Getting ready to go travelling!

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So... Just 9 days to go until I leave my one-bedroom flat in Crystal Palace, South London and embark on the journey around South East Asia I've been planning since September last year.

About me

I first visited Malaysia in June 2006, after a recommendation from a colleague at Imperial College London where I was working on my PhD in computational biology. I stayed in Penang for just under 3 weeks and I loved it. In January '08 I went on holiday once again to Malaysia, returning to Penang before moving on to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and then spending a week and a half in New Zealand. I travelled solo in Malaysia & Singapore and met up with friends from London in NZ.

I took a job as a statistician in the civil service after the funding for my PhD ended, and in my spare time wrote up my PhD thesis, prepared for the viva and completed the amendments that were required by the examiners. I was awarded the doctorate last May.

In September I took up my department's offer, made as a result of the UK government's funding cuts, of voluntary early severance with a view to taking some time out to travel. I gave notice on my flat and began preparation for a few months travelling in Asia.

Plans

With the intention of staying in low-budget accommodation (hostels and low-end B&Bs), eating cheaply and keeping spending on entertainment to a minimum I worked out that I could afford to travel in SEA for around 3-4 months. I quite fancied visiting the Philippines as well as the countries in the itinerary below, but the expense of the flights would make a considerable hole in my budget. If I find I am running well money-wise by the time I get to Vietnam I'll perhaps get the chance to go there on this trip.

My outline itinerary is as follows:
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur, Penang
THAILAND: Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Ko Samui/Ko Pha Ngan, Bangkok, Ko Samet
CAMBODIA: Siem Reap, Battambang, Phnom Penh
VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Khe Sanh
LAOS: Savannakhet, Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang
THAILAND: Chiang Mai, Pai, Bangkok
SINGAPORE: Singapore
MALAYSIA: Melaka, Kuala Lumpur

I am going to be travelling independently so this is entirely flexible (apart from that I land in KL from London, I booked that flight months ago) - if nothing else it'll be interesting to look back on this plan and compare it with how things actually work out!

Leaving my flat

Since the last day at my civil service job, and Christmas and New Year came and went I've spent more time on clearing and preparing to leave my flat than anything else. I tried a few approaches to selling the furniture and some of the appliances in my flat, including putting it up on Gumtree (free ads site popular in London) and putting posters up in some of the newsagents' windows in Crystal Palace. Neither of those gave much joy, but I've had a good experience selling them on eBay as collection only. I bought much of the furniture from Gumtree originally and I was pleasantly surprised to find some items actually sold for a higher price on eBay than I paid for it originally! The money from this has really helped with some of the expenses associated with moving, such as having to get cleaners in at the end of my tenancy.

One thing that has been a bit of a letdown is the price of storage. It was mainly clothes, books, CDs, some papers and electronics and personal nick-nacks that I didn't want to give away or sell; I enquired about this at the Safestore place that is quite local to me in Anerley but it works out far cheaper to have stuff couried up to my parents (who live in Tyneside) by DHL than to use the Safestore place, especially since I don't know for certain I'll be coming back to the UK in 4 months. I used Interparcel for the couriering - watch this space to find if it worked out OK! Of course, I am very fortunate that I can send this stuff to my parents, and also redirect mail to my parents' house rather than using one of the Mailbox services because again these are rather expensive and again I'd have to pay by the month/year.

The map that will (hopefully - I'm trying this function out) appear on the top of this post shows some of the places I've been in London over the last 2 weeks or so. I met up with friends who I won't see for a while after I leave for Malaysia in most of these places: The Royal George in Charing Cross Road where I met up with Neil, Vicky and Mark - I met Neil through the Haven music forums (formerly Dotmusic) and the others thanks to him; the Met Bar in Baker Street where I met up with Bill, Alan, Prem, Irfan, Stephen, Darren, Jon and others at Bill's pub meet-up; Imperial College in East Acton where I did my PhD work; and the West London Trades Union Club on Acton High Street. I lived in Acton for over four years and became a regular at this left-leaning social club, did some voluntary work behind the bar for a time and met some very good friends there, too many to name.

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Comments

[Mark Iles]

Bon Voyage
Well, Ian The count is ticking down and down, closer and closer to you getting on your flight. Good to have met you, and I look forward to hearing regular updates about the serendipitous experiences you are sure to have. Mark

[D MJ Binkley]

How exciting- great plan
One of my favorite places in Thailand is Kanchanaburi so I hope you will consider adding it to your list. Can't wait to read your first blog on the road. To hear about your perceptions and see your photos. Happy Travels!