My god there is even a bit of space left...

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It has been a short time coming really, most people dream and plan their round the world trips over serval months, years even; but in our case it was all a bit sudden! Which to those that know Lauren will not be suprised in the slightest! Yet many dreams were made into reality in two short months, not long really to plan such an escapade yet enough to really feel that we have made a big dent into the Internet!



Now we write this blog primarily for friends and family that are interested in what we are up to, and for those that may wish to escape everyday reality and look at some hopefully beautiful sights of beaches, Buddhas and burnt Ben and Lauren! We are not promising great literature, or even semi-decent literature but we hope that we give it a good go that a few may actually look forward to reading about our adventures, or at least make it to the end of the page!



The countdown well and truly has begun with less than a week till we depart heathrow and what have we done I hear you ask? Well Lauren has trawled the Internet for weeks on end and Ben has agreed with everything! An itinerary was fairly easy to form we both knew were we did, and perhaps more importantly where we didn't want to go. We also knew that we did have a time constraint, in that we have an awesome adventure to return for in late January, chasing the Northern Lights! So that said and map in front of us, we were quick, maybe too quick to dismiss South America. Again those that know Lauren will be aware the biggest fear she has is that of God's less desirable creatures, snakes, spiders, anything with legs that isn't cute and fluffy! So having read Brazil is home to the world's deadliest spider right in the middle of Rio and we wouldn't see carnival we decided to miss the continent out! We did really want to see the Iguazu Falls so have settled on Niagara instead, and we did like the look of Machu Picchu but Rome wasn't built in a day and the world will be there for the next trip.



So where have we got our little hearts set on? Well Ben has traveled before and seen some of the wonders of South East Asia, and being kind on our wallets we decided this would be our jumping off point, not just going to places Ben has been but finding new unwalked paths too, he didn't do Hong Kong for instance or tubing in Laos. So we have added areas and not spending much time in the places he went that he didn't think would interest Lauren. We had written a top ten holiday destination list after our honeymoon and said this is where we go no matter what, so of course we aren't doing that! But we have tried to incorporate some of those places - so on that list we had:-

Florida, Canada, Tokoyo, Maldives, Egypt, Dubai, New York, Las Vegas, Norway and Skopelos, Greece.

We shall be hitting the USA therefore encountering Florida, New York and Las Vegas plus crossing the border to Canada. We are flying to Dubai first so that shall be done! We are going to Norway next year as said earlier; now we chose Maldives as Fiji always seemed out of reach, but score, with heading Down Under we hit this beautiful collection of islands. Likewise we wanted Greece as the beaches seemed amazing but with Thailand, Malaysia and even Vietnam to an extent we shall be seeing better!

So next holidays we shall be taking in Egypt and Tokoyo, sorted! We have therefore done well compiling the trip and those that are intrigued to know the full itinerary will just have to keep reading!

Next up was the challenge of packing, again those that know Lauren will be aware of her sheer collection of shoes and her love of heels, her hate of wearing the same outfit twice and wanting to grow her hair long! So with that in mind- NO heels have been packed, she has about 6 outfits TOTAL, and has had all her hair cut SHORT!! This should be interesting for Ben! Ben is the type of person now that doesn't think what he will be wearing, Lauren has already sorted it and never has to worry about clean clothes, Lauren has always done it- you may be guessing there may be no change for him...watch this space then! Netherthe less the bags have been packed and shockingly there is some room! We were able as traveling together to combine some things that solo travellers would have to take each ie, mosquito net, torch, medical kit etc, so we have divided up quite fairly, Lauren has 7kg of clothes and Ben has 13kg of toiletries shoes and the towels! It has to be noted his bag does weigh 4kg empty but has better back structure so he can easily take the weight!



We have been lucky to speak to many previous travellers in the last few weeks and feel we are very equipped for most eventualities, from a fake wallet,photocopies of, well, everything, secret money holders in Lauren's bra and even a slash proof cover for the backpack! If anyone reading this wants any further info on what we have taken please just ask we are more than happy to oblige. This blog won't be the ideal replacement to lonely planet guides but we may well give some pointers if we encounter something worth sharing!

That should cover us for now, we've had one leaving party and one still to come on Sunday before we head to London on Monday, have a fabulous last night with Lauren's mum and her friend before the seemingly easy 7 hour flight to Dubai, although last time we flew from here to Vegas and San Francisco we did have a 4/5 hour delay so here is to wishful thinking it will all run smoothly!



All we can say is we hope it's legen....wait for it.....

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Comments

[Auntie Jacqui]

Have a ball
It was really lovely seeing you both today. I will read your blog regularly and update grandma!! What a really fantastic life changing opportunity for you both and knowing the lengths you have gone to to be prepared I can only say......Im soooooo jealous - have a ball.xxxxxxxxxxx