The Travelling Fund; £10,000 in 10 months!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Fmess wrote: »

Kat I seem to remember you saying you have too many towels? My local animal shelter is always asking for towels and blankets for the animals, so you may have a local shelter that would be grateful of your surplus? Just a thought....

Would you believe one of my colleagues runs an animal shelter. He lent me a massive bag for moving the last time and I still have it - I might return it to him with towels in it. Such a good idea - thank you!!!

NinjaSavingKat

DireEmblem wrote: »

All the best with your savings and travel plans. I've thought of doing something similar - I have the cash saved up, and as much as it would be great to get out and go - I think that I would struggle leaving behind the 9-5 with regular paycheque.

Hello! Help me understand something... you have the money saved up for the chance of a lifetime but a regular paychecque is more important to you? Or is something else stopping you....

You will get another job.
You can work on the road.
You will be tied down with a motgage and never get this chance again unless you take it now..
You might meet me on the road...:rotfl:

I really think you might regret it if you don't take this opportunity now! However - is it the irregularity of travelling that would stop you? The fear of no routine that come with having a 9-5 job...

All I can say is GOOD - bring on the irregularity, the wanderings, the minimal personal items, bring on the lack of work! :rotfl:

Stick with me on this diary - I want to see if your mind is changed at all. And I want to know more about where you want to explore. What is really stopping you? if you do go.. and disappear I will give you my email. We are aiming for some of the same countries so there is a strong chance we might be in Aus at the same time at least!!! :T:T:T

NinjaSavingKat

After a quick Google it looks like typhiod, diptheria, polio, tetanus, HEP A, cholera and the rest I can organise elsewhere - now just need to figure out the timing and how soon I can get them done!

liltdiddylilt

Well I didn't arrive at this diary nearly as late as the last one!! Only 3 pages to trawl through instead of 17 to catch up!!

I have to say, this is all very inspirational, in moneysaving terms, but I am SUCH a 'homebod' as my dad would say, that I would never get further than France methinks! My family are still in shock that I picked up and moved 250 miles from where I grew up. I think they thought I would still be living at home by the time I was 42... haha!:rotfl::rotfl:

I will of course be subscribing to cheer you on lovely. A £1000 in the kitty already, how fabulous! You put my moneysaving efforts to shame!
Must try harder!

NinjaSavingKat

Hello Lilt!

Nice to have you on board! There is nothing wrong with being a home bod. It's exactly the reason my brother returned to home from Uni in Manchester and goes home every weekend from his current abode. He is 32.. it's his choice - he likes being at home and he really helps my Dad around the garden. Apprently it takes two days to cut all the grass and water the trees that are in massive pots...:).. that's not including the land Daddy and I bought together.. honeslty it's shocking home many trees that man has..

I digress....

I must admit I don't have a husband and child to look after Lilt and I have minimalised my worry about bills by being all inclusive. The new flat I am moving to is a £120 drop per month - not bad eh?

Speaking of which I will post my outgoings in case anyone is interested just so you know where my money is going and how I am doing this!

So I went to my archery lesson last night - that was so cool! On the way I stopped in an outdoorsy store and tried on some backpacks. I really want on that has a little backpack attached to keep my hands free - and Osprey are the best for this and as I already have one I know it's very comfortable. There are other packs similar but the stores I have checked (Ellis Brigham and Cotswolds Outdoors) seem to be limited in their stock so this was the only one with that feature I could try on. ..Blacks is next on my list but the lack of knowledge from staff and general unhelpfulness put me right off wanting to try any more on.

Perhaps they assume when they see you that you might not be really interested. When I was planning my last trek (Tran-Siberian) my female boss at the time said she couldn't see me doing something like that as I seemed to "fluffy"... now she explained this meant to "girly" which I was surprised at so perhaps thats how I appeared to these uninterested, unhelpful scruff bags they call staff.... :rotfl:

I intend to keep looking for a bag for a while but to keep the main pack around 55-60L and the smaller pack a mazimum of 20L... EagleCreek is on my hit list to check out, as is Katmandu, Karrimor and keeping my eyes open for any alternatives that although might be more expensive I can save on with weight - my main contention when it comes to rucksacks...

