Our Journey To Mai Khao

Dan and I arrived in Mai Khao by taxi from the airport as this was the easiest way to get there. Unfortunately it was not easy, our taxi man knew the road we had to be on but did not know whereabouts our accommodation was on the road. Soon to find out this road was a big motorway (for Thailand it was big), we decided to just get out half way on this motorway and go by foot to find it.

Unworried knowing the house number was 139, we thought it would straight forward. Look at the first house we see, find the house number and go from there, just like you would in England. Oh how wrong we were, it was midday and carrying 31kg between us with little water, I was beginning to get agertated by seeming less walking on this motorway. We stopped at serveral shops asking if they had heard of our hostels name.

We were saved we thought when one local shop owner said we were only a few hundred metres away. Relieved we started crossing the motorway and going up a dust track to what seemed to me as an abandoned mansion, but unsure we still proceeded. From the distance we noticed a family sitting outside and we thought ohh good the family owners we're here. Again, how wrong we were. As we started to approach the house 3 guard dogs started barking at us fairly aggressively. Dan petrified stayed behind me as I authoritivly approached the family asking if they spoke any English. The daughter managed to respond saying: 'No speak English'. Great I thought back to square one. May I point out it was not my idea to get out the taxi and walk, it was Dans. I was growing with frustration while Dan remained his calm self.

Dan was evidently sure he knew we weren't far off so we quickly exited this little abandoned house dust road estate, and started walking back to our starting point. At this point we were most definitely out of water and sweat was dripping from every part of our bodies. About 45 minutes after getting out of the taxi we were both starting to give up. We stopped again to re-evaluate Google maps, whilst standing under some shade. Little did we know where we were standing under a tree, we must have not noticed the sign next to this tree with our hostel name on it. We were standing outside our hostel for a good 5 minutes being totally oblivious to it. We laughed off our frustrations and went inside finally.

The History of Soi Dog Foundation

Oh my gosh, what an incredible opportunity. This foundation is the most kind hearted place I've ever visited. Let me rewind though to how it all began.

The history behind the Foundation

In 2003 a woman named Gill Dally came over to Thailand with her husband to retire, until they both noticed the epidemic of stray dogs and cats out here. They decided to spend the rest of their retired years serving these poor animals riddled with disease. They created their own mission statement which was the building block of Soi Dog. Their Mission Statement is "To improve the welfare of dogs and cats in Asia, resulting in better lives for both the animal and human communities, to end animals cruelty, and to ultimately create a society without homeless animals."

With the foundation only being open for a year, it took a toll for the worst. In 2004, Gill Dally lost both legs from, septicaemia which she contracted whilst rescuing a dog from a flooded buffalo field. Less than a week after Gill's release from hospital the Tsunami struck. From this they lost a major volunteer who was killed whilst giving aid to the tsunami victims.

Many expected the foundation to close after these tragedies but with the eyes of the world on the region from the Tsunami. 50 volunteer vets arrived over the following 3 months and Soi Dog worked around the clock operating clinics not only in Phuket but throughout the region. From the vast work they had been carrying out they received recognition and several awards from amongst others; the Humane Society International and the prestigious Elizabeth Lewitt award.

They then received some more help in order for them to really start growing as a charity. WSPA had organised a Tsunami appeal, and agreed to finance the foundation’s sterilisation program for the next 2 years, which resulted in Soi Dog being able to employ; 2 full time vets, full time dog catchers and nursing staff. From this they saw a rapid increase in the number of sterilisation's carried out, this was going to help kick start them as a charity.

After a few years they were able to buy a big plot of land in Mai Khao, Phuket where they built their very own sanctuary for dogs and cats. The sanctuary grew and grew, their main aim was obviously to help the animals but the couple really wanted to see Phuket get declared as a rabbis free province, and stop the dog meat trade.

Soi dog started to campaign, and raise a huge amount of awareness about the cruelty going on in the dog meat trade. They took their campaign online naming it the 'Trade of Shame' and were flooded with attention. With a strong petition in their hands they took it to the Thailand government to have it made illegal to buy, trade, sell or consume any dog meat. In 2014 they achieved this goal of theirs and the 'Trade of Shame' was made fully illegal. Unfortunately, they did not get much help from the local authorities of policing this law, so once again they took matters into their own hands. They patrolled boarders of Thailand which is where most of the trade went on. To this day some dog meat trade will continue, but it is very minimal with only a few dogs getting through the boarders in order to get sold as meat (usually going out of Thailand to get slaughtered).

In the same year as this amazing victory, Phuket was fully declared as rabbis free. As a foundation they were leaping from strength to strength. In the mean time during all of this they were receiving a good amount of volunteers but are always enthusiastic for more. Gill the founder of Soi Dog was thrilled to see the donations rising, they were in great need of better facilities at their home base in Mai Khao. As of January this year they were able to build a $2 million dog hospital, where they had all the equipment needed to test and nurse these dogs back to health. Daily they're still carrying out a large amount of sterilisation's, but now they do not have to travel in order to operate on the dogs or test their bloods. This is only going to help them grow and expand as a charity.

