Peru: Mummies, cooking and monasteries

Oh my, what's this? A post going up on time? Shock horror. For this you can probably blame the fact that I've spent a large part of the last week feeling ill, so I've had plenty of time lounging in the hostel to get all the posts back up to date.

Anyway, aside from the illness, here's how the last week has panned out.

Look - camels!

It's a good job I'd had an early night, because my bus from Puno to Arequipa turned up at 5:45am on Saturday morning. Fortunately, my paranoia about being on time for things meant I'd been awake since 5am and had time to down a couple of cups of tea before I had to leave.

As the first to be picked up, I then spent an hour sitting on the bus waiting for other people before we even left Puno. My mood was not great.

We had a very brief stop at Lagunillas. Well, the sign said it was Lagunillas...

That lake at the back is Lagunillas, I think. Supposedly it's good for birdwatching, but since we only stopped for 5 minutes and we were a pretty long way from the lake, I can't be sure. We did see some flamingoes at a smaller lake just down the road, but since the bus didn't stop there my photos are... pathetic, shall we say?

From Lagunillas we passed through some very cool landscapes and quite a few vicunas. More on these in a moment. Still, the bus didn't stop again until we made it to the turn off for Chivay. Here, we stopped for a snack and I must say that the sandwich was huge and delicious and the coca tea much appreciated.

Half the group then piled into a minibus going to Chivay while the few of us going on to Arequipa transferred to another bus. A Spanish family, two American girls and me. Hmm. Although we weren't scheduled to have any more stops, the driver pulled over five minutes down the road so we could take photos.

The volcano to the left is Misti, with another volcanic group to the right. On the flats in front of this is a group of animals. See them? Yeah? Little bit out of focus. The American girls next to me, on seeing said animals both went "oh, wow, camels!"

There are no camels in South America. These guys are vicunas and though they are part of the camel family along with llama, alpaca and guanaco, they are very much not camels. I pointed this out to the Yanks. They look nothing like camels. Even at that distance, I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion...

Anyhoos, vicunas photographed, we set off again for Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. It is by far the most western place I've seen in Peru and after trying to visit local businesses everywhere else, I ended up in Starbucks soon after I arrived. Mostly because I needed a large quantity of tea and the selection at the hostel was somewhat limited.

I may also have had a very nice chocolate muffin. Om nom nom.

And then I slept. A lot.

Do I really have to do something?

Sleep was rudely interrupted by the fact that I am staying in the hottest room ever and the sun decided to turn it into an oven at 7am. I figured I'd have a nice relaxed morning and then go into the city to explore.

It didn't happen. I read. I attempted to get the blog updated (and failed...). I wrote some stuff.

The afternoon came around and I really couldn't be bothered to move. Eventually I forced myself to go to the supermarket solely because otherwise it was dry pasta for tea and then came straight back and made another go at the blog. And failed again because the internet connection was shocking.

I did take some photos of the Plaza de Armas though. The big building is the cathedral and the mountain sticking up on the right is Misti, the volcano.

After four hours of arguing with the WiFi connection, I finally gave up on getting the blog up to date and settled for reading instead. Wasted day? Maybe.

Urgh. Lurgies.

Any thought of making up for the wasted day was somewhat scuppered by the fact that I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely atrocious and spent the morning feeling sorry for myself. I have no idea what triggered it, but it was highly unpleasant.

I did, however, manage to drag myself to the Museo Santuarios Andinos in the afternoon. This is run by one of the universities and is home to the mummy known as Juanita or the ice Maiden, found near the top of Ampata volcano. She is remarkably well preserved for a natural mummy and the museum also houses a whole array of artefacts found with her and the other mummies found on Ampata.

Unfortunately, Peru's weird aversion to photography in museums struck again and so there are no photos of these awesome things. Guh.

Museum fix appeased, I hauled myself back to the hostel, curled up and somehow managed to focus long enough to get one of the outstanding blog posts sorted. Well done, lurgified brain.

Lurgies persisted though and an early night was in order.

Schedule change

A good night's sleep seemed to do the trick and I woke up on Tuesday feeling much better. I was still feeling lazy though and decided I'd take it easy to make sure the lurgies were properly gone.

As a result, I spent the morning booking things for the fast approaching Chilean leg of my trip. Hostel in Santiago? Check. Hostel in San Pedro de Atacama? Nope. Apparently San Pedro books up further in advance than pretty much anywhere else I've been and as a result, I've had to shift my plans slightly. Instead of going from Santiago to the north and then working south, I'm going from Santiago to Chiloe to Puerto Montt (or at least that area) to Punta Arenas and then planning to fly back up to San Pedro towards the end of my stay.

Woo.

I also managed to do some more blog updating. More woo.

And then I cooked potatoes for tea and one of them exploded in the pan... This was how thrilling this day got.

I am the god of hellfire...

Determined to make up for all this non-exploring in Arequipa, I'd booked a cooking experience the previous evening. First stop, a trip to San Carmilo market to see the huge range of fruits, veggies and meats on offer. I took far too many photos. Look, chickens with the heads still on.

Also, so much fruit. We got to try some of it, including a very tiny melon, passionfruit, sweet lemons and tiny orange berries that look like what I know as Chinese gooseberries. Very yummy.

Might have to be going back there... Anyway, with our trip to the market finished, we trooped into the open kitchen to start on the cooking lesson. For this session we were preparing causa and lomo saltado. First up, the causa, which is a layered "pie" made with mashed, spiced potatoes, a veg and chicken mayonnaise mix and avocado. Here is the group, hard at work.

And here is my finished creation, which I was pretty proud of, although I think my presentation needs a bit of work... not quite Masterchef standard.

Yes, it is decorated with ketchup and mayonnaise and yes, it was delicious. Next up, the main course - lomo saltado. Diced beef, onions, garlic, chili, tomatoes, fries... I've never had to peel a tomato that hasn't been in boiling water before. I don't plan on doing it again - faffy stuff.

Anyways, with all the ingredients prepped, it was time to cook. First, a demonstration from Monica so we knew what to do.

Because, yes, this does involve setting fire to the food. And yes, my brain might have been playing Fire by Arthur Brown on a loop when it was my turn to cook. Oh, and did I mention there's pisco in this dish?

Yummy.

Following our cooking and devouring, a few of our group stuck around to learn how to make pisco sours. Fairly straightforward - add lime/lemon juice to egg white. Shake until foamy. Add pisco, syrup and ice. Shake until ice is broken up. Pour into glass. Add bitters.

Drink.

Yup, that was a pretty good way to spend 4 hours - explore, cook, eat, drink. Nom.

