The build up begins...

Getting very excited now - only 77 days to go before we depart these shores for 5 months!

Key milestones that have already been reached:

1) We both have our leave of absence signed off (always a good start)
2) Itinerary pretty much locked down (will share in next post)
3) After 3 solid days of trawling the internet and trying to get the best prices, the main flights have been booked (15 out of the 24 planned flights) 
4) All hotels booked for the first part of the trip with Caroline, Dave and Lynne (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand) including our stay on a junk boat in Halong Bay
5) Extortionate travel insurance purchased
6) Created a whopping great spreadsheet complete with conditional formatting and "what if" analysis (naturally)!

and last but not least....

7) Started a blog so our nearest and dearest can stay in touch!

Few interesting things I have learnt already

1) Whilst South East Asia to South America looks (relatively) close on a map of the world they are actually on other sides of the planet and very difficult to get directly from one to the other
2) Never accept the first price from a travel consultant depsite their promises that "this is the deal of the century and the best price you will get" - they can always do better
3) It's easier/cheaper to see the Amazon from Peru (Iquitos) than Brazil 
4) La Paz is the hood
5) I will need to remortgage the flat to stay in Sydney over New Year (luckily we have friends there)
6) The needle for the Yellow fever jab is pretty big
7) It's true what people say South East Asia. It is dirst cheap and great value. Can't go wrong with $20 per night for a place to stay.
8) The Lonely Planet "on a shoestring" books are the best guidebooks (if you are on a shoe string of course)
9) Out of the 21 countries we plan to visit only one of them requires a visa before arriving (Vietnam) (Or at least I hope this is the case!)
10) I have no idea whether an average of £35 per day for both of us is enough to live on (excluding hotels obviosuly)

Aaron