Southeast Asia Travel Diary | Week 1: Departure Day

Sue is 67, recently retired, and spending three months travelling solo (with company when she wants it!) through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. These are her diary entries; an honest view from the first ever DECADES trip, and written for anyone wondering whether to make the leap themselves.

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Dear Travel Diary,

Well… I feel surprisingly calm, and that's despite a hot flush as soon as I boarded and sat in seat 48G. Yep — 67 and still getting them!

Any nerves or anxiety had all centred around decisions about packing. I had tried to counteract this by laying all my items out in piles on the floor — they'd been there a couple of weeks before venturing into the packing cubes. I notoriously overpack, so I was really trying to be strict.

The night before leaving I weighed my bag, which turned out to be way under the suggested 20kg. I then made the mistake of wasting the evening debating what else to add.

At the airport I weighed in at 14.5kg — for three months.

Anyway, all the planning, prep and goodbyes are over, and the fact that I'd run out of time to clean the fridge is OK! In case my sister reads this, I’m certainly NOT gender stereotyping here! 

My only other concern was leaving my dad. Irrational in some ways, as he's independent and still does the odd cruise — but he's 93. Three months suddenly seemed like a long time.

No doubts or second thoughts though, just excitement. I'm Vientiane-bound — and currently hoping I get some sleep on this 14-hour flight in seat 48G.

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Sue x 

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