Prep! Prep! Prep!

OMG the last few months have included endless planning, many distractions and some harsh realizations. I decided in my last semester of University that I wanted to spend some time travelling abroad and I started researching places to go and volunteer and embrace new cultures. It has been a looooong process but now with only 2 weeks to go before I depart for Bangkok, Thailand I am filled with feelings of excitment, anxiety and fearlessness ;) I will be travelling to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bali in SE Asia and then I have the amazing opportunity to see some of my oldest friends celebrate their love in Scotland where they will be getting married, from there I get to end my worldly adventure in Italy with my best friend, my mom. My trip will span just over 5 months, gah!! Who could be more lucky than this girl right here?

I will post a separate post with my very fluid itinerary of where I will be and when - the invitation is OPEN to EVERYONE who is thinking they may want to just pop over to Asia for a mini vacay :P

Now for any of you planning to travel start early because things pop up out of no where! Talk to anyone and everyone! Everyone has something to tell you that you never would have thought of. There are visas, travel clinics and vaccinations, flights, and packing - endless packing and Oh man so much more! For example for Vietnam you need to get your Visa BEFORE you go. I needed to send off my passport, a money-order payment, an application and a passport photo to the Vietnam embassy in Ottawa - I am still waiting, only a little anxiously, for its return. Also I need an excess of passport photos for ID's and visas and bus passes etc! It is crazy and endless. Some of the things on my to do list are due to the fact that I am volunteering but still! I still haven't packed a thing I have a corner in my room full of piles of stuff I think I need to bring with me - I'm guessing half of it will end up staying home haha 

Moral of the story - travelling is overwhelmingly wonderful takes some solid prep :)