Checklist

We leave for Bali in 3.5 sleeps. 

Miss 12 and I are firmly of the opinion that as we will be too excited to sleep much on Saturday night, and because we will be getting up at 4am, that Saturday night only counts as half a sleep. Therefore, it is 3.5 sleeps and not 4 sleeps.

I was about to make a final check of things to do before I leave, so I thought I may as well write a blog post. This will save me from writing it on post-it note and promptly losing it, plus I thought some of you might have useful tips?

This week

• Locate passports. (Do NOT leave this until the last minute. Seriously. Trust me on this one).

• Copy passport (2 copies to be left with responsible people, 1 copy to be in bag away from actual passport).

• Pack bags.

• Argue with children about what is actually necessary and what is not.

• Weigh bags.

• Make sure you have appropriate weight for your checked in baggage.

• Take out travel insurance (I have actually already done this, but it is so important).

• Double check immunisations (Even thought that should really be done a few months beforehand. I did this soon after we booked the trip).

• Confirm hotel bookings.

• Print tickets/insurance/bookings.

• Email copies of tickets/insurance/books to responsible and contactable people.

• Make arrangements for pets/house/mail.

• Leave instructions and key for pet-sitters.

• Buy appropriate food etc for pets.

• Assure anxious children that the pets will not get totally overweight with pet-sitters. 

• Let bank know that account will be accessed overseas.

• Get $US for entry visa.

• Exchange enough money for the first few days.

• Pack a Bali First Aid Kit (the girls' Dad made me promise to do this one).

• Advise people that I won't be contactable on phone (or get global roaming, but I am planning on the first option).

• Mentally deal with the fact that work goals will not be as finished as will like, and move on.

• Effect good handover to colleagues.

• Put on "out of office" and put work out of my mind, guilt free.

The day before

• Do the dishes and make sure there is no wet laundry.

• Book taxi.

• Check in.

• Write list of things to do last minute as we leave the house.

• Set alarm.

Ok so the list looks pretty massive, but it's not really. It has been a good brainstorming exercise, and I am feeling a lot more organised than I usually do when I am throwing things in a suitcase the day I leave to go somewhere. 

The girls have been well brought up in Girl Guides. They don't go anywhere without a kit list; if one is not provided, or if the quality is not good enough, they write their own. I haven't seen their lists for this trip, but I will see if they will let me share. 

In the meantime, can you think of anything I have forgotten to do? What is your last minute routine before you go away?

Happy adventuring,

Cath xx

Winter Wanderings

4 July 2015 saw us celebrating. No, not the independence of the American colonies from the British Empire, but the beginning of the Bridgetown in the Winter Festival. The night saw "snow" (complete with snowfights, snowangels, and snowmen), a hawkers' lane filled with lots of yummy food, the Bridgetown Town Hall turned into a Winter Wonderland, and the official turning on of Bridgetown's Blue Lights.

That was simply a teaser. The Bridgetown in the Winter Festival is Lela's project so I will let her tell you all about it. All I am going to say is that there are some great activities on offer, lasting all the way through the winter months, and that the myth that Western Australia's South West is purely for summer has been well and truly debunked.

The girls and I are trying to make it one of our missions to see something a bit different each time we go down South. This trip we took a drive down the scenic Blackwood River Tourist Drive.

It was a truly beautiful drive. Miss 16 put herself in charge of taking photos (which was useful as I was driving), and these were the only four she deemed blogworthy.

Are you spotting a flaw with the pictures? Did you notice there was no river?

I can confirm that there were several sightings of the Blackwood River along the drive, however the route we were on did not follow the river. It was fun playing spot the river though!

Enough about recent trips. There are still exciting things to come! Currently I am looking forward to a planning meeting with Lela for our big NZ trip on Friday ... and my trip to Bali with the girls next week.

Stay tuned for more posts, and happy adventuring.

Cath xx

Ticking the boxes

Just a note to touch base with you all!

