Am I really going?

With absoloute minimal planning and organisation I am as ready as I will be to go off on Jarnold’s big adventure. I pretty much got my stuff together in the last few weeks. According to my ‘rough guide’ for first time travellers I should have been planning for months, literally at least 6 months ago. Shit, well I’ve managed to fit in Planning a year long trip (as best as I could!) in about a day. After finishing work and having a rough idea in my head trying to buy a twelve month airline ticket around the world wasn’t enough. I only found this out after phoning Trailfinders with ‘I kinda want to go’ didn’t really work and after they said ‘well, you really need to know what airports you want to fly to, and for how long’ the enormity of what I should have had planned hit me. Visa’s, destinations, costs, innoculations, routes… Having a few pennies wasn’t enough and organising those shitty buearacatic rubbish was all sorted albeit, rather hurried – you know me!

But i’ve bloody done it and i’m feeling pretty smug about it too! Literally getting my Chinese visa, Australian working holiday visa and five jabs in pretty much the space of a couple of days I think is pretty good going, and still with 2 full days I reckon I have plenty of time. I have idea how the hell I get from Beijing to Shanghai and to Hong kong. I figure I can work that out once I get to Beijing. Can’t be that difficult – I’ll just point to places and shout!

Well that’s China planned. As for Thailand no idea, and Australia, well, thats in August so…

Obviously with my super organisational and planning skills, I still have gear to get but this bit is actually fun (you know – spending money). But seeing as I am in reading at a ridiculously early time of the day (9am) shops are barely open and I thought I’d get a coffee (funily enough the ‘proper’ cafe’s coffee machine was broken – better get used to that!) and start on this blog and get used to writing. Havn’t written anything longer than a few paragraphs in since A-levels and now it’s just brief emails to people trying to organise an impromptu night out or trying to justify to clients why stuff wasn’t done and that it will be done in the next few hours…

Right, don’t really want to right too much, but at the moment I am feeling pretty relaxed as per, in no way does it feel I am leaving British soil a year and It feels like i’m not really leaving. I guess that will change I hope at least once I get to the airport.

Its going to be sad leaving my life here (even though I don’t look like I am!) – I guess I am going to have to leave out the rose at least till I feel I meet a group of people who know I’m not gay, and I must remember to be more cautious when talking to other guys (not too dissimilar to Saturdays leaving do talking to that guy – I did wonder why he just started chtting to me?!) as pointed out to me, that and I need some kind of ‘gaydar’. Oh, and not forgetting the notorious chickboys. But I wont get into that – I’m not picking up nothing for nobody!…

I am going to miss you guys and gals (no tears yet but perhaps in the departure lounge as I peruse men’s health…)who have known about my ‘chavels’ and guess thought I’d never go even though I keep saying I would. Quitting the 9 till 5 or in my case 10:30 till 5 was the best thing I ever did and did get my arse into gear slightly. I also thought I best do it soon because I would look a bit of a twat…

Right, time for a bit of shoe shopping and toiletries (No, I’m not gay!).

Post De Jour!

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