Preparing for the off

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Less than three weeks to go and I've finally got together the kit, the meds and hopefully all the vaccinations I'll need on my trip ( Japanese B Encephalitis isn't to be recommened).

As I've discovered in the last three months, making arrangements to take a year out of your normal life is quite a complicated process. I thought it would just be a matter of cancelling a few direct debits, sticking a couple of boxes in my parent's loft, (sorry folks) grabbing my ruck-sack and going but, alas, this is not the case. When it comes down to it, you realise there are hundreds of 'little things' one has in their lives, which often add up to making a trip like this impossible.

Fortunately, I began my planning early and, although my new sleeping bag (Snugpak Softie Elite 3!) only turned up today, knew that I'd have time to get everything sorted before D-Day. Having said that, I haven't seen my passport in well over a month, but am sure it's having a whale of a time on its tour of the Turkmen, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Chinese embassies...

So, the next 19 days will be my chance to tidy up the last few odds and ends of my current life and say my goodbyes to you fine people.

My basic itinerary for my trip is as follows:

Dover to Calais by ferry, then Overland truck,
Crossing Europe quickly to Istanbul, where I spend a few days, then
Northern Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ex-Soviet ferry across the Caspian Sea to
Turkmenistan, Ukbekistan, Kyrgystan, Northern China to Beijing.

After which I'll be back-packing solo down through Southern China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore. Then either fly to Perth, Australia, or continue travelling down through Indonesia to Bali and fly from there.

I'll spend an indeterminate amount of time in Oz and New Zealand and then decide (if money allows) whether on not to spend some time in India before coming home.

Barring incidents and accidents my next entry should be from Istanbul!

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Photos

Travel Kit
So what you're saying is, I've got to get all of that...in there?