365

365 days, 16 countries and a full circumference of the globe. So how much would a trip like this cost? The tickets, 20 flights, cost almost exactly £2000. We bought a couple more, at about £120 each, along the way. A long van rental in Australia? Just over 50 days in the off season cost us about £1500 between us. Considering that was our accommodation as well it wasn't too bad. But if anyone if staying longer than a couple of months then buying a vehicle is the way to go.
Our American Subaru set us back a couple of thousand quid and we sold it in a rush for about £900 with it's nagging new fault!


So the real cost it just living. All in all I probably spent about £12,000 just on food, getting around and sightseeing. I bought only a couple of momentous from the trip as carrying the newly purchased items or sending them back expensively is a hassle I can live without. It was enough to carry a backpack and another bag in my hand on those long travelling days, not that they were packed with clothes. For the first 6 months I survived on one pair of boxer shorts!
Since I've been back in the world of odd new phrases like 'credit crunch' many people have asked me what my favourite country is. I've not even scratched the surface as far as world travel goes but I'd definitely like to see more of Japan and New Zealand. America's landscape is amazing and just everyday living in South America was for me the true spirit of what a trip like this is all about.

One person has asked me what my worst country is and to be honest that's an even harder question. I plumped for Bolivia because the people were miserable, there was a lot of civil unrest once we left, but there's some truly beautiful scenery there. The unwanted attention in China and the annoying con-men in Bangkok were only minor bugs in an otherwise exceptional trip. We spent a year almost constantly travelling and encountered only one dodgy situation and even that was not a full week into the trip.
Would I do it all again? Well, yes. I'm not sure if I'd stay away for as long as a year again but six months definitely. Although, for anyone who hasn't already done the year trip then I would recommend it unquestionably.


I've been set a back and left speechless soo many times along the way with soo many memories that keep coming back to me that will stay stored away in a dusty corner of my brain forever. I've come back a red wine and green tea drinker but other than that nothing has changed except for my massive appreciation for the great country of my birth. It's funny how much things about your own country you miss, good British ales for one, and how much the people who live here take everything for granted and really do a good job of putting it all down.
As I go about my daily business I often think that at this very moment there's guys in flip-flops and shades doing some welding in China. There's a bronzed, beer bellied 50 year old guy catching a few waves on his surf board. There's a tour guide explaining the Inca ruins in three different languages. There's a perfect Argentinian steak being served, a stunning American mountain range being snowboarded, a huge New Zealand glacier being explored inside and a funk band playing in the dark clubs of the white city of San Francisco. Whatever it is, wherever it is, when you're travelling there's always something going on and it's almost impossible not to love it.

Systematic travel

An average day in the travelling life is pretty hectic when you have limited time in a place. It pays to be sort of organised so you can quickly get on with seeing stuff.
Before we arrive anywhere we usually have pre-booked a place a day or two before. Once you arrive you try to get as much information as you can from the train/plane/bus station. Japan was great for this as the tourist info places are all really helpful and the maps are great.
We usually jot down brief instructions, or at least the address, of the place we are staying so it makes it a little easier to ask people or look on maps on how to get there. It usually helps to ask at the tourist info or at your hotel on what the best things to see are as this saves time in strolling around looking at the not-as-good stuff.
You quickly have to get used to every city so in Japan this got really tough as we had limited time. Constantly having a map with us was essential.
Working out local transport is sometimes tricky but we've found most people are helpful, many people helped us out in Japan just because we looked lost even though most times we were fine!
Just trying to do the best you can in the time you've got is tricky but it's all a brilliant experience and no day is ever the same. Every time you leave your room in Asia something happens, which is partly why it's been soo difficult to keep up with this blog!
Right, next city!

Hong Kong Airport.
Somewhere in China. It's all a blur.

Pondering the social and democratic change affecting China and it's commerce...probably.

Fuji film

After all the cities we've been to we needed to get out to the country. Mount Fuji is the largest mountain in Japan, it's actually an old volcano but there you go. We thought it would be a good idea to climb it but upon arriving we soon realised the weather would be too bad. The little town we stopped in was great though, Kawaguchi-ko. It's part of the Fuji 5 lakes, which is the lake district of Japan. There's a great lake there and some small shops and eateries but not much else. Loved it. So chilled out after the hustle and bustle of all the cities.
Throughout Asia the weather has been hot, around 35-39 degrees, so getting to Japan and it being around 25 degrees was such a relief and much better when out and about. However, once you get up to the 5th station, sort of the base camp of Mount Fuji, the weather drops about 10 degrees and the wind increases 10 fold. Along with the rain and cloud we knew that the 8 hour walk to the top was out of the question. With all the travelling we were too tired anyway. We mooched around and then went back down to the town. That evening we thought we'd try and sample some real traditional Japanese food in a local restaurant. Thankfully our Hotel, Inn, supplied us with a hand drawn map of local restaurants. We strolled through a neighbourhood to find a cosy Japanese place right in the middle of a housing estate. Not much English was spoke inside but it was good fun trying just to order the food, of which we had no idea what it was. There was a guy inside, looking like odd-job from James Bond, who was really friendly and let us try his food and drink some of his traditional wine! He was really trying with us and at one point even rang a mate to find out what the English was for "Is this your first ever Japanese meal?". We had a good laugh with him and the chef/owner, who made one of the best meals of my life. He cooked it on the hot plate in front of us like a true tradesman. Real pride went into it and it was brill. Okonimi- sort of egg based fried omelette thing that was amazing.
Our hotel, or Inn, was cracking too and fair cheap at 9 pound each a night. Our room was true Japanese style with sliding doors and free Japanese tea provided all day. As with other places in Japan free internet is provided but it's tough getting on with all the other backpackers hogging the pcs!! In the room we were provided with night gowns. These are for hanging around in and going for an Onsen. This is the Japanese hot bath and took a bit of getting used to. Thankfully diagrams of what to do were placed on the wall.
First you take off you robe and place it in a basket in the communal room. Then totally starkers you go into the male-only, obviously there is a ladies version too, bathing area. You have a shower and make sure you are clean before getting into a large hot bath with everybody else. It took some getting used to and you can only take the heat of the water, after slowly easing your way in, for about 10 minutes. The bath itself was on a kind of outside balcony so you can sit in the bath totally naked, outside-ish, boiling hot and checking out Mount Fuji. Really good stuff. Once you get out of the bath you feel amazingly relaxed and totally clean. I nearly fainted when I got out trying to acclimatise to the heat!
It was a really good time there and even the traffic lights for pedestrians played a little fairytale tune when you could cross. This did drive me totally insane after a while but it was good nontheless.
I'd go back and try and give Fuji a go, we could see it right out of our window but it's covered in cloud 95% of the year!
This is the view from our hotel room. It was probably about as clear as Fuji got whilst we were there!

This is the view down onto Kawaguchi-ko, the lake is just on the left, from Mount Fuji.

The counrtyside of Japan is beautiful and we only saw a bit of it but I'd definitely go back without a doubt.
On the way out of Kawaguchi-ko we started talking to an Australian guy who'd married a Japanese woman and was on holiday there. He said an odd thing to me, apart from originally thinking I was German(which has happened so many times!). I told him that we were going to Autralia soon-ish and he replied "You'll find it a step down, they're a bit backwards." I didn't quite know whether he meant Japan was a step down or Australia. 'I'm sure I'll find out' I thought.