Following that, I spent a nice, relaxed evening at the hostel, finally sorting out another blog post. Unfortunately, whatever lurgies have been afflicting me on and off for the past week, decided to make a return just as I wanted to sleep. Urgh.

It has WiFi?!

I woke on Thursday morning still not feeling quite right, but determined to do something with my day. The morning was spent arguing with the hostel's WiFi and trying to get some more stuff sorted out for Chile. So now I have flights and a hostel sorted out for San Pedro de Atacama - I'm giving myself a whole week there because there's a lot to see. Also, if the last week has been anything to go by, I need to give myself time to properly slow down before I get ill again.

Satisfied that there was nothing else urgently in need of booking, I made my way to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. This is apparently one of Arequipa's top attractions and only a 20 minute walk from the hostel. I figured if I had another attack of the lurgies, I could get back to my nice cosy bed pretty quick.

Also, I've never been in a monastery before. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, especially as this is a still functioning monastery, not just a tourist attraction.

I definitely wasn't expecting brightly coloured walls. There's blue, orange and an almost-red. And it's beautiful.

I also wasn't expecting there to be WiFi. Which meant I had to do the stupid tourist thing and send a stupid selfie to Facebook proclaiming my surprise at the WiFi and the bright colours.

Yep. I'm so cool. The monastery was founded in 1579 and has survived through a fair few major earthquakes. Today the information says there are 21 nuns. I didn't see any at the monastery, but I have seen one or two around town - can't be sure they belong to Santa Catalina though. Many of the original cells are open, so you can see that the earlier nuns were from rich families. Not quite what you'd expect from an order that has poverty as one of its core values. This is the Profundis Room, where wakes were held.

There's also a great view over the monastery and city out towards the volcanoes that overlook Arequipa.

I spent a good couple of hours wandering round. It's a good job I had a map, because I can imagine that despite the semi-decent signage, it's pretty easy to get lost if you're not paying attention. The place is huge - very much a city within the city.

After that gloriously peaceful afternoon, I spent the evening fighting once again with the WiFi in an effort to get this post mostly finished and then had a bizarre meal of tomatoey mashed potato, cheese and tuna in an effort to use up the random assortment of food I had left. It was surprisingly delicious.

Adios, Peru

With Friday came my farewell to beautiful Peru. A very slow farewell that included more tomatoey mashed potato and a visit to Arequipa's enormous cathedral.

No one wants to hear about my ridiculous mish-mash cooking, so let's have a look at the cathedral instead. The place is huge, stretching along one entire side of the Plaza de Armas. It has been rebuilt a couple of times due to fire and earthquakes.

It's home to this enormous, Belgian-made organ, the biggest in Peru.

And a pulpit made in France which features this excellent carving of a devil being squished by the power of God.

The tour also took me up to the bell tower, where I couldn't help but think of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and was most disappointed to find a distinct lack of gargoyles. The bells, though, are pretty cool.

Also, the view from the roof is awesome, with the Plaza de Armas on one side...

And volcanoes on the other - Chachani, Misti and Pichu Pichu, although Pichu Pichu has got missed off the right side of this shot...

Very pretty. And then a delicious chocolate muffin in Starbucks. I love that the default state for muffins here is to be served warm. Yum.

A few more hours killed in the hostel and then off to the airport with a taxi driver who meandered between lanes, picked fights with buses and generally had me wondering if I was even going to make it to the airport.

Fortunately, I did get there in one piece, only to find that my flight had been delayed by an hour and a half. Given that I only had 4 hours between connections at Lima, I had to try hard not to panic. The lady at the desk was pretty cool - she put me in the second row so I could get off the plane quick and put my luggage through as priority, although I wasn't convinced it would help.

With far more time to waste at the airport than anticipated, I took myself out for tea at a surprisingly well-priced airport restaurant, where I had salchitodo.

Yes, it is a pile of chips with sausage, fried chicken and an egg. Yes, it was delicious. Apparently it's a variant on salchipapas, which is a popular fast food consisting of just the fries and sausage. And, because I needed to relieve the stress building up, I washed it all down with a delicious hot chocolate that was mostly chocolate and not milk.

Oh, and I finally tried Inca Kola. It tastes somewhere in between dandelion & burdock and bubblegum. Bit too sweet.

Somewhat less anxious, I toddled on up to the gates (Arequipa has a grand total of 4, all squished together) to see whether there was any news of my flight. Nope. No ETA, nothing. Anxiety returned.

And then, to my complete disgust, a Peruvian Airlines plane appeared and it wasn't mine. And I'm looking at the people getting on the flight wondering why they couldn't be delayed another few minutes so all us poor buggers who've been waiting ages for our flight could have that plane instead. After all, both flights were going to Lima.

Irrational, yes, I know. At any rate, I ended up on the plane and in the air by 9:30, a full 2 hours after my scheduled departure and worrying about how the fricking hell I was going to make my flight to Santiago.

Despite it clearly not being time for sleep, I was knackered and thought I'd try to catch forty winks. Peruvian Airlines had other plans and came round with a snack and a drink. Appreciated, but maybe not right at that moment. And then I went back to worrying and trying to sleep.

We arrived at Lima just before 11pm. My next flight was due at 1am. And we parked at a remote stand, which meant not only did I have to do the usual waiting to get off the damn plane, I then had to get a bus to the terminal. A nice, crowded bus that played up on other anxieties not related to missing flights.

First positive of the night came when my bag was first off the carousel. Apparently my doubts about the priority tag were misplaced. It was, at this point, 11:20pm.

Fast walk to the check in desks, where to my utter confusion and horror there is an enormous line for Sky Airline and my brain starts going "notgoingtomakeit, whatdoIdo?" on repeat.

Until I realise that pretty much everyone else in the line is waiting for the same flight. OK... does that mean I can stop panicking now?

Apparently, yes. Check in goes smoothly and then it's off to security where something in my bag gets the staff worried and a very friendly security man takes everything out of my bag in search of it. My bag is jammed full. It takes a while. The "threat" turns out to be a whole load of loose foreign coinage which has spilled out of the little box I was keeping it in. I should probably do something about that...

Flew through immigration, where I acquired another passport stamp. The Peruvian ones are pink. I like them. They're happy.

At any rate, I finally made it to the gate an hour ahead of departure. Plenty of time for me to calm down my poor, overworked, overanxious brain. And so, onto the plane.

Where I had to turf an old woman out of my seat, which was great fun because I couldn't work out how to say "that's my seat" in Spanish and had to rely on pointing repeatedly at my seat number and my ticket, which didn't work and then the steward had to get involved because she couldn't get it into her head that she was in the wrong seat. Ugh.

