A Round-the-World Journey to Find a New Home
by Jake Stroudley
Your One-stop Source to Plan & Book Around-the-World Trips
My wife and I are doing the ultimate dream for a lot of travelers, we are upping roots and moving away. Home is the UK; away is, we don't really know yet. That's the exciting part.
Our initial route is only an outline, and should take us the best part of 18 months to complete. I am taking with me a laptop, a digital camera and an international mobile. This way I can write, download pictures and send them from anywhere I can get reception.
We have a general route, but its subject to change and modification. For the first year we aim to travel the Indian Subcontinent (I loved it the last time I was there). Then up to Nepal to do some trekking that I missed out on last time due to a severe weight loss plan I was on called amoebic dysentery. Back to India, across to Bangkok and back to Myanmar for the maximum 28 days. Return to Bangkok, through Cambodia into Vietnam, up to China and overland to Tibet. Back through Laos to Thailand and down through Bangkok (again) through Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Bali... then?
Follow our exploits via the links below or to find out more about us, read our bio here.
Follow the Journey
Preparations
It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years. Car boot sales and gift giving is the order of the day. The cats, however, need a bit more care.
April 27th: Delhi - Jaipur, India
The heat in India is a heat that you have to wade through. Finding someplace cool during the middle of the day becomes a priority.
May 13th: Mt Abu, India
All onward travel plans have been canceled to savour the calm and relaxed feeling of this Indian holiday retreat.
May 27th: Thar Desert, India
Eddie had long wished to ride a camel into the desert, but it's doubtful whether the sandstorm was part of her wish.
July 1st: Goa, India
The monsoon season means that the beaches of Goa are largely deserted of partying westerners. But that's just the way Jake and Eddie wanted it.
July 13th: Himachal Pradesh
Jake found Chandra Tal, the "Moon Lake", to be the most beautiful and peaceful place he had ever seen. It makes his neck tingle just writing about it.
August 2nd: From Manikaran into Uttar Pradesh
Jake and Eddie's journey takes them through several small villages filled with Westerners who have seriously lost touch with the outside world. They also get a wonderful taste of home in the hilly streets of Shimla.
August 16th: Rishikesh to Nanital and now Varanasi
After a long and wet taxi ride from Rishikesh to Nanital in monsoon season, Jake and Eddie move on to Varanasi to experience the Ghats, the Ganges, holy men and the smell of burning flesh.
September 3rd: Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya is a great place to sit and absorb the atmosphere of a very small town devoted almost entirely to the Buddhist religion.
September 24th: Calcutta and the Andaman Islands
Calcutta defies the reputation given in guidebooks and travelers' stories. In need of some R&R from India, Jake and Eddie head to the Andamans for beaches, sun and seafood.
