The Adventures of The Cornish Travellers » Before the trip

Thursday the 20th March – My last day as a Connexions PA!!!

Hanna — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:39:21 +0000

I am so exhausted and really ready to finish work. Giving my notice in at Christmas has meant that this must have been the longest goodbye of all time. The first month dragged very slowly and although I was excited and looking forward to our leaving date, there were times when I felt a little like a fraud. I am sure some of my fellow work colleagues must have started to wonder if we were ever going to leave!!! I must say that they have been very patient with my stories of beaches, surf, hotels and travel plans. I have worked for this company for 6 1/2 years, and although I am more than ready to leave my job, it is kind of sad to leave behind some of the friends I have made, I do hope that people will stay in touch. I was given some really sweet cards and gifts and the comments that were written and sent by email are very lovely and really appreciated. So thanks guys and I will see you all again some day I hope! x x x x

Wednesday the 19th March – Tehya’s last day at Kea Pre School!

Hanna — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:21:33 +0000

Tehya was very excited when she got up for school, she knew it was her last day and she was keen to spend it with Eva her best friend. She had also asked for a hot school dinner for her last day (usually has a packed lunch!). So all in all it was a promise of a great day ahead….. Tehya loves Kea Pre School, the staff there are wonderful. In fact there have been days in the last six moths when she has asked if she can sleep over as she is sure that Laura and Louisa (two of the staff) live/sleep at the school. Louisa is Tehya’s key worker, and Teh loves her very much. So good bye Kea Pre School and thank you all very much, you have been truly wonderful and much appreciated by Tehya her dad and myself.

Gonna miss you

dayle — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:10:06 +0000

At last the time is nearly upon you to leave these hideous shores and head off toward the rising sun, well done at creating your goals and making them come true, its a hard thing to do as individuals let alone with a youngster in toe.

It pains all your families that you’ll be gone for so long but understand this, our love for all of you will have grown exponentially in your absence and on your return you will be greeted with open arms and ears in expectation of the many stories that will be told.

Go enjoy and keep in contact with every one important to you as we will also.

Lots of love your little big brother xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A tattoo for Tehya

Hanna — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:32:26 +0000

I have wanted to get a tattoo to celebrate Tehya’s birth for a long time. We went to Newquay last Friday and I popped into DNA formally Atlantic Coast Tattoo Studio. Unfortunately the earliest booking they had was in May a good while after we have left the UK. When I explained the situation they bent over backwards to accommodate me and suggested that they open the next day half an hour early. Dudley did a great job, the design is simple! Tehya’s name and date of birth including two small scrolls on either side. I love it!! The tattoo is on the inside of my right wrist and I see it all of the time. Tehya is very pleased and keeps telling everyone that “mummy got the tattoo because she loves me”. It was a fairly pain free experience, not like some other tattoo’s I have had and it made me yern for more. As Dudley worked on my wrist I found myself dreaming about what else I might have done. It’s been 9 years since I had my last tattoo design, on my left wrist!! Gavin had better watch out the Laos depiction of Buddha he loves so much might just end up on me and not him!!!!!!

{w:400;h:300}DNA-Tattoo Studio Newquay

We Have Booked Our Luxury 5 Star Hotel For Three Nights

onefix — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:35:23 +0000

Having never stayed in a 5 Star Hotel I feel we may be a little out of our depth on the correct etiquette techniques towards our fellow 5 star hotelians. I’m sure we will start to blend in nicely once we’ve had a few sam song whiskies though!!! The site we finally booked our hotel through is called Hotelopia, who had an excellent 20% off deal. The hotel we booked is right next to the (Bangkok Transit System: Sala Daeng Station) just down from Silom rd and across from Lumphini park. We married on the 4th of February and decided that we would get a luxury hotel on our arrival in Bangkok for our belated honeymoon present. We generally stay in cheap backpacker type accommodation but this will be a very nice treat before we settle into much cheaper accommodation over the next year or so.

one week at work and two weeks until we go!