And then the plane was delayed nearly 30 minutes, but by that point I really couldn't give a shit any more because I just wanted to sleep. Which I did. Somehow.


Well, I'm now in Santiago. I have a month planned for Chile, with the first week involving much exploration of the capital and then heading south to Chiloe.

Let's see if my Spanish improves...

Destination Realities: Canada

Sooo... I spent just over 2 months in Canada. It's a huge country. Really huge. With that in mind, how did my time there match up with my original plans?

I only really planned the beginning and very end of the trip, so here goes.

The Maritimes

1. Nova Scotia

Man, I had huge plans for Nova Scotia - Bay of Fundy, Lunenburg, Joggins... I only ended up spending about 5 days in the province, courtesy of ending up an a very short notice road trip with a fellow Brit I met on the first day. I did get to explore a bit of Halifax and I did see the Bay of Fundy and whales in it to boot. Didn't see much else of the province though.

2. Newfoundland

I would have loved to visit Newfoundland. However, while getting there would have been easy enough - ferry from Nova Scotia - getting around once I got there would have proved difficult and expensive. So Newfoundland will have to wait for now. I need someone who can drive...

3. New Brunswick

Not really part of my original plan, but I did end up spending a couple of days there. Admittedly, I spent that time mostly in the hostel (because it was raining) or in the station (because, woo, midnight train). Hmm...

4. Prince Edward Island

I'd not planned on visiting because I "didn't want to rush myself". Out of all of the maritime provinces, this is probably the place I felt least rushed. I spent nearly 3 days there, enjoying how quiet it was even despite the kitschy madness of Green Gables.

Quebec

5. Quebec City

I'd originally only planned on a week in Quebec province, but after rushing through the Maritimes in just over a week, I was ready to slow down. Which meant I ended up spending 4 days in beautiful Quebec City instead of the day or 2 I'd originally thought. As a result, I had much more time to go exploring the city's history. Great stuff.

6. Montreal

I spent 5 days in Montreal, the longest I'd stayed anywhere since I left Iceland. It would prove to be the beginning of a pattern - 4-5 day stays became my default as much as possible for the rest of my time in Canada. I'm glad I slowed down so much - Montreal had plenty to offer, even if it did rain some more.

7. Outdoorsy things

Yeah. I didn't end up doing any of those in Quebec. Getting caught outside in a torrential downpour doesn't count.

Ontario and the prairies

I didn't actually plan anything for this, really. I mostly just pootled through the big cities (Ottawa, Toronto) and revisited places from my previous trip (Kingston, Niagara, Hamilton). More on that in a bit.

As for the prairies, I hadn't really planned on anything there. I knew I wanted to take the train across from Toronto to Vancouver, but originally I was going to go non-stop. I decided 4 days on a train didn't sound like fun (says the girl who just booked a 51 hour bus journey), so I ended up stopping in Winnipeg and Edmonton and I'm very glad I did. Both cities just a little bit off the main tourist trail, but well worth visiting.

Vancouver and the Rockies

8. Vancouver Island

Yeah. That didn't happen. By the time I arrived in Vancouver I wasn't really in the mood for doing anything much. Despite breaking up my train journey, those nights trying to sleep on the train really seemed to screw with my brain.

9. Capilano Suspension Bridge

This did happen though. Success!!

10. Lake Louise

This also happened. It rained quite a bit and a big fucking bear scared the shit out of us at the campground, but we did see Lake Louise.

11. Burgess Shale

Didn't happen. We drove past it. And past the turn off for the Stanley Glacier trail, which runs past another outcrop of the same fossil-bearing shale. I made do with a few random museumm exhibits and the faint hope of spotting a fossil at Marble Canyon.

12. Riding, rafting, kayaking

Wow, I had all the outdoors things in mind for the Rockies. And we managed most of them (and more). Ziplining, canoeing, rafting, riding, bobsleigh (yes, bobsleigh). Plus a whole bunch of really nice walks. Success on that count.

13. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

This is a World Heritage Site south of Calgary and ultimately turned out to be just a bit too far out of the way. A shame, but it'll have to wait for another trip.

On first glance, it looks like I missed out on a lot of the things I originally planned or wanted to do. But I also did a lot more that I didn't intend. I took a road trip with someone I'd only just met and anyone who knows me will probably understand that that's quite a big deal for me. My time in Canada, while obviously amazing and great fun, also proved to me that I can deal with social situations and I can actually hold a conversation with people I don't know. It's lovely.

Now, things to bear in mind for anyone wanting to repeat the above. Because clearly everyone wants to take 2 months to travel Canada.

1. Canada is huge

Yes, I know this should be obvious, but it's worth mentioning. Getting around can take hours or even days unless you're going to focus on just a little bit of the country. A bus from the capital in Ottawa to Toronto takes about 3 hours. A train from Campbellton, New Brunswick to Quebec City takes 8 hours. And a train across from Vancouver to Toronto takes 4 days.

Yup. Huge. Maybe just focus on an area - Ontario around Toronto or Quebec & Montreal are probably good ideas.

2. Inter-city buses are pretty good

Greyhound's network runs from Ontario across to British Columbia. East of that connections are run by smaller provincial companies. Getting between the big cities is pretty easy and it's even possible to get a bus from Toronto out west to at least Calgary - I know, I met someone taking it. It took her 3 days.

3. Canadians really are friendly

I know it's a stereotype, but I've found it to be true. From the helpful attendant on the Toronto subway to the chap who parked the RV for us the first night we had it, the stereotype has held true and it's been absolutely lovely.

4. It's worth brushing up on French

I thought I would be all right in Quebec, Canada's French-speaking province - I learned a bit of French a very long time ago and I'd made sure to learn a couple of useful phrases like "I'm sorry, I don't understand." and "Do you speak English?". Oh, and I can say please, thank you, hello - all that malarkey.

However, in Quebec City at least, outside the tourist hub in the Old City, it's maybe worth knowing a little more. When I went to try poutine, the girl at the counter had to get her English speaking colleague to help because my French didn't stretch to understanding "eat in or take away?

That said, other Quebecois seemed quite amused by my appalling pronunciation of bonjour and were quite happy to talk to me in English.

5. Maple syrup

You have to try it. Proper maple syrup, not the stuff labelled "pancake syrup" or "original syrup". Maple syrup. Preferably with pancakes and bacon. Sausages are also acceptable. It shouldn't be so good.

