James Kim
James and Kim Joined: June 27th 2008
Logged in: September 15th 2010
Logged in: September 15th 2010
Well the countdown has finally reached its final stages and what seems to have taken a life time to come around is finally upon us and in a few days we embark on the greatest adventure of our lives travelling around the globe.
On the 30th June 2008 we flew out to the city that never sleeps and will continue on to the following route or until our money runs out:
UK - New York - San Fransisco - LA - Fiji - New Zealand - Australia - Indonesia - South East Asia - China
We wont lie and say that we haven't been nervous, because we have. To give up all our home comforts (Ben & Jerrys, Sky TV and Wilson the fish) has been very very hard. But once we have said our final goodbyes and are on-board the plane with a cold beer and a bottle of WKD blue we will be fine.
We will be swapping our decent jobs and our city center apartment on the river in Leeds, for lazy days on a beach, flip flops and 20 man dormitories.
Below is a list of all the fears that we both plan to face and hopefully conquer......!
Kim
* Flying.
* Sleeping in the same bedroom with strangers.
* Eating strange and wonderful delights in Asia (Bugs, Rats, Dog, worms etc).
* Swimming in the sea and getting eaten by a shark.
* Running out of sun cream and burning to a crisp.
* Getting caught in a Typhoon, Hurricane, Flash Flood.
* Terrorist attacks.
* Being sold into slavery by James.
* Going without makeup, cleanser, toner, hair straighteners, skinny jeans, Iron etc...
* Coming to terms with 'Travelling light'.
* Turning into a Hippy. Ha
James
* Missing the start on the Premiership
* Ipod stops working
So from little old England it's off to the city that is so good, they named it twice (quote SW & AA).
We expect you all to keep in contact and if possible come out and join us along the way.
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone for making this dream possible;
Our employers for funding the trip,
Our friends for providing us with 3 great weekends of goodbye parties, raves, BBQ's and overall madness,
and our family for their support, guidance, love and being there for when we needed them the most.
We love you all!!!
See you in a year or two.
We thought that we would give you a brief overview of the country's we have visited:[b/]
USA[b/]
We both had a great time in America and are glad that we listened to friends and family and came here first. Our favourite city must be New York as it has so much to offer, but we also really loved San Francisco for its chilled out atmosphere. We didn’t really like LA and wasn’t sure what all the hype was about .do the celebrities know something we don’t?
Even though we didn’t have much rest due to all the sight seeing and over spent on our budget we would defiantly come back and James has promised Kim a shopping trip one Christmas.
We have taken lots of cool photos and have many great memories. The people are so so friendly and really do their country proud. Even though their patriotism is a little cheesy we found it nice and wish the UK was more proud of its traditions. We were also expecting it to be very expensive however; we found most things relatively cheap compared to back home. One thing that we didn’t care too much for was how everyone expected a tip for the smallest thing.
Below is a list of our highlights:
Strolling through Central Park without a care in the world.
Bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Eating large tubs of ice cream on the Greyhound bus.
Breakfast in New York.
Drinking over priced cocktails at Shadow Bar in Caesars Palace.
Playing Roulette (and winning) in Las Vegas.
Shopping in Macys.
San Diego Zoo.
4th July Celebrations.
Getting a photo with ‘Dum Dum’
Playing the giant piano from the movie BIG.
Getting numerous tattoos branded on our bodies.
Visiting Alcatraz.
Throughout our travels we thought we would keep a count of the following occurrences:
No. of Injuries/bites/stings: 2 (Wasp sting, Athletes foot)
No. of emotional breakdowns: 3 (all Kim)
No. of arguments: 1
No. of Tubs of Ice cream consumed: 9
No. of Books read: 3
No. of insect encounters: 1
Fiji.[b/]
What a difference it was to go from the hustle and bustle of America to the peaceful and tranquil beaches of Fiji and its many islands. We weren’t sure what to expect when we landed and as our first hotel was very nice it kind of set a false benchmark for us. We over heard a girl say that the mainland was luxurious compared to what the island resorts had to offer so we were automatically suspicious.
