How time has crept up on me!

With 3 weeks to go, I realised I still had rather a lot to do... So it was time to actually sort out small things like travel insurance, where I'm going to stay when I land (Islander Backpackers Resort, Surfers Paradise as it turned out!) and an Aus bank account. So with a productive afternoon I have relieved some of those pressures from myself. Also, taken a huge chunk of money from me too. Who knew a decent backpack would cost nearly £100?! And that's one of the smaller ones...

I think until I actually started my 'To-Do Before Aus' list I hadn't quite anticipated a) how much there is actually to do when planning a year out and b) how much things are going to cost before you even get there! You spend SO much just getting things organised, let alone living costs once you're out there. It will be worth it! But I would definitely tell someone thinking about their travels to make a list of all the other costs that go into just getting your trip together...

In all honesty, I'm petrified to be going! Doing it solo is not what I had expected, would have been nice to share the experience with a friend! But I am meeting Danni (one of my uni girls) and Sophie (who I met in South Africa back in Feb) who are both currently travelling! I am very excited to go out and see them both. We are going to start in Surfers Paradise and work our way North up the coast towards Cairns, where we are hoping the weather will be nicer. I know it's a bit of an odd time to be going out as it will be their winter, but the plan is to work for 6 months after doing a little exploring before hopefully going on to Asia and finishing up in South America.

I have booked a tour in South America with G Adventures which crosses the continent! We will start in Lima, Peru and finish in Rio, Brazil. Unfortunately, the tour starts next March so it's a way off! But will definitely be an amazing way to end my year, and I'm sure I'm going to find it impossible to leave after that.

I think the most exciting thing about the trip is that I'm visiting all the continents that I've never been before! Minus the Arctic and Antartica - they'll have to be next. It's going to be so great to experience these different cultures and I'll get to do things unlike anything I've done before. Hoping to get a few things ticked off my bucket list.

Maybe my next post will be a bucket list, so at the end of the year we can see exactly how much I manage to do!

Well, that's all for now. Eeeeek, not long!