It’s sad to think we are already almost half way through our adventures! 16 weeks done, 18 to go. What fun we have already had and what memories we have made. In some ways it feels we have been on the road for an age. Here’s a reminder of where we have been and where we are going:

We’ve just about got to the bottom of our deodorants and shower gels despite all the packets taken from hotel rooms along the way (shhh!). Our packing choices were mainly spot on. I think we’ve all worn everything we brought with us (it got cold in Japan so the jumpers came out finally) with just a couple of emergency clothing purchases along the way (socks for Joanna! flip flops for molly!). We are getting a little heavy with souvenir purchases (mainly magnets and one artwork from each country) so will need to send a package back to the UK from Australia (sorry grandparents!!!).

Asia has been an assault on the senses in so many ways and such an exhilarating place of exploration for the kids. From a food perspective they have tried everything, we never leave an empty plate even if what’s on offer is live octopus or a spicy hotpot!

Our ears have been filled with different languages, music and sounds, we have stayed in high rise apartments, beach side bungalows and traditional houses. We have played football, some yoga, surfed, snorkelled and even taken a Kung-Fu class.

We have walked for miles and miles through cities, parks, around cliffs, up volcanoes and across paddy fields. We have seen so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, we have run, sung, danced and laughed. Fine, we’ve had our fair share of moans and tears as well, let’s be honest, that’s life for us all, especially a 4 and 6 year old in unfamiliar surroundings.

For 4 months we have crossed Asia from Dubai to Bali, pretty much always taking short flights from place to place on budget airlines. We had two short layovers in KL and have traveled internally via overnight trains, cruise ships and minivans. Apart from a sidecar adventure in Hoi An we have only admired scooters and motorbikes from a distance.

The most stressful travel days were probably in and out of the Cambodian islands and reaching Tokyo post-typhoon but mostly we’ve managed pretty well, Joanna has a tight hand grip when the waves get rough but mostly the girls are pretty resilient! We’ve had a couple of outbreaks of nits, a corn on the foot and a few mosquito bites but no major stomach bugs, runny noses or high temperatures, I think we are doing well, fingers crossed it continues…

Each country has had an ebb and flow – oddly without planning to do so we have finished each country with a few days in the capital city but started out elsewhere. It sort of works, the trip builds up to a crescendo and you have somewhere a little more manageable to get to grips with the country’s nuances. It does mean however, that we seem to be visiting each country backwards, reading the guidebook back to front or travelling upstream. We are going against the flow of most travellers we meet, which is no bad thing as we can pass on tips of places we have been and vice versa. As we are basically going back to the UK the wrong way round the world, it all sort of makes sense.

As we landed into Cairns in Australia on the 29th October 2019, Molly asked: “what language do they speak here?” To which I gave her a brief background on the 300 aboriginal languages – but concluded by saying English – she looked a little disappointed, not another language to write the basics of hello, goodbye and thank you into her notebook. It made me realise what an incredible experience it has been for us all jumping in and out of different countries and starting to learn about them – Asia has given us so much and we look forward to returning again in the future.