Life has been plodding along the last few weeks, but some significant steps have been taken. And in case you are wondering what "plodding along" means in our universe it is really code for everyday chaos and being insanely busy. You know, the normal lives of busy women.

But as there have been achievements in terms of travel plans, I thought I would share them with you:

• The second last payment for my girls' trip to the Girl Guide Jamboree in Queensland has been paid.
• Accommodation for my family trip to Bali has been booked.
• Paris the Yaris has new tyres all set for four country adventures I have planned over the next month.

I am so excited about it all. There are a few things left that I need to do quite quickly though. One of these being actually letting some of my country friends know that I am planning on visiting them. Three out of the five people know, the others I will call this week.

I also need to book return trips home for the girls from Queensland. I have been trying to work out if I can afford for DD1 (aka Buglet if you read my personal blog) to join the little two in Queensland to visit my extended family after the Jamboree. I really don't think I can, but it really feels like too good an opportunity to miss. I will let you know how this all goes. 

My car mascot; meet Hilton.

Perhaps the most exciting thing is that Lela and I have decided where we will be heading on our next adventure after New Zealand. I am not telling you then though. I will add "talk to Lela about a big reveal" to the list of things to do this week ... so stay tuned. 

Happy adventuring!

Cath xxx

Girl Guides go places

In my very first Kris' Angels blog post, I mentioned that my first experience of Asia was going to Cambodia. What I didn't mention in that post, was that the reason I was in Cambodia to representing Girl Guides Australia at an Asia Pacific Region Strategic Leadership conference. 

At some point I will write about my memories of Cambodia, but the point of today's post is that I was thinking about some of the trips I am beginning to plan for the next 5 years. 

Lela wrote about our $5 a week being our starting point, but of the very early topics of conversation also included was one day visiting the four World Centres belonging to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). (I should say here that this was a number of years ago, Lela's recollection may differ!)

One of my plans is to take a group of girls to Sangam which is the World Centre in India. 

Part of my long service leave plans is spend some time in Our Cabana, the World Centre in Mexico. 

When I make it to London, a visit to Pax Lodge is a non-negotiable. 

But the real reason I thought to do this post at this moment in time, is that one of my friends has just got back from spending three months at Our Chalet, the World Centre in Switzerland. I loved living vicariously through her blog, until I can make it there myself one day. I was discussing with my girls (and my Guides) that travelling with Guides, including the opportunity to volunteer overseas, was something they could do one day. 

Meanwhile four of my Guides (including two of my daughters) are fundraising to attend a Jamboree in Queensland, and currently my Guide unit is planning a unit camp to Our Barn, a Guide property in York, Western Australia.

I am grateful that I have had a chance to be part of an such an amazing organisation that, on top of all the other benefits it provides to girls and women, gives us a family all over the world that we can visit. 

I will let you know how all these plans shape up as I go along.

Cath xx

PS in case anyone check out the World Centre link, yes, they are building a Fifth World Centre in Africa, and yes that is on the travel plan list too. 

C - V = NZ

By some point some of you may be wondering how we are planning on paying for our travel plans. Sadly, we have not found a large sum of money by miraculous needs (although if we did that would be great).

As Lela said in our original post, we saved for Bali literally by putting $5 a week into a joint bank account. Currently we are using the same method (but with a greater contribution, which we are increasing slowly as we can afford it) to pay for our flights, transport, and accommodation for New Zealand in January 2016.

Next challenge is spending money.

I am a total V addict. It is easy to justify. I am a single mum to three very busy teenagers. I work full time. Everyone needs a vice. I was studying at night. Blah, blah, blah. So easy to justify. Sadly my favourite vice is not good for my weight, my health, my iron levels, my sleep, and it is expensive.

I have decided I want to travel more then I want the addiction ..... so for every day I don't have a V I am putting $5 into my spending money fund. So far we are at day 7 and I have $25 put aside. I am pretty proud of myself!