Budget

Just to clarify: I've cut the last 2 weeks of my trip out of this because that was spent with my mother and sister and a lot of things had already been paid for.

Accommodation: worked out at less than £20 a night. I think this is pretty impressive given that I had to pay for a hotel for one night that cost me several times more than a hostel. Congratulations, me. Hostels in Canada range around the £15-£20 area, generally, with price spikes in Toronto over the summer, or so my hostel owner informed me. Out of the way places may also be more expensive - I paid $30 a night for a pretty basic place in Winnipeg, but it's the only hostel in the city.

AirBnB is pretty popular in Canada and some places you can find rooms cheaper than hostels. This is particularly good for places like Kingston, which have no hostels. At all.

Food: less than £5 a day. I'm pretty pleased with this considering I did treat myself to a couple of delicious brunches (looking at you, Original Pancake House...) and several trips to Tim Horton's. Fresh fruit and veg seems to be relatively expensive in Canada, but tinned goods are similarly priced to the UK. Plus, several of my hostels provided breakfast, which helped keep costs down.

Transport: less than £25 a day. This is hugely bumped up by the fact that in my first week I went halves on a car hire (at about $300 each) and then in August I took the train across the country which cost me nearly £500. Fortunately, the train had been budgetted for, although I loathed paying that much. If you don't take the train, transport can be done pretty cheap. A bus from Ottawa to Toronto costs about $20-25, and prices are similar between the other large cities in the east. City transit systems are pretty good - most will charge you about $3 for a single trip ticket.

Activities: about £5 a day. Obviously, this varied a lot. In Ottawa I bought a museum passport which covered all the big national museums and cost $45 (just over £30). Similarly, in Toronto I got a CityPass which covered the CN Tower, the Zoo, aquarium, Royal Ontario Museum and Casa Loma. Other costs mostly related to museum entry fees and the tourist trap that is Niagara Falls. Whale watching came in at a remarkably cheap $50 - that's £30 for a good 3 hours of sailing and a pod of fin whales right next to the boat.

Anyone else been to Canada? Is there anything I've missed that you think should be included? Let me know!

The Grand Tour: Packing List Time!

I packed yesterday. Somehow. Still not sure how I managed it. Here's all the stuff that I planned on taking.

And here's my finished packing.

Out of that first image, here's the few pieces I decided not to take.

Because, really, when am I going to need a sort-of-smart jacket, another 3 notebooks (there's already 4 little ones distributed through my bags), so many pens, yet another jumper and 4 extra pairs of socks (just in case).

The big bag is 65l, so it's not huge - only weighs about 11kg, so it's also well under my luggage allowance for my first flight. The smaller bag is 25l and can fit everything in it that I'd need for an overnight trip, plus most of my electronics and my camera and associated oddments.

I'm most impressed with myself. I made myself a packing list and I've near enough stuck to it. Some bits have come off it, some bits have been added but I think I've ended up packing about the same amount as I originally intended. For those interested in the whole packing light thing, here's what's in my bags.

In the 65l rucksack:

• Sleeping things:

• Compact sleeping bag
• Mosquito net
• Earplugs

• Clothing:

• Enough underwear for 2 weeks
• Swimsuit
• Plimsolls
• 3 t-shirts
• 3 vest tops
• 1 thermal shirt
• 1 long sleeved shirt
• Walking trousers
• Shorts
• Maxi skirt
• Micro-fleece

• Health & toiletries

• First aid kit
• ~2 months supply of anti-malarials (Doxycycline)
• Diarrhoea management kit
• Sun cream
• DEET
• Water purification tablets
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Shampoo
• Body wash
• Deodorant
• Moisturiser
• Nail clippers
• Travel wash
• Travel towel
• Flannel
• Lip balm

• Electronics:

• Assorted charging cables for phone, iPod, tablet and camera
• Travel adaptors - one worldwide, one for South Africa & Namibia

• Other odds & sods:

• 2 small notebooks for keeping accounts and journal things
• Torch & headtorch
• Laundry bag (because, ew, smelly clothes)
• Shoulder bag 

In the 25l bag:

• Waterproof jacket
• Phone, iPod & earphones, tablet & keyboard
• Camera, tripod & lenses
• Woolly hat
• Gloves & arm-warmers (I get cold wrists...)
• Scarf
• Sunglasses
• Water bottle
• 2 more notebooks and a few pens
• Spork (a gift from my sister)
• Small box for food or assorted random bits
• Painkillers
• Stickers (because hostel kitchens never have enough to label your food)
• Wallet full of important travel documents

I don't think that's bad going, really. As far as I can tell, it covers everything I'm likely to need and anything that's missing I can pick up along the way. Even if I end up needing more anti-malarials, I'll be able to find somewhere to pick them up. As it is, it feels a bit like I've become the walking pharmacy I so dreaded before I went to New Zealand. And yet, somehow, my bags still weigh significantly less than most people would take on the typical holiday. Go me and my amazing packing skills!

Any tips on packing light? Do share!

The Grand Tour: The Final Countdown

Wow. Just 10 days from now I'll be getting on a plane to Iceland to start my round-the-world trip. Time to get the last few bits of preparation sorted.

Visas

Technically, I don't need to apply for a visa proper until I get towards the Australian leg of my trip. I say technically because while I don't have visas to apply for yet, I have had to apply for an eTA for Canada and an ESTA for the USA. The perks of being a British citizen! Surprisingly, both applications were pretty straightforward although I had to laugh at some of the questions on the US one.

"Are you coming to the USA with the intent to engage in terrorism, espionage or genocide?"

... because, yes, of course, if I was planning on doing any of those things, I would declare them on my ESTA application in the interests of honesty. Umm...

Vaccinations

A few weeks ago I got stuck full of needles. Hep B, Hep A, Typhoid, Yellow Fever... nice. Fortunately, I managed not to have any serious reactions to any of them and they came in a lot cheaper than I had expected. I'd rather have to pay a bit and face my dislike of needles than catch some sort of nasty while I'm away.

I also have a nearly two month supply of anti-malarials. Also much cheaper than anticipated and again, I'd rather have them and not need them than not have them and catch malaria.

On a similar note, my mum has kindly donated her diarrheoa management kit, so I'm fully stocked on rehydration sachets and the like.

Basically, I'm turning into the walking chemist I so disdained before I went to New Zealand...

Communication

In addition to the aforementioned diarrheoa kit (isn't diarrheoa a funny word?), my mum has also given me her old tablet, so I can keep up with the sporadic blogging and more importantly I can book hostels and flights and all the other things I'll need to book while I'm away.