Unfortunately, a few months before we arrived. Gill has passed away, but I was blessed to hear that she got to see the new hospital open. 2016 saw a record number of 64,734 dogs and cats sterilised and Soi Dog Foundation has now sterilised over 150,000 animals since it was founded 14 years ago. May this year the Soi Dog team are now replicating what's been done in Phuket in neighbouring provinces.

God's Unbreakable Word through Books

On my travels if you've been following my blog posts you would have noticed my incredible collection of books I've chosen to take with me. Now why I didn't invest in a kindle I don't know, but it's done now I'm lugging round with me all 19 books. Each and every Christian will have different specifically chosen books (I hope) to help them grow I'm God. I find I learn and grow really well when I hear or experience other Christians life paths. So a lot of my books are about others lives where they fell and how they got back up again.

I am someone who struggles with negative cycles, and getting out of them can be challenging. The great thing though is that I am aware that I am that sort of person, I am aware of my problematic areas. This is why when I get home I look forward to attending CBT. CBT stands for cognitive behaviour therapy, it's suppose to be really useful for anyone who does struggle with there mind and getting out of certain cycles; whatever cycle that may be. I suffered with anorexia for 4 years and God played a huge part of healing me from it. However, you also need to help yourself so CBT can really aid mental illnesses such as eating disorders. It helps you capture those thoughts and how you can throw them away out of your mind. Fortunately, I'm self aware of these thoughts it's just getting them out of my mind I struggle with.

I've just finished a book called Unbreakable: what the son of God said about the word of God by Andrew Wilson. It's a short book but a must read! It's really helped me understand some parts of scripture and it's expanded my relationship with Jesus by getting to know his character more. It also opens your eyes more into the true fate of his life and the utter most importance of the cross, and how even in early stages of the bible Jesus' resurrection was mentioned and predicted before his birth, Funnily enough the only way I can sum up how this has helped was it adds to the Unbreakable promises God has planned for our lives.

Earlier I mentioned how each individual will have there own set of books to help them gather information in areas they struggle in. This book really is for every and anyone, I believe however far down your Christian path you are this is a book that will aid at any stage of the journey.

Now onto my second book my most main of all, as it's a topic that's directly affecting my life. As with a lot of young adults and teenagers we are all waiting on finding that perfect someone. Well nowadays I think dating has gone out the window and people need to take it back to simpler times and different approaches to finding that special someone. So I am going to endeavour on reading my next book called 'boy meets girl by Joshua Harris'.

Is this book for you? Are you ready for romance with purpose? This book is suppose to help stop the self centred relationships that end in disillusionment that occur more and more now a days. Finding the loving, committed relationship you want shouldn't mean throwing away your hopes, your integrity or your heart. In boy meets girl they make way for courtship. As old fashioned as it might sound, courtship is what the modern day relationship desperately needs." Think of it as romance chaperoned by wisdom, cared for by the community and directed by Gods word."

This book focuses on 5 main areas:
setting a clear course for romance
getting closer as a couple without compromising faith
finding support In a caring community
dealing with past sexual sin
making the right decisions for your future.

If any of there 5 areas you need improvement on in your life or your partners life then get ordering. But first I'll read it for you to let you know if it is actually worth the £7.99 somehow I have a feeling it won't disappoint.



My book list:
-boy meets girl by Joshua Harris
-the freedom in Christ course by Neil Anderson (2 books)
-the bible
- my south east Asia guide
-where is God when it hurts by Phillip yancey
-the cross and the switchblade by David Wilkerson
-the butterfly train by Sue mills
-incomparable by Andrew Wilson
-Unbreakable: what the son of God had to say about the word of God by Andrew Wilson.
-chasing the dragon by jackie Pullinger
-10,000 reasons by Matt redman
-Hanging in there by John Dickson
-battlefield or the mind by Joyce Meyer
-the power of the praying teen by stormie omartian
-the perfectionism book by will van Der hart and rob Waller

Review of Phuket Old Town

Throughout our time in Phuket it would be rude of us not to visit the so called 'Capital'. On our arrival we were walking to our hostel with all our bags. Now I wanted to get a taxi which would have cost us £2/3 as it was hot. Dan insisted we weren't lazy and walked (I feel I get told this a lot hahha too used too having a car.) Well it was me who had the last laugh as he tripped on a curb and he had rucksacks on his back and front, he flopped it too the floor cutting himself in like 4 places. A caring friend should have helped but I found it hilarious especially considering how persistent he was about walking there.

We were booked into a hostel called Ananas backpacker, it was slightly hard to find maybe that's because I was directing and I always take short cuts which end up being longer. Also who would have known that the British are awkward people and decided to name a pineapple a pineapple. Everywhere else in the world call them Ananas. Well I clearly didn't know this until I turned up at the hostel and asked why there were pineapples everywhere, sounding like a novice.