I am not likely to give them up totally, but to go down from a daily habit to one a week I feel is a good start. Hopefully I will get addicted to watching my savings grow instead. I will keep you updated. Now I am back at work the challenge will really begin.

I have no intention of giving up cupcakes. They are a sometimes food, and instant happiness!

Happy saving, and happy planning everyone.

Cath xx

Disclaimer: I do realise that in English 'Z' doesn't rhyme with 'C' or 'V'. Please don't hate me. I just thought it was a cute title.

2015!

Happy New Year blog followers, fellow travelers, and any other random people who have come to our page.

2015! In honour of the New Year, I am writing a list of 15 places I would love to visit. Unless there is a massive change in my financial circumstances I will not be visiting all these places in 2015, but 2015 will be the year I put dates on when I am aiming to get there.

1. New Zealand (January 2016! Road trip around the South Island with Lela, and I can't wait). 
2. Bali (July 2015 - I have already been there once, but I am very much looking forward to taking my girls. I would also love to spend a New Years there. I have heard it is amazing and a big cultural celebration. Plus I figured since is my 2015 list it would be nice to have one place that I will actually go to in 2015).
3. Cruise of the Pacific Islands.
4. UK and Europe. All of it.
5. Antarctica (2030 - to celebrate being 50).
6. New Years Eve in New York City.
7. Driving tour of Ireland.
8. India, and in particular the Girl Guide World Centre at Sangam (the other World Centres are also on my list - see how I am sneaking in some extra places? Sangam is just first on the list).
9. Inca trail.
10. Uluru (I went when I was 8, but I want to take the girls to see it, plus I have a sister and two nephews who live in Alice Springs).
11. Tasmania (It is the only state in Australia I have yet to visit).
12. Cruise up the west coast of Africa, including Mauritius, and to re-visit Reunion Island (I went there on student exchange in 1996).
13. Rio! The date is set. NYE 2020 (or is that NYE 2019? I can never work out how to say it). Celebrating seeing in 2020 and the decade that will be my fabulous 40's.
14. White Christmas. At the moment I am thinking a Christmas in Scotland, followed by a NY in Paris.
15. China - in particular a study opportunity I have been looking at. A bit of family and work juggling will have to happen for me to do this one.

My turn!!! (Lela). Oh! Where do I start! I want to do so much! This time last year I was getting ready to go to Bali for the first time and it was the beginning of a strong yearn to travel and get out and see the world. So my wish list:

1. Take my kids to Bali. We have been busy saving and slowly getting there. As yet we don't have a date set in stone, we are tossing around June.
2. Helping my son on his first interstate trip. This is a school trip to Canberra and his first trip away. Not specifically my goal, but I'm hoping this tour will ignite a desire to travel in him.
3. Fabric shopping in Germany. Or Japan. They each make great fabric and as a sewer, I 'm keen on a shopping trip.
4. NZ road trip. The planning and saving for this is already underway and excitement is beginning to grow.
5. Blogging conference in ? In 2015. I really want to get to the problogger conference, meet other bloggers and see the host city as a travel blogger.
6. Camping. I live in a beautiful part of the world, I want to see and experience more of it!
7. Southern USA. No particular reason, love the accent, love the history.
8. Tasmania. Perhaps 2017. I've heard the most glorious things about Tassie scenery and food.
9. Cruise ship. Anywhere! Just so I can say I've been on one

Cath again: Totally loving the idea of cruises. Did you notice how Lela and I conveniently have some things that that overlap?  I may just need to go on a mini-cruise to see if I actually like being on a cruise and to test out for sea-sickness before I book a big one. Damn it! Another trip. What a tragedy (this last bit may be read in heavily sarcastic tones).

Now just to turn the dreams in to reality with some dates and goals! What are you planning?

Cath and Lela
aka Kris' Angels

PS Stay tuned for a post soon where you will get to meet Kris!