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

NinjaSavingKat

mustang1 wrote: »

Hi Kat

I'm a long time lurker too and am jealous of your travels. Mainly because I went away in February this year and have been travelling on and off since then. I have loved every single minute and you are going to have an absolute ball.

Best of luck along the way - remember not to rush places and take time to soak things up!

Where are you now? Whats the next country..? Thank you - I have learned a lot about patience in the last two years so am intending to really take my time!

mustang1

I'm in England at the moment but did all of SE Asia - Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. I then did Africa over the summer - driving from Nairobi to Cape Town. Feel free to message if you want any tips!

I'm off to stay with family in Canada for 6 weeks until Christmas so that's an extended freebie holiday. Then I need to go back to work next year

BigMummaF

Fellow Lurkee here too, who loves reading--news, cereal packets, blogs --& can't ever envisage travelling farther than I could walk home from but have total admiration for those souls braver than I

Just wanted to say Be (extremely) Safe & Take Every (possible) Care, but most of all...

Enjoy!

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/big/big-smiley-006.gif

NinjaSavingKat

So where am I.. a little jealous of a very relaxed Indigo! Ha! But am relatively calm. Speaking to the airline that messed up my Japan flight payment last night at 0100 has done nothing for my nerves.

Also speaking to the payroll people at my job who were about to send my P45 to my old London address has irked me a little. Disaster avoided and it was intercepted before it left the building, re-addressed and sent out first class today. Still obviously going to take time to get a refund but it's one last thing to worry about.

Driving licence (being changed from English to Northern Irish) is still in the post. Mumsy has been instructed to deal with the International Driving Permit part when it arrives. If I find I need it in Thailand to hire a motorbike ( will email the expats who run it ) I might have to get it sent to them otherwise it will get sent to my Aunt in Sydney where I will crash for the first few nights.

New glasses have been picked up - I have gone for geek meets chic and they are so cool. The other pair are sunglasses as my prescription ones are glued together and not dark enough for my liking - I have thing about protecting my eyes from the sun. No bad for £69.

15 pairs of daily lenses also purchased which along with what I already have (3 pairs) should be enough until I have time to find a reputable seller in Thailand if I do an excessive amount of diving - which I won't. I just want to do my Open Water course and a few extra dives for fun. i can't be too frivolous with my pennies.

Speaking of which my final pay came to £700. Much more than I was expecting with leaves me (after exchanging) with well over $10,000. I am so happy with this.

The question therefore - is how much cash do I bring in dollars to Thailand? I am thinking about $300 split between a few crevices in my bag and hide hole places...? What do you all think?..

My portable power pack has arrived today - it's so sleek and lovely. It cost around £27 and weighs more than my phone itself but I will have a full review of it on the blog once I have used it a few times. Actually a full review of electronic devices etc will be added soon.

Also I could cry with relief. I have today received my money into my Australian back account to the tune of $5805.77 from £3300 with a personal charge to my UK account of £28. It might not have been the best transfer as I was calculating it as arriving at over $6000 but perhaps my bank doesn't offer the best exchange rate - however it was one that I trusted. Although the online converting that's "live" indicates it should be $5989.84 today which is not as big a gap as I thought (£184.07).

Point to self - never use the stupid and inaccurate converter on Google. Silly me - I wanted a clean $6000 in there. But it seems it may only be another £30 or something small - you live and learn.

Happy Enough!

So I am still awaiting some tiny little locks from Amazon - if they are not here by Saturday they will obviously get cancelled.

Right so that's enough withering for now... No doubt there will be another update in the next few days but I will come here and say a proper farewell although I will be lurking now and then to make sure you are all saving pennies...:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

x__Indigo_x

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

So where am I.. a little jealous of a very relaxed Indigo! Ha! But am relatively calm. Speaking to the airline that messed up my Japan flight payment last night at 0100 has done nothing for my nerves.

Also speaking to the payroll people at my job who were about to send my P45 to my old London address has irked me a little. Disaster avoided and it was intercepted before it left the building, re-addressed and sent out first class today. Still obviously going to take time to get a refund but it's one last thing to worry about.