Ananas hostel is great I really recommend it, it's simple and I really appreciated the staff. He was an old little Asian man and he was full of facts and wisdom about Thailand. When you walk into the hostel there is a big wall with photos of all past travellers. I thought this was a fantastic idea, and I didn't realise there was a photo of literally every person who had stayed here, either in he photo album or on the wall. So I was thrilled knowing our photo will be added to the collection in a few days times once the photos are printed. Also I feel this hostel had some of the best WIFI I've come across in Thailand, there were two computers that were super fast, they were so helpful.

Before going to see Buddha the owner showing us around asked Dan and I if we wanted to stop off at a cashew nut factory. I don't like nuts and dans not a fan either so we both said no thanks but he drove us there anyway. It was free of charge so we didn't mind. I've never known someone to know so much about a nut haha he was so enthusiastic and so excited to share his hobbie of nuts with us it was great. Well worth a stop here there are a million flavours of cashew nuts to sample and cashew nuts are surprisingly interesting nuts to know about.

However much I wouldn't of wanted to stay in Phuket Old Town as there is nothing there. You kinda have to stay there if you want to see Big Buddha. We thought when we were in Karon we could get transport from there to Buddha. But the way the roads are built you have to travel from Karon into old Phuket town, even though It's technically nearer Karon. So this stop over was purely to do some touristy things. Our first stop was big Buddha which was really amazing too see. It's 45 meters tall and you can see it from most places in southern Phuket. I had a lovely view of Buddha from my hostel balcony. We asked the owner to book us a taxi to go to Buddha and he was so sweet, he knew how much it would cost so for less of the price took us personally in his car. This was much more useful as it meant we could also stop at Phukets Bird Park.

As your going up the big hill to get to Buddha you pass Phukets elephant trekking, please don't support this industry. You saw baby elephants chained up looking sad and disorientated away from the mothers, with the smallest perimeter to walk in. Also I met a English girl in my hostel in Karon who did this and she said you had a first hand the experience of what these poor elephants went through. She also went on to mention that the tour guides are really sexist and when they aggressively wash the elephants they make all the girls in the group get in their bikinis whilst the guys in the group throw water and mud at you. So if the animals cruelty doesn't put you off hopefully the sexist tour guides will. She felt really exploited and really expressed this to me, it was sad to listen to.

When going to visit Buddha it's funny, all the men will get away with being in shorts and tank tops. I knew you had to be respectful so I went in trousers and had my shoulders covered. However this wasn't enough my whole arms needed covering so they provide material for the girls. It didn't annoy me just made me question there morals. There aren't tours you can do round Buddha and there is little reading information so thank goodness the owner was telling us everything he knew. He was so knowledgable that other people thought he was a tour guide and started gathering round asking questions. There is a different Buddha for every day of the week which was interesting and whatever day you were born on, that's like your Buddha. Dan and I were both born on Sunday so we were Sunday Buddhas. One thing you don't expect when visiting Buddha is that there is a wall of currency here. Where it has every currency in the world, a couple had been stolen which was sad as I'm sure some are worth quite a bit. This was the first time I'd ever seen a £1 note! Another memorable fact about visiting Buddha is that they have these gold leafs you can buy to write on a hang near Buddha as a sign of 'good luck and health'. These leafs help make the golden Buddhas, because after enough time has passed they melt these leafs down and make them into statues of individual Buddhas.

After visiting Buddha 10 minutes away is the bird park. Show times are 10:30, 1:30 and 3:30 everyday. We got there just in time for the 1:30 performance and went straight in it costs 500B to enter the park. The show was great, and so was the park. However, me being a great animals lover I'm always vigilant on the surroundings these animals are kept in and some here are most certainly not humane! I saw a beautiful vulture an incredible bird to see, but it was in such a small cage and lonely. I don't know if these birds are very sociable and like being with other vultures but I always hate seeing lonely creatures as I know not socialising with your own kind mentally depressed animals usually. But because of the rare birds that are kept here it's worth going to see.

This sums up most of our time at Phuket old town, but for any other travellers visiting Phuket. Do no make this a base place, it suggests online that's it's a good place to transport out of to visit places on Phuket but it's really not. It's also harder to haggle down the prices of tours, Patong is definitely more of a Captial now. Phuket museum is also situated here but it looks similar to my museum back in my hometown, Worthing. Small with not much to see but if any one has been please comment on my blog letting me know of your experiences here.

Top 5 things ALL travellers need to know about Phuket

So after hearing all about my killer 37 hour journey; I have finally arrived in Phuket, Thailand. When we got here the first thing i fell in love with was of course the weather - always important To me haha. For any new timers heading to Patong Beach from Phuket airport here are some helpful tips:

1. My first most important thing which I don't think is stressed enough when arriving to Thailand. Is that it's illegal like really illegal to have any Buddha tattoos that are on show, you won't be let into the country if you do have this so my suggestion is cover it up whilst going through passport control and then in any landmark areas where you have to be respectful. (People may even be funny on the beaches so do your research if you do have a Buddha tattoo how vital is seeing Thailand? Consider other nearby islands who are less stricter on this.)