My mobile phone is also going with me. I plan on using local SIMs in it if I'm in a country for more than a couple of weeks (looking at you, Canada). Good plan, yes? Should save me some money, yes?

Yeah...

Naively/stupidly, having read all the bumpf I could find online about whether Virgin Mobile lock their handsets, I came to the conclusion that my phone was more than likely unlocked and I could just pootle over to Canada and slot a nice cheap Canadian SIM in it. No worries.

Which means I left it until yesterday and 11 days until departure to actually test this theory. Take a guess at what happened when I put my sister's SIM into my phone?

Ooops.

This should be pretty easy to sort out, thinks yesterday's me. I'll just go to the shop in town and ask them to unlock it. They say, no, you have to ring customer services and kindly put me on to them. Customer services man goes "uh..." a bit and does some tapping on his keyboard for good measure and then tells me that while the number belongs to me, the phone is still registered to my parents' account and that therefore they'll have to ring Virgin to get my phone unlocked.

My parents. Have to ring Virgin. To get MY PHONE unlocked.

This is ridiculous. Whoever came up with this system is a fucking genius.

So I might just be without a phone for the first couple of weeks in Canada. I'm sure I'll cope - I barely use the thing anyway aside from for tinterwebz.

Other bits and bobs

I have currency. Hurray. Actually, I'm planning on using my cards as much as possible, but there's always going to be times I need physical cash. So I've got a small stash of Icelandic krona and Canadian dollars to keep me going. I fear the dollars will mostly be spent on Tim Hortons... you'll probably hear more about that in a future post.

Shopping has been done. I am now the proud owner of a very compact mosquito net, travel wash (yeah) and a new pair of shoes which I am frantically trying to wear in so they don't eat my feet while I'm away. Woop.

Anything else? Had a farewell lunch with the family. Plans are in place for work leaving do (both current and former offices). And then... well, then next Sunday I get on a train to London and from there...

Adventure awaits.

The Grand Tour: New Year Down Under

Fabulous news! My friend Claire, veteran of both the New Zealand and Ireland expeditions, is planning on joining me for a couple of weeks in Australia over New Year. Also, incidentally, her birthday.

This is going to be good. Sydney's an amazing city and New Year there is just as brilliant. Well, it should be if it's anything like the last time I was there...

Also, Sydney's a good starting point for a couple of weeks in Australia. We can relax and explore the city for a couple of days before heading off to see Oz's highlights. Claire can get over the jet lag and I can enjoy having someone to share the travel fun with for a bit.

So, what should we do in Sydney? The New Year celebrations are the obvious choice and it seems like an awesome way for Claire to spend her birthday (also on New Year's Eve), but aside from that, Sydney has plenty to offer. Taronga Zoo is great and I'd really love to check out the beaches, just because it seems like the thing to do in Sydney! Bondi, anyone?

Last time I was in Sydney we only had a couple of days over the New Year, so we didn't really get chance to do all the exploring. I think the most we did was going up one of the towers on the famous Harbour Bridge. Don't think I'll be forking out to climb the bridge itself though...

There's plenty of museums, galleries and parks to check out and even the possibility of seeing whales without ever getting on a boat, courtesy of some amazing views from the coast. Oh, so many choices and still so little time - if Claire's going to see the highlights of Australia like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru, we won't be spending that long in Sydney.

And here we hit a bit of a snag. Sydney's great. New Year there is great. Accommodation costs... not so much. The first hostel I looked at wanted to charge £100 per person to stay on New Year's Eve and it wasn't much cheaper on the days either side. Others weren't much better - anything up to £80 seems standard.

So I started trawling the hotels instead and yes, some of these would be as good or better than a hostel for about the same price. I suggested to Claire that it might be an idea to take this option instead and, given that she'll have a nearly 24 hour flight, she agreed.

That would have been that had I not then remembered Airbnb. I wasn't planning on explaining what Airbnb is, but Claire didn't seem to know, so I'll assume it's not as well known as I thought it was. Airbnb is a system where folks can rent out spare rooms or even entire homes to others. I'd expected this to be fairly expensive for Sydney over New Year, but I've found some really decent places for a relatively low price. Certainly better value than a hostel or hotel.

So yes, the places I've looked at are a bit further out of the centre, but Sydney has a decent public transport system and I'm willing to make that trade off. After all, much as I want to have an amazing New Year in Sydney, I still have a budget to stick to and I'll take savings where I can find them.

Where do you dream of spending New Year? Do you have any suggestions for visiting Sydney on a budget? Why not share in the comments below.

The Joy of Travel Books

I love a good book. Proper books. I've never got on with e-books - there's just nothing like the feel of a new book, that amazing smell of paper.

OK, so weird book obsession aside, travel books are brilliant. What better way to start your trip planning than picking up a guidebook and picking a random page? All those little hints and tips, places you maybe hadn't thought of visiting. All in one easily consumed book.

It's how my planning for most bits of my fast-approaching round-the-world trip has started. Quick trip to the bookshop and then home with a shiny new book to rifle through. I'm building up quite the collection.

Just a shame I won't be able to take them with me - much too heavy.

Travel guides are just the start though. Inspiration comes in many forms. Take, for example, all those books which list X number of places/experiences/something else you should do before you die. Things like my Lonely Planet 1000 Ultimate Adventures and You Only Live Once, both full of amazing ideas for travel. In the end, they're just lists of interesting things, but they can be a great way to spark the imagination.

Travel books aren't just about inspiration for your own travels, though. A good travel book can transport you around the world without you even leaving your chair. It doesn't even have to involve the real world. I'm a huge fan of Tolkien because his world is so detailed you can imagine being there. And of course, there's the added bonus that New Zealand really does fit a lot of Middle-earth quite well.

What are your favourite travel books? Got any recommendations? Why not share in the comments below...

Solo Travel: Going it alone

"Are you going on your own?"
"Yes..."
"I don't think I could do that."

At this point, insert whatever reason you feel like. I don't like being on my own. I wouldn't feel safe. It'd be scary.

Plus, my new favourite from just this morning: it's very brave.

This is increasingly how my conversations go at work, where the rest of my office is slowly becoming aware that I'm leaving. First up, a couple of reasons why "are you going on your own?" is a silly question.

1. It assumes I will be totally alone for the whole trip.

Just because I'm going away on my own, doesn't mean I'll be alone the entire way. I'm not a social person, but I make friends easily enough. Also, various family and friends have already expressed an interest in joining me in one place or other.

2. What's so bad about being on your own?

I enjoy my own company. As I said above, I'm not a very social person, I struggle in social situations, but if someone says "hi", I can start conversations. That said, I'm just fine on my own. I enjoy wandering around and just exploring.

