Hello from the depths of a very stressed out Scottish girls pile of clothes which all have to fit into a tiny little rucksack and allow her to survive her clothes obsessed life for a whole bloody year. S O S. All jokes aside, I can literally not believe that I leave Scotland on Sunday with no return flight or date planned. It is scary, exciting, nerve-wracking and basically frickin' crazy! It feels like (excuse the overused and cheesy phrase) yesterday that me and James booked our trip, and now its a matter of days and hours until we throw ourselves into a whole new life and way of living. Like I said, scary, but exciting. It is a feeling I've never felt before. I consider myself a bit of a mummy's girl, and having never spent more than a week away from home without my family; leaving home for a whole year is quite a daunting thought. The excitement is unreal, but there is a lot going through my head. Regardless to my slight feelings of apprehension, I could not ask for a better travel buddy. After all, life is way too short to think of all the what if's and all the things that could go wrong. If all we did was meticulously consider all the negative possibilities, we would end up doing (not so sweet) nothing with our lives, and who wants that? It is scary leaving my family behind, but it is awesome knowing and thinking of all the memories and new people we will meet along our way.
Continuing on from my last post, I don't feel ready to commit to a university course, or a fancy grown up job. I want to see the world and explore new cultures and ways of living. For someone who an arty farty nerd like me, travel is probably the most appealing future for me at the moment. Learning and seeing new cultures, religions, people and landscapes. And just think of the photographs!
Prepping and packing has been a daunting and challenging hurdle, after all, I could potentially be away for a whole year. If I wasn't such a photography, makeup and clothes obsessive packing would be fairly easy. It is almost heartbreaking leaving behind all my well loved woolly jumpers and boots, but somehow I doubt Thailand and Australia will accommodate such Scottish necessities. Both James and myself have opted to go for a backpack over a suitcase. Once we reach Australia our travel plans are very much...well, unplanned! Therefore the likelihood of staying in different places every few days is very high; backpack just seems easier for our needs. With some advice and recommendations we went for a Vango Freedom 80l + 20l daybag. I am no expert but to me this bag is perfect for anyone going for a long-term travelling holiday. It is comfortable, spacious and practical. There is handle on the side of the bag, and a over-shoulder strap giving you multiple carrying options. For flying, there is a material cover that zips over the straps to prevent them getting caught on anything. The small daybag is a perfect size with lots of handy internal pockets and slots. It also zips and clips onto the large backpack which means you can easily have it attached during your flight without the worry of it falling off. Overall I would highly recommend this bag.
Due to my huge struggle to decide what clothes to bring, I also decided to buy some reusable vaccum bags to keep my clothes compact and organised. These were super cheap from Amazon, which is where I bought a lot of my little travel goodies.
Moving away from my packing stress, the last few weeks have flown by. I decided to leave my work three weeks before we officially flew to give me time to see family, friends, and generally prepare. Even with three weeks I found myself struggling to do all the things I wanted to. There was a lot of celebrating, a lot of wine and a lot of meals out. I even graduated from college this week, which was a great reason to see and spend time with my family, as well as an excuse get dolled up. My mum prepared me an early Christmas dinner, and I got to open some early Christmas and birthday gifts, since I won't be home for either occasions. These small details that my family worked to do for me is one of the many reasons I will miss home.
Before this post gets real deep and emotional, I will bring it to a close. Next time I write you all a post, I'll be at the other side of the globe.
Over and out Scotland!