We have now been on the road for 97 days. It feels far longer, probably because of the sheer number of places we’ve seen and experiences we’ve had. When I think of what I would have achieved at home in 97 days it doesn’t even compare to a smaller fraction of what we’ve done here. So, what have we learnt about travelling and ourselves in this time. This blog is a bit of a follow on from the 1 month blog I wrote previously.

1.Everybody… yes everybody who lives in a house/apartment/bungalow owns too many toiletries. I’m now ashamed to admit that at least 2 boxes in our storage container is full of toiletries. We have been functioning on (liquid or cream based, not including medicines):

Becky – Shampoo, Shower Gel, Toothpaste, Contact Lens solution, Mascara, Suncream, Aftersun, Deodorant

Simon – Shampoo, Shower Gel, Toothpaste, Hair Gel, Deodorant, Suncream, Aftersun

I know we all get given toiletry sets at Christmas and we all own too much moisturiser, but I can tell you now our bathroom is going to be a far different place when we return. The best bit of it all is that we both don’t smell and we both don’t feel any more disgusting than we did before we left. And P.S. Yes I still shave my legs! haha

2. Living in a car is hardwork! As I am typing this Simon is lifting the bed up for the 10th or so time to put something away or get something out from under the bed. We don’t have a huge amount of room, but we are quite liking it. We have a routine in the morning and at night now for getting the car into day or night mode, but it’s still handwork and we are properly under each others toes 90% of the time. Unfortunately, we give Maverick back tomorrow which is also sad :(, but we can’t wait for a normal bed where we can walk around the room with ease.

3. Most people are really friendly. I won’t generalise too much, but in the UK people don’t talk to people they don’t know. We are quite introverted. Since travelling we have had conversations with people in supermarkets, on walks, in kitchens, on tours, at bus stops, on buses, just walking down the street even. I feel that we need to encourage this more in the UK! Let’s all be friends!

4. Planning is over rated, but also sometimes crucial. Having the camper car has meant that we don’t really need to plan much. Every campsite has space for us and we just show up wherever we fancy during the afternoon or evening. We wouldn’t have been able to go to Napier if we hadn’t have been so flexible in our plans and not booked accommodation. On the flip side.. we are finding that activities do need to be  little bit planned, especially if we want the discounted rates on bookme.co.nz. We’ve found a nice balance.

5. Good wifi is hard to come by. We’ve heard this won’t be the case in South East Asia, but we’ve really struggled to find wifi that isn’t limited to a little bit to browse with. We are backing up photos to dropbox as we travel and I need to upload photos for the blog. This is practically impossible at times! Which explains why you sometimes get 2 blogs in one because we are making the most of the good wifi.

6. We are fighting fit! Why? I think this is because we aren’t stressed. Everyone who I worked with at Penrice will know that I suffered from migraines, sore throats, colds, stomach aches and rib pain pretty often. I now know that it was all down to stress. I have felt sea sick once and had 1 headache the entire time we have travelled. Yes, we both suffered from gastro, but that was a rare event. We have been around people who have colds and are coughing and ‘touch wood’ we have caught nothing. An interesting thought ehy?!

7. I love baths. I miss them so much.

8. Simon is actually obsessed with ducks. He is so happy when he sees a duck. I mean, I knew he liked them, but I think it’s progressed.

9. Same same, but different. Jess told me this saying before we left. She said we’d hear it all around S.E Asia, but we also hear it a lot here and I completely understand why. This country is the same as Britain in so many ways, but also so different. Sometimes I forget we’re in NZ and then out of nowhere BOOM a mountain or BOOM a volcano. So definitely, same same, but different.

10. We talk about the future A LOT. Everywhere we go we think, could we live here? Simon has become obsessed with property newspapers. I have to admit it’s a lot of fun looking at some of the houses and seeing if we could afford anything truly special. In some places we could. We could have much more than we do now, but do we want that? So far only one place has screamed to us, leave your life and move abroad, Queenstown. There have definitely been other places in Oz and Nz that we would be very happy though. But no-one panic! We’re not moving abroad. It’s not just about where to live though. we have also talked about jobs and our dreams in terms of careers. So far, we know what we want, we just need to figure out how to achieve it. Progress i would say!! We knew travelling would give some clarity to things.

11. It’s surprising how well you can manage without things. There have been so many times in New Zealand where I’ve wished I had my fleece or a certain pair of shoes. But, they’re not here! Layers have been our saviour and you learn to get by with what you have. We’ve just realised we don’t have any oil for dinner.. no issues, we’ll figure it out. Call us the thrifty Dowells.

12. Money is stupid. Yes, we’ve spent more than we have intended. We will be having some VERY cheap days in S.E Asia to make up for some of our expenditure, but do you know what?! We don’t care. It’s only money and the memories and experiences we are having is worth so much more to us than having that money sat in the bank.