She's a making a list, checking it twice...

...gonna find out who's naughty and nice...?

Not really!! I'm not one of Santa's elves but been feeling like one lately. Meaning that I've been making, checking and rechecking a lot of lists: for the trip I'm thinking of where to go, how to get there, what to do, what to pack, what I need to prepare before I take off - at work I'm writing notes for my future replacement of the ton of things she needs to remember during my leave - for my zouk hobby I'm creating a list of everything I've learned so far. My calendar has been filled with tasks, appointments, events, parties, dinners,.. things to do and people to meet. What can I say, I'm an organised person!

And now it's less than one week to go!


The whole "round the world trip planning" process has been interesting so far. I've done a lot of research on everything from A to Z (or A to Ö in my Finnish head), some of it useless but all of it has been essential in making me feel comfortable with my escapade: to get ideas, to find out the practicalities and to feel safe. Almost 6 months of work for the 6 month trip is basically how I've felt about all this on occasion. Could probably write a book about the whole ordeal.... though no need to, there's plenty of books and blogs already out there! I will write a post about it later in any case, what has been useful and what not.

If you're just starting to think about a big trip, I'd recommended reading Rough Guides' First time around the world; it has good route ideas and most interesting spots from all areas of the world - and it tells you how long it takes to get from one place to another as well as has tips on the whole planning & preparation process. The ideas are endless and tons of books & websites with tempting images of mountains, waterfalls, beaches and smiling faces will fill your retinas. It's always a good idea to follow your interests - look into the most spectacular locations in whatever topic your interested and make a list based on that. Or think about places where you have friend & family you'd like to visit. You can also try to find some work in your field or take some interesting classes and get new skills!

Some inspiration from the local library & a couple from the Amazon - 95% of which I didn't read but felt comforting to have them at my bedside