Hanna — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:28:36 +0000

So here we are waiting for the off. We went online last night and paid for our travel insurance, I had started to worry that we might not get the documents through on time if we left it any later. Tehya’s insurance cost almost as much as ours which seems crazy. It feels odd to think of her as a back packer too. Although I suppose she must be, just a very little one. Well she won’t be bungee jumping or surfing!!! We still haven’t managed to book a hotel in BKK yet, I found one I really liked the look of but it was fully booked. I have to admit I was quite disappointed. The main stipulation is that it has a swimming pool, inter-net access and is close to the sky train. There are so many hotels one would think choosing would be easy but we just can’t decide. Torn between budget and wanting to treat ourselves to a short honeymoon before the real travel begins. Tehya is very excited and keeps talking about visiting with Jon (Dudley lad!!).

Tehya and me letting off some steam rounding up our chickens

Visited by the BBC For Our Holiday Diary Today

onefix — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:48:51 +0000

I contacted BBC Cornwall a few days ago to see if they would be interested in us submitting a blog of our travels. Matt a very nice person from the BBC said that he would be interested in our story. He called around today to ask us a few question about our plans and to see what Tehya thought of it all?

Tehya showed Matt her baby doll Anabel and explained that Anabel will be travelling with her and all that Tehya wants to see while away is a starfish. I certainly can’t wait to see her snorkeling in the clear warm waters of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. She’s been learning to swim for the last year and has already managed her 50m certificate.

Anyway we will be sending details of our travel diary blog (internet permitting) and the BBC will be kindly showing it on the Cornwall section of the site. see our (bbc travel blog)

Please [donate] to our blog

Made a decision about our first place to visit (possibly?)

onefix — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:30:52 +0000

We’ve dreamed of our relaxed stay at the Perhentian islands in Malaysia at a place called DeLagoon back in 2001. What we like are places that are chilled, quite and not completely over run by tourist, the same as most people I suppose? But instead we have decided to visit a part of Thailand that we haven’t visited before and it is an island called Koh Phayam near Ranong. It is on the west coast of Thailand just below Burma. It seems like a chilled out part of Thailand that shouldn’t involve too much trekking for our first stopover. We have friends in HuaHin but the thought of spending more than a few days there doesn’t appeal, one reason being I haven’t seen Dudley lad for a year and a half and I can’t stomach the thought of the massive hangover and two it looks far to touristy.

Getting ready to go!

Hanna — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:58:18 +0000

It has been a slow process of saving money and buying the essential items we need along the way. I gave my notice (3 months) at work on Christmas Eve and we paid for our tickets in January. That was definitely the point in time when it all became more real. The trip became an actual thing and not just the dream we hoped we might do at some point in the future. We have managed to get together every thing we need, by shopping in eBay and very kind gifts from family, like the travel tent that Les and Tina bought for Tehya for Christmas. So other than our travel insurance which we still need to sort out we are ready to go. Bizarrely, well you may think it bizarre.

I have packed and we don’t fly for another 4 weeks. Hey you shouldn’t stifle excitement, well that’s what I think any way!!!

A year or so away with Gavin, Hanna and Tehya

onefix — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:03:31 +0000

We are setting off on our south east Asia trip on the 28th march 2008. We managed a year abroad in 2000 – 2001 and visited many places around Asia but the most adventurous times where off the beaten track in remote places like Pulau Simeulue in Indonesia and its many surrounding islands and amazing places like Lampuuk in Lok Nag near Banda Aceh in the North of Sumatra. Our latest trip will have a few new challenges as we are going with our beautiful 3 year old daughter Tehya Jemima Holcroft.

We have decided to embark on this adventure before Tehya starts school (she should be starting in September 2008 but she only turns four in August – too young for full time education) and also to escape the depressing fact that we have zero prospects of ever purchasing a house in our beloved but expensive Cornwall. Over the past seven years we have moved seven times due to either the properties being sold, the rental prices being increased or nightmare landlords!

We’ve managed to save a few quid which was intended for a deposit on a house but considering our savings haven’t kept up with the 10% needed for a house, we will be spending it on our trip.