How to 'Live the Dream'

From this morning, my heart has been beating faster than normal and I can almost feel the movement.

 

I AM EXTREMELY EXCITED!!!

 

All day I have been trying to calm myself down but it has been unsuccessful and I have decided to enjoy the feeling instead of suppressing it. Yes, I do deserve to enjoy this moment. No more working day left to our extraordinary journey. I handed over my job to a colleague, clean up the desk and left the office quietly with a box of personal stuff yesterday afternoon (not much to bring back after 8 years of work). Until yesterday, sometimes I did not feel it was real and I was stressed on uncertainty but ‘the time’ has arrived as always. Time is cruelly precise so, it impossible to hold it back. if we don’t do the thing we wish to do now, now will never come back to us and value of the thing we wish to do will be deteriorated as time goes by. Therefore, we need to make ourselves available for the precious time and chance. These thoughts make me feel even better and our decision privileged.

 

While we were discussing about the trips, my husband emphasised that we can achieve anything we want as long as we decided, planed and take actions for it and I can’t agree more. Quite often we dismiss all the opportunities available around us and blame the chances which have slipped away. Calm yourself and look around. There are plenty of opportunities which are waiting of your determination, planning and actions to make your dream come true.

 

I have been talking with more people about my long break and travels recently, especially who has been told about my leave started being interested in my decision more. Most of people said that they were envious on our decision and travel plans, and they were surprisingly supportive. Also they wish to have similar chances one day. ‘One day’...

 

I know that everyone’s circumstance is different and everyone has different obstacles to overcome to live on their dreams but achieving what you want to do is not always that hard as we think if you really wish to achieve. These are three steps you need to take to get what you want and live your dream. 

 

Step 1: Determination - The most important step is the first step and the first step needs to be taken by your wish and your determination.  Find out what you really want to do or want to be and set your mind. Ambiguous dreams can not be achieved. You need to know what you want to achieve clearly. If you know what you want to do, you are already living your dream and it will enlight your life. Set a strong mindset that you want to live your dream and believe yourself that you can achieve what you want.

Step 2 : Plan - As you know what is your dream, the next step is setting up a plan for the dream. Prepare the 'To-do lists'. The list needs to be detailed. Anything can be changed by unexpected future events or circumstances. However, if you set the more detailed plan the better chance to achieve the dream. You don't need to stress yourself by setting up a deadline for the plan but you need to set up a reasonable time-line to encourage and support your determination. The details of the plan can be changed but the plan itself needs to be strongly standing on your determination. I knew that our departure date and leave request approval could be depends on our bosses decision but I was never unsure about our decision so I confidently planed what to do, when to do and how to do for earning what we wanted.

Step 3 : Action -You know what you want and you have got a plan so it is time to take actions. I admit that this step can be sometimes difficult and requires personal strength and persistance the most so many people are likely stop or give up on this step. No pain, no gain. If you don't take action, you never can get what you want. Action on your plan, what to do, how to do and when to do. Quite often, you will be pleasantly surpurised that you did worry more than necessary. If you are confident on Step 1 and Step 2, Step 3 can be easier than you expected.

I have been reading about someone who decided to change their life and live on their dreams and envying them so much, and dreaming about the 'One day' for myself. Here I am now. Instead of being envy them only, I decided to take my own three steps and now I am grabing a chance to live my dream. I hope my personal experience also can motivate and encourage someone to take their own steps to be closer to their dreams. Please remember that if you really want to achieve, you CAN achieve.

How To Be Broke.

Many people like talking about and being interested in how to be richer but not how to be broke or poorer so I would like to talk about it based on ‘LIVE’ examples around me. Obviously, no one would ever wish to put themselves into the position they have to worry about money for tomorrow but unfortunately I have seen so many people around me are voluntarily stepping towards to the direction of ‘Being broke and poorer’. Surprisingly, they don't seem to know where they are heading to even though it is very clear to me. I know that I need to mind my business and don’t concern about someone else’s but when I see some people close to me are voluntarily leading their future to the financial disaster, I cannot stop being upset myself. 

