On Saturday was the farewell/going away party. Alot of people showed up, which was really nice. I got to see and hang out with some folks I haven´t seen in a while.

Thanks to everyone who came down to see us off.














I drank cherry beer.

then a jager bomb.

then chartreuse.

then a B-52.




It was an interesting night.

The climate

I suddenly realised that I was packing without actually knowing the climates I was packing for. So here is my estimate weather needs (According to this cool weather website.)

• Egypt (may/June) - 20-30c. hot with cool nights.
• Isreal (June) - 18-28c. warm and dry.
• Greece (June) - 20-30c. Up to40 in a heat wave
• Poland (June) - 12-24c. Lots of rain.
• Czech Republic (June/July) - 10-23c. Rainy.
• Austria (July) - 15-25c. Some thunderstorms.
• Italy (July) - 16-30c generally. Very humid.
• France (July/August) - South - 20-30c. Some rainfall.
• - North - 15-25c. Rain and some heatwaves.
• Holland (August) - 13-20c. All year rain.
• Belgium (August) - 12-22c. Lots of rain.
• Spain (August/September) - Madrid/Barcelona - 12-30c. No rain.
• - Seville/Valecnia - 20-35c. Heatwaves, humid.
• London (Sep-Nov) - nice winter weather to start, getting very cold (but not quite January cold).

All in all, doesn't sound too bad. I was worried at first that it would get too cold while backpacking for what I'm bringing (which is mostly summer stuff). But it seems that the really cold areas will be when I'm back in London with my stored winter clothes. The coldest Non-London places looks like Poland, Prague, Austria, Belgium, Holland, but nothing jeans, knee high socks and a light jacket can't handle. Need to pack more socks.

The hotter spots look like a Perth summer. I think I can handle those. Need a poncho and umbrella for the rain though.

So I'm pretty content with that. I can continue packing.

7 days!

No more work!
Work is finished!
And it feels like now this trip is really happening.

I still have a few things to do.

• Need a hair cut.
• Need to organise monies - where I'm puting it, how I'm storing it, how much I'm borrowing.
• Need to find the western Europe phrasebook somewhere in our house.
• Need to make details cards for tomorrow for people.
• Need gastro kit from travel doctor.
• Need med prescriptions from regular doctor.

Things I still need, but might only get overseas
-long sarong
I could wait until Egypt of Greece maybe? But what if I need it before then. Might try those hippie shops in the city this week.

-Tuppawares
Apparently to put at the bottom of backpack for small, breakable things you need to keep dry. Need the ideal shape though. Kinda flat I'm thinking.




-Notebook
I think I have decided on moleskine. But not those "Barcelona" or "London" versions. Just a blank page regular book. Or maybe paperchase. Gah.


-Headphones for travel
I'm thinking Bang and Olufsen, sturdy with good sound.

-Straps for bags
I need to attach my sleeping bag and jacket bag to the outside of my bag. Maybe I could sew them or glue them or something. Still need to work it out this week.

Bag bags
Was told that one should wrap a backpack in another bag of some sort for air travel. The straps apparently can get caught in conveyor belts and things. Not sure what I'm doing with it yet.

Will start puting things aside for packing.

The topdeck (13 days)

The topdeck vouchers have arrived!! We are doing 2 tours, one for Egypt and the other for Greece. Both look very exciting. At first I was quite against the idea of tours. I really wanted to explore without a set schedule or itinerary. But Egypt seemed like an exception. I've heard stories about Egypt, from a safety point of view and also getting to a lot of the sites.

The Egypt tour is called Nile Discovery. It is 8 days and involves 3 nights on a cruise. Not a tiny felucha, but this ship here:

According to the brochure the hotels are 3 stars and overnight trains are first class. The group size is about 30.
We go to Cairo, Aswan and Luxor.
We tour the pyramids, Coptic churches, Khan El Khalili, valley of the kings, Karnak temple and Luxor temple.

I was told that Greece will take tourists for a ride and that it would be better to book a tour. It seemed to make sense. So we booked a 10 day island hopper tour. A day later started to really regret it. But now I'm happy with the choice I made.


We visit Athens, Paros, Mykonos and Santorini.
We see Acropolis, Plaka market and also have time to relax on the beaches.






Just about everything is falling into place now. 4 days of work left. Had a dream last night that Karen had the baby and it wad called Noah. Still need a haircut. Will phone this week. Have to decide what I'm going to pack for the London cold.

