Claire Drinnan's Great Adventure around the world!

Well, where did all this start? After many years of seeing other people explore the world and I remained in the UK working, never having any money, paying off debt, I never thought travelling would be something I could afford to do, let alone be brave enough to do all by myself. For many years I was envious of other's, I watched as they posted amazing pictures and stories of their adventures. Until one day recently it hit me, I thought, I can do this to if I really want to. I'm the sort of person that believes that life is for living. I also have a 'motto', I would rather live and learn than live and regret. I don't want to get to a ripe old age and look back on life and think 'if only', 'wish I had done that', 'what if I had been brave enough'. And so I made the decision, that after paying off my debt I needed to do something for me. I wanted my life long dream. I wanted to acheive this big adventure on my own. I wanted to discover the courage I know is in me somewhere fighting to come out. With a little encouragement from my best friend Rachel, I knew I had to do this. I picked up my computer and started googling. Where did I really want to go, what countries do I want to see. Where in the world do I want to discover, see, feel, breath and so my research began and suddenly my list of countries was created. The next thing was, could I actually make this dream a reality. It's all very well having this idea in your head, having the drive to want to do it, but reality is a very different thing and the thought of the steps to follow scared me. I thought, take small steps Claire, one thing at a time. The first question was how am I going to finance this, well lucky for me and one of the most sensible things I did was set up a 10 year savings policy. And if by fate, that was being paid out within a few months. So the money was there! Step two achieved. The next step was I didn't even know if I was able to get the time off of work. So I put my application in for leave. I was thinking, 'well, if they say no, that's that. End of the plans. But within a week my 4 weeks leave was granted. Eeeek. What's stopping me now! I was thinking.... My god this really can happen I have the money, I have the time off work, all that's left is deciding what date I wanted to leave and what route I was going to take. I was filled with excitement, apprehension, I was happy, I was scared. My emotions all over the place. But I knew deep down that if I didn't do this now I never will. You only have one life, you have to live it. So I put pen to paper (so to speak) and created a travel itinerary. I decided January 1st 2016. That would be the date my adventure was to begin. I contacted a world travel company and asked them to find me the best deals on flights. I researched accomodation, places to go and things to do in each country and slowly my dream became real and my plan was complete. The only thing left to sort out was who is having my little puppy. I asked my brother if he would consider taking care of him and to my delight he said yes. It means my brother Matt can stay at my house and take care of the house whilst I'm away and my little dog can be in his own home, which will be ideal as hopefully he wont miss me to much. By the sound of all the stuff my brother has planned, with walks and the attention the puppy will get, I expect he wont want me to come home!!! With my travel date rapidly approaching, I needed to commit! So on Saturday 14th November 15, I went back to the fantastic independent travel agent called 'Travel World in Exmouth, Devon'. I saw a lovely lady called Hannah, she was so understanding and gave me a perfect itinerary. A short time later, I walked out having booked, paid and totally committed myself to this adventure. It felt great!. Now it was booked, there were so many finer things I needed to sort out, Questions I asked myself, is my passport actually in date, do I need visa's, what injections do I need, travel insurance, how much spending money will I need, how do I take that with me, in cash, currency, travellers check, pre-loaded credit card, arranging travel to London, booking the hotel at the airport. And then, clothes, what do I need to take, will it all fit in my suit case (I can't even buy nice new clothes in the shops, because there are no summer clothes!!! It's okay eBay was my saving grace!), suntan lotion, mozie repellent. The list goes on. I didn't even book my hotels until 13th December 2015!! But in the end, it all worked out fine. I got it all done even with working and Christmas being in the middle of my plans. January 1st 2016. Eeeek..... the day has arrived. I'm ready to go................. There you have it, the dream became a reality and I'm off. Now all that's left to do is enjoy it. My blog begins........................ I hope you enjoy sharing this journey with me. Sharing my experiences, hearing the tells, seeing the photos and putting up with my endless selfies!!! ha ha. Memories will last a life time and this trip will stay with me forever! Love Claire X

Planned Dates

Jan 01, 2016 to Jan 31, 2016

Countries

5