2. When you arrive at the airport and you want to get a taxi you will see s giant orange sign which states shuttle buses too Patong Beach and Phuket town. THIS LIES IT DOES NOT GO TO PATONG DO NOT GET ON BOARD. the staff were useful and did tell us this kinda.. However They were confused easily so also had to work it out after waiting half an hour.

3. There are two types of taxis yellow and red taxis which are for the locals and the white ones for the tourists. It's hard to get into a red and yellow cab when you have all your luggage with you and are wearing elephant pants it kinda just screams out WHITE TYPICAL TOURIST. So good luck with getting there taxis, they are meter paid so it's good rates.

4. What taxi should you get if you're trying to get to Patong Beach? There are so many people also trying to get to the same place so just relax talk to loads of people and see if you can go in together to cut the price down. It should only cost maximum of 200 B each to get to Patong with 4 people using the same cab.

5. When in Phuket taste as much as the local cuisine as you can if you're a seafood lover then here is your perfect destination to be trying all the tiger shrimps and lobsters, which are live in tanks outside most restaurants. If however you just want some normal food in a place you know well, Mc Donald's enters all of our minds. A tip about mc Donald's over here is that there large portions are bloody gigantic, so much bigger than USA sizes so be careful. Plus it's super expensive so i don't expect you to eat a lot from there it your on a budget.

6. On the unlikely event of it happening thailand is a target for tsunamis and there are evacuation points. It the alarm did ever ring you wanna know when to run too. So when you arrive and are familiarising yourself with the local area find your evacuation points too.

I hope these top 6 facts are useful and help any other travellers who are going to endeavour on this same journey. May you take the culture in your stride and enjoy every last moment spent on Phuket I've only just began exploring the island and I've not even scratched the surface.

I was gonna add about the torment the red light district gives the men on the street, it's appauling. However, if you don't like it don't come here it's mostly unavoidable especially if you want to leave your hostel from 6pm onwards for a bite to eat, this is why I wouldn't recommend I as a family destination. It's much more alarming than Amsterdam and other places which have red light districts because they really are on the streets trying to entice you to come in a join them in there massages. What makes the whole ordeal worse was that I thought it was legal prostitution outgrew just because How much it goes on but I only found out today it's actuall legal. Also if you don't know what lip smacking is and why everyone is doing it to you ignore it it's there language for naughties and it's just how they are communicating so don't get offended.

James Bond island and Patong

It's my last night in Patong tonight, although I'm not going far just to the next beach along called, Karon. They all rhyme it makes me laugh. Right now where do I begin with Patong. Personally it's not my favourite I feel the restaurants have little variety, it's much more expensive here as its touristy. However I struggle to understand why it is so touristy, as there isn't much here, there a beach and only 1 temple. In Thailand there are usually quite a few temples in the area. I guess Patong is more of a 'lads' destination. The ocean isn't clear as it gets so chopped up by the cruise ships so you can't snorkel.

I'm not just complaining about the area. I have enjoyed my time here, I was lucky to have booked into one of the best hostels as the vibe here is great and the staff make it like family. Most of the days here in Patong we have relaxed around the beach, and just adjusting ourselves to the travelling lifestyle. When we arrived we were sharing a 6 bed dorm with just one girl in which was so lucky. Her name was bianka and she is from New Zealand, she was so nice and I was so blessed she was here at our arrival. She joined us with going to the beach and going out to dinner. We also met a lovely American guy from Tennessee his name was Alan, he was a deep sea diver and Patong is known for its diving areas. They have great ship wreckages you can see, you may also come across the odd shark. So the marine life is good, but it's not good for snorklers.

On the third day here we had booked a day trip to James Bond island and 4 other islands. The organisation began with individually picking everyone up from there hostels, we were lucky as we were the last to get picked up so didn't need to get up as early! We then drove 40 mins to the east side of the island and arrived in Ao Phanang national park. They dropped us as a centre where we could have tea, coffee and biscuits. We then proceeded to blindly lead each other to the boat we were meant to be taking we had to guess which boat pretty much and remember what the boat looked like from the brochure. The first boat ride took 40 mins, on the boat there was free unlimited drinks including beers and colas, this was totally unexpected as the tour was fairly cheap anyway. To get onto the first island we had to change boats in the middle of the sea and get onto a very small traditional Thailand boat. They are very brightly painted and are only run by a small car motor. When we arrived at the first island we had the options to go to the little market we decided as a group we didn't want too as it involves too much haggling and non of us were that interested. This island had a population of roughly 150 people, it was a floating village, that even had the first of a kind; floating football pitch. This football pitch came into the fame spotlight when they tried to get a team to enter the World Cup as a one of a kind, until they couldn't afford to get off the island in order to compete.