Also, have discovered a program for converting avi files to ipod playable files. So I'm going to fill my ipod with things Josh and I can watch on the plane to fill time. Never watched stargate atlantis, so might put a few of those on there. Maybe also some Yo Gabba Gabba which is always entertaining, especially when your brain is tired. Maybe some Tom Baker Dr Who. Need to put some good music on. Something I won't get sick of.

Also need to update my ipod spanish vocabulary lists, so I can practice those on the plane. Need to get better at verb tenses and moods.

Need to decided if I'm going to get a moleskine diary or a paperchase diary. If the latter, I'll wait until I get to that incredible 3 story superstore in London. Moleskine I might buy here.

Lots of little things to do.

The Clothes

I figure all my clothes should match every other piece of clothes I pack, for maximum possibilities.

The list goes.

One black jeans, one blue jeans/pants


Im thinking these colours of t-shirts match, mostly.


Black shorts and a black skirt.


Purple 3/4 sleeve cardigan, black hoodless sweater, large winter jacket

Black dress for smart and casual, long sarong

5 pairs of underwear, 4 bras, 2 pairs of socks


PJs, cream scarf, hat of some sort

White Havianas, black smart sandals, Mary-janes

The name.

Today I was asked the meaning of the name 5 foot 50 litres. Here is the explanation.














5 foot is me, my height.












and 50 litres is the size of my backpack.

I have an Osprey Aura 50, in sapphire blue. Some people tell me my pack is too small for this trip. I think it's just fine. I couldn't handle anything bigger.

Day until life off: 17

The Israel Plan.

With all flights already booked and done, we have 11 full days and 2 half days in Israel. I knew we should spend at least 4 days in Jerusalem and 2 or 3 in Tel-aviv. I also want to do the Dead sea, Masada and a day trip to Petra. Apparently Petra, Masada and the sea of Galilee (Kinneret) can all be reach from Eilat, with day tours and such. Haifa would also get a day or 2, as would Beersheva.

Also important are our arrival and departure times. We get into Tel-aviv at about 4-30 pm, so we'll have to go straight to a hotel. So I thought of starting in Tel-aviv and working around from there. Or we could leave for Eilat the next morning. Despite looking long, it shouldn't take long to get anywhere in Israel. Couple of hours at the most.


So right now I'm thinking of starting in Tel-aviv and working anti-clockwise.

We need to book hostels.

The plan

The original plan looked like this:

Starting in Japan and ending in the middle east. It wasn't especially practical, so Japan was cut.

The final plan looks more like this:

• 2 may - fly to London
• 23 may - fly to Cairo --> Egypt tour (8 nights)
• 1 June - fly to Tel Aviv
• 13 June - fly to Athens --> Greece tour (11 nights)
• 24 June - fly to Krakow
• 28 June - fly to Prague
• around 3 July - train to Vienna
• around 9 July - train to Rome --> train/bus Italy
  
• around 21 July - train to Paris --> train/bus France
  
• around 4 August - train to Amsterdam
• around 10 August - train to Brussels --> PUKKELPOP
  
• around 17 August - train to Madrid --> La Tomatina
  
• 22 September - /9/08 fly to London

Days until lift off: 18

Everything is almost ready. The day is getting so close now I can almost taste it. Only 8 more days of work until the longest holiday I've ever had.

This blog is half for my memories and half for everyone I am leaving on the other side of world. The idea of keeping a travel blog has been around almost as long as the idea of this trip. I've been planning this trip for nearly 8 months.

The idea.
I had been playing with the idea of a gap year for a little while, but never more than as a fleeting fancy. I was contemplating my life post-high school. Working my ass off to get into uni science. Working my ass off to get into medicine. Working my ass off to survive medicine and do well. Working as an intern. Working as a resident. Working as a registrar. Working. Working. Working.

I suddenly realised I was in danger of looking back on my life years from now with regret. Regret at not doing those crazy, stupid things you do while you're young enough to get away with it. Dirty hostels and broken down tour buses. The fleeting fancy became something solid one day in the medical student computer lab, waiting for a lecture on orthopedics to start. My friend Steve casually mentioned he was planning on taking the next year off and traveling Europe. That was the moment I decided to do the same. Then it was done and nothing could make me change my mind.

Most of the plans have changed since they were created. But the spirit is the same.

To travel. To experience.

No regrets.