Flight Itinerary

So, I head to London tomorrow to spend a little while with some close friends before flying to South Africa on Monday evening. I'd like to say I'm feeling excited, but I have to say at the moment apprehensive would be a better term.

It seems like such a mammoth task. I went into this thinking 'oh yeah, travel round the world for a year, it'll be great'...as my lighthearted and incredibly impulsive mindset quietly tramples its frivolous way over logic and fear. This, by the way, is the only reason I ever do anything that people might perceive as bravery. I think the enormity of it all is scaring me at the moment...here's to hoping that the oxygen depleted atmosphere of the flight sends me hypoxia induced state of light-headed lightheartedness once more.

Some people have been asking about my flight itinerary, so I thought I'd provide a vague picture of where I intend to be, and when, and what I should be doing:

Date	Transport + Location	Activity
17/11/2008	Flight
	U.K - Cape Town, South Africa	Sightseeing
01/12/2008	Flight
	C.T, S.Af - Delhi, India	Sightseeing
		Travelling overland
12/12/2008	(overland)
	Kathmandu, Nepal	Sightseeing
14/12/2008	Nepal Placement	Volunteering
		Days off
16/02/2009	End of Nepal Placement	Sightseeing
26/02/2009	Flight
	K., N. - Bangkok, Thailand	Sightseeing
02/03/2009	Start of Thailand Placement	Volunteering
		Days off
26/04/2009	End of Thailand Placement	Sightseeing
		Travelling overland
20/05/2009	Flight
	Singapore - Sydney, Australia	Working
		Days off
		Sightseeing
30/08/2009	Flight
	S., A. - Auckland, New Zealand	Sightseeing
25/09/2009	Flight
	N.Z - Santiago, Chile	Sightseeing
		Travelling overland
		Volunteering (5 weeks)
		Days off
15/11/2009	Flight
	Lima, Peru - U.K

Hope that's of some use!

I actually did manage to fit everything in my bag (just!), and it comes to a respectable 15kg (compare this with the 24kg bag I took to America for 8 weeks). Unfortunately, I seem to have lost a lot of the strength in my arms since the glandular fever, so it feels just as heavy as the previous bag. Hopefully once my strength gets back up to normal this pack should feel relatively light.

After chatting with John, we now plan to go trekking in a variety of places and as such, I decided to add a sleeping bag to my equipment list. This caused quite a lot of trouble in the packing department but I think I have a system that works now (i.e. squishing it down to a third of its normal size in a Snugpack, courtesy of Brigg Outdoors, and sticking on top of my pack).

Andy (the charming fellow at Brigg Outdoors) told me he used to teach jungle survival courses, which had me squealing with delight like a 12 year old at an Sugababes concert. He seemed a little taken aback by my reaction; nevertheless, he provided me with some very interesting and resourceful tips (who thought that toilet activities and cling film could be united in a productive manner?). His comments indicate that resourcefulness, imagination, and a definite lack of squeamishness are going to be useful on this trip.