

The places we visited on our travels of 2018...

Europe

Rome, Italy

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

Halloween In Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Khanh Hoa » Nha Trang February 26th 2014

Nha Trang Halloween

Grant and Jade

After we had once again had another sleepless night on a sleeper bus from Hoi An. we arrived in Nha Trang at a rather small bus station a little bit further on from the main touristy area.......not that we knew this at the time because we thought we were at a different station and so opted not to take a taxi to our next hostel, and so soon we found ourselves on a rather long walk to the part of Nha Trang which we needed to get to, and as it was still very early in the morning the streets were deserted so for a change we didn’t actually have taxi drivers shouting at us everywhere we looked. Just our luck....but we made it there eventually to our home for the next few days called True ... read more

A City Of Lanterns

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An February 24th 2014

Lanterns!

Grant and Jade

As we were only 3 hours from Hoi An we opted for a coach this time to get us there as it was only cheap and it ended up being a sleeper bus aswel, so even though we were only on it for a little while we felt we were going in style! Sleeper busses aren’t actually that nice; it was something different so it just felt like it was nice at the time. On the way down through the center of Vietnam we seemed to be coming across less and less westerners now, as only a few days before a small typhoon had hit along the coast, very little damage was done with only trees and cable lines coming down. Even though it was in the middle of the typhoon season we thought we would ... read more

On To Central Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế November 27th 2013

Jade at the Citadel gates

Grant and Jade

After getting a minibus for an hour back through the mountains from Sapa to the nearby train station, we were soon back on a sleeper train heading back for Hanoi. Many people, including us, think it's a good idea to get a sleeper train as you get from one place to another while you sleep (or try to) and so you end up saving money, but i'm sure you end up more knackered once you've arrived at your next destination than what you normally would!So after another sleepless train journey we were soon once again back at the main station in Hanoi being harassed by the usual large group of taxi drivers (even though it was 4:00 am!) and once again being ripped off to get to our next hostel......now we already knew from a few ... read more

Some of the crazey things you see loaded on to bikes in Hanoi

Hiking With The Red Dzao Tribe

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa November 18th 2013

Me, Jade and our guide

Grant and Jade

After a few hectic days in Hanoi we decided to go for something a bit different and go to a bit more of a quitter place and do some hiking which we hadn't done for a little while. We had been recommended a place called Sapa in the north west of the country in the mountains not far from the border with China, here there are a number of tribes which have kept their traditional ways and still live in small villages and wear their traditional clothing, so we thought this would be pretty cool thing to do as we hadn't yet seen any of the tribes in Asia. With trying to save a bit of money where ever we go we decided to get the night time sleeper train from Hanoi to Lao Cai which ... read more

On the long trek to the Red Dzao Village

Good Morning Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi » Thuy An November 14th 2013

Hanoi

Grant and Jade

After a short flight out of Vientiane we were once again moving through border control.....which seemed a lot easier than i thought it would seeing how we were now in a Communist country, and within 10 minutes of landing we were in a taxi heading for the bustling Old Quarter of Hanoi. So far we thought we were getting it too easy, with the Vietnamese visa being a lot easier to get than we thought and then getting through the airport with no problems what so ever we thought Vietnam was going to be an easy place to travel through......that soon changed as soon as we had our first meeting with the North Vietnamese people! Before coming here we had been told by so many people that the people in the North were not very friendly ... read more

Vang Vieng to Vientiane

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane November 6th 2013

The view from our room in Vang Vieng

Grant and Jade

From our hostel in Luang Prabang we were taken to a kind of small car park which had a couple of mini buses in which would take us on to Vang Vieng, we had met a couple of girls the night before in the food market from New Zealand who were a part of a bigger group and they were all heading the same way as us and it just happened that we were on the same mini bus as them so it turned out to be a bit of a lively journey......until most of them got travel sick and it quitened down a bit but the drive from Luang Prabang was pretty good, there were many twists and turns as we made our way along the mostly bumpy dirt tracks through the mountains but the ... read more

A French Protectorate

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang October 28th 2013

View from Mount Phousi

Grant and Jade

Soon enough we were in Luang Prabang…..well outside of the city, it seems the slow boats drop you off quit far out just so that the taxis/Tuk Tuks get all the customers they want as it’s just way too far to walk. Once 6 of us had been squeezed into the back of a makeshift taxi we were driven to town and so began the challenge of trying to find our hostel as the driver didn’t understand a word of English, and plus the taxi wasn’t in the best of conditions and so took a little bit to get it started, which soon just decided to die and we didn’t have a clue where we were with a driver who didn’t speak English and so we just decided there was nothing we could do but to ... read more

One of the many food stalls in the night market

Taking It Slow

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Rai October 23rd 2013

Our long tail boat on the Mekong

Grant and Jade

Within a day of being back in Chiang Mai we were once again back on another packed mini bus with our bags wedged around us, heading for our next destination…..Chiang Rai. There’s not a lot to do here but the main reason we had decided to come here was so that we could get the slow boat along the Mekong River into Laos. But before that time came, we still had a few days in Chiang Rai, which we had high hopes for, as since we have been in the North of Thailand it seems that every town and city just has so much to offer so we thought the same could be said for Chiang Rai…..which when we turned up, it didn’t take us long to work out there isn’t anything to do really. There ... read more

Adventures in the north

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai October 9th 2013

Baan Chang Elephant Park

Grant and Jade

After a few fun filled days in Chiang Mai it was time to move on to a smaller town which we had been told we had to visit while we were up this way, and so with the first opportunity we booked some seats on one of the minibus's heading to Pai, only a short 3 hours’ drive away and thought this would be no problem as we have done many longer road journeys over the last five months of being away with generally only the smallest of problems....this was about to give us a rude awakening as you should never underestimate a journey by road in SE Asia! The drive to Pia takes you through the very scenic mountains of Northern Thailand, a distance of just only 122 miles however within this there are 762 ... read more

Chiang Mai

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai » Doi Suthep October 9th 2013

grant out side temple

Grant and Jade

Like most journeys in Thailand there eventful and our one to Chiang Mai was no exception we got to the station where we booked our ticket with plenty of time to spare so dropped off our bags at the office and went to get some food, walked in to a little cafe sat down and had the weirdest and scariest waiter/person iv ever met, he was very camp, with his face painted white?, big bulging eyes, and kept screaming in the highest pitch kap koon kaaaaa(Thank you) while trying to get his head as close to your face as possible, he looked like a deranged clown a very friendly one, it's properly the most scared iv been on our whole trip.After this we grabbed our bags and got a taxi with two lovely guys from holland ... read more

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