After this island we went on to having lunch as we continued our journey to James Bond island. Lunch was great you had beautifully prepared fresh fish, noodles, rice, soup, vegetables and chicken stew. So really something for everyone. Again I met a lovely lady on this tour her name was Lucky Triplett. What a name. She was from Orlando, Florida and we enjoyed chatting away over lunch. When we got to James Bond island unfortunately we only had 20 minutes until I realised that's all the time you need as you can only walk on certain parts. We got all the snaps we wanted and we're back onto the boat again.

From here we went to an island you couldn't inhabit. The anchor was thrown down and suddenly a group of 20 men on kayaks arrived paddling to our boat. We all got to choose which guide we had! Dan chose a great guide he was clearly the best there. We kayaked to see monkeys, and went inside a bat cave. Now this really was an experience when some guides turned back the tougher crowds decided they could fit through the other end, which is usually easier depending on the tides. We all had to lie down as much as we could to squeeze out of this cave. This island was incredible because no humans had touched it, it was the most natural and beautiful scenery I had ever laid eyes on. It felt like a life changing moment and I pray it stays this way.

After kayaking we got back onto our main boat and went to another uninhabited island where we couldn't get too close too. As we stopped about kilometre from the island the guide said now who wants to go for a swim. Me Dan And this Chinese guy instantly stood up took off our clothes and took a big jump and splashed into the water. Pushing ourselves and feeling like we would never touch the ground again we made it to this island, where I'm sure only a few have touched based. It felt a privallage to make it and was well worth the extra arm strength and determination. we only spent a short time here but some of the shells on this beach were amazing I was pretty much warning everyone not to take them. I was trying to make people aware of the shell crisis in south east Asia where tourists are taking all the shells off the beaches which are the homes for hermit crabs!

That is pretty much the summary of my trip and can you believe the whole thing cost me 1,500B which is equivalent to £30. A trip like this in England would easily cost £100 each, for all the drinks and food included and boats and minibuses. The value for money on day trips clearly struck me as money well spent. However don't be fooled on the leaflet it was advertised at 3,000B and everyone I spoke too paid different amounts, fortunately I heard that we haggled them to the best deal. I thank my dad for teaching me these great skills from observing him do the same on previous holidays.

Travelling through Oslo

So it's the 10th March. Yesterday was my 20th birthday and I'm ready as I've ever been to get out and see the world. I can't wait to find the people I will meet, the amazing landscapes I'll see but most of all let's not deny the hot weather is what I will enjoy the most. I love England but I find living there is tedious as the weather is never quite satisfying enough the mist and grey days definitely outweigh the glorious sunny ones.

I begin to endeavour on our 33 hour journey which is a once in a lifetime opportunity as you will only want to do it once in your life. I had to stop over in Oslo, Norway for 16 hours and because I'm on a budget I saved myself £200 on over priced airport hotels by just staying in the airport. Now this really was a first for me, getting to watch the sunrise over all the parked up planes was incredible especially when the morning in Norway was so crisp at -6 degrees. As Oslo is a small airport there wasn't a huge proportion of people staying over but we definitely hunted and found the best spot.

Now if you are a ever personally staying over in Norway I recommend either staying where you collect your bags in baggage reclaim as they have one of the only places with benches with out bloody armrests preventing you from lying down. So if you can't stay there head straight to Starbucks at the very entrance of the airport this is the only place with sofas there are 4 sofas we took 2 and we turned around to see a trend of people running for the last two sofas.

If your hungry or thirsty there is vending machines which surprisingly even accept Apple Pay. But stock up on breakfast prior to travelling if you have to stay in Oslo over night because the earliest place open is Starbucks and they open at 6:30am which felt forever to come around. Also helpful to have a few movies downloaded to your devices, it does get tedious and unfortunately we can't just sleep 16 hours straight, so Dan and I watched the little prince.

Now in my blog I mention my packing list I was stupid enough to not remember a bed sheet as this would of been very helpful also a travel cushion. So if you are doing long travels at a time like mine of 33 hours just bring them even if your bag is 15kgs and technically too heavy for you to carry- like me.

My trip so far is going well even though I've not even made it to Thailand yet. However, I forgot to book a veggie meal for my 11 hour plane journey. I thought of a way they could abolish this and everyone could eat on aeroplanes. Have all fricking veggie meals meat is a luxury if we cut out meat on aeroplanes it'd help the snviroment so much. So I encourage any traveler to have the veggie option also it's usually nice. This way everyone can eat and if your really fussy do what all veggies have to do now and book online specifically for meat. Fortunately I brought a huge portion of chips on the plane with me and lots of oranges that someone had left in Starbucks throughout my duration there.