Hereunder are simple ways to go broke and poorer. Let's get started!

1. Spend more than you earn
2. Live on future income

3. Keep 'don't care attitude'
4. Keep thinking there is no future
5. Ignore the fact that you are getting old.
6. Live on someone else's perspectives.
7. Do not care about your expenses.
8. Get more and bigger debts (Big mortgage, refinancing, financing on cars, credit card debts)
9. Keep away from the advices from the people who have achieve their financial freedom
10. Blame someone else for your misfortune.
11. Dream about the financial fortune but do not take any actions
12. Ignore learning how to control money and finance.
13. Buy the things who are far more richer can buy
14. Feel ashamed to be honest with your financial situations.
15. Be generous to show off when you can't afford
16. Don't be realistic and rational
17. Be confused between assets and liabilities
18. Keep luxurious lifestyle which you are not belonging to
19. Keep buying luxurious brand goods and brand new cars as they are good to show off
20. Keep the idea that talking about money is inappropriate
21. Think that you deserve to have only the best (latest gadgets and phones, brand new house)
22.Think saving money is an old fashioned habit
23. Believe that one day lottery, gambling will bring you the bright future (0.000000000..........1%)
24. Don't think time is money
25. Don't buy anything on sale. You are too good to buy cheap ones.
26. Don't compare the price. You are too royal to do that.
27. Keep buying things you don't need or already have
28. No plan good future
29. Leave your financial problems to tomorrow or later and enjoy spending today
30. Try to ignore that you are in big financial trouble.

It was very easy to find the ways how to be broke and imagine someone for the each list. If you think you meet some of these categories,  you are most likely joining the 'being broke' group sooner or later so it is time to assess your lifestyle and change them as soon as possible.  How? It is also very simple. Add 'DON'T' to the each list and take actions to change your attitude on money and finance, then I can promiss you that you will get a financial freedom and be richer.

Why do we need a break?

Only 6 working days to go!!!! 

 

Frankly, I feel quite nervous to remind myself that we have got only 6 more working days to the long break of 5 months and 8 days. As I have been cultivated as a rat more than a decade, it is not easy for me to accept this odd freedom. Getting out of daily routine that I have been always wanted pushes me into uncertainty and nervousness instead of joyfulness. How funny is this? When you don’t have, you desperately want to have it but when you finally get what you want, you suddenly don’t know how to deal with it. That’s exactly how I am feeling at the moment. Please don’t get me wrong. I am completely excited as much as I am nervous. To moderate my nervousness and also to reinstate   my confidence on our decision, it is the time to remind myself why we decided to have this extraordinary break.

 

 

1.       Have a break: Simply, we need a break. We have always wanted to have a decent length of break. As most of our colleagues, when they return from their holidays, first thing they do is thinking about the next one. We all  seem to be starving on breaks from our everyday life. More than a decade, since we finished Universities and started being office bugs,  we haven’t had breaks which seemed to be long enough to revive ourselves.  Especially, last couple of years, we have been through quite difficult time with personal matters and also our career path so we need a break desperately. I believe that this long break will refresh and energize our body and soul to manage our life more cheerfully.

 

2.       Make a dream come true: As we all know that it is not easy to make our life to live how you want to live or do what you want to do. However, it is not impossible. I believe that we all are entitled to live how we want to live and do what we want to do for living but most of occasions reality doesn’t allow us to live on our dreams. When we first talked about the 5-6 month break, I was not really sure if it can be an achievable dream. We were dreaming, planning and waiting for a chance to take a step towards to the plan, and finally we made our dream come true. I am very proud of ourselves that we have tried to get a chance for doing what we really want to do so this break is one of most remarkable achievements to us.

 

3.       Have a time to think: I have been feeling that I haven’t had enough time to think about my life and future for a while. While we are struggling with our daily routine, we intend to ignore or postpone to think about our future and dreams. Even though we are conscious on the matters, daily life exhausts us to take any actions to achieve them. As I mentioned earlier, one of my favourite Chinese proverbs is “ if you want to make yourself full, you need to make yourself empty first.”  I do realise that I need a change in my life and I do need some time to think about it seriously. Therefore, I expect that this break will allow me to have the time that I have been badly wishing to have.

