The torrential downpours in Sukhothai continued… late into the night. I know because we caught a bus out of the (open-sided) bus station at 10pm, and we were there from 8pm, so we witnessed the truly ferocious rain. It’s no wonder all the ruins in the old city had pockmarks – that rain would pockmark your skin!

After an extremely comfortable overnight bus ride, we arrived in Bangkok at the ungodly hour of 3.56am. We caught a taxi to the train station, and then sat down to wait till 8am, when our train was set to leave and carry us down the coast to Ban Krut, our tropical paradise. Only, the train was fully booked.

Imagine, if you will, what it felt like to be told at 4.30am that you were too late (too late!) and that the train you were going to wait 3 and a half hours for was full, and not only did the next one not leave for another 5 hours, but it was a slow train so it would take an extra 2 hours to get there! All of a sudden our easy 1pm arrival was pushed to 7pm, and we were faced with an 8 hour wait in a grimy, crowded and airless train station.

I was not pleased.
But neither was I freaking out – which would definitely have been my default reaction before this trip. Mark helped a lot, he was totally calm and relaxed, and resigned to the fact that we would just have to sit tight till the next train arrived. “It’s like a lay-over,” he said, but I couldn’t help thinking of all the things airports had that this station didn’t – aircon, padded seats, internet, shops, etc etc etc

I started getting severely antsy around 7.45am, and on a whim I said to Mark, “I wonder if there are any cancellations, do you think we should check?” He ambled off to the ticket counter without much hope, but by 7.52am he was transferred to another ticket counter, and the clerk there didn’t shake his head immediately… In fact, he looked quite hopeful. 7.57am, and as the 3-minute call sounded we got our tickets – somehow they had found two spare tickets! I nearly cried I was so happy. Of course we then had to buy water for the 5 hour journey, and that cost us a precious minute and a half, so that as we ran to the platform the train started pulling away. Dragging our bags behind us, tripping over untied laces, racing to reach the platform, we called out to the conductor, and thank God in Heaven he slowed down for us and let us on the train.

Phew.

You can see why we haven’t blogged since – we needed to catch our breath!

We’ve spent the last five days in beautiful Ban Krut Beach. It’s a long stretch of white sand with a blissfully warm sea, loads of palm trees, and hardly any people around. We’ve been spending our days taking long walks on the beach, reading voraciously (we’ve both finished a book this week), eating a lot, relaxing, taking afternoon naps and getting painfully sunburnt (this sun is HOT). It’s been such a balm for the soul, and I’ll write more about what’s been going on in my head tomorrow…

For now, we have all these delicious Best Moments of the Day for you – http://bit.ly/1amRtW
Check them out, and let me know what you think!

I’ve been waiting a lot, lately. Waiting to hear back from sponsors about our journey, waiting to hear about a trip to Durban and Joburg for publicity stuff before we leave, waiting to plan the last six weeks of normal life.

I’m not very good at waiting.

In fact, I’m pretty terrible at it. My impatient nature combined with my control-freak tendencies means I’m always wanting to sink my teeth into things, without waiting for other people to do their part. This is not a very good part of my character, I can accept that. And I’m working on it.

But I am also learning to accept other things. In fact, I’m working on the gentle art of acceptance.

We found out this morning that one of the major sponsors we were hoping would come on board doesn’t have the necessary budget to help us out. A lot of this journey towards the journey has been knocking on doors and understanding that some open and some remain stubbornly shut… But I must admit I was really disappointed when this one didn’t fly open. There’s still a chance that they’ll be able to help us out on a smaller level (sponsoring our air tickets and an iPhone so we can record our daily video snippets), but it looks like we’ll now be choosing Plan B.

Plan B is still extremely exciting, just in a different way. Instead of 16 countries for 2 to 3 weeks each, we’ll do 9 countries for a month each – and stick to South-East Asia and South America (the countries where our savings will last us longer!) We’ll be roughing it more, but more open to adventure and new experiences (as there won’t be any time constraints). We’ll get to fully experience two beautiful parts of the world. And if a major sponsor decides to climb on board while we’re away, we can always add in some of the other countries we’re going to be missing. Or that can be Journey 2. Or Journey 3. The plan is to keep doing this as long as we can!

The overriding feeling I have from this, though, is that it’s time for me to walk the talk. I keep saying that life always gives you exactly what you need, and that in retrospect everything always turns out for the best, and sometimes we just can’t see what is best for us from our limited present outlook. Now it’s time to trust in that, to trust in the flow of life. I need to learn to stop micro-managing everything, to trust that if you have the best intentions (and I really do, this cause is something I deeply believe in) that life will give you just what you need.
Only sometimes what that is will look a little different to what you expected it to be.

I’m excited about this journey! Literally and figuratively. I’m excited to challenge myself, to discover new things about life, and love, to explore this crazy world of ours. I’m excited for whatever lies ahead, down the river, around the bend, whatever it is I can’t quite see from here…

PS – Should anyone have any contacts with airlines or big companies who like diabetics or iPhone people, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Exotic Brazil pics (here and below)

Here it is, as promised! The second half of my interview with the very inspiring, very well-traveled Martha Iskyan. For those of you just joining us today (go and read yesterday’s post first!) Martha and her husband, Howard (a Type 2 diabetic) have travelled pretty much all over the world, and have very kindly agreed to share some travelling tips with us.