Also a tip with buying any plane tickets via kiwi.com double check if it's long haul about the food supply whilst your in the air because half of our plane didn't realise whether your veggie or not you had to book the food even the meat one. It was also a 3 day notice period you had to give to the airline about the food, so beware as it had no details about this on kiwi as you actually had to do it via the airlines website. Also since being in Thailand and spending time with other travellers, I've also encountered lots of other travellers facing a lot of other problems with kiwi.com. One guy I met from Netherlands he had 3 flights cancelled on him when he got to the airport and they had false advisement of ticket prices so go charged double. So please be wary sometimes it might be better paying the extra £50 just to not book via them.

On my plane journey to Bangkok I changed seats yesssssss!! Got 2 seats to myself something much deserved after Oslo. I met a lovely 22 year old Swedish guy called Erik. He was awesome, we had so much to talk about. Erik however was more sensible he knew Norwegian airways weird food policies so he had booked his Gluten free meal in advance he then stole me a breakfast so least I got some nibbles, bless him.

Print Out 6 Month Travel Packing List

My 6 Month Packing List

Clothes 

• At Least One Hoodie (which i'll wear on my flight)
• 5x Shorts  
• Skirts in all different styles (I plan on looking good still when I'm away plus summer clothes are my favourite)
• 3 x Cotton Tee Shirts
• One nice evening dress.
• Long sleeved top incase you need to go anywhere respectful or there is loads of air-con.
• Pair of Leggings or Long trousers. I prefer those like genie pants, good airflow.
• 5x Vest 
• 7 x Knickers
• 2 x Bras
• 5 x Bikinis (this is excessive but swimwear is my favourite thing)
• 2x hiking socks. One to wear one for spare.
• Flip Flops
• Small Festival Style Poncho
• 2x Sunglasses .(Your guaranteed to lose or break a pair)
• Sun Hat 
• Walking Boots or some form of trainer
• Rucksack– I use this day to day and leave my big backpack in the hostel.
• Good comfy hard wearing sandals. I have timberland sandals, unfortunately mine are part leather, but there super comfy. (Shown in the picture but mine aren't navy they're brown)

Keeping Clean

• Beach Towel I have a microfibre one they dry super quick and they fold down to nothing. When in South Africa I travelled with a guy who had one of these and it looked super useful. I always hated having a wet giant beach towel taking up my entire day bag.
• Wash Bag with Miniature Shampoo, Conditioner, Shower Gel, Curl Cream and Moisturiser which when diluted down with water last so much longer if your in rations.
• 2x Make Up Wipes
• Tampons 
• Deodorant
•  hairbrush - dunno where I'd be without my Tangle Teaser.
• Dry shampoo
• Razors not that I'm gonna be shaving my legs.
• Toothbrush and Toothpaste
• Make Up 
• Hair Bobbles and Hair pins

Essentials

• Sleeping Bag Liner or like a bed sheet, I'll be taking a bed sheet because sometimes you turn up at hostels and there are stains all over the bed and its nice knowing your sleeping somewhere which is yours and clean.
• Travel Mosquito Net– Do no trust in hostels having them because majority of the time they don't.
• Ear Plugs especially if you're staying over in airport or noisy areas.
• Money Belt– Comfortable, safe and I basically wear it constantly, it has all my money, cards, passport, important info and memory cards in. 
• Coin Purse
• iPod shuffle& Headphones (not the end of the world if you lose it and like you will need music in your life)
• Plug Adaptor.
• Pen knife (my friend has one so I'm not bringing this)
• Document Holder – For Insurance Info, Jab Certificates, flight details etc.
• Kindle– Wow i wish i was so prepared to get a kindle so I'm doing it old school style and taking all my books. Dunno how much I will regret this but hey ho (actual photo of all my books)
• Lonely Planet (part of my book collection ill be taking with me)
• Digital Camera – I'm bringing my DSLR because I wanna take good photos but be weary where you take it.
• Chargers for all of these electric things.
• Homemade phrase book of whatever languages your'll encounter.
• Diary because you wanna record this awesome moment!
• Playing Cards – have already seen aLOT of heated hostel games of Shithead in my time.

Medical

• First Aid Kit– i've filled mine with After Bite cream, anti-sickness tablets, diarrhoea tablets, painkiller, cold and flu tablets, plasters, tubey grips.
• Insect Repellent – Just pack one, you can buy DEET out here
• Sun Cream – Same, you can buy all factors out here
• After-Sun
• Germaline
• Anti Bac Hand Gel
• Vasaline

And that is it! My life in a Rucksack!

My Travel Prayer List

For all the Christian travellers taking off on whatever adventure is ahead you should also bare in mind preparing yourself for your trip through prayer. We are brothers and sisters of Christ and therefore always standing in as a representation of our faith. On your trip you will meet lots of new faces and people to talk too. It is our duty to spread our Lord's message so even if you can't vocally speak out, show with your actions and be a light to those who cross your path. The three most important topics I will be covering for my travels through prayer are:

1.Guidance
2.Protection -Laws of the Land
                    -Temptation
                    -Others Responsibilities and Control
3.Reminiscence


"In the name of God I go on this journey. May God the Father be with me, may God the son protect me, and may God the Holy Spirit be by my side. In Jesus' almighty name Amen"

I found this delightful short prayer draws in all 3 of these topics, and once memorised can be an incredible tool for anyone who uses it and repetitively prays it over themselves. Why I love it so much because it squeezes in everything you want into such a small amount of words. It begins with Reminiscence reminding us in whose name were going on this journey for; in God's name! It then reiterates that is it God who in control through the language 'may God'. As it goes on to remind us that we are guided and protected by our almighty father.