 

4.       New experiences: I have always liked travelling and I have travelled many places with my travel buddy, my husband. However, once or twice a year to go somewhere for a short period didn’t satisfy me enough. I want to visit more places , see more things and experience diverse culture and living life in different places.  I feel starved about experiencing new knowledge and cultural differences, and I am scared of spending most of my youth while I am sitting in the office and bury the priceless time. I will see and learn as much as I can from this travel. I will visit 14 countries and over 30 places and each country and each place will wide awake me.  Whenever I travel, I am amazed by the eye opening experiences and the surprises make me grow.

5.       Keep a good  relationship/friendship : During the trip, my husband and I will celebrate our 12^th year together. Since I met him, I have been travelling many places with him and every single trip was extremely enjoyable and memorable. While we are travelling together, we share remarkable experiences together and the experiences became a part of our memory to revisit when we are back to reality. When you share a same experience with someone, you can get a special connection between you and the person and the connection make your relationship stronger and healthier. I am having a great bond with my husband and it has been deeper and stronger as time goes by. I truly believe that all the trips we have made together is one of the key supporters that helped us  to have healthy and happy relationship. Therefore, this long break will blossom more pleasure on our relationship.

 

6.       Life is too short : Life is too short to waste. Who will disagree with this unchangeable true? Yesterday,  one of Australian famous actor passed away and he was only 51. Unquestionably he would have a fame and wealth that ordinary people desperately wish to have but they didnt help him to be alive. I don't want to leave things what I really want to do to 'later' or 'one day'. What I want to do can have totally different value 'later' and the 'one day'. I do want to enjoy what I want to do as much as I can when I am young and healthy. If we couldn't make a decision and put this journey aside for being a rat race and having a comfortable  life this time, I don't think we ever will be brave enough to pursue our dream. Life is too short to waste and there are too many thing to do in this world.

While I am refreshing myself with the reasons for our break, I feel already far better than before and my heart is full of excitement. If you agree with my reasons, I encourage you to plan a break, too. It doesn't have to be long as ours. Taking a break will calm you down to revive yourself and refresh yourself to find new opportunities to improve your life. Are you ready? YES, I AM!!!!

 

 

 

 

Financial Education for Children

 

A few days ago, when my 13 years old niece announced us that she wants to get “Samsung Galaxy Note 2” for her 14^th birthday, I didn’t know what to say and how to react. I, such a stingy aunt according to her description, could only say “What????!!!”.

The phone is currently on the market about $750-$850 and I thought It is simply too expensive for the fourteen years old kid that I can’t even think about buying one for myself. I needed to calm myself down and asked her again if she really wants to get the expensive phone and these were her answers.

Firstly, many of her class mates have already had the phone so she doesn’t consider the phone is not unacceptably expensive. Secondly, she has her saving of $300 so she can contribute the money (by spending all her savings) and we, 2 aunties and an uncle can easily top up the rest for her. Her argument seemed to be very reasonable to her but not to me who has to go to work for living and never received such an expensive present as a kid. I know it is not a too big deal for us to top-up the money for our lovely niece so she can have what she really wants to have but I still can’t get rid of a question mark on the kid’s idea about Finance.

Any unclear reasons (to me), we do not like talking about money even though we cannot simply survive without it. Somehow we think that it is not noble to talk about money so we treated it as a taboo topic to discuss. Especially, talking about money with children as an adult seems to be acknowledged as an unreasonable behaviour. I truly do not know the reason. I still remember that a children psychiatrist mentioned during her radio program that we should avoid talking about financial difficulties or unfavourable financial situations with kids as they could get emotionally hurt. I nodded my head after her comments but I was not 100 percent convinced by her idea. Why shouldn’t we talk about money or finance with kids? I agree her idea that parents shouldn’t pass on their financial burden to children so they can get mentally shaken or depressed but I don’t agree that children should be kept away from finance and financial matters.  I believe that our children need to know or be shared the reality moderately.  How to manage their finance properly in their young age is a very important thing  to know and learn for their future life. I have met and heard about many young people who are living on pay check to pay check and struggling with their finance. Some of them are deeply in debts when they are only early 20’s. They seem to know how to make money and spend them but don’t seem to know how to save and manage the money.  I strongly believe that early financial education will help our children to manage their finance better which will lead them to the better/safer future.

