Ok, so it’s official: we’ve just given notice to end our apartment lease and the BIG TRIP is 5 weeks away.

Our “big trip” is a multi-layered affair; not only are we heading off to Seoul for a month, then Japan for 2 months (5 cities), we are also moving back home to New Zealand after living in Melbourne for 8 years. So there’s quite a lot involved in terms of planning… or so you would think. It’s interesting, I think I planned a whole lot more for our last Japan trips (3.5 weeks long max) than I have for this trip. We’re kind of just going with the flow. It helps that we have the security of knowing that we have a place to stay when we get back to NZ, we can sponge off our parents for a while till we get settled. And we feel pretty comfortable about being in and getting around Japan, so again, going with the flow (but where to have our Christmas meal?…). Now, Seoul on the other hand, we have never been to South Korea and we have barely planned anything there. We do have a month so I suppose that gives us the freedom to slow down and just decide what to do when we get there. Plus, Joel has a friend there so we’re hoping he can show us around. Or perhaps we have just become so confident and relaxed in our travels that we are happy to just “show up on the day” and see what happens. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve flicked through some travel guides, and we’ve been reading blogs, watching vlogs (and patting dogs? I wish) but I don’t feel as worried about “oh I can’t miss that, must go to that, gotta write that down” and it’s kinda liberating!

So, yeah, stay tuned for my blog post in 5 weeks’ time where I am freaking out about not having planned enough! (Just kidding, I am my usual, totally organised self.)