1.Guidance

Guidance is a really tough because as Christians its one of the areas where we can slip away from God. We are in control of our immediate life through free will and therefore we as humans are A* students at getting off track. This is where God's guidance can steer us back, when we step out of God's presence it can be easy to not focus on him and get distracted by earthly things. Such as temptations into sin, even just being caught up in a certain vibe of a place whilst on your travels. You may forget about God or get out of bible routines or whatever is your usual christian life.

God knows what we need before we even say a word to him asking for his help. But staying in prayer and keeping ourselves in that making yourself more like Christ mindset is really going to protect you from going off track because your prayer is in itself a way of God's guidance. As its helping recognise what you need, which will be drawn from him and therefore guiding you to the correct path.

(I know that was really wordy and complicated but I hope you get the idea.)

I found a good prayer which I felt reflects asking god for guidance. 

"Lord as I set off on my travels I pray that You would be with me and remain close to me as my travel companion as I go on this journey – just as You walked with Your two disciples along the road after Your glorious resurrection. Fill me heart with Your peace and joy and remove any anxious thoughts I pray. Guide me Father and keep me safe throughout my travels, even when I am passing through rough and difficult terrain. Provide for all my needs as I journey and protect me from all dangers – seen or unseen and may I reach my journey’s end knowing that You have been my ever present travelling Companion and Helper along the way.  

Thank You that I am safe and under Your protection no matter where I may go – confident that You not only know the way but that You are the Way and the truth and the life – for You are my Saviour and God, in Jesus name I pray, 

Amen"

This  prayer is from http://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/Prayers-for-Travel 

2.Protection

Laws of the Land

There are many aspects of protection we can look into and pray about. I'm going to indulge on what I think are top 3 most important things we will need to pray about in order to help arm us.
Although God does protect us, we must do what we can to protect ourselves in our journeys. Whatever culture you have come from, your most likely stepping out of your comfort zone into a new culture. Therefore we have to conform to the laws and government of that nation. It says in Romans 13 1-7 God is glorified and His will is fulfilled when you submit to His governing authorities. In 13:1 Paul writes: “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.” The command begins with the words, “Every person” regarding every soul”). This includes believers and unbelievers, rich and poor, great and small, without exception. But Paul’s primary concern is that believers “submit” to governing authorities. The verb “submit” meaning “to place oneself under. This means you must research to see if any laws that concern you may be different from your home country, and you really wouldn't want to spoil your trip. 

I found an excellent prayer which is constructed around this topic. I will be praying it myself and believe this is really important one, because you could be stepping into dangerous territory and you need to arm yourself with God's word and protection. 

"We pray for our all those in authority over our land, in the Church, the Parliament, the Supreme Courts and justice systems, and the royal families of this nation. We pray that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Destroy the sceptre of the wicked over our nation, for Your word says the wicked shall not reign over the righteous. Your word says also that when the righteous reign, the people rejoice. So today bring forth the reign of the righteous in our land. Touch the hearts of Your bond slaves to stand for elections in every constituency. Grant them wisdom, grace and favour. We pray for those who rule over us. We pray that You will raise men and women of integrity who truly care for our welfare and not ones that exploit us, or abuse their power, for personal gain. We ask You, for leaders that we can look up to. Remove anyone within the country who is of authority and who is a hindrance to Your gospel. Bring into places of Power those, who like Joseph, have the wisdom to administer the resources of this nation well.Blow Holy Spirit through our schools, our hospitals, our prisons, police stations, financial institutions, our music, and TV and film industry. Blow out the dust that has settled. Destroy the works of Evil. We pray for Your church in our land. We sprinkle the Blood of Jesus on all Your people, and ask You to place Your armour over them in Jesus’ name Amen."

This prayer is from https://bible.org/seriespage/26-laws-land-romans-131-14

 Temptation

As this post is all about arming ourselves with prayer for our trip. We cant miss out temptation as is something that we are all acquainted with. Even Jesus was not immune to being tempted, from the very start of his ministry to the day when he hung upon the Cross, he was being tempted. The authorities asked him to perform miracles and signs to prove who he was, the ordinary people were at his side constantly wanting his attention and healing touch, sometimes in danger of distracting him from the bigger picture.

Our temptations can often be seemingly small things, but if they impact on the lives of others then they can be very damaging. God gives us strength to resist, and shows us through his Word that although this can be tough at times, it is ultimately rewarding.