I do acknowledge that it is not easy to educate children about finance as they would step back only with the terminology, ‘Finance’, but remember that we can’t not survive without knowing how to manage the money in this society so we have got to teach them the basic rules on how to manage their money. These rules should be adopted not only by children also by many adults who didn’t learn properly when they were young.

1.   Keep away from Credit cards :  This is very simple. Educate them If they have money, they can spend but if they don’t, they can’t. They must not think that money borrowed from banks or somewhere else is theirs. The money is NOT theirs and they need to pay back with very high interest (over 20%) on the top of what they actually borrowed, and this will eventually drag them into the hell of debts. Many young people are struggling every single day to pay off their credit card debts and some of them sadly choose to end up their life as they cannot find any other way to pay off the debts. It is extremely important to teach them how dangerous it could be if they can’t control their spending habit on credit cards.

2.   Develop saving habit : Nowadays many young people start learning money while they are studying. When they start working and earning money is the best time to develop health saving habit. Advise them to save up at least 20% of their earnings. Allow themselves to award their efforts by buying things they wanted to have but teach them certain part of their earning needs to be saved for future. We can’t live on pay cheque to pay cheque. Financial stability can be one of key factors for our secure life. If they can learn saving habit on their young age, their financial situation will be far more stable than any others who missed the education.

3.   Identify the limit : Fortunately, current society allow parents to provide more and better things to our children and parents are willing to supply as many thing as possible and as good/expensive things as possible to their children. I don’t want to blame the intention and love of the parents but over generosity and love can confuse our kids with their financial boundary. Unfortunately, they can’t have all they want. Teach them what they can have and what they can’t have. They need to know/learn what is their limit as we all had to face the reality one day. Identifying their limit will teach them how to accept reality and manage their finance better in a long term.

  

4.   Keep a record book : This is very personal but it helped me a lot to realise the value of money when I was a kid. The notebook was given by a teacher and I used it for recording my expenses and incomes. Whenever I was given some money from parents or relatives, I wrote down the amount at the right side(credit) on the notebook and all the small purchases such as lollies, cookies, pens, etc... were sitting at the left side(debit). The credit amount was deducted whenever I made a purchase and I knew how much money I spent and  how much money left. The practice taught me about when to stop buying, what I could afford to buy and how to manage my little money. So I highly recommend this exercise to children.

5.  Have own bank account and let them involve it: Open their own bank account and let them manage their bank accounts. I have noticed that many parents open bank accounts for their children and save up for their future but the children hardly ever involve themselves into the process of saving or managing the accounts. Allow them to feel the pleasure of saving and the growth of money. Teach them how to save in order to get the goal amount. Having an ownership on their money will teach them to be responsible for their spending.

6.   Learn a simple life: We all want to have more things and better things. There are plenty of things we wish to buy but very often having too many things can be a burden of life. Teach kids a simple living. Show them that we do not need to have many things to make ourselves happy. As their life is fully exposed to the commercial advertisement on a daily base, they would more likely to be grown up as excessive consumers. Learning how to live simply in the early age will help them to keep away from a financial hardship when they are grown up.

7.   Learn affordability: Teach them what is ‘affordability’. Sometimes it can be unpleasant to know what we can actually afford to buy or have but it is far better to know our financial situation and control our spending than putting ourselves into a financial swamp by ignoring our affordability.

8.   Learn how to buy cheap: Many people around me buy things without enough research or comparison. According to our experience on property market, we made profit on buying not selling. We bought properties cheaper so we could make profit when we sold them. Teach them the value of money and how to buy same thing cheaper by proper research and comparison. My husband just purchased his phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 2) for his birthday through his extensive on-line search and paid $570 and I found the same phone in a second hand shop for $745. Why would you pay $745 for a second hand phone when you can buy a new one for $570? It sounds dull but surprisingly many people pay more money for the same stuff without knowing. Be diligent and spend money wisely.

