Posts Tagged With: osprey

3 days to go! One bag packing for Vietnam (7kg carry on + personal item not weighed)

PURCHASE IN COUNTRY

⁃ sunscreen (circle k or tourist shop)

⁃ Bug spray (remos brand)

B PACKING

⁃ paperwork

⁃ deodorant, toothpaste, avene 100ml sunscreen, cetaphil 100ml, seasick patches, bug wipes

OSPREY FAIRVIEW 36L ROLLING BAG

◦ Waterproof poncho

◦ 3 x isocool tshirts (lilac, white, bright pink)

◦ 2 x 3/4 sleeve tops (teal, pink)

◦ 1 x colourful skort

◦ 1 x macpac white linen shorts

◦ 1 x T9 crop 3/4 pants (blue)

◦ 1 x M ripskirt dress short (flowers)

◦ 2 x Bella bodies travel bra

◦ 2 x TS chub rub shorts 5”

◦ 5 x modal black undies

◦ 1 x merino Sleep shorts

◦ 1 x merino paire sleep singlet

◦ 1 x monte Lou bikini set

◦ 1 x lined swim shorts black

◦ 1 x swim/suncover shirt: brown

◦ 1 x crocs thongs

OTHER STUFF

◦ cooling neck scarf + ring

◦ Plug cover for sink washing

◦ Toiletries (non liquid) bag: hairbrush, hair ties/scrunchies, toothbrush, gel ear plugs for snoring, concealer, powder, brush, tweezers, micellar wipes, floss

◦ Toiletries (liquid) bag: shampoo 100ml, conditioner 100ml tub, body wash 100ml, cleanser tube 50ml, TOTD MU remover, 2x med cream, IT redness 20ml, heat spray 50ml, makeup setting 30ml, red correct tub, white concealer tube, face sunscreen 50ml

◦ Laundry bag

◦ 5L dry sack

◦ Mini clothesline + laundry sheets + masks + vomit bags

◦ Medications travel container: Panadol, nurofen, coloxyl, no-doz, dramamine, antibiotics, gastro stop, buscopan, nausea wafers, multiV, something for itch/bites, telfast 180

◦ Palexia, bacclofan, codeine + dr letter

◦ USB C Hair straightener

◦ Small foldable backpack

◦ MacBook 13” and padded sleeve

◦ Crushable travel hat

PERSONAL ITEM (grey crossbody bag)

◦ charger pack including cable, int adaptors and base, fitbit charger and air fly kit

◦ Cheap folding Sunnies

◦ Ereader

◦ AirPods

◦ Ear plugs (loop for plane)

◦ Pen

◦ Money/travel wallet

◦ Vapor water bottle

◦ Merino wool socks for plane / cold feet

◦ Passport

WEAR ON PLANE

⁃ T9 crop 3/4 pants (grey)

⁃ bra (light blue merino racerback)

⁃ modal tshirt

⁃ 1 x Paire undies

⁃ keen Travel sandals

⁃ merino cardigan (pink)

⁃ Fitbit inspire 2

Categories: Vietnam | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Singapore Day 2: my first Michelin Star dining experience and it cost $6.50!!

This morning should have been a sleep in but…time difference. We woke up, discovered how awkward it is to use the toilet when it has frosted glass walls (very, in case you were wondering) and then went exploring. B was determined to try a hawker centre for food so I let him choose. It turned out he picked the one that was on my to-do list! We had a late breakfast/early lunch at Ah Heng which is a Michelin recommended eatery….one of the only ones in the world where you can get a meal for under $7. It’s in the Hong Lim food court in chinatown. We had the specialty dish of chicken curry bee hoon me and it was excellent. Two large portions for $13.

Some reading beforehand indicated the best way to travel around was with an EZ link card. This is NOT the Singapore tourist card which is $20 for 3 days unlimited travel but rather is what the locals use to tag on/off rides. It’s much cheaper as it is pretty hard to spend enough to justify $20 for three days, most trips are approx 0.77c. You can also just top it up as you go.

We then went from brunch to Sim Lim Square which is 6 levels of electronics. B was in his element and I enjoyed looking at all the gimmicky stuff. I bought my first selfie stick! B was very unimpressed.

After that, we went to a few different shopping centres and finally landed on our mutual happy place – a store with every Osprey bag under the sun! Now we have matching day packs as well as suitcases lol.

As we left the final shop, the tropical rain hit and it poured. We ubered back to the hotel ($5) and discovered Uber here seems to be fixed price, which seems to mean you accept the price given by the driver before entering the car. My plan had been to come back and swim but maybe not in pouring rain….so after working out where the pool was, we enjoyed an afternoon cocktail and a lovely bath before joining the hotel provided happy hour at 6pm.

Dinner tonight was at Lagnaa which is in Little India and is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide for Singapore. You get to choose your level of spicy and if you go level three or above you get a peg. I really wanted a peg! But alas, spicy food makes my eyes and nose water like mad. B went all the way to level six and got invited back next week to their once a month “full moon party” opportunity to try level seven and above. He’s currently undecided…..

