So we’re now a mere week-and-a-day away from our Big Adventure, and it’s time to call in the big guns… AKA everyone we know.

Do you have any travel tips for us? Please?

What’s the one thing we mustn’t leave behind?
What’s the best tip you got about travelling?
What do you wish you’d known last time you set off into the great blue yonder?

We’re going to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Have you been to any of these countries?
Where should we go?
What should we do?
What shouldn’t we do?

We’re away for 9 months, in mostly autumn weather. And we’re packing this week.

What should we pack?
What should we leave behind?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!

So one of the most important things (diabetically speaking) for me on this trip has got to be equipment…

Which was why I was very excited to get my new blood glucose meter – the Accu-Chek Performa Nano. I’ve been really happy with my old blood glucose meter, the Accu-Check Performa, but it had a couple of traits I didn’t love. Just little things, but little things that if they were improved would make a big difference to my life.

Enter the new generation Performa Nano. Not only is it much smaller and waaay cooler looking, but it has a large, backlit display. What does this mean? It means that if I need to test my blood sugar in a movie (which I somehow often do) or in the middle of the night, I can do it without having to switch on a light or use my cell phone as a torch. Because it’s backlit, the numbers are easy to see but not so bright that they’ll cause a disturbance. It also has nifty pre- and post-meal markers, which makes it a lot easier to interpret my numbers at the end of the day or week, because I can see if a certain reading was before or after a meal. And it’s the same family as my old meter, so I don’t have to learn any new tricks, really, it’s still just as easy and quick to use.

All in all, one happy diabetic!

(Here’s the old meter – on the left – and the new one – on the right. Which one would YOU choose?)

Well, kind of. We’re on their Young Blood 5 website, where young people with a cause can discuss what matters to them…

Check it out!

And then leave us a comment so they know we’re popular, please!

Trail Walking

We have a little tradition, here in Cape Town. Every Sunday (or Saturday if the weather is better), Mark and I go on a Nature Walk. It doesn’t have to be for long – usually only an hour or two – but it does have to be somewhere in wild, unspoilt nature. We’ve done forests, mountains, beaches and wide open spaces… And we’ve got it down to a fine art.

Constantia Nek

We strap on our sensible walking shoes, pack some snacks (usually fresh fruit) and make sure we have a water bottle or two on hand. Then we head off, walking slowly at first, to warm up, but gradually getting faster and faster, till we’re striding along, taking great big lungfuls of fresh air. Sometimes we’ll talk, sometimes we’ll be silent, lost in our own thoughts or the beauty of our surroundings. Sometimes it will be a lighthearted, playful nature walk, other times it will be quiet and peaceful. You never really know until you’re in the middle of it… that’s the beauty of exploring nature.

Orange Slices

Although I also love that it opens up your mind. I said to Mark yesterday, as we were clambering along a rocky path on beautiful Silvermine (we made a video – we’ll post it soon!) that getting into nature lets my mind work in different ways. It seems to wake up and stretch, to walk along unfamiliar pathways, to think of things I wouldn’t think of at home, in my everyday routine.

And that’s what I’m so excited about for our forthcoming trip… I’m so excited that we are going to be confronted with things that make us think differently, and look differently, and feel and hear and smell differently, every single day. And that we’re doing it together. Because no matter how beautiful the surroundings, it’s infinitely more beautiful when you’re doing it right next to someone you love.

I’ve got to say, I don’t think I would find it at ALL difficult to settle into the 5 star lifestyle…

We stayed at the One&Only in Cape Town last week (the night before my birthday – best night-before-birthday EVER!) and it was extraordinary. Lavish, luxurious, amazingly comfortable, discreet, beautiful, I would run out of adjectives before I ran out of enthusiasm for it.

Mark and I haven’t really stayed at many 5 star hotels. Our travelling style up till now has been more self-catering cottages than really fancy hotels, but I can tell you right now that I am more than ready for the switch! Of course, we won’t be in fancy hotels the whole time we’re travelling, but if luck is on our side we’ll have a night or two at somewhere incredible in each country. We’ll be reviewing the hotels for Just the Planet – the luxury travel magazine for independent travellers (check them out at www.justtheplanet.com).

For now, we’re just learning the ropes of how best to review hotels, and getting a feel for what is expected at a 5 star place. The review of the One&Only will be up soon – I’ll keep you posted… It was such a treat, really, to be in a place that was entirely focused on comfort, and beauty. The bed was so soft and comfortable, the bath was huge and heavenly, the room looked out over Table Mountain. It honestly felt like a different world.

And yes, it’s a bit of a strange balance to strike – travelling for a cause, to spread the word about diabetes and show that just because you’re diabetic doesn’t mean you can’t follow your dreams – while at the same time staying in these beautiful places and writing reviews of them. But it’s a balance that I think we can strike. Because the whole purpose of this trip is to share the experience of it – and that experience will be wonderful and challenging, luxurious and difficult.

Life as a diabetic is never a smooth ride. You have great days, and awful days, you feel fantastic, and then you feel unwell. Life as a person is like that too, I suppose! And that’s what this trip will be – an illustration of life at its best and worst.
I like that.
I hope you’ll join us on the journey…

So I’ve just returned from a 3 week solo trip to the USA, to publicise my novel, Strange Nervous Laughter, being released over there. Very exciting, let me tell you! I don’t think I’ll ever get over the thrill of seeing my book on bookstore shelves…

In many ways, though, this trip felt like a test run for our Round the World trip. It was my first time travelling overseas on my own with diabetes and my first time crossing time zones with diabetes, and I really wasn’t sure how I would feel. I am (very) happy to report that I felt great! The whole time. It was no problem adjusting to new types of food, no problem taking long plane trips (except for the discomfort of having to sleep sitting up!) and in general I felt really healthy and full of energy. What a relief!

