8/50 Taking the leap

Whilst resisting the temptation to fill this post entirely with “Eeeeeeeeee…” I am very excited to announce that we have booked the flights for the first part of our trip.  After much tortuous decision making we finally agreed that taking two months to go to Asia pre-Nanny’s birthday is what we both really wanted to do.  And since we’ll (just about) have the means to do that trip and go to South America, we couldn’t see a particularly good reason not to.

So, on May 2nd (220 days away, not that I’m counting) we’ll be flying from London to Bangkok on Singapore Airlines and then on the 6th July we’ll fly from Kuala Lumpur back to London.  Although there were flights available for as little at £500, we decided to stump up a little extra cash for an airline we both like and is definitely not going to go bust, along with the luxury of arriving and leaving from our different chosen airports.  So, all in, we paid £617 which I’m rather happy with.  All we need to do now to make our money back is drink the difference in Singapore Slings on the plane.

Now, the trip may be booked but that doesn’t mean I have a clue what we’re planning to do while we’re there. Any input gratefully received!  The places and activities we have in mind at the moment include:

• Places – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia
• Activities -
• We’d like to do the next step in our diving qualification to bump us up to ‘advanced’. That’ll most likely be in Thailand but we’d love to do some diving in Malaysia too
• Two of my favourite people in the world will be in South East Asia at the same time and for some of the time they’ll be volunteering with a turtle conservation charity so I’d love to get involved with that
• Angkor Wat seems to be a must
• To Tube or not to Tube?… hmmmm well the Full moon party turned out to be far better than anyone had suggested so maybe tubing needs to be given a chance

And that actually is the sum total of what I have so far.  I’m desperately behind in my research, but hopefully having a concrete plan will make it easier to start viewing places as real opportunities rather than distant dreams.

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At the moment I clicked to confirm the purchase my heart raced and my palms were damp.  The simplest of movements would cement the vague plans I’d had in mind for the last 18 months into some semblance of a reality.  It would start the ball rolling on a process which will eventually lead to me quitting my job, getting rid of almost everything I own and jetting off to travel and live abroad for an indeterminate amount of time.  All of this could be achieved with a minute movement.  A slight application of pressure from my finger tip mirroring the pressure I place on myself to make the most out of life and to not let fear hold me back.  My brave face belies the fears that instantly rise up , goading me to turn back, to take the easy path.  The what-if demons are clamouring to say their piece, chipping away at my certainty.  I draw a ragged, panicky breath.  I am on a precipice preparing myself to jump and self preservation is fighting to make itself heard.  I leash these thoughts together and drag them to one side of my mind. I tell myself “you will not regret this” and “if it’s scary, you’re probably doing the right thing”.  And with these thoughts, just as the light of day reveals that the monsters under the bed are no more than lost socks, my fears are quelled. I take Alan’s hand in mine and together we press the button. ‘Click’  My fears eye me reproachfully from the corner, they are not yet defeated but they know this battle is lost.

Related posts:

1. 7/50: Being left behind – when friends go travelling
2. 6/50: Combatting Travel Indecision
3. The pre-trip fears
4. Proximity Travel
5. Travelling with hand luggage only