How do you prepare for a trip like this?
I knew I wanted a gap year very early on, in sixth form, but decided to do a post-uni one instead of the usual pre-uni. Any travel I did during uni cemented the idea that I absolutely wanted to have a year to travel before starting life. I got my training contract and asked for it to be delayed a year, they agreed and here we are! This trip was originally planned for straight after uni, so 2020. For obvious reasons it’s now happening this year, in 2022! I’m very lucky to have been able to postpone it 2 years without any major issues, being able to do my law conversion studying in the meantime. But now it’s finally time to go!
The idea for this trip came from watching the BBC show Race Across the World (I’d highly recommend). The first season saw the teams racing from London to Bangkok without flying. The actual travelling looked amazing and I thought the idea was a cool one - on both an environmental and slow travel level. So the location of my gap year was decided pretty easily.
Actual preparations have been sparse. I worked out a very rough route with some even rougher timings to check seasons were okay (no monsoons thank you) and that it was actually possible to cross certain borders. I looked into the countries and found some things I’d definitely like to see/do, but I’ve left most of that sort of thing to later. I’ll have plenty of time to look into stuff whilst travelling, and can get recommendations from people I meet on the way. I sorted my vaccinations and travel insurance. I brought a new bag (see below for more packing insights). I contacted my first workaway host for when I’m in Switzerland. About a month before I left I booked transport to Paris and a hostel for two nights. And that’s it!
I love packing
Said no one literally ever. And definitely not me. But I have actually loved packing for this trip. Something about carefully choosing the only items you’re going to have with you for the next year is oddly satisfying. I thought it might be interesting to share my packing list. A little amuse bouche before the travel posts begin.
What’s in my bag?



The final bag…
My bag is the Osprey Fairview 55 litres. It includes a day pack that attaches to the main bag.
I’m also taking a small cross-body bag.

So there we are, packed and ready to go!
I’ll have to buy some warmer clothes when I move into colder climates, and perhaps some hiking boots, but hopefully this will have me sorted for the first 6 months.