Culture vulture

Lots of people go travelling because they want to experience new things, and I am no exception.

I mean, what better opportunity to try something different than when I'm living in a new country, doing a different job and surrounded by opportunity!

There are a lot of things I've read about that take my fancy, but some appeal to a side of me that's been waiting patiently to be awakened.

Like a cookery course in Thailand. It’s an untapped passion of mine to cook, and my brownies are notorious in my office. I recently went on an evening cooking class for a friend’s birthday and really enjoyed it; I even prepared the shrimps, poo removal and everything! Taking a cookery class in Thailand, one of my favourite cuisines would be great fun and a fantastic way to immerse myself in a small part of Thai culture, smiling all the way.

Like a day as an elephant trainer! I love a bit a nature and an elephant experience is right at the top of my list of must do's. Another friend who recently visited Thailand was shocked by some of the treatment of elephants she saw, so it's important to me that wherever we have our experience the elephants are property cared for and not exploited. Elephant's are beautiful, majestic animals and the biggest I think I'll ever be able to get close to.

Like a yoga and meditation retreat! I'm not a Buddhist, I don't have a yogi, I don't even attend a regular yoga class, but I am craving something. I love to stretch out after a run, and wish I knew how to calm my mind, so yoga with meditation sounds (and has always sounded) right up my street. But I also feel I need to explore my feelings around belief, faith and spirituality. It's these things that a yoga class in a sweaty gym might never be able to provide and if I'm perfectly honest, I'm too nervous to attend a real yoga class with so little knowledge of what its all about.

Like scuba diving! Nothing says Gili Island culture to me than a short scuba course, and with my awesome aqua shoes in my backpack, it's only the fear I get of inhaling water whilst submerged and wearing a weighted belt that I have to worry about! But hey, I'm not going to let that stop me!

So there it is, my culture vulture wish list, because if not now, when?

Carpe diem.

Are you awake? Me too.

I led in bed last night wide awake and unable to turn my mind off. That's Sunday nights! All the rest from the weekend wiped out in a flash as I toss and turn all night thinking about logistics and a to-do list for the week, month, rest of my life!

I know Mark often goes through the same thing, lying silently next to me mulling over everything and nothing.

Last night though, we broke the silence and at 12.02am admitted to ourselves that we were awake and set about trying to remedy the situation.

Hot milk - Check
Few minutes reading - Check
Switching off - No way

The fact of the matter is we are just too excited about moving to Vietnam in just 8 weeks time! 8 WEEKS!!

We've got bags of equipment, clothing and luggage all waiting to be ripped open and packed; I have lost a full corner of my bedroom!

So, here are a few of my favourite things I have stored up so far:

1. Aqua shoes
These are quite possibly the single most important purchase I have made. You see I have a massive fear of stepping on some sort of poisonous animal in the sea, but no more with these babies! (And they totally match my bag!)

2. My watch
Mark bought me this beautiful watch for my birthday this year. One of my wishes from when we are travelling is to be less reliant on my phone, not checking it every 5 minutes, only using technology for research and entertainment. A watch was a must have (so much so I actually got 2). This one even has a turtle on it, to remind me of the amazing experience I had in Mexico watching a turtle lay her eggs on my honeymoon.

3. First Aid Kit
Again with the cautious side of me! I feel much better now I have a basic first aid kit and it is jammed FULL of essentials. Bandages, paracetamol, sterile wipes you name it!

4. My bag - A Berghaus Capacitor 35L
Mark insisted I got the more reasonably sized bag and let him do all the heavy lifting... and they say romance is dead.

Claire's top apps for travelling

So now that I've finally got a tablet (thanks Mum!) I'm deep in thought planning which apps to download for whilst we are away.

Here are my top 6 - because I couldn't keep it to 5.

1. Skype
Not only is Skype going to be critical for late night/early morning chats with the family, but so far all of our TEFL job interviews have taken place on Skype. We can only hope we can do the same when we are applying for jobs back in the UK!

2. Air BnB
Since starting a budget plan for our travels, Air BnB has stood out as a quick and easy way of finding cheap accommodation in even the most unlikely of places.

3. Skyscanner
Whilst we would like to do as much travelling as we can overland, there will be times when we will need to fly, and Skyscanner is the best way of finding the cheapest flights.

4. Instagram
It's finally my turn to take an amazing trip, and I plan on sharing some envy inducing 'grams!

5. First Aid by British Red Cross
My practical and cautious side tells me this app, which even works offline, will be a very important app to have in my repertoire.

6. Kindle
Even though I am a self-certified paper preacher, books are unfortunately bulky, so I'll only be bringing a few choice paper books with me, and will rely on the Kindle app for all other reading aside from what I can pick up whilst on the road!

We have a heading!

After months of training, early morning interviews, and a little negotiating, we finally know where we are starting our adventure...

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam!

Yes, as of March 2014 - 10 weeks time - we will be living an working in the south of this beautiful country in either Can Tho or Vinh Long. 

We've been planning our travels for a long time now, so its exciting to finally have a start point and date, and even better one that's not even very far away. 

Let the countdown begin!

I'm a teacher!

A little over 4 months after I started my TEFL course*, I've qualified. I am a teacher.

At least that's what I got to put on the sign up form on the job site I just signed up for. How exciting!

The course was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to find a job and start planning the next steps of our adventure.

My CV is written, I've got all my certificates and a list of jobs to apply for. Lets get going!

To celebrate, here is the picture I snapped Mark when my certificate came through...

*My TEFL course was 140 Hours long and provided by i-to-i TEFL. Find out more about the TEFL course I did on the i-to-i website.