Driving licence (being changed from English to Northern Irish) is still in the post. Mumsy has been instructed to deal with the International Driving Permit part when it arrives. If I find I need it in Thailand to hire a motorbike ( will email the expats who run it ) I might have to get it sent to them otherwise it will get sent to my Aunt in Sydney where I will crash for the first few nights.

New glasses have been picked up - I have gone for geek meets chic and they are so cool. The other pair are sunglasses as my prescription ones are glued together and not dark enough for my liking - I have thing about protecting my eyes from the sun. No bad for £69.

15 pairs of daily lenses also purchased which along with what I already have (3 pairs) should be enough until I have time to find a reputable seller in Thailand if I do an excessive amount of diving - which I won't. I just want to do my Open Water course and a few extra dives for fun. i can't be too frivolous with my pennies.

Speaking of which my final pay came to £700. Much more than I was expecting with leaves me (after exchanging) with well over $10,000. I am so happy with this.

The question therefore - is how much cash do I bring in dollars to Thailand? I am thinking about $300 split between a few crevices in my bag and hide hole places...? What do you all think?..

My portable power pack has arrived today - it's so sleek and lovely. It cost around £27 and weighs more than my phone itself but I will have a full review of it on the blog once I have used it a few times. Actually a full review of electronic devices etc will be added soon.

Also I could cry with relief. I have today received my money into my Australian back account to the tune of $5805.77 from £3300 with a personal charge to my UK account of £28. It might not have been the best transfer as I was calculating it as arriving at over $6000 but perhaps my bank doesn't offer the best exchange rate - however it was one that I trusted. Although the online converting that's "live" indicates it should be $5989.84 today which is not as big a gap as I thought (£184.07).

Point to self - never use the stupid and inaccurate converter on Google. Silly me - I wanted a clean $6000 in there. But it seems it may only be another £30 or something small - you live and learn.

Happy Enough!

So I am still awaiting some tiny little locks from Amazon - if they are not here by Saturday they will obviously get cancelled.

Right so that's enough withering for now... No doubt there will be another update in the next few days but I will come here and say a proper farewell although I will be lurking now and then to make sure you are all saving pennies...:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Heheh i actually dont know how i am so calm?!!im usually someone that gets nervous at most things ha:eek:

lovely to have an update Kat! im currently clearing my icloud as its full and clearing all pics so i can start a fresh ready for wednesday. x

cherrylips30

Hi Kat,

Long time lurker de-lurking to wish you all the very best in your travels.
I'm seriously considering travelling as an alternative option to children. If they do not come along in the next 12 months, i'm off!
I've done a little bit of world discovery, but no-where near as much as i'd like. I'd love to follow your inspiration via your blog, if not totally in your footsteps, if you'd be so good as to send me your link.

The preparation you have done has set you up for the most amazing trip of a lifetime - please enjoy every second, I look forward to coming along for the ride :-) xx

allybee101

Dropped in for a catch up and so much has been going on! You must be so excited for the 'off' - these last days must be going like treacle.
Glad the money transfer went through safely.

I have just added my thanks to the message for the blog address but fear I may have missed the boat on this. NSK, please would you message me your blog?

Re: Thailand and the dollars. I'm afraid I can't help with any experience on the amount. Given that the cost of living is quite cheap it sounds like a reasonable amount. How long does it need to last?
Splitting it up into several small amounts sounds like a good plan so you don't have to have a wodge of notes out.

Igamogam

Still waiting for a PM link to blog.....have tried trawling but so far found lots of other travelling kats but none that are you!

liltdiddylilt

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly missed all the action! Not managed to go to blog yet as been away but now heading over there. I am loving all the action. Please remember you are going to be able to buy things/lose things as you go, so not everything needs to be in there at once.

I am so excited for you you beautiful exotic creature! xx

Siouxsie32

^^^^ what she said! I'll PM you over the weekend Kat, although I know you'll have a million other things to do. Please tell me there's a contact page on the blog, or maybe PM me your email address or something. So excited, but also don't want to let you go my debt busting twin