The Big idea
The inspiration! Left to right: Debs, Hannah (our mum!), Carey, Nina, Katy (our aunt) in Koh Samui, Thailand, 1990
We’ve been talking about this trip for ever, or that’s how it feels. Dora and are I following in our mum’s footsteps after growing up hearing of countless adventures that she and her sister had travelling around the World. They returned from Australia to the UK, almost all on buses, boats and trains. What an adventure.
And now it’s our turn. It was while staying at our Nana’s in North Wales, cosy and childlike in our bed in March 2024, that Dora and I finally decided we would do it. We would attempt to get from our homes in the UK to Australia by land and sea.
It’s been a big and transitional year for both of us, with a big breakup, a university graduation, two new jobs, two house moves, one move to a new city, and lots of uncertainty. What better time!
So we looked at a map and plotted out our perfect route, with a few additions thanks to the BBC’s addictive TV show Race Across the World. The plan is to go through Europe to Turkey, and head from there to the Caucuses – taking in Georgia and Azerbaijan. After that, we’ll cross the Caspian Sea in a three day long boat ride cooped up in a cargo ferry with truck drivers for company and nothing to do but play cards. I am weirdly excited about this ever so slightly hellish sounding leg. We will dock in Kazakhstan where we will spend a couple of months exploring the Stans and doing Workaways – the international scheme where you can find places all over the world to work a few hours a day for your board and lodging. I’m picturing romantic scenes of horse riding in luscious meadows and making yoghurt outside yurts before we head into China. This will be the big one – we’ll cross China and maybe head to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea before our journey takes us back into China and beyond. Or, maybe we’ll go down into Nepal India and Sri Lanka before returning to China and South East Asia. This is our gap year part of the trip, and having never done a gap year I’m pretty excited about it! We’ll spend a while exploring Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand before we head through Indonesia and try our luck catching a boat to Australia. Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
Of course there’s a lot to grapple with in terms of visas, border crossings and working out where it’s safe to visit. This could all change at the drop of a hat, so we’ll have a rough plan but be flexible.
We’ll take it as it comes, and while it may sound greedy trying to fit in all these places, it’s not that often you do a trip like this so we want to do it right, and India has been on my list of places I’d love to visit forever. If not on the way, maybe we’ll do it on the return journey… but that’s another story.
One of the things that feels most exciting is the complete and utter freedom (apart from the visas, borders and safety element), which I have never before experienced. An open ended trip, with only ourselves to answer to, and no fixed plan or route is both terrifying and exhilarating. We’ll be documenting our journey as we travel, so you can expect highs and lows, deviations and disasters and tears and tantrums. We’re looking forward to bringing you along for the ride!
Martha