life, by me

So, Ruth has convinced me that the volunteering I am thinking of signing up to sounds dodgy...to be fair, I kinda thought it did myself, else I guess I probably wouldn't have asked her opinion...maybe I will have to go back to the drawing board on that one...although having just done a bit more research now, there are quite a few charities out there, I just need to spend a bit of time going through them and sifting out the wheat from the chaf, as it were.

I only have 10 mins left of my current episode of Dexter, so might have to pause this just to finish that off...

Ok, tick.  There is only one left of Season 2 now...I really want to watch it, argh, decisions...maybe I just will.

So, the moral of this tale is, I am easily distracted, and more research is clearly needed before I start handing my dosh over to dodgy sounding organisations to do some volunteering.  Tune in next time for more...

So, I've pretty much sorted a volunteering opportunity for Thailand which is cool - need to do a bit of research on the organisation first as there doesn't seem to be much about them, they're called 'Original Volunteers' - ever heard of them?  Anyway, they (for a small fee) will help to place me in a school in rural Thailand, and sort out somewhere for me to stay for a couple of weeks, most likely with a family that sends their child to the school and then I get to help at the school, Monday - Friday for 2 weeks.  It all sounds alright to me - have been e-mailing a guy who volunteered with them last year and he said its basic but he had a great time, I can do basic.  He also said the co-ordinator, Suvanna, is nice, but you have to stay on the right side of her...I can do that.  Anyway, if I decide to go ahead with this, I part with the cash tomorrow and then its booked for a few weeks in to my trip...quite looking forward to it actually.


I have also picked up my Malaria tablets and the pharmacist assured me that by wearing a high factor sun screen, my skin should remain unblotchy and fine, so here's hoping, I'm sure there will be pictures to show if he is incorrect.


Leaving party is happening in a couple of weeks...not gonna give away what I am going dressed as, but the black body paint arrived in the post yesterday...I am pretty excited about my choice of dress...considering I generally hate fancy dress events.



Well, I am at work, on my lunch break and time is nearly up.  I have eaten my banana and just have a crispy cake remaining...might quickly see if I can decide on somewhere to stay in Singapore...the people I booked my flight with have sent me some options with the cheapest being £54 for one night...might see if I can find a slightly more budget version of that...

So, this week I ordered my malaria tablets, only to be told by the Dr. I have to keep out of the sun whilst taking them, which is going to be pretty tricky as I will be in Thailand, Cambodia and Australia at the time, my mum reckons high factor sun screen will do the trick.

I also went to the dentist for a filling this week, but accidentally had a choking and coughing thing going on in the dentists face so we had to reschedule, charming.

I keep trying to see if there is anything else I need to do before I go, but I think I have covered all the main stuff. The backpack is arriving next weekend, so hopefully I can sort that out and make sure I know what I am taking and then that is pretty much it!

Leah and Sabrina booked their flights this week, so now I know they are defo coming, and they both arrive the same day as me, I think Leah is like 10 mins later, so that is pretty cool. Just need to book some accommodation for the first couple of nights.

Right, got to get up early for work...

So, I have been organised this week, sorting out things for my trip, such as cancelling one of my internet contracts and getting an international bank card ordered.  My housemate has also got  a job in France and moves out next week and I have a potential person to fill my room whilst I am away so it's been busy...

I still don't feel really excited about my trip - don't get me wrong, I don't feel like I don't want to go or anything, I just don't feel pumped about it yet - think maybe I am realising I am quite a last minute person with that kind of thing...give me a couple of weeks and I'll be getting excited about it.  I could probably do with doing a bit more research about what I am going to do when I get anywhere and where I am going to stay etc - I haven't really done any of that yet, even though I have a lovely collection of Lonely Planet books on my bookshelf...!

So, today, its 6 weeks til my flight...I am pretty sure that will come around quickly...lets hope I have got everything done that I need to before I leave...I think I have, infact I have probably got my England/Lincoln life far more organised than my trip abroad.

So, this evening, I finally decided its time I started to do some research on what I might do when I go away, seeing as it is now less than 7 weeks til I go away.  Been reading the Thailand Lonely Planet guide and its getting me pretty excited about stuff I can do when I get there.  I've also thought about the prospect about doing some volunteering whilst I am out there, I've got 3 weeks where I have no plans, so could squeeze in a bit, might be a good way to meet some cool people and learn a bit about the culture, just about to do a bit of internet research about it.

Don't worry, I am going to attempt to make my posts slightly more interesting than this when I am away...this is just a teaser...

I have just been doing my sums for how much money I estimate to have saved by the time I leave the country in February, and hopefully I will have enough, there are a couple of other ways I have of earning a bit more, so hopefully I will be sorted!

Today I had someone come and give me a quote for insulating my loft next week, so I am sorting that out next week which is pretty cool as that should hopefully make the heating bills lower this winter.

I have just remembered that the contents of my cupboard where the loft access is, is on my bed, hmm, not so much fun...

Today I have spent the day at a conference in London titled 'Can publishing save the planet?' - I found it quite thought provoking, but also pretty daunting and scary.  I have believed for a while now that it is important to save the worlds resources, therefore try and encourage the use of recycled paper at work in the office, however I did not know until today the complexities of such actions.  There are many different types and grades of recycled paper, an accreditation (much like the Fairtrade Foundation accreditation) to say that the trees have come from a sustainable forest and use a certain amount of recycled fibre in the pulp.  Then there is the issue of how to do you get the paper to you...where does it come from, and what is the environmental impact of this?  Then there was another stat about whether it was more environmentally friendly to produce a newspaper article online or in print...and apparently if somebody spends 30 minutes reading an article(s) on the computer, this is more damaging to the environment than the process of a paper being printed and somebody owning a copy of the paper - however if they are only reading it for 10 mins, then it is more environmentally friendly to access the article(s) digitally....basically I have come away from the conference today confused!  Some things to think about in any case, it just appears to me to be a lose lose situation.

Anyway, I am now back in Lincoln and attempting to book my travel insurance for forthcoming trip - but my computers memory is low so I am in the process of deleting the cookies to free up some space...ooh, looks like I am done...night