Besides, just think of the benefits of going solo. You can do whatever you want, when you want and there's no one to tell you otherwise. You don't need to go with the whim of a group/couple/family which means you're free to explore what you feel like exploring.

Of course, there are also plus points to travelling with a group. Things like being able to rent a car (because I don't drive), potentially cheaper accommodation, "herd safety" in those more dangerous areas. And of course, sharing the experience with others. This is certainly going to make parts of my trip amazing - a friend's coming out to meet me in Sydney around New Year. Having her there will be awesome in itself, but it also means we might be able to get a better on expensive New Year accommodation. Phew.

I still don't understand what people find so scary about travel. Yes, there are dangerous places out there, but I'm not going there. Yes, there are language barriers, but I'm learning additional languages and phrases. No, I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back.

But the point is, if I don't do this now, I'm never going to do it. No amount of people telling me how scary the world is or how brave I must be to strike out on my own is going to change that.

Besides, I've always rather enjoyed that feeling of standing in the middle of nowhere on my own with just the sounds of nature. It's one of the nearest things to real magic.

Do you travel solo? What do you enjoy most about it? How would you encourage others to do the same? Why not share in the comments below.

Hostelling: Finding a good one

After the slightly terrifying moment last week when I booked the first flight of my round-the-world Grand Tour, this week I've booked the first hostel.

It got me wondering, especially after a couple of questions from friends and colleagues, about how to find a decent hostel. So I'm going to attempt to deconstruct my hostel-finding process.

Don't worry - it's basic as anything!

1. What are you looking for in a hostel?

A party vibe? Somewhere social? Or do you just need somewhere to crash after a long day of exploration? Do you need WiFi or laundry facilities? I mention the latter because I'm amazed by how many of the hostels we used in Ireland didn't have laundry facilities. Washing socks in the sink is always an option, but it's easier to just sling everything in the machine!

2. Does it need to be central?

Related in some ways to the first point. If you're after a place you can go partying from, chances are you're going to want somewhere fairly central so you don't have to stagger too far home once you've had a few drinks.

If you're not driving yourself, you'll probably also want to consider public transport links. If you're in the city centre, this won't be too much of a problem, but take note if you're out in the sticks!

3. Comfort or basic?

We all like our creature comforts, but how much do you need? Nice big kitchen? A single bed? Private bathroom?

Or bunk beds, shared bathrooms and bring-your-own bedding. Just a note: some hostels offer beds where you bring your own sleeping bag for a cheaper price than a made up bed.

4. How much are you willing to pay?

In my case, this is the most important bit of finding a hostel. I'm operating on a pretty tight budget, so I've been trying to find the cheapest hostels I can which still look decent. Of course, cheap isn't always great, so make sure you check out what's on offer first.

5. Are you willing to share?

This is as much related to how much you're willing to pay as anything, but bear in mind that you can get much cheaper rates if you're willing to share with others. For example, I've just booked a bed in Reykjavik in a 24 bed dorm. I wouldn't normally consider staying in such a huge room, but Reykjavik is such an expensive city that I'd rather save the cash than fork out for a smaller dorm.


Right. Got an idea of the sort of hostel you're looking for? Good. Now you're armed with that information get yourself over to a site like HostelBookers or HostelWorld (my personal go-to site) and get searching for places that match your criteria. Some of these sites allow you to select a few hostels to compare, but often it's just as easy to sort by your most important criteria (price, rating etc) and do it that way. Make sure to check out the available facilities - you can't take it as a given that there'll be, for example, laundry facilities - and also have a scan through the reviews.

Got a hostel in mind now? That's great. Now, you could just go ahead and book through one of the aforementioned sites. Before you do that, though, pop onto Google (other search engines are available!) and do a quick search on hostels in your destination. There's still lots out there that aren't on the main booking sites and there's some pretty good deals out there.

Whether you end up sticking with your original option or picking a new one based on that second search, now is your time to book it. Check if the hostel has a website that you can book through and check the prices available there if you can. Often it's cheaper to book direct with the hostel than to book through a site like HostelWorld. For example, on a trip to Ireland last year we got a great deal on our stay at the Malinbeg Hostel in Donegal by booking direct with them.

See, finding a good hostel is easy. Just know what you're looking for and take note of what each hostel can give you. Reviews can also give you some good information but I'd also take the best and worst ones with a pinch of salt - the former because folks gloss over the weaker points and the latter because those who have a problem are wont to shout the loudest.

Not sure if hostelling is for you? You'd be surprised - take a look at this post for some pointers: Hostelling - Is it for you?

What tips do you have to find a good hostel? Any hostels you'd recommend? Why not share in the comments below.

The Grand Tour: The Excitement of the First Booking

So... I told my manager last week.

Yesterday I booked the first flight.

Today I formally handed in my notice.

Yeah.

Now it has to happen.

Remember how I was a little bit freaked out about this trip being six months away? Definitely freaked out now.

Not by the cost, or the planning or even the thought of spending a year travelling (mostly) on my own.

It's the fact that it's real now. It has to happen. No going back. Of course, I could retract my resignation, I suppose, but where’s the fun in that?

So it’s going ahead. The flight is booked to take me to Iceland on June 13th.  It leaves at 6:30am so I’m going to be knackered, but it does mean I’ll get to spend most of the day actually in Reykjavik. Hurrah.

That first booking was also a bit terrifying. I don't know... telling my manager I'm leaving was weird enough, but booking the first flight means I have to at least start on this trip. You never know, I might get to Iceland and freak out and decide I want to come home, but because it's booked, I have to go.

It keeps hitting me at work that this is actually happening. I catch myself smiling for no reason or the iconic theme from The Lord of the Rings will suddenly start playing in my head. I've been planning this for so long and now it's only a few months away.

It's going to be amazing.

I'm going on an adventure!

Saving for Travel

Planning a trip is great fun. All those shiny guides, all those daydreams. But how are you going to fund it? Better get saving!

I'll admit this post was partly inspired by a colleague who's forever dreaming of holidays and then bemoaning not being able to afford it. Maybe she just needs to budget a bit and try out some of these saving suggestions.

First up, get a rough budget sorted for your trip: flights, accommodation, food and major activities. There's more information about how I budget in this post HERE.

Got your budget? Great. Now to get that cash together.

Big trip planned? A few weeks or more? Open a good savings account. Make a promise to put a certain amount of money into it every month and DON'T TOUCH IT. If you're of the type where you find it really hard not to touch your savings, put your money into something like a bond, where it'll be locked away for a fixed term.