James really enjoyed himself and felt like a castaway a million miles away from civilization, but even though it was a paradise Kim found it hard to relax for the constant fear of attack from the creepy crawlies that lay in the bures (Our accommodation) each night.
Fiji taught us to appreciate the smaller things in life such as running water, electricity and sleeping without the fear of being eaten alive. We have both become a lot ‘closer’ now and hope the next time that one of us has to hold a lantern while the other one poo’s in complete darkness won’t be too soon.
All we can say is that it was a big learning curve and the island hopping really allowed us to get back to nature and see what it is like to ‘rough it’ on a tropical beach. We look back and laugh but Kim has made James promise that he wont bring her here on our honeymoon!!
Watching Scrubs on the laptop under the security of our mosquito net.
Attending the village fundraising evening and drinking lots of Cava.
Swimming with Reef and White Tip sharks.
Watching the beautiful sun sets on our own island.
Snorkelling in the Blue Lagoon.
Chilling all day in the hammocks and drinking cocktails.
No. of Injuries/bites/stings: 3 (The flu, The shits, A dodgy knee)
No. of emotional breakdowns: 2 (all Kim)
No. of arguments: 0
No. of Tubs of Ice cream consumed: 0 :O(
No. of Books read: 4
No. of insect encounters: Too many to mention. It brings back bad memories!!
Bon Voyage!!
James and Kimberley
Travel Blog Posts
The Tuk-tuk scam!
Crossing the boarder from Thailand to Cambodia we thought it would be relatively painless as we had decided to travel by minivan which had strangely been ‘pimped’ out with a DVD player, neon lights and a huge speaker system allowing us to watch several movies and listen to head banging German techno for the 7 hour journey. However, this wasn’t too be…….While planning our over land crossing we had heard of a scam being performed by the Thai’s were they stop at a fake visa office a couple of miles from the boarder crossing and say they will help you complete your visa paper work for a small fee. On cue we pulled into a lay-by / makeshift restaurant and they asked for our passports and 1200 baht (£24) for the visa, as we were aware ... read more
Go-Go Bars in Pattaya
Pattaya So after our teary goodbye with Kim’s friends we made our way over to the notorious city of Pattaya, famous for its sleazy sex industry and home to a large proportion of Thailand’s ladyboys. When Kim was a child she spent 2 years in Pattaya as her dad was working there at the time, so she was especially excited to see how it had changed and if all her memorable places were still standing. As we drove down the motorway towards the centre of Pattaya, Kim noticed her old school (ISP - International school of Pattaya) and started to get really excited as the memories of learning to speak Thai and flirting with all the European boys started coming back. When we were in Bali we met an English guy who coincidently had a fashionable ... read more
Our Villa
After an epic journey from coast to coast we made it to the island of Ko Phangan situated on the Eastern coast of Thailand….it had only taken three buses, a boat and a crazy taxi ride to get there. As always we were warmly greeted by a horde of touts offering hotels, bikes and other useless things we didn’t need the second we stepped off the boat but as we had already booked our accommodated we simply waved at them as we whizzed pass in our taxi. James has visited the island a few years ago and suggested going back to the same area he stayed at before, a small resort on the North West coast called Hadd Yao. We had decided to splash out and booked ourselves into a bungalow located on the hill overlooking ... read more
Cocktails!!