9.   Set a financial goal: Too early to have a financial goal? There is no too early time to have a goal. Let them set up a goal to achieve. For example, $200 for a year can be not too hard goal to achieve for even little kids nowadays. When they have their own goal, it will motivate them to progress and control their journey towards to the goal. Acquiring good habits in their early age can be a priceless advantage for their future.

10. Let them contribute to their purchase: This is from my husband’s advice. When he was young, his mother normally paid part of the total price of stuff that he wanted have and asked him to top-up the rest. Therefore, he had to save up the rest and when he finally got the stuff, it was more valuable to him than things were given. Allow the kids to feel the value of things which they had to put their efforts.

One of my favourite Chinese proverbs is “The habits learned when you were 3 will be with you till when you are 80” and I couldn’t agree more. Having proper financial education can be a valuable asset in your life and for your future.

 

How to become younger, fitter and healthier

Is age only number?

“40 is new 20???”

Yes?  Yes! Look at these stunning ladies who are over 40 but look better than 20’s. I know some people would argue that they can make themselves look this good and young because they are all world famous actresses and they have to do only make themselves look good. I partly agree that they have more time and money to look after their body than ordinary people like us but I don’t think this look can be achieved by only money and time. We shouldn’t dismiss their strong determination and continuous efforts on their body and health. We have to be honest that it is extremely hard to keep our body in a good shape. We all know how hard to lose even 1kg of weight or 1 inch of size. Therefore I really admire who tries hard to look after themselves look young and healthy.

It is quite harsh to disclose my mature age to public as a woman even though there is nothing I can do or shame about. I am 41 years old. However I feel fitter and energetic than ever. I wouldn’t be able to say this when I was 20. So, I have to give my vote on '40 is my new 20' and ‘Age is only number’.

I still remember the day when my teacher asked us to write down what we want to be at when we are 40. I was only 10 that time and I couldn’t get why my old lady teacher forced us to answer to the ridiculous question. ‘40? Who cares what I want to be at that OLD age... hope I can still alive...’ was all I could think about then but here I am. I became the OLD age and I am still alive with stronger and fitter body and mind. Look around. I can easily see or meet very fit middle aged people everywhere, especially in the gym or on a bike on the street. One of my gym buddies who is over 60 comes to the gym every single day and lifts heavier weights than his 40 year juniors. Each time I see him in sweat, I feel like to give him a big clap that he deserves.

We all are getting old and this fact can’t be modified or stopped. However, we can delay it or allow it to come slower and smoother. How often new world records are created and broken by another attempts!  Our body has incredible capacity to create unbelievable outcomes. My favourite Pilates instructor very often uses this phrase, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it!” and I couldn’t agree her more.

So let’s focus on how to win the battle with our age and become younger, fitter and healthier.

1.    Mindset! Mindset! Mindset!: Believe yourself. You can do it. I truly believe anything we want to achieve needs to start from our inerself. Love your body and mind as you have now and promise them that you will try to love and nurture them so they become healthier, happier, fitter and stronger. Your willpower is the most crucial part of transformation. If you want to be younger and healthier, you need to truly believe yourself who can create positive outcome with your strong determination and endless efforts.

2.    Exercise regularly: Our body is designed for moving. Lack of movement can damage and threaten your health. Unfortunately, modern society working condition/arrangement limits out movement and this routine can be a fundamental cause of life threatening disease. If you want to keep you young and healthy, you can’t dismiss or ignore the importance of regular exercise. Exercise can help you to control your weight and make your body and mind stronger and healthier. Studies strongly suggests that regular activity improves human brain power immediately and it could protect us from major memory impairment in the long term. Treat exercise as a meal you wouldn’t dare to miss.

