Dubai

Touchdown in Dubai. Short 8 hour flight, but we were stuck in the middle 2 seats on  2-4-2 plane... although we pre-cooked wonderful window seats 2 months ago, Emirates changed planes last minute, and re-seated us in slightly less-desirable seat :(

So, during our 8 hour lay-over we've managed to steal 2 hours of intermittent sleep on the floor of a quieter section of the terminal, change some dollars into rupees, and we're now heading to help ourselves to Emirates' most attractive service - a free all day buffet in the airport terminal, for enyone flying Emirates! Lekker.

Wrapping up... and setting off!

  Tickets bought - Kristen and I are leaving on Tuesday 29th November, and returning 9 month later. Emirates both ways - now that is a comfortable ride. We searched through a travel agent, then found a cheaper deal online, then bought our tickets from the Emirates office. I guess that's cheating a bit, but it worked out well.

 Visas sorted (kinda) - We applied for our visas, and after 2 weeks of waiting, and 3 pick-up attempts by DHL, an envelope finally arrived back in Cape Town. Inside we found Kristen's passport, and a letter saying that mine was still pending. A long story short, we now have them, but Kristen's comes with a special stamp: Upon leaving, may not return without 2 months delay. Joy. So there goes our plan for Nepal for Christmas. So we're tentatively planning 6 months in India, followed by 3 months travelling in Nepal, Cambodia & Thailand.

 Vaccinations completed - I just got my 2nd round of Hep B (the vaccination, not the disease), and I'll need to get my 3rd jab in India, in 5 months time. Something about a 3-round vaccination cycle. Otherwise, Kristen and I are fully loaded with a full range of antibodies floating around our bodies. Still, we've bough packs of antibiotic pills for the inevitable dehli-belly :(

 Accommodation sorted - Kristen also manages to hook up up a place to live the day we arrive. We found it via a wonderful website called http://www.couchsurfing.org/. It's a peer-reviewed host & traveler portal, where travelers can find local families to stay with for a few days. In return for a bed (or couch) to sleep in, the families get to learn about the travelers. The idea is that the relationship is reciprocal, and that ever traveler in turn will offer their spare bed to future travelers searching for a place to crash for a few days. Thanks for organizing darling!

 Bags packed - well if you count a room full of clothes and boxes everywhere, then yes. So actually no. We're really stretching ourselves, selling everything that either weighs more than 500g, or takes up more space than a tube of tooth paste. We're leaving one or two boxes, taking a light backpack each, and leaving most of our previously-valued possessions with friends, family, and as donations to people who can wear them.

 Reading books - we've recently bought a Nook each [link], a digital, touch screen, light weight, electronic reading tablet, a bit like the Kindle. So you may wonder why we spent an hour in a book shop yesterday? Well, Kristen had her

 Excited - sometimes that looks more like nervousness . But as a famous person once said "Nervousness is just excitement over-thought". So we're trying not to over-think!

Being 24

Our whole lives have been focused on what the next great accomplishment was -- from getting the highest marks in grade school to finishing our degrees to a scholarship in South Africa for me and a teaching job at UCT for him. Building cv's, planning for the future, and getting way too old before we have to.

What we forgot to do... was just be twenty-something. So, that's what we're planning to do next year... well in three weeks from now, actually.

We're hoping to ... Couchsurf (www.couchsurfing.org), volunteer, and travel and not plan too far in advance.

Learn, do yoga, read for fun, explore.

We'll take a gap year of sorts and let ourselves reflect on the past and have new experiences, but more importantly, really think about what we want next. What each of us desires for the next steps in our lives and not just take the first job that comes along or do what everyone else expects us to. For anyone that knows me, I have had a lot come my way in the past few months especially and I think it's time to just let myself have a break and figure out what I want.

So we'll be picking fruit and teaching kids, but we'll also be getting away from what we know and letting ourselves really think about what we want out of life!

And we'll let ourselves finally just be 24!

VISAs

As most travelers can attest, there a common traveler's nightmare. Not getting sick, not missing the train, not leaving, not coming home - but the idea of being parted from your passport! Or alternatively, being denied our VISA after we're booked tickets, bought travel insurance, given notice on our apartments, declined work offers... so we're a little nervous.

Our passports are our most prized possessions, other than each other. I hope that one day that changes, but for now, I'm glad that we're leaving our fast paced life of office work behind.

So we sent off our passports, with DHL, to the Indian Consulate General in Johannesburg. Its about 1000kms away, so if they go cold turkey on us, it's a long walk to get them back.

We sent our passports off last week, and hope to get them back this week! Fingers crossed.