It was also a test run for me to see how I feel about travelling. Knowing that my next trip will be over ten times as long as this one, I kept checking to see how excited I was about it. The verdict? Unbelievably excited! There is something so exhilarating about travelling, it makes me feel really alive and open to everything around me. I didn’t realise how much of a routine real life was until I had 3 weeks away from it… and it has done nothing but wet my appetite for our Big Adventure later this year.

Of course, a lot of that was because I was travelling in comfort. I’ve been to the States and back many times – I used to study there – and every single time I went, packing was a nightmare. Either my bag would break, or I’d have to leave half the stuff I wanted behind, or I’d pull a muscle dragging my suitcase through the airport. Seriously – you name a luggage affliction, I’ve had it!

This time, though… what a breeze! I gave my very fancy (very beautiful) Samsonite Aeris a run for its money, and it more than rose to the challenge. Somehow my stuff kept multiplying (possibly because everything was on sale!) and every time I had to pack up and go, it was more and more of a challenge to fit everything in. But fit it in I did! The beautiful thing about this suitcase is that it’s solid, but it can also expand. Don’t ask me how this works, but it does… And the locks are so secure and tight that I didn’t have to worry about it bursting open in the middle of the airport (or, worse yet, on the New York City subway!) Of course, those miracle Vac Bags helped a lot, too. If there’s one thing I would recommend every girl to take with her on holiday, it’s Vac Bags. No matter how many dresses you buy, they’ll fit in your suitcase if you have these bags. I didn’t really believe the hype until I saw how dramatically they reduced the space my clothes took up. Now I’m permanently indebted to them.

So now I’ve returned, and although my suitcase is looking slightly travel-worn, I’m sure she has many years of adventures in her yet.

What did I learn from this trip? A number of things, actually.
* Diabetically, I’m going to be fine.
* I can’t wait to start travelling around the world.
* And, perhaps most importantly, I have to leave at least half a suitcase for all the temptations I’m going to run into on the way!

Let’s start at the very beginning!

Sit back, relax, and join me on a 10 month armchair journey…

We leave CAPE TOWN on the 3rd of August 2009, and fly to HONG KONG for a week. There’s a six hour time difference, so this should give us enough time to readjust our body clocks to Asian time, as well as to explore Hong Kong a little. We’re keen to soak up some fishing village atmosphere by chartering a sampan (water taxi) for half an hour for a drive around the bay, and we want to experience Hong Kong’s bustling retail life at the Apliu Street Market. We’ll also visit the Chi Lin Nunnery, a large Buddhist complex rebuilt completely of wood in the style of the Tang dynasty in 1998. It’s supposed to be a serene place, filled with lotus ponds, bonsai tea plants, bougainvillea and quiet chanting. The perfect place to gather our thoughts before a ten month round-the-world trip!

From Hong Kong we fly to BANGKOK, in THAILAND, on the 11th of August. We’ll spend a few days in Bangkok, but we’re more interested in the natural side of Thailand (we can’t do much shopping because we’re trying to travel light!) so we’ll head off to CHIANG MAI quite soon after arriving. Chiang Mai is in the north, and is supposed to be relaxed and cultural, but newly hip. There are more than 300 temples in the area, and you can ride upriver on elephants. Amazing!
Next we want to travel to the islands of KO TAO and KO CHANG. Ko Tao is supposed to be lush, rugged, and romantic (and great for scuba diving) and you can walk around the whole island in a day, while Ko Chang is 70% virgin rainforest and filled with wildlife.

After Thailand we fly to CAMBODIA, landing in the capital, PHNOM PENH on the 27th of August. Phnom Penh is supposed to have striking museums and a beautiful riverside setting. It’s described as a ‘chaotic and charismatic’ city. Sounds fun!
From there we’ll catch a boat along the river to SIEM REAP, to visit the Angkor Wat temples – Cambodia’s 8th wonder of the world, and the world’s largest religious building.
We’ll also travel by bus to KRATIE, a lively riverside town with an extensive riverfront area and some of the best Mekong sunsets in the country. Hopefully we’ll catch sight of some rare Irrawaddy dolphins while we’re there!

VIETNAM comes after Cambodia. We’ll fly into HO CHI MINH CITY on the 12th of September and spend some time exploring the commercial heart of Vietnam, described as a riverside metropolis of old and new – the old Saigon. While we’re there we’ll visit the War Remnants Museum, which documents the Vietnam War from both sides, and the Ben Thanh Market in the centre of the city – one of the most famous landmarks with over 3000 stalls!
We also want to visit HOI AN, a city that retains much of the sense of history of Vietnam. Hopefully we’ll be there during one of their monthly full moon ‘Hoi An Legendary Nights’, when all motorbikes are banned from the Old Town, and it is transformed into a magical land of silk lanterns, traditional food, song and dance. Sounds incredible!
Vietnam is also home to SAPA, which comes highly recommended for its amazing scenery and home stays, where you get to experience real Vietnamese life… Yes please!

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