Sorry this was a boring post - but hey you wanna know where my mind is at with all this planning right?

fatpat

Your trip sounds like it's going to be amazing.I'd love to do this too one day before settling down. Good luck with the money saving!

LoveaDove

Hi Kat,

I remember spending months choosing my travel backpack. Going to various stores and trying on a number of backpacks before finally deciding on one then ordering online (may be this is what the sales staff secretly know about us money savers!) mwahahaha.

Anyways, just in case you haven't come across the site before there is one called G@pyearDOTcom (remove the old at sign and replace that dot with a real one). I used to use the message boards on there loads to get help with choosing things like equipment, and discussing with other travellers plans for adventures. There's even a Travel Money and Finances and Saving Board to keep with the theme of MSE. May be you could set up a board for long-term travellers??

NinjaSavingKat

Loveadove I have spent the entire day looking at rucksacks. :rotfl: Do I take one that attaches on the back of another - but then the little backpack doesn't seem big enough - so then do I bring two seperate ones but are they going to get annoying...Arghhhh so many things to take into consideration....

The bits I need to take into consideration...

• No more than 55L for the main pack.
• No more than 20L for the day pack.
• Very comfortable - Osprey are the best for this.
• Side loading so I don't have to rummage from the top through everything.
• Very light - again Osprey have one that is 1.8 KG and very strong.
• I have an Osprey that's 44L - top loading though - do I take it and just get a day pack..?
• The daypack must have enough room for the basics (camera, water, snacks, laptop if I am out all day, swim cossie and my small travel super absorbant towel etc)
• Should I get a a pack that is simply a carry on (to save money with a compressable day sack that can be shoved (empty) into the main pack when not in use ( nah I know this won't happen:rotfl:)...
• I want to keep things as light as possible but the best options are over 3KG..? Empty!

Anyway I think one of these might do the job...

http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/product/backpacking/farpoint_55

Exciting stuff eh! :rotfl:

clippy_girl

yes it is exciting! :j

i went for a berghaus, think it was around 60l but not entirely sure! mine does have a little zip off backpack which is either 10/15l. some thoughts on these type of bags-

• if you have the little one zipped on you cant put anything heavyish in it or you will feel like you are being pulled backwards and it will hurt your back as it messes with the distribution of weight and sticks out a lot (although yours looks much more compact)
• if you are using it as your day pack you will wear it on your front anyway whilst wearing your big one as obv you cant reach anything when its that far behind plus you dont want to talk around with all your valuables that easy for others to reach
• thb the only time i ever zipped it on was when when i checked into go home and just took my small handbag on plane.
• make sure you check it has the features you want in your day pack. mine is just a basic zip up backpack with one outside pocket. i would have liked the mesh side pockets to put stuff in when trekking as i had to keep taking my backpack off and stopping every time i wanted something

personally i would go for a backpack on its own and then get a day pack that does exactly what you want depending on your needs.

i agree re side opening. mine zips all the way round so you can open like a suitcase and get what you wanted. also meant i could pack it, stand it up, bang it on the floor a few times to make the contents settle then ram loads more in :rotfl: i pack it so tight i can sit on it and use it as a chair although wasnt so good when i tripped forwards down a curb and did a sumersault due to the weight

i supose the main thing is to think of all the things that annoyed you about your previous bag and what you wished it could do. i would never use a top loading bag again for constant travel as i hated repacking it every day!

that bag is very light, mine is about 5kg :cool:

NinjaSavingKat

Clippy - 5KG empty?? That is heavy! I am wanting to keep things so super light and only taking two pairs of shoes! Ha ha! I have read a lot of reviews and none of them point me towards a Berghaus - can you tell me the name. Actually the only one they mentioned that I didn't take to was the Jalen which is about 60L..?