Preparation shmeparation.

Firstly, on blogging

Over the years I'm sure many people will recall the many times I've voiced my disdain at blogging, often labelling it a self-indulgent waste of time and vowing never to start a one myself. Why should one air their dirty laundry to the world, expecting people to lap up and read every word? Isn't it simply an escape from the real world? A way to voice an opinion without taking a stand?

Well I think I stand corrected. While I do think there are plenty of people who blog rubbish, it's becoming clear that blogs may actually serve certain important functions in society. A good recent example is how the blogging community in Malaysia (one of the largest in the world) played a significant role in providing poignant political opinions, alternative views on events covered in the state-controlled media and as an unbiased information outlet on the corruption and cronyism which plague Malaysian politics. In short, bloggers were a constant thorn in the Malaysian government's side so much so that legal proceedings were brought against numerous prolific political bloggers. Needless to say, blogging served its purpose - the government was held accountable and the populace spoke with their votes. The ruling National Front coalition lost its two-thirds majority and control of FIVE states, an unprecedented result in Malaysian political history.

I've also found blogs to be an amazing source of general information - whether it be legal, technical or purely useless. Experts in different fields frequently blog about their areas of expertise - opening up discussion and thought.

Finally, the humble travel-blog. This is what this is. It's also my first blog of any kind, really. Many people keep travel diaries but when one finally returns after a long exciting trip, one can never really tell the full story to someone else without saying "you just had to be there". I guess this blog won't solve that problem, but it will definitely go a little way to help! I for one enjoy reading travel blogs because they give me ideas about places to visit, travel tips and often open our eyes to different cultures and countries we might never have otherwise thought about.

Okay, I've crapped on enough - time to just talk about our trip!

It's actually happening!

We've leave in exactly four weeks to the day.

Neither one of us has travelled further than to South East Asia. Really, we've never been to another western nation. We are really looking forward to our big trip but there's just so much preparation! It's almost more stuff to do than getting married! Well, almost.

We have to move our stuff into storage, get my visa approved, sort out our finances (and student loans/grants), pack the right stuff, organise accomodation/let friends know we're coming, plan our travel routes, travel insurance and all the in-between things!

We've got a round-the-world ticket valid for a year (although we won't be away for that long) and the good thing is that it's flexible. Here's our rough timetable:-

9 June 2008 Auckland, New Zealand
14 June 2008 Los Angeles, USA (we'll explore California and surrounds)
Florida, USA (for about a week or so)
New York, USA (and perhaps Boston and NY State)
9 July 2008 Montreal, Canada
Quebec City, Canada (and maybe Ottawa)
Toronto, Canada
24 July 2008 London, United Kingdom
(perhaps we'll also explore Scotland, Wales, Ireland)
France?
August 2008 Sweden!
Rest of 2008 Sweden, Scandinavia, Europe in general
January 2009 Singapore
Sabah, Malaysia
February 2000 Melbourne, Australia

Candice was supposed to arrive in Sweden much earlier for a Swedish language course but we decided not to do it and instead get a bit of travel under our belts beforehand.

:) Nat