Future Travel Plans 2017

I'm getting itchy feet. Or rather, I've had itchy feet ever since I arrived back in the UK in April. I went away to Australia some time early 2014, came back at the end of 2015 for Christmas and almost instantly hopped back on a plane at the beginning of 2016, the first chance I got. If you know me you'll know I'm not one for sticking to the same place for very long. Lord knows I try but somehow a month in I'll instantly be trying to plan my next departure. I gave myself a year this time. Told myself that if I could stay put and try and create a career for myself for a whole year in England then I could travel afterwards if things didn't work out. To be honest I almost made it, I was so close, but now I have plans to up sticks and leave. Sorry career, you're going to have to wait.

China

My first stop will be China at the beginning of February. Where specifically? I have no idea. I'm doing the TEFL internship with STA Travel and ImmerQi which lasts for five months teaching kids in a city of your choice. I've managed to recruit a friend to travel with me and we're hopefully heading down to one of the Southern provinces. Having stopped over in Canton earlier this year on a stop-over flight I'm curious to see the different Chinese cities. Although everything its greatly dependent on the city we choose in the first two weeks there's an orientation in Beijing so I'm keen to walk the Great Wall of China as well as see the Terracotta Army, Forbidden City, Shanghai and Huangshan. I've heard that you can travel to anywhere in China on the train for £70 or less so during the weekends and school holidays I'm going to hit as many places as possible.

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Southeast Asia

Next stop will be a flight to Hanoi in Vietnam mid July. Originally we planned to just do Thailand but considering the countries are relatively close to each other we decided to hit them all, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. We'll be backpacking and staying in hostels, trying to immerse ourselves as much as possible. The rough plan currently is Hanoi, to Vientiane, to Bangkok, to Phnom Penh, and finally to Ho Chi Minh although with all plans they're open to whims. Of all the places I'm travelling to I'm hoping the culture shock from Southeast Asia will be the most intense. There's nothing I love more than being thrown into countries with an entirely different way of operating and learning how to survive.

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Japan

Then on to Tokyo at the end of July for a week, and then one week in Osaka. In Tokyo I'll be meeting another friend (who thankfully will be learning Japanese) and our group will be staying in various AirBnB's. Some of the things I want to check out are Mt Fuji, the Ghibli museum, Tokyo Sky Tree and morbidly enough the Japanese Suicide forest. Another thing I've been interested in experiencing is a night in a capsule hotel. Although I'm not fantastic in small spaces the entire thing seems like something that's got to be done our of sheer curiosity. Any ideas of where to go? Let me know.

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Australia

Finally I'll be arriving in Sydney mid August. I'm particularly excited for this stop. Having been to Australia for two years I have a ton of people I've been missing insanely and after a year of not being with them I'll finally be reunited! With the people I'll be traveling with I'm keen to show them around a few of my favourite Sydney spots; Taronga Zoo, Luna Park, Cronulla, Wedding Cake Rock, Manly and the Blue Mountains. I'm also wanting to travel to a few places I missed in my last trip, most notably Uluru.

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Then home. Or to New Zealand. Or America. Who knows really.

Now I just have to work my ass off for the next four months!