So Much Great Advice, But Such A Poor Memory To Remember It All

In the lead up to our trip, a lot of people have given us advice about places to visit as well as helpful travel tips. Jen and I appreciate all of the advice, but we just cant remember everything that people tell us (well I cant anyway). So I thought I would log it all in this blog so when it comes time to put things into action, I can refer back to here. So some things for Jen and I to remember are:

From Cynthia:

• Bring a bottle of red cordial. It is great for tummy bugs. http://baliforfamilies.com/bali_belly_and_raspberry_cordial.htm.
• In Vietnam, make sure we go to Da Lat: The French influenced capital of the Lang Dong province, which is located in the Vietnamese highlands, 1500m above sea level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Lat.
• In the major cities in China, we need to go to the night markets. Thats the place where you can get all of the crazy foods like deep fried crickets on a skewer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_market. http://www.hobotraveler.com/143jeff01_01.shtml.
• Get the phone numbers and addresses of all of the Australian consulates in all of the countries that we are passing through before we go. If we ever get into trouble, just give them a call or get a taxi driver to take you there. http://www.dfat.gov.au/missions/.
• Tour guides are really cheap in China. They can speak English, pick you up and take you places and are relatively cheap to hire for the day. Make sure to utilize them.
• Beware of people slashing your bags in airports to steal stuff.
• Keep ALL VALUABLES in your day pack. Do not leave anything valuable in your main bag.

From Jen Cleaver:

• Keep a travel blog. It is the best way to keep people informed with the progress of your trip and when you are done, you have something for yourself to keep.
• Write your blog posts up before you go into an internet cafe.
• Bring a little hard drive to store photos on.
• When you finish your trip, turn your blog and digital photos into a photo book. http://www.photobookaustralia.com.au/?pg=index.
• When we finally get to Europe, make sure that we take a trip to Rome and Barcelona.
• Take a digital camera each and both post separate articles on the blog. That way we will get different perspectives from the trip.
• Get one of those mesh security bags to put over your bag. People are most likely to go for an easier target. The sad fact is that if someone is determined enough, they will get into it anyway, but the more deterrents you place on your bag to hamper their progress, the less likely that they will target your gear in the first place. http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php?_room=3&_action=detail&id=50.
• Bring a roll of toilet paper with you.

From Reenz:

• Sort out ALL of your VISAs before you go.
• When travelling with your partner, take a day off from each other every now and again. Otherwise you will drive each other insane by the end of it.