HFC perk 2: one of the coolest things about this hotel is the “handy” device. It’s an android phone that is assigned to your room and has unlimited data and the ability to make calls. It’s absolutely fantastic when out and about to use google maps and Trip Advisor!

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Two months until Europe! 

Woohoo, exactly two months until we leave for Europe! 
Exciting things that have been happening in the lead up…hmmm…well, we solved our backpack versus suitcase issue by buying a backpack and suitcase combined. A backcase? A suitpack? Anyway, we bought two of these cool Osprey 80L “Sojourn” bags. We also both have small daypacks for carry on and day to day adventuring. 

Suitcase + backpack = something something

 
I am going to cover mine in purple tags so it is easy to tell which is which. B’s can just stay plain and boring, exactly the way he likes it 🙂 

Another exciting thing that happened was our house purchase, which was settled in June. Because everyone knows it’s a great idea to buy a house and go on a big overseas trip in the same 6 month period – right? RIGHT? We are currently in the process of arranging house sitters for while we are away and that’s working out pretty well, it will be nice to have the house lived in here in Canberra while we are overseas. 

Our house is a very nice house

 
So what are the big things left to do before we leave?

  • Sort out CommBank travel money cards. Oh and money. Need some of that too I suppose 
  • Wait for intrepid travel to send through our tour documents for the 15 day tour we have arranged through Spain, France and Italy 
  • Do some test run attempts at packing (I’m testing out travel clothes at the moment to try and decide what to take, argh so many clothes so little space)

B has also been learning Spanish, for his own interest mostly…but it will still come in handy in Spain! 

 

Spanish lessons!

 
He’s actually learning it properly in a class whereas my focus in relation to languages has just been to learn how to say “I don’t speak English” in various languages to ward off the street sellers who hassle tourists. 
 

Mel the llama says: No hablo inglés!

 

People keep asking what are highlights that I’m really looking forward to? Hmmm that’s a toughie, I am pretty excited to be spending my 30th birthday on a river cruise through Paris followed by a show at the Moulin Rouge! Then again, Pompeii will also be amazing. Oh, and Cinque Terre….that’s going to be a real highlight!

 

Cinque Terre – ah so pretty!

 

Two months and counting!

Mel xx

Categories: Europe 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 Adventures!!

Woohoo 2015 adventures ahoy!

So this year I get to have two grand overseas trips. One was planned at the end of last year and is a 4.5 week jaunt through Barcelona, Rome, Naples and Paris in October/November. The second has been a little unexpected (read: last minute) and will hopefully see me adventuring to the USA for 10 days in late June.

So first, let’s talk about Europe. We jet off on October 12th to Barcelona and after a few days lounging in the sun we will join up with our intrepid tour. This will see us traveling for 15 days from Barcelona through a variety of locations across to Rome. After fare-welling our tour and a few extra days in Rome, we will head to Naples which puts us nice and close to both Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. A few nights later it will be up to Paris for 5 nights, including attending the Moulin Rouge to celebrate my 30th birthday! Entering the age of denial in style.

zmsc_2015

Intrepid tours are a company I am not familiar with but B has done a very extended one before and had a lot of positive things to say. Their online reviews are positive and the idea of a small tour appealed to me although I am not sure how I will cope with the reliance on public transport to get from one city to the next, as opposed to say…an air conditioned coach. We have chosen one of the more relaxed tours (no camping etc) although they did have all sorts of trips for all sorts of interests and budgets.

The USA trip is a little more haphazard as it will be planned and booked very last minute. B is likely to be heading away for work over there for a few months so I get to go visit…hooray! The visit has been timed around my work commitments which is why it will be about a month into his work trip rather than closer to the end. At the moment it is actually still not fully confirmed as I can’t book my flights until he has the work go-ahead but it is looking likely. He will be based in the Washington area so there will be lots of exploring of Washington as well as 5 nights in New York! EEEEEE! Do you guys realise what is in Washington? Do you? DO YOU? Let me show you….

Not to mention…NEW YORK!! Very exciting. Probably our last year of travel adventures for a while (although South America and Antarctica/The Arctic are still high on the want list) so time to make the most of it. Did I mention that there will be bears in the US? Baby bears? Baby pandas? Did you see that?

Since Europe is mostly booked and paid for and the USA is still a “wait and see” operation….

The big discussion in our house is around luggage choices at the moment. 

Neither of us are super happy with our suitcases but I am not prepared to fully commit to a backpack and B is not prepared to let me just have a suitcase on the intrepid tour as we are relying on trains to get around a fair bit. Stubborn man. So at the moment we are both spending a lot of time reading and researching. This is my front runner – the 80L Osprey Sojourn convertible wheeled bag although there are a lot of other similar things that cost less (but seem to break easy). He is a mad Osprey lover whereas I am new to their products….so we shall see.

Mel Update: No USA trip ended up happening…but Europe looms! 

Categories: Europe 2015, USA 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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