Bucket list video

Hey guys! So as part of our blog, we filmed a short clip in relevance to our blog topic: bucket list goals! We take you to almost every corner of the Earth, in search of adventure and fun! From "Mt Everest" to "China", these are definitely some places to see and do.

Everyone was involved in this video, with each us contributing to some extent. Many thanks goes to Graeme for filming the majority of the video, Linda for the ideas and the "France" and "Germany" scenes, Jaylin for "climbing Mt Everest" and diving into "Loch Ness" and finally to James, for the "China", "Balloon" and "Germany" scenes, and for putting together the final bits and pieces of the video!

We hope you enjoy the video and hopefully. by the end, you will feel a greater need to travel and tick off your bucket list!

So many places to tick off but which one first?

I am sure our blog has given you many great ideas of places to add to your bucket list. But maybe that’s not the problem, maybe you have your list but you need to figure out which one you are going to tick off first? Well this post is for you to work this very question out.

A great place to start is by putting all your ideas into the on place so you can visualise it. A great free tool available online which allows you to do this very thing plus more is the web application ‘Bucketlist’ go check it out! It allows you to put all these great dreams of yours in the one place and track each one as you tick it off. It even allows you to explore other members lists and follow their progress.  

So you now have a nice list going now but which one first? Well a great way to prioritise your list is to ask yourself ‘If I had one day to live which one would I regret not doing?”. This should clearly point out which one is first. Now start looking at cheap flights and make those dreams a reality.

Graeme

Handy hints

As my passport is starting to fill up with stamps, I've managed to pick up some handy tips and tricks that have helped save me time, stress and, everyone's favourite, money! I'd thought I'd share a few of them with you to help you with you travels:

1. Always carry a pen. Seems simple. But its amazing the the amount of time you can save on queues by being able to fill out a form without waiting behind a plane load of people sharing one pen!
2. Never give your pen away. For reasons above, you don't want to be waiting to get that pen back.
3. Use booking sites that originate in the country you are travelling to. Most sites have an English option and you they often offer better fares/less fees to what they think are domestic customers.
4. Always exchange the bulk of your money at your host country. It is wise to have a small amount before you get there (i.e. $50) to cover a taxi but 99% of the time you will get a better exchange rate overseas than at the airport.
5. Have a camera free day. If you are in one place for more than a day or two, try to spend a day without taking photos. So often we get caught up in trying to get that perfect picture that we actually forget to take the time to stop, relax and really immerse yourself in your surroundings. Plus you'll look less like a tourist and feel more like a local!
6. Packing....so this is a big one, and I'll probably do a whole post on packing tips, but for now, here are two.
1. Gumboots. Gumboots are back in style, easy to clean, can get wet and tend to weigh less than snowboots. Obviously if you're going trekking through the snow they're not the best choice, but if you get caught in a snow shower whilst on the streets of Prague they can come in handy.
2. Take your crappiest underwear...you know the undies with the limp elastic or the socks with holes. Wear it, then throw it out. Your suitcase gets lighter and you have less to wash when you return!

So, I hope some these ideas help when you're planning your next trip. Let me know if any of them work for you, or comment with your own ideas too!

Happy travels
-Linda

Skiing at Hakuba, Japan

Hey everyone, James here. I love to ski, you get a rush of adrenaline from speeding down the slopes but so far I have only been skiing in Australia, which although is fun lacks the amount of snow and length of runs that other countries have. Hakuba is a ski resort in Japan with 138 lifts.

On average it receives 11m of snow fall annually which is massive compared to the 200-300 of Perisher in Australia! Hakuba is very large and this means it has a wide variety of skiable terrain and is thus suitable for all levels of skiers.

Skiing at Hakuba and going to Japan are both things which I would love to do and a certainly on my bucket list!

Travel across a winter wonderland!

Number 1 on my bucket list

The Trans Siberian Railway

Its one of the longest Railways in the world and I had the great pleasure of going from Beijing all the way to St Petersburg through the Russian winter. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The trip took 14 days for stopping at various stops along the way. These included Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar where we spent a couple of nights in a traditional ger, which is a round tent used as a nomadic form of housing. The next major stop was the Lake Baikal, the worlds largest freshwater by volume. From the frozen lakefront views to dog sledding in the snow there were plenty of things to do even during the off season.

Finally arriving in Moscow after a 3-day straight train journey it was great to experience the of the largest city in Russia. It was very interesting to see the cultural differences between it and it’s sister city St Petersburg which by comparison is a much more historically rich city. Whereas Moscow serves as the international business capital and is much more metropolitan. The whole experience was incredible and it made me realise just how culturally diverse the country is, its heavy influenced from both Aisa and Eurupe it is one of the most intriguing countries in the world. I would love the opportunity to complete this journey again however next time I think I would want to see what it is like during summer. Either way this is defiantly something you want to have on your bucket list!

Graeme