Less then 1 month to go....

Well 27 days to be exact, and only 19 of those are working days, not that I’m counting of course...... I can’t believe how fast it has come around.... I havent wrote a blog for a while as Ive been really busy working and organising last minute bits...... So I thought on this blog I’m going to list all of the latest plans we have made to aid our trip, and make us more organised, or at least that’s what we seem to think... But deep down we are very nervous....


Travel Insurence

I searched many different insurance companies and policies on the net, and the best deal I found was with insure and go insurance. It worked out at about £204 each for the whole year, which includes, baggage, cancellation, medical and certain extreme sports. www.insureandgo.co.uk

Visa’s

Firstly we sent off our passports to the Thai embassy to gain a 60 day tourist Visa, it worked out at about £18 each. This Visa enables us to stay in Thailand for longer than 30 days, which we thought was wise especially if we are having a really good time we don’t want to have to cut our time in Thailand short, so £18 was nothing if it meant we could have that option. For details on gaining this extended visa go to www.thaiconsul-uk.com

Also, as we plan to work in Australia we applied for an Australian working tourist Visa; this visa allows us to stay in Australia for 12 months and we can work whilst travelling, providing we do not stay with one employer for more than 6 months. This visa cost $230 Australian dollars which is about £130, there are many companies on the web that say they will apply for this visa for you, but it works out at about £280, so it’s not worth it. Honestly completing the forms yourself is pretty easy and straight forward, and it can be done via email. There is also no need to send your passport away, as you are given your Visa at the airport when you arrive in Australia. For more information go to www.immi.gov.au.

RSA- Certificate

As we are going to be working in Australia and both of us have bar experience and enjoy working in bars, we would prefer this sort of work whilst in Australia; after all we have both been working in offices for the past 3 years, so we want to escape the mundane routine of an office.

We heard that you need to have a RSA certificate in order to work in Australia in any establishment that sells alcohol, whether it is a restaurant, hotel, bar, nightclub etc...

You used to only be able to achieve this certificate whilst in Australia by doing a 6 hour day course, but now you can do it online. It works out at about £60 and you can do the course in your own time which is handy. It is set out in 8 parts, each section starts by showing you information relevant to that topic, then at the end of each section you are given an assessment with about 8 questions with multiple answers; each section and assessment takes between 30-45mins.
For more information or to do the course go to www.qhint.com

Lastly money....

Well we was a bit torn with how we were going to take our savings with us, after all it’s not like we can carry that amount of cash on us. When we are in Australia we will need an Australian bank account in order to get paid from our part time jobs; However after looking into this it is slightly complicated to open an Australian bank account whilst not living in Australia, however when you are in Australia it is pretty simple, you literally just walk into the bank with your ID. But we have still got 3 months of travelling before we even reach Australia...

...So then we thought about just keeping our spending money in our UK bank accounts and using ATM machines to withdraw our money whilst we are abroad, but bank charges can be quite costly when doing this.

Then we thought about travellers cheques, but again the charges on changing these up can be pretty expensive, and it’s also a hassle to have to carry them around with your passport, as well as being a bit risky.

Just as I had given up, Bobbie discovered this top up cash MasterCard. It is basically a debit card that can be used worldwide. You have a pin number and can withdraw money from an ATM machine anywhere in the world, without being charged. And the exchange rate is set at the best exchange rate on the day you withdraw your money. Also you can use the card in shops, restaurants, anywhere with the MasterCard sign; just like a debit card/credit card. The only difference you top your money onto the card rather then get a bill at the end of the month like a credit card. Also if you lose your card it only costs £5 for a replacement which will be delivered to you anywhere in the world. For more information go to http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/
I think that is about all the information on the boring but useful know how section, and I hope this information does come in andy for those who wish to travel one day, believe me I wish I had all this information given to me when I started out... it would of saved me a lot of time....