Phuket & Phi Phi - heading to the West Side! After a busy week of sightseeing, tourist spots and mind blowing experiences we were ready to relax and chill out for the next few weeks on the islands of the East and West side of Thailand. Although Phuket is considered to be part of the mainland it is a gateway to the islands on the West coast and was highlighted in the lonely planet as having many luxurious beaches. As Phuket had an airport we caught a flight from Chang Mai and headed for the town of Karon. Karon is next to Hat Patong and Hat Kata and together these places are host to a string of long golden beaches perfect for snorkelling and learning more about the Tsunami which hit all three places in 2004…or ... read more
A well deserved foot massage
So after a mad dash from Kho San road to Bangkok airport and a short flight north we eventually made it to Chiang Mai. The old city of Chiang Mai is a neat square bounded by moats and remnants of a medieval style wall built 700 years ago. It was a welcomed break from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and allowed us to sample some of Thailand’s amazing culture. We checked into a superb hotel called SK-1 and for a bargain price of $12 we had modern rooms with all the required amenities we have come to appreciate so much more - Hot water, AC and most importantly a western toilet. Our first evening was spent getting merrily drunk on cocktails, which was obvious when Amy started ordering Jizz Fins rather than Gin Fizzes and ... read more
James down Khao San Road
Sawadee Ka (hello) from Bangkok, …home to the Land of Smiles. After a hectic few days in Singapore we landed in Bangkok and realised that we had visited 3 countries (Bali, Singapore & Thailand) in the space of 3 days! Whoever said the life of a backpacker was relaxing, must have been lying! Kim nearly cried with relief and happiness when she spotted a Boots in the arrival terminal of the airport and obviously had to stock up on all the necessaries, leaving James wondering how many toiletries does one girl need!! A short bus ride from the airport we arrived at Khao San Road aka Backpacker central. This street is notorious for promoting cheap drinks, massage parlours, bargain clothes and a great party atmosphere. If you come here looking for traditional Thai culture you might ... read more
Raffles Hotel
Welcome to the home of the Singapore Sling…Singapore! On our way to Bangkok we decided to stop off in Singapore for a few days to check out the city and its famous zoo. Arriving late at night we were relieved to find that the MRT ran until midnight, which was useful as we had to catch 3 separate trains to our hostel and luckily made the last train by 2 minutes. Even though it was 1am the first thing we noticed about Singapore was how humid it was, which didn’t help the 200 meter walk to our hostel. To get around the city we read it was best to purchase an E-Z card which allows you to travel on all trains and bus around the city and we were happily surprised that the $10 card secured ... read more
P1010170
Indonesia - Part One Bali Hello Asia! After a tiring flight and a detour to Singapore we arrived in Bali, Indonesia. Our first stop Kuta! First impressions…lots of motorbikes, dogs, hagglers and surfer dudes. It was no wonder that Bali had been nicknamed Austral-asia. At the first sight of our accommodation that we were staying at that night Kim wanted to burst into tears. To say that our bedroom was no better than a prison cell was an understatement with red patches of paint on the wall that looked home to a bloodbath, smelly wet bed sheets and water that ran out of the sink onto the bathroom floor we nicknamed it Grimmauld Place. It’s a good job we were only there one night and too tired to care. It was in Kuta that we met ... read more
Good air time
Australia - East Coast So after a teary goodbye we waved off everyone at Manly Wharf and made our way to the airport to catch a short flight up the coast to Byron Bay. When we arrived the first thing we noticed was how green the area was as we expected it to be more sandy as it was generally hotter the further north you go. We checked into our hostel - Nomads Odyssey, which is a chain of hostels throughout New Zealand and Oz that tends to have a reputation of being packed full of 18 year olds, constantly on the piss and trying to pull everyone in there! The only reason we booked this hostel was because it was brand new, located in the centre of Byron and was relatively cheap. It was the ... read more
Three Sisters - Blue Mountains
Weekends away There are quite a few nice weekends away that you can do around Sydney. The first that we did was a trip up to the Blue Mountains, situated within a world heritage site two hours West of Sydney. We set off on a beautiful Saturday morning for what we thought would be a lovely drive into the mountains…..if only we knew what an epic trip it would be. We borrowed Simon’s little Suzuki jeep and folded back the soft top roof as the weather was amazing, but after speeding down the motorway we soon realised this was a mistake. Firstly; the remaining half of the roof collapsed, blocking James view out of the rear view mirror and sent him into a bit of a frenzy. Secondly; it was reported to be the hottest day ... read more
Places we Have Been 
Home 
Place still left to conquer!! 
