Since moving to London in 2012 this trip has been on the to-do list but after four years, of studying, trying to make a living out of dance and unsuccessfully trying to persuade friends to travel with me, the time has come for me to bite the bullet, put my fears aside and go it alone. Whilst I have no spouse or permanent work contract tying me down, no house or children to pay for, I thought I better embrace the freedom that comes with 'not quite having it all figured out yet' and so I made up my mind that on my 26th birthday I would book my flights to Rio, as a rather expensive birthday present to myself. And that's exactly what I did!
In the first few weeks immediately after my flight purchase I engrossed myself in tour brochures, travel blogs, hostel websites and, of course, my already much read Rough Guide, to plan out my route through the continent and pick a few key activities to book in and get excited about. I plumped for a volunteering project in a Rio favela, a camping/overland group tour of Southern Brazil and the world renowned must-do of South America - the Inca Trail (more details of my plan to follow on my next post). After forking out for all of these trips upfront, as well as paying for travel insurance, vaccinations and essential bits of kit, my thoughts turned to that very wise piece of advice I heard before my last trip:
“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller
And so, in an effort to double the money that I'll be willing to spend whilst away, the past few months has been a constant battle for work - although as a freelancer this is always the case - as I pushed my weekly earnings goal to a whopping £300!!! I've taken on 5 new fitness classes per week, most of which I am teaching by the seat of my pants with the help of youtube tutorials. I've signed up to plenty of promo agencies, promoting Baileys, Vitality Health Insurance and, ironically, STA Travel, with whom I booked my trip. I've said yes to cover teach whenever I can and have certainly racked up the domestic travel miles: legging it round London from class to class and hopping all over the country on tour with Experiential Dance. My final push to earn lots of dollar will also include a trip to Milan to perform with my cheerleaders. I travel to earn money so I can travel some more!
Throughout all this, my trip has felt like a distant speck on the horizon but it is now fast approaching - I FLY 3 WEEKS TODAY!!! Preparations are cranking up a notch as I faff about with the finer details like whether or not to pack my epilator (have decided against I think), the ever-troublesome question of how many tops to take and teaching Dad how to Facetime and Whatsapp on his new iphone, could be interesting. I think I went a little overboard on the travel toiletries and gadgets shopping, as you can see below, so my second practice pack may be an even tighter squeeze than the first! But i will endeavour to remove a few items as a nod to the wise words above. Anyway, I best get on, classes to teach, travel money card to sort out and final rabies jab to offer my arm for.
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