Today was our last day at work.
Its hard to describe how I feel right now. There's a real mixture of emotions - sadness and loss, but also a real sense of excitement at what is to come.
The best thing about working at NU was definitely the people - we'll miss not seeing the good friends we've made every day. This video is a reminder of some of them....
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Last Day
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Not long to go now!
Well, time has really flown over the last few months and we suddenly find ourselves with less than 3 weeks to go until we depart. Scary!
We are fairly well organised but still have a long "To Do" list which we are slowly working our way through. Its amazing how much there is to do before you can head off round the world for 8 months.
We are fairly well organised but still have a long "To Do" list which we are slowly working our way through. Its amazing how much there is to do before you can head off round the world for 8 months.
The itinerary is pretty well sorted out now. We have 5 weeks in SE Asia, starting in Hanoi and then working our way south through Vietnam and then crossing into Cambodia. The highlight of this leg of the trip will probably be Angkor Wat (above), but it looks like there will be so much to do and see there.
In the middle of October we fly to Perth where we'll spend a couple of weeks exploring Western Australia and visiting June's aunt Jean. Then its on to Darwin, Cairns and Sydney, before driving round the "bottom right" of Australia, through Melbourne and Adelaide and then up through the outback to Uluru and Alice Springs. We're really looking forward to visiting friends and family in Melbourne and Adelaide, and spending Christmas with the Steeles!
In mid-Jan we fly on to New Zealand, and have a couple of months to expore the islands. We will probably get a camper van for much of the time. We've both wanted to go to NZ for a really long time - June because of the scenery, Mark because of Lord of the Rings!
The final leg of the tour through South America starts in Chile and ends in Rio two months later. We're not too sure what we want to do yet, although Patagonia and the Iguassu Falls are definitely on the list. The Argentinian steaks might be worth a try too!
The current plan is to arrive back home in mid May......
In the middle of October we fly to Perth where we'll spend a couple of weeks exploring Western Australia and visiting June's aunt Jean. Then its on to Darwin, Cairns and Sydney, before driving round the "bottom right" of Australia, through Melbourne and Adelaide and then up through the outback to Uluru and Alice Springs. We're really looking forward to visiting friends and family in Melbourne and Adelaide, and spending Christmas with the Steeles!
In mid-Jan we fly on to New Zealand, and have a couple of months to expore the islands. We will probably get a camper van for much of the time. We've both wanted to go to NZ for a really long time - June because of the scenery, Mark because of Lord of the Rings!
The final leg of the tour through South America starts in Chile and ends in Rio two months later. We're not too sure what we want to do yet, although Patagonia and the Iguassu Falls are definitely on the list. The Argentinian steaks might be worth a try too!
The current plan is to arrive back home in mid May......
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The flights are booked!
After a few months of procrastinating we've finally got around to booking our flights!
We've gone for a Qantas / BA round the world ticket (surprisingly good value), and we're planning to visit Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia, NZ, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. We'll probably be away for about 8 months all told.
We still have loads of planning to do. All we know is when we are flying where. Now the hard work begins in trying to work out what we want to see, where we want to stay, how we want to get around etc. Its pretty exciting, but at the same time it's difficult to find the time to really do the research. Despite being almost redundant work is still pretty busy, but hopefully things will begin to ease up soon.
Really beginning to look forward to it now.....
We've gone for a Qantas / BA round the world ticket (surprisingly good value), and we're planning to visit Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia, NZ, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. We'll probably be away for about 8 months all told.
We still have loads of planning to do. All we know is when we are flying where. Now the hard work begins in trying to work out what we want to see, where we want to stay, how we want to get around etc. Its pretty exciting, but at the same time it's difficult to find the time to really do the research. Despite being almost redundant work is still pretty busy, but hopefully things will begin to ease up soon.
Really beginning to look forward to it now.....
Friday, October 13, 2006
New Directions
Hello, and welcome to our blog. We're Mark and June. We live in the south of England.
On September 14th 2006, we were told that our jobs, in the IT department of a major insurance company, were going to be off-shored to India.
This blog isn't about that event, or about the pros and cons off off-shoring.
It's about what comes next. It's about taking the opportunity to try something new.
I've been in my currrent job for 13 years. June, who works in the same department, has been there for 17. With our redundancy payments in out back pockets, we reckon its time to make a change.
So, when we finally get shown the door (potentially August 07), we are going to "off-shore" ourselves, and spend a few months (years?!) travelling. At this early stage we're not sure where we'll head to and for how long. We just know that this is a great opportunity to try something different, and to do things you don't normally get the chance to do when you're caught on the career treadmill.
Where will we go? What will we do? This blog will start its life as a place to record our plans, thoughts (and fears!). Hopefully it will end up becoming a travel journal, so that our friends and family can keep track of our travels.
Let's go......
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