This one may be slightly unique and different to each person as each person struggles with different things. So whatever it is surround yourself so temptation is out of sight, whether it be sex, don't go traveling and start mingling with only the other gender to you. If you struggle with drugs, don't go to immediate places where you could get hold of them etc. So make sure you make your own unique prayer to protect yourself from your weak points, don't be held down that they are your weak points either best to be aware of them and working through them than oblivious.

My prayer for Temptation:

Dear Lord Jesus,

 I ask for Your strength and help to resist ungodly temptations and not to give in, knowing that to do is not to glorify You and does me nothing but emotional and spiritual harm.

Help me to take every tempting thought captive and hand it over to You before it takes a hold of me and does harm to me or to other people. Help me in my weakness to know You as my strength and help me in my foolishness to know You as my wisdom. Help me I pray to resist all forms of temptation and give me the strength to say no and walk away from temptation, especially when there are others involved, who directly or indirectly –willingly or unknowingly are encouraging my downfall. And deliver me Lord I pray, from habits that are entrapping and enslaving me in actions that are detrimental to my spiritual health and walk.

Replace the thoughts that tempt and tease with those that turn my focus on Jesus and help me in all things and learn to say, Thy will not mine be done, in Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Others Responsibilities and Control

“Let go of your concerns! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth.” (Psalm 46:10 GW)

I am a bit of an overthinking thinker myself and I find it hard knowing that anything can happen at any given time, and that responsibility can be down to others and people who your around. It can be down to your surrounds like if you're in a high risk area for earthquakes and an earthquakes hits. Potentially you could be in more of a threat than you normally would at home so knowing there is a loving God in control makes it all the better. But that doesn't mean if these things happen that its going to be easy. The main chunk of this topic is all about your mental attitude really and getting your mind in the right place to be content that God is good. But as this under Protection you must do all in your power that you can in regards to maintaining your safety at all times. If you are under some other persons safety for instance when flying to the destination you can pray specific prayers but I will start with summing up Others Responsibilities and Control with this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You that You are my ever present help and Companion, no matter where I am of where I go. Lord as I set out on my travels, I ask that You would be with me to guard and to guide me through every part of this journey. 

Keep me I pray from all harm and danger and I pray that You would go with me Lord, and encamp around me and stay close to me as I continue on my way. Give me travelling mercies I pray, and bring me safely to my final destination. Be with me Lord and give me Your peace and rest in my heart. I pray that whilst on my journey I am protect from evildoers who seek joy in watching others fall. I pray that safety is the centre harness wrapped around me at all times whilst travelling and that natural disasters and any other forms of disasters are kept at bay.
Lord Jesus, I place myself in Your safekeeping as I journey on my way and thank You for Your never failing mercies which are new every morning. In Jesus name I pray, 

Amen

3.Reminiscence

I wanted this last one to be Reminiscence because you can really personalise this one yourself. Its asking the question: Why at this moment in your life do this believe travelling is what is best for you or pursuing what god's plan. Hopefully, your church would have touched on this with you and discussed your travel plans with you. 

There are many many factors to why you may be travelling, but make sure it is a good valid

reason to fulfil god purpose. You might be travelling to do a mission, you may be travelling to take part in a camp and to see god's amazing creation, sometimes it can be just a period in your life to work out what your next step is in life.

 Personally, for me I feel my travelling pursues what God is calling me to do because, I feel I need a restoration and relaxation period which will enable to come back home with a refreshed outlook and refreshed physically, mentally and spiritually. But mine isn't just a 2 week holiday which would be the normal period anyone needs to relax and get back to work. But sometimes when stress and wounds are dug so deep you need more of a time to rebuild who you are as a person, and I believe travelling can be perfect for this, providing you stay close with God. 

Be careful, don't get drawn in thinking you can do this forever, yes its an amazing time to restore and gain lots of knowledge and wisdom. Just be careful that you get caught in a trap with being memorised by travelling and tourism that the point of your trip loses focus to why you're actually doing it. 

Throughout your trip I just personally pray you all stay with Jesus on it reminisce on how amazing Our Father is and reflect on his truths to you. Here is my last prayer on my prayer list I hope this has helped you with an outline of what you should be looking into when preparing spiritually for your adventure. 

Loving Father,

I thank You that You provide us with times when we are able to stand aside from the business of the world. It was You Who took Your own disciples aside to rest awhile and I thank You for this vacation – so that I too may take time apart and gain physical refreshment and renewal – not only physical Lord, but emotional and spiritual refreshment too. 

As I set out on my vacation I ask that You give me travelling mercies. Be with me Lord as I set out on my journey and keep me from any unforeseen dangers or accidents that would cause anxiety or difficulties. Watch over me and protect me I pray, wherever I may be – whether among the busy crowds or during those times of quiet solitude. 

I pray that this may be a time when I am replenished in body, mind and spirit so that I may return home refreshed, renewed and ready to return to my daily work and may be equipped to better serve You in the days that lie ahead – Thank You Lord for Your generous provision in Jesus name, 

Amen