New Year's Resolution: Travel Update

On the 31st of December 2012, I posted about all of my New Year's Resolutions (as most bloggers do) but I didn't want to just post what my resolutions are. I think the best way of making sure we succeed in resolutions is by recording our progress, so my first resolution, to get my passport stamped in at least three countries I have never been to before, is the first resolution which I would like to update you all on...

I'm going to India and Thailand in February. There, I said it. I am shocked that I have managed to part-finish one of my resolutions so soon in the year! Particularly when in it is going to cost me about £2500 of my savings to do it as I don't have a job at the moment. Then again, you only live once (#yolo) and I'm only 21... I have an entire lifetime to stress out about money and work my butt off. I always say, there's loads of money out there just waiting to be earned, so carpe diem, live for the day.

*Eating Pizza on the Grand Canyon... More times like these please... just in India and Thailand!*

So what's my plan? Where am I going? Who am I going with?


Well, I am leaving Heathrow airport for Delhi on the 8th of February. I am flying via Abu Dhabi with Etihad and will be arriving in Delhi at 3am. I am going to India all by myself! However, I'm not totally crazy, I am going with G Adventures, the same tour company that I travelled the USA with, so the tour is organized meaning that all of my transportation, accommodation and some meals will be paid for already. My tour begins in Delhi, then I go to Agra, Jaipur, Tordi Sagar, Pushkar, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and then we fly to Goa! Phew! The tour lasts for 15 days, so I'm sure the days and nights will be really quite jam-packed in order for us to get the best from the experience. This tour is called Uncover India Delhi to Goa.

When I arrive in Goa, I will be meeting up with my grandparents for a day or two as they will be on vaccation there at the time so that should be nice, to see a bit of home :) On the morning of the 25th, I will be flying from Goa to Bangkok with Air India. When I arrive in Thailand, I will be meeting up with my lovely boyfriend and we will have a lovely paradise holiday!

*We won't be needing coats and scarves in Thailand, that's for sure!*

It will actually be my birthday while I am in Thailand, so it should be a wonderful way to spend it. Again, we will be travelling with G Adventures, so we should be relatively safe. The tour is called the Southern Thailand Sojourn and we will be starting in Bangkok before travelling to the Koh Sao National Park. Then we'll be taking a ferry to the well-known island Koh Samui before hopping over to Koh Tao and then returning back to Bangkok. The tour lasts for nine days so we will be flying back to Heathrow via Abu Dhabi with Etihad on the morning of the 6th of March.

I am so excited, but also really quite apprehensive as I have never travelled to Asia before so I've had to get used to a few differences already... For example, I have had to have a few different vaccinations and collect my Malaria tablets. I am so terrified of vaccinations, I actually had to get my grandma to come with me and hold my hand! Nonetheless, I am now protected against Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tetanus. Hooray! Also, to go to the India you need to apply for a visa, which is a massive pain because of all the paperwork. And you have to travel to the Indian Visa Centre in Birmingham, sit for an hour or more and hand your passport over, which always worries me a little bit... Like, will it be back in time??? Who knows, I sure as hell hope so, as I only handed it in yesterday... Eeek.

As well as being apprehensive, I am so anxious to go, I just want time to fly and for it to be my flight date! I don't know an awful lot about Thailand or India apart from what we see on the movies, so I'm looking forward to discovering cultures which I never could have imagined. Wish me luck! All I have to do now is find one other country to travel to before 2013 is up and I will have completed one of my resolutions... Where to next?

Have you ever been to Asia before? Can you recommend any restaurants or tourist spots in any of the places I will be travelling to? Do you have any travel tips for the Eastern side of the world?

Love and snuggles
GabriellaSofia
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