Here goes…

4. How prepared were you before you left?

We were very prepared.  We knew how we would get from the airport to the hotel or B&B or wherever we stayed the first night, so that there would not be any anxiety or confusion about that.   After that first day/night, we could plan what we wanted to do by reading the Lonely Planet, our travel “bible”.  We also had car rentals reserved online, before we left, since that is much cheaper than walking into an office and renting a car.

We had a general schedule of staying in one city so many days, but if we did not like the place, we left earlier, or if we liked it, we stayed longer.

We travel light: each one medium sized expandable suitcase on rollers, each a small pack-back, Martha a small purse that fits under her jacket, and Howard a small flat envelope-sized bag around his neck with important credit cards and extra cash.
When we walked in cities, I kept a small amount of money and one credit card in my sock.   Each of us had two different credit cards, in case one card would not work, another would.  ATMs the world over are fickle!  Particularly in Brazil!  Some cities still run on an ancient CIRRUS system, and our cards would not be accepted in the whole city!   HSCB banks are the best and always took our cards.

5. Do you have any hints or tips for diabetics who want to travel?

Some hints: See above… and more…

Clothing for different climates was a challenge.  We found that being able to “layer” was the best; i.e. 2 pairs of basic pants:  several tops with short and long sleeves, fleece jackets, one heavy sweater, and a windbreaker jacket with a hood.  It looks like your schedule takes you mostly to warm climates during the time of year those countries are in summer.

Every day, I inspected Howard’s feet to ensure there were no blisters or athlete’s foot and toenails were short.  I gave him foot massages for circulation using a good all purpose cream.   We brought flip flops to use in bathrooms.

If you feel a cold or fever coming on, or have flu symptoms, go to the doctor immediately.  We cannot stress this enough.  Do not rely on remedies of pharmacists.  They want to help, but cannot prescribe antibiotics and that is what you need to take.  (However, pharmacists are very good at giving directions when you are lost.  They usually live in the city or village, are intelligent and speak some English.)

Always travel in two’s.  I noticed when Howard would get tired or sluggish, before he realized that his sugar had dropped dramatically, while we were walking.
The way to get his carbohydrate level up was the universal great drink: BEER!   How he enjoyed that!
It also gave us a time-out to regroup and review how much more we were going to walk, see, or decide if it was time for lunch.
We usually had one large meal a day: lunchtime.   During the day we would purchase some whole wheat bread, cheese, fruit, drinks, (beer or maybe a small bottle of wine) and enjoy this in the hotel room in the evenings.

Take one regular syringe with you, just in case your pen doesn’t work, for some unexplained reason, so that you can still draw the insulin out.  We have had this happen twice now.  That way you do not waste the whole pen, if there is still a lot of insulin left, and you will not run out, since you will take exactly what you need!

Make sure you have prescriptions for every medication you take, in case you need a refill, but also to show to the airport control, if they question your insulin pens. (We have never had anyone question this, but you never know).

Do not carry anything more than 100CC of liquids or creams in your carry-on bags, nor scissors.
We had a small blanket in the backpack to sit on, or to use if we were cold: a spoon, fork and small knife and bottle opener.    We also brought or bought a small bag of whole grain cereals, to eat for breakfast if there were only croissants and coffee  (often the case in Argentina and Chile).  Brazil has by far the BEST breakfasts anywhere!

In restaurants we asked for vegetables instead of the daily ration of chips and rice.  We never had any questions about that.  Sometimes, we had to pay a little extra, but that was worth it.   Try to eat only peeled fruits or fruit that you can peel yourself, and cooked veggies, to ensure that you are not getting some bug.

Most of the time we drank the water out of the faucets, but it is probably advisable to have bottled water for night-time drinking.

We had a check list that we used every day, either before leaving on a daily outing in a city, or when we left the hotel.   I would go over the check list and we both would say, “got it.”  My job was to look under the covers and under the bed(s) and check the bathroom, as the last person leaving the room.

Have an awesome time, enjoy every moment and above all, relax and take the ride in stride!    Howard and I are intending to make a round-the-world trip, if and when he retires!
We will then see the places we have not seen yet!

Now you can plan one! Whether for a real life adventure, or to plan a dream trip (that will be more likely to come true if you actually have a specific route in mind!)

How? Good question. This time yesterday I wouldn’t have been able to tell you… But then I discovered a magical little tool called ‘Round-the-World Booking Tool’ on One World – www.oneworld.com

I was actually a little hesitant to click on it in case it didn’t turn out to be what I’d hoped for… but it was! And more. You see, when you’re planning a round-the-world trip there are all kinds of terms and conditions and confusing rules and regulations that can make your head ache – you’re allowed 16 flight segments in 5 continents, but you’re only allowed to fly in one direction (East to West or West to East) and you’re only allowed a certain number of flight segments within each continent. You’re also only allowed to fly the routes that the airlines in that alliance fly (which isn’t too much of a bother with One World – they’ve got everything from British Airways to Cathay Pacific to the LAN group in South America).

Still, when you’re something of a control freak (as I am – had you noticed?) and you really just want to get your flight path organised, the whole thing can seem a little overwhelming.

Which was why I was so thrilled (really thrilled, down to the tips of my toes) when I discovered this Round-the-World booking tool. You type in the cities you want to go to, and then choose your flights and your itinerary is built in real time… Really freaking cool.

I’ll keep you posted as I go along with how easy it is to follow through on the process, but for now – go and dream! At www.oneworld.com