3 Pricks!!!

Trip Start Jun 12, 2007

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129

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of United Kingdom Bedford, England, United Kingdom
Friday, October 15, 2010

I think it's fair to say that already my excitement is building to an uncontrollable level!! With each passing week I’m doing something that contributes towards going on the trip. We went to the post office to get Johns International Driving Permit – which you need to drive a car in certain countries, and here is a useful website where you can check the requirements for any country if you are from the UK: http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/idp-requirements-by-country.html

We couldn’t have been luckier with the person who dealt with us in the post office – she’d been travelling herself and immediately we asked for the forms for the permit she lit up. She couldn’t contain her own excitement about her travels and started asking where we were going, how long we were going for etc. etc. As if I wasn’t already excited enough, she was just so passionate about it, telling us of all the wonderful things we’d see and how awesome it’s going to be – by the time I left I was walking on air.

On the visa front, prior to travel and being from the UK we needed to get a visa waiver for travel in USA – which you can apply for here: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/ it’s just an online form to fill in and they send you confirmation of approval almost immediately – provided you’re considered eligible. Next up a similar document for short term tourist travel in Australia http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/evisitor.htm#b - they sent me an email confirmation around 3 hours after filling the online form in. You have to be in the UK when you apply for this, so should be sorted out before you leave. Our visas for India we had to send our passports off for and I’m expecting them back from the embassy any day now with a beautiful, bright, brand spanking new visa for India inside :-). Other than that the rest of the visas can be picked up on arrival in the countries we are going to.

Now for travel vaccinations – okay, anyone looking for general guidelines on this, here is a good resource: http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home.aspx   it’s also got maps on there advising of where the malarial areas are for each country.

Due to the fact that some of the vaccinations require several injections over several weeks, and with some of them there is a period of time before they actually take affect, the ideal time to make appointments with your doctor is roughly 8 weeks before travel if possible.   In theory that is anyway – I tried to make an appointment with my GP for this, duly went through the process of filling out the forms and then making an appointment, only to be rung the next day and be told that it’s 'too specialist’ for them and they were cancelling my appointment???   I didn’t really understand in truth, I’d more or less worked out what I needed for each country by then, so I wasn’t really sure why they couldn’t, but nevertheless I was then in the position of having to find a travel clinic to do it. Here is a resource for travel clinics if you find yourself in a similar position – it’s by no means an exhaustive list and you may well have one closer to you, but here are some you can check if not: http://www.travelhealth.co.uk/travelclinics/

Yesterday I went for my first round, which consisted of 3 different injections with a concoction of Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies ….. so I went home with lovely aching arms. I’ve got another 3 jabs due for next Thursday, then my final 3 a fortnight after that. I can’t tell you how much I hate injections, I really can’t, however having these seems the lesser of the two evils of injections or the risk of losing my health to some nasty disease. There are lots of things I’m willing to leave to chance, but my health, no.

I spent a delightful evening with my friend Lisa a few nights ago, I hadn’t seen her in an absolute age – and during that time she herself has been off travelling, so that added to the excitement as we spent probably 95% of the evening talking about travel …….. wonderful.   As anyone who travels regularly will know, it’s often hard to find people who are as enthusiastic about adventures as you are and just listening to Lisa and talking about our travels too was enough to ensure a sleepless night for me!!!

So that’s more or less it for now.

Foot note: Haha, how strange that I should be writing this and I’ve just received an email telling me that my Indian visas have been granted and are being dispatched to me today!!! Yipeeeeeeeeee!!

Till next time.