Suzanne here.... For the first time ever on any of our travels, the bus didn't arrive to pick us up. To be more accurate, it was full so drove straight past us. Cue our friendly homestay host Made looking anxious and texting them. To be fair I think someone would have come back for us eventually, but as it was just down the road I hopped on the back of Made's scooter and David walked down. The boat trip with Pacha / Kuda Hitam (two brands but the same firm) cost IDR 240 each, it was rather uncomfortable. Wet gritty floor, hard narrow seats, noisy and a strong smell of diesel fumes. But it got us there. We'd decided to do Gili Air first, the smallest and furthest away from Bali and nearest to Lombok. It's ... read more

Suzanne here... RUN TO THE HILLS, RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIFE! Our Bali trip so far had been fine. I don't think we gave Kuta a fair chance, but unless you are in a posh resort I think it can get a bit much, and we'd never planned to stick around. Ubud was better, if still very touristy. But the paddy field walk and cafe were a joy. Still, David was getting a bit weary of the heat, so we decided to escape to the hills of Munduk for cooler climes. We couldn't find much info online about transport so had planned to get a bus to Bendegul. Then at the last minute David spotted a door to door trip for IDR 160k (£10) each. Possibly a tad more expensive but much easier. So we booked it ... read more

Suzanne here... The eleven hour flight to Bangkok was fine. I had wondered what a long-haul flight with a budget carrier would be like, but Eurowings were pretty good. Neither of us managed to sleep though. We arrived in Bankok at 9am, and took the City Line to Phaya Thai. I felt just a bit of trepidation on the journey in for some reason. Not because it was new, we've been to Bangkok before. It was more because it was familiar. Seeing it all again reminded me of how noisy and chaotic Asia is, and we were willingly putting ourselves through it once more. After a bit of confusion which way to go (managed it as much by luck as judgement) we found our hotel easily enough. The Royal View Rang Nam was expensive by backpacker ... read more

David here... We set off for Köln tomorrow from Stansted via Peterborough - an opportunity to have a final, traditional pub lunch before flying out of the country for 12 months. We both finished work on Friday, which was an odd experience for both of us even though we'd done it previously. It didn't really feel like we were leaving work, despite both having nice leaving drinks with our colleagues. We both felt that once Monday came around we would be at work again as normal. Obviously Monday came around and we didn't head off to work as normal, though we couldn't have a lie-in as we had to get up to put our mattress outside for the council to take away. We timed it well as they arrived as soon as we had closed the ... read more

David here... Well, we've been home for almost two months now and we are well and truly back into the rhythm of 'normal life'. When we arrived home to the United Kingdom we felt quite depressed. The skies were grey and it was cold and drizzly. It kind of summed up how we were feeling. It was nice to see friends and family again, to hand over presents and sort through the stuff we'd collected on our travels, but for the first few weeks, it is fair to say that we just wanted to be out on the road again. Throwing away our trusty backpacks but battered was tough. For me, it was especially hard going back to work and getting back into that routine, though I know I am very lucky to have had a ... read more