We’ve been on the road for just over a month now! Time went by so quickly. It feels like we just left home. We’ve covered a lot of ground in the past few weeks. Seven flights and 15,870 air miles to be exact.
-Long way from home-
The days before leaving were hectic and tiresome. We left work on Friday and took off on Monday. In between there were so many details to take care of and errands to run. If it weren’t for the help of our parents we would still be home packing.
Speaking of packing, planning what gear to bring is an important, tedious process for any backpacker. We read plenty of blogs and made purchases of all the necessities, sleep sacks, water bottles, quick dry towels and tech gear. In the end, we rushed and packed what would fit in our bags and moved on to the next task at hand. We didn’t even get to the airport before we realized we over packed.
-All packed…with too much stuff!-
In the past month or so, we have stayed at 17 different accommodations mixed between hotels, homestays and guesthouses. We’ve had excellent hospitality from Kenya to Chiang Mai. By staying with the locals we’ve eaten some incredible meals, paid half price for tours, been given free rides and have had great recommendations from restaurants to tourist attractions. By redeeming some Hilton points we also experienced luxury hotel stays with lavish breakfast buffets and nightly happy hours.
We are still testing our comfort level when it comes to choosing accommodations. The pillowcase, sleep sack and towels we have make it possible to experiment a little more and still have a level of comfort. The slippers I packed have been a very nice comfort to me since my sandals are wet, dirty or sandy most of the time.
We have stayed places with no bathroom doors, Kung Fu Panda blankets, no hot water, shaky toilets and rock hard beds. Since we were in the tropics, bugs and lizards were par for the course. Mosquito nets are standard issue, sometimes paired with a night time application of DEET.
In most cases the warm hospitality and hearty breakfast made up for the shortcomings. We also couldn’t fault the lack of luxuries after seeing the living conditions of the locals. Every now and then we mix in a nice hotel to treat ourselves to TV, and stock up on toiletries.
-Wildebeest Eco Camp, Kenya-
-Masai Simba Camp, Kenya-
-Sole Luna Spa and Hotel Tangalle, Sri Lanka-
-Royal Peninsula Chiang Mai, Thailand-
The first month of our trip was pre-planned and thankfully everything went according to plan. Luckily we’ve been in good health, getting along great and have no disasters to report. The worst thing that happened was getting shit on at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park but that’s considered good luck right?
After this month we have no ongoing reservations so we’ll see where the road takes us. For an in depth recap of our trips to Kenya, UAE and Sri Lanka click on the links.
Thanks for traveling along with us!
2 Responses
Andy
You have sure stayed in some nice places. I often stay in niceish dorms hostels
Passport Penguin
With the two of us, a lot of the time it made more sense to stay in a cheaper hotel room or guest house with our own bathroom etc and keep it under $30USD. We were surprised how nice some of those hotels and guest houses actually were considering the price.
The social aspect of the hostels and dorms is something we are missing out on so we will have to try them out down the road for sure.
-Chris