Well, there's the major lump of savings done. But what else can you do? You could start with taking a long, hard look at what you're spending money on at the moment. Is there anything you can cut out?

For example, I know that I spend a lot of money on music. Not a huge problem, but I removed my payment details from the sites I use so that it's not as easy to just grab a download when I feel like it. If I really want an album, I'll buy it, but I know I've saved a lot of money this way.

On a similar note, do you subscribe to anything? Netflix... cable... magazines... yeah, all that adds up pretty quick, doesn't it? Can you do without it for a few months? Yeah? Cancel those subscriptions.

And what about your spending on food? Of course, there's the obvious suggestion of shopping at a different supermarket - there's plenty of cheaper stores now like Aldi and Lidl where you can get the same quality at a fraction of the price. You could also cut out some of the branded products. Believe me, we've been doing this in my house for a couple of years now and there's nothing wrong with supermarket own-brands.

Remaining on the subject of food, what do you take to work for lunch? Or don't you? Do you grab a snack from the cafeteria most days? Stop it. Take a packed lunch instead. Much cheaper. Add to that your coffee (or whatever it is you drink). Even a cheap takeaway coffee is what, £1.50? I'm guessing here - I don't drink coffee. £1.50 five times a week - that soon adds up to a couple of hundred quid a year. Cut it out. Take a flask if you must.

I used to buy my lunch at work a couple of times a week and then grab something from a vending machine as well. I've got round this by no longer taking any cash to work with me. Obviously this isn't practical for everyone, but if you can do this and you're trying to save, I'd recommend it.

Last, one little thing. You know all those pennies that build up in your purse/wallet? The ones that are so tempting to just slot into a vending machine? Keep them. Every kid should have a piggy bank and every adult too. Grab yourself a jar and pop all your small change in it. It's not going to add up to much but it might be enough for a pint or a bus ride or an hour of WiFi.

All in all, saving doesn't have to be difficult. Cutting out the little things you spend money on and promising to save a little each month should be enough.

What tips do you have for saving up for travel? Are there other areas folks could cut back or do you know of cheaper alternatives to life's little luxuries? Share in the comments below.

The Grand Tour: 6 Months To Go

First off, Happy New Year and all that jazz.

Second, apologies for the recent lack of posts. Let's hope I can make up for that (unlikely...).

Third, it's now less than 6 months until my planned departure date for the Grand Tour, my hopefully epic trip round the world. Thanks to lovely presents from family, I'm starting to gather together all the bits and bobs I'm going to need. Little things like a head torch, first aid kit and a compact sleeping bag.

Perhaps more importantly, I'm pretty sure I'll be booking my first flight and hostels in the next few weeks. I've been warned that accommodation in Iceland books up pretty quick in the summer months and as that's my first stop and possibly the most expensive stop (based on per day costs), I want to get that sorted out soon.

I had originally planned to make my way round the entire island on buses, but looking at accommodation costs I think I'll actually base myself out of Reykjavik and Akureyri and explore from there - accommodation is marginally cheaper there. No worries - the buses are still going to come in handy.

So that's Iceland. But what else do I need to sort out in the next 6 months?

 

Vaccinations

Ugh. How delightful. Thing is, I'm planning on going a few places where I have to have jabs. For example, I'm going to Peru and while Peru has no vaccination requirements, because I'm stopping there, future stops like Cambodia and South Africa require me to have been vaccinated against Yellow Fever. Fun.

Aside from that though, it looks like I might be able to avoid getting too many others. I've had jabs previously for rabies and Hepatitis B in the last 5 years, which are (Doctor Google says) long-lasting. My typhoid jab will probably need redoing and possibly my Hep A. But everything else... looks like I'm getting off light.Yay.

Visas

This is going to be fun. Good job I've included these in my budget because they're soon adding up. Currently I need to sort out visas (or visa waiver details) for Canada, the US and Australia, plus making sure I add in the cost of visas or other approvals on arrival in Chile and Cambodia. All the fun.


Right at this moment though, I'm going to crack out the world map my sister gave me for Christmas. It has magnets and marker pens so I can mark my route. It will be awesome. I'm a small child at heart.

On with the planning. Planning, planning, always planning. Ah, the joys of a round the world trip!

The One Bag Challenge Recap

When I started looking at going travelling for a year, I decided I want to take as little with me as possible. After all, lugging all that baggage around was going to get annoying after a while. You can read more on this HERE, but basically I decided to use my recent trip to Ireland to test drive this plan.

I took to Ireland a 25l backpack and then a 65l rucksack to share with the two folks who came with me. Into the 25l bag I fit the following enough clothing to last me nearly the full 2 weeks (with 1 wash in Galway), plus my camera and a spare pair of light shoes.

My toiletries went into the shared bag purely to avoid having to take them through security, along with a small first aid kit and my Ireland guide book.

So how did it go? Here's the small bag the night before I left. Very proud of my packing skills.

Well, I didn't need to take quite so many clothes for a start. I could lose a t-shirt or two and still have enough to wear without having to do a wash every couple of days.

Taking 6 days worth of socks/underwear was plenty. I did hand-washing 2 nights to restock and that was easily enough. Did turn the sink filthy the first time round, although I think that might have been the amount of sand that came out of Gemma and Claire's socks after we went down to the beach at Malin Beg.

Ew. Anyhoo, I think I've got the clothes thing down. So, I need to cut my toiletries to 100ml containers so I don't need to worry about getting through security. And I'll need to check my first aid kit to make sure that can go through in hand luggage as well.

The guide book... didn't need to come with me. I think I got it out once in the entire trip. So I can leave guide books out of any future packing plans. Too much dead weight.

Aside from that, well, I think it's entirely feasible to travel with hand luggage only, even on trips lasting more than a couple of weeks. My 25l bag only weighed about 7kg, out of a 10kg carry on allowance, and it's a fair bit smaller than the dimension limits most airlines impose. You just have to be willing to do so washing occasionally and not want to be wearing loads of different clothes.

This is where packing lists come in. They're great for making sure you only take what you really need. Of which, more in a future post. For now, I think we can conclude that travelling with carry on only is realistic. Bring on the next trip!

The One Bag Challenge

Long haul airlines typically give you a pretty generous luggage allowance - in the region of 20-30kg for checked luggage and maybe around 10kg for cabin. Let's say it works out about 30kg overall, in general. Imagine how much you could fit in that much baggage.

