Welcome to our new website to blog our next adventure.
Shaun and I obviously love to travel. On coming home from our second trip we just new we had to go again. It was just a case and where and when. However, we had to think sensibly first. On returning to Guernsey in June 2011 it was a bittersweet moment arriving at Guernsey airport and seeing our familys and then parting ways and saying bye. We lasted all of half an hour before calling each other and agreeing we needed to live together, properly. Renting would be a waste of money so we decided to take the plunge and buy our first home together. We would then have the option of renting it out and have somewhere to come home to if needed. So the plan was set: save up, buy a flat, rent it out and go travelling. Simples!
After a year we had the money and bought our lovely little 1 bed flat in St Peter Port in July 2012. Now was the hard part ... saving up, again! We kept setting a date and kept moving it back again and again, it is impossible to save money and pay a mortgage. It took 2 years but we can now just about see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Now the fun part ... where to go?
There is so much we want to do and see. Our bucket list is forever growing. Again, being practical we knew wanted to do our working holiday visa in Australia and New Zealand. Bearing in mind you have to do these before your 30 we thought it would be best to do that on this trip (we are 25/26 now). After living in Guernsey and experiencing the rest of the world, at this point we also know that we want to live in New Zealand. Maybe not now, perhaps in the future but getting a working holiday visa for 2 years will certainly give us a taste and a possibility to stay if we want to.
Australia. Hmmm pretty long flight. Lets go back to Thailand, it's on the way. Ok but we have already been to Thailand several times. So let's go somewhere we have never been on the way to Thailand. We decided on Sri Lanka. About half way between the UK and Thailand and somewhere that had never really crossed our minds before. Take risks, live for the adventure. KL was a stopover on our ticket and would only cost an extra £17 to land to why the hell not, we decided to stay for a few days. So the plan was set:
- Sri Lanka - 3 weeks
- Thailand - 4 weeks
- Malaysia - 5 days
- Australia - one way
After a bit of haggling around agents in March 2014 we booked the tickets with RTW Experts again. We got this route for £776 each, bargain!
Next one is a biggy ... quitting our jobs. Last year Shaun was thinking about going to a new job but had decided against it because he knew we would be off in the next year. A few months later the guy that owns the company found out we were going travelling and offered Shaun the job anyway on contract. Shaun took the plunge to move in January 2014 for new experiences and with the help of a bigger pay cheque, with all the overtime he could possibly want. Perfect. I didn't tell my work until I had booked the ticket. I only have to give a month's notice but out of kindness and the fact that I want to scream about it I decided to give 6 months notice. So here is hoping the project I have been working on for the last year and a half goes live before I leave!
Next up ... renting out the flat. A harder task than originally thought. We had it valued and unfortunately the market it pretty rubbish right now and the valuation was low, not even enough to cover the mortgage. Not massively but it is worth it to pay a few hundred pound a month to know we have a home to come back to which is hopefully making money for when we sell. We had to get it into a state ready to be rented which involved, and continues to involve, painting and more painting. Luckily nothing major just a new bathroom sink and a couple of hours time off an electrician. For 3 months we tried getting a tenant through Facebook, Guernsey EBay and TIG without any luck. With only 3 months to go we thought it's best to get it with an Estate Agent. We have gone with Martel Maides. Fingers crossed we get a tenant soon.
Next on the agenda ... visas. I applied for my working holiday visa and unfortunately I have to go for a chest x-ray. Mainly because I messed up the form and said I had been in Thailand for 3 months because I couldn't be bothered to list all of the countries we travelled in Asia in that time. Therefore when you have been in a country with high risk of TB for more than 3 consecutive months you have to have a chest x-ray. Nearest place to Guernsey is London and it's going to cost around £100 for the x-raay. I'm still trying to get out of it so I will keep you posted. I applied for Shaun's visa and put the correct time spent in Thailand and his visa was automatically approved within 48 hours. Typical. So all that leaves is a visa for Sri Lanka which we will do nearer the time and Thailand you get on arrival.
So that's everything for now.
À la perchoine
Jodie and Shaun
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