When we went to New Zealand last year, my checked bag weighed 11kg. For three weeks of travel. I didn't even use half of the things I packed - mostly extra clothes. So when I went to Iceland in January with Gemma, I figured I'd bypass the checked baggage and just take carry-on, because a) we were only going for four days and b) you have to pay extra for checked bags with WOW Air. Managed it easily.

Ryanair also charge for checked baggage, so we've taken just one between the 3 of us to Ireland. Personally, the less I put in that bag, the better. I'm aiming for just the one bag. Observe.

Woo, badly edited photo. Anyway, the bag on the right is the checked bag and also the one I took to New Zealand with an entire 11kg in it. The one on the left is the bag I intend to fit most of the things I need into. It holds 25l and it lasted me a week in Wales without feeling I was missing anything.

This is the challenge you see. The Grand Tour, my epic grand plan to travel round the world on my own, is less than a year away and I figure the fewer bags I have to keep an eye on, the better.

Enter the One Bag Challenge. My goal is to cut out the checked bag altogether and just take carry on. This can make so many things easier.

• Fewer bags to keep an eye on.
• Potentially faster check in at airports.
• Cheaper travel where airlines charge for checked bags.
• Fewer things to carry around - that 65l bag was not pleasant to lug around in New Zealand.
• Fewer things to misplace from the bag.

With a little thought, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to fit everything I need into that bag. I'm perfectly capable of doing laundry, so I won't be needing all those extra clothes I always take. I always wear my walking boots, my heaviest item, on the flight, so that takes them out of the equation. I don't take loads of tech with me - my laptop, though fairly light, stays at home and my camera will fit neatly into the top of the bag.

New Zealand also taught me that I don't need to take books away with me. I took a couple to NZ with the idea that I'd read them in the evenings. I didn't touch them, not even on the flights. Dead weight. Even my travel guide barely got touched, so I won't be taking them anywhere again.

The other heavy and bulky things are the toiletries. I only took travel-sized toiletries to Iceland, which seriously cut down on weight and how much space they took up. Also, let's face it, most places I plan to go, I'll be able to buy toiletries there.

Same applies to any clothes I might be missing - nothing to stop me picking up something locally. Might even find something nice to take home.

And there's another thing - souvenirs. They can take up so much space. Nothing to stop me posting things back home though. Could have a nice little stack of things waiting for me when I get back.

Yeah, I'm thinking this is a great idea. I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you have any tips for cutting down on luggage? Feel free to share!

Ireland: Whisky in the Jar...

Well, we've entered the final countdown. 5 days till take off.

All the hostels are booked, as is the car hire. We've also reserved a starlight kayak trip near Cork and are looking at whale watching and horse riding. Those two we're holding off on booking for now until we've got a better idea of what the weather might do. I'm not entirely averse to rain but the idea of spending two hours on horseback in pouring rain does not appeal.

It will be amazing, I know this

On Friday night after work I'm catching a train to Manchester, meeting up with Gemma and then crashing at my mum's before we head to the airport on Saturday morning. After that it's a lunch time flight into Dublin where we'll meet up with Claire who's flying from Birmingham.

Just a few little bits left to sort out. Got my euros yesterday, my travel insurance is sorted and I think I have everything I need to take with me. Got to decide how we're paying the balance on the hostels. When we went to New Zealand last year, Claire and my sister paid me in what they owed for hostels and then I paid the hostels, just to save all us faffing around trying to get the right cash out. We'll probably end up doing similar this time, but we still haven't sorted it... should probably do that...

Also need to make sure everything we need fits in the available luggage space. We're only one checked bag between us because you have to pay extra for checked bags with Ryanair. So I need my big rucksack to weigh less than 15kg. Considering I only took 11kg for a 3 week trip to New Zealand, I think this is doable, even including the (likely) 2 pairs of walking boots that'll be going in.

On which note, I'm using this trip for a sort of trial run of the One Bag Challenge. Not sure if this is already a thing or if I've just made it up... More info on this in a post next week, but the idea is that I'm trying to cut down on all the stuff that goes on holiday with me in preparation for The Grand Tour. After all, do I really need so many spare t-shirts when I can just take 3 or 4 and wash them regularly?

So, I may be taking a checked bag, but I want to put as little of my stuff in it as possible. I'll wear my walking boots for the flight, as always. And probably get stopped by the metal detectors, as always. Everything I need, as far as possible, needs to fit into my carry on bag. It's a 25 litre backpack. It lasted me a week in Wales. Pretty sure it can last me for 2 weeks in Ireland. Look.

We shall see... 5 DAYS TO GO!

Ireland: The Car Hire Saga

So, it's now just a couple of months until I head off to Ireland with Claire and Gemma. Most of the hostels are booked, we've started looking at trips and whatnot that we want to take and we've got the car hire sorted.

Except, wait a minute, is the care hire sorted? Up until a week or so ago, nope. Indeed, the care hire became, for a while at least, a bit of a saga. When we first started looking at hire cars a few months back we quickly realised that unlike New Zealand, where you can hire a car from the age of 21, Ireland won't let you hire a car until you're 25.

First day with Ead, our trusty Ford Focus in NZ

Which, you know, from a safety point of view is obviously great, but Claire is only going to be 24 when we're in Ireland. Problem the first.

So we set about finding companies that would hire to under 25s. Of which there were very few.

The first of these, Dooleys, has ludicrously expensive hire in the first place and then charges an extra ludicrously expensive charge on top for a driver under 25. Reject.

Next up, Avis, who hire at reasonable prices and while they do charge extra for a driver under 25, it's much less expensive than Dooleys. Possibility.

Then Sixt, who hire at cheaper rates than Avis but charge much more for a driver under 25. Another possibility.

Finally, after much research and emailing of companies by Gemma, Thrifty came up. These guys hire at a similar price to Avis but more importantly, according to their response to Gemma's email, don't charge extra for a driver under 25, so long as the driver in question fulfils their other criteria - namely that the driver must have been eligible to hold a licence for 6 years and actually had one for 2 years. Which Claire does fulfil. Happy times.

So we're going with Thrifty. They've been really good about getting back to Gemma about a few last bits like if they charge to take the car into Northern Ireland. From a quick scan through other companies, it seems to be a bit hit and miss - some charge a one off fee, others don't charge at all as long as you bring the car back into the Republic of Ireland, which is what we intend to do.

Let's just hope we get a car as awesome and reliable as Ead, the Ford Focus we rented in New Zealand. Look at him - so brilliant we even took a selfie with him!

Oh, by the way, I'd totally recommend About New Zealand for car hire over there - no problems at all with this little dude.

Anyways, we'll see how attached we get to the Irish car. Maybe that'll get blessed with selfies too...

We'll see.