3.    Exercise wisely. I used to run very long distance quite regularly. As I loved running and didn’t know what other exercises to do besides, foolishly I kept running and damaging my knees. Since last year, I have combined many different type of exercise according to my need and I could get better result. For example,  2-3 times of cardio sessions (running, cycling, aerobic/dancing classes), 1-2 times of weight sessions and 1-2 times of yoga or Pilates classes. I have noticed that this change offered me diversity so I could enjoy more and developed body strength  proportionally so I do recommend the combination workout option in order to get better outcome.

4.    Manage your food. I know that it is not easy to control food when plenty of food is available around us but you have  to pay attention to the food and drink you put into your body if you want to keep your youthfulness. Eat less and healthy food. Studies recommended us to consume only 80 percent at meals. When you feel still not full, stop eating as it is already too much when you feel full. Eat wisely: Avoid meat and processed food. Consume more vegetables which contain more water so it can help you to control the consumption of food intake. There are plenty of useful information about what to eat, what to avoid, etc... on the web so educate yourself that you can manage food and your health.

5.    Release stress as soon as possible: Excessive stress can make you ill mentally and physically so try to free your stress as soon as possible. We can’t avoid getting stress or pressure from current lifestyle, economic situation, work place, etc.. so it is very important to cure your stress before it attacks your health. Find out what you like to do and try to engage in the hobby. Take a vacation or treat yourself with spa or massages. Yoga or meditation can be very helpful.

6.    Open yourself: Be with people who you can share your ideas or thoughts. Talk with them and connect yourself with their opinions and views. It will allow you to grow mentally and emotionally. When we are getting old, we tend to close ourselves and stubborn on our opinions and views so we need to interact with others and their views. The world is moving so fast therefore we need to allow the new ideas into our life.

Everything is entirely up to you. If you want to be younger and healthier or if you want to live as you are, you can choose how you want to live. However, remember that your choice will lead your future. If you can keep and stay at 20’s youth and health, wouldn’t it wonderful? I am not talking about avoiding wrinkles or stopping getting old. I am talking about maintaining youth as long as possible and getting old slowly in a great health. If you want this, you can join me. I feel so good!

Where are we at? No 2.

Day - 24

Only 24 days to go?????

What I am scared the most is 'TIME'. I simply cannot believe that only less than a month left to our life wanted long break from work. Whenever I realise that time goes so fast, I feel very nervous and also extremely excited by the unpredictable events which will fill up our days and months in the new places. Being away from  home for that long period has never happened to me so there are many challenges for me (as a spoiled woman) to overcome such as living on only 20kg of backpack for 5 and half months, constant packing and unpacking, sleeping at a new place every 3 to 4 days and far more. I thought I was very brave and open to any changes but I have to confess that I am quite stressed about the journey and how I would cope with all the changes and differences as the day comes closer. Please don't get me wrong that I am regretting our decision or want to back out from the plan. No ways... As much as I am nervous, I am excited and looking forward commencing the Journey. My husband and I have been talking a lot about our trips in India as India was the most challenging country (out of the 14 countries where we will go) for us  to organise places to visit and book hotels. I have always wanted to go there but when I actually can go, I was totally confused. I didn’t know where to start because the country is too big  and too many things to see within our limited time of 3 weeks. Anyway, we are in the last month to prepare things for the journey and I think it is the time to share with you how much progress we have made so far.

1.    Flights: We have booked most of flights except potential flights in Czech and Korea. We still don’t know exactly what we are going to do  and where to visit in our motherlands as the schedule will be changeable according to our family, relatives and friends’ plan.  Also we want to use this time to relax. I know this sounds funny that we will need a relaxing time while we are on leave but if you see how many places we wish to visit, you will understand why we will need some time to relax.

Total 18 flight : Sydney to Bali – Bali to Ho Chi Minh – Bangkok to Moscow – Moscow to Prague – Prague to Venice – Pisa to Marrakesh – Agdir to  Amsterdam – Eindhoven to Brno – Prague to Zurich – Zurich to Seoul – Seoul to Shanghai – Shanghai to Delhi – Delhi to Dharamsala – Amritsar to Varanasi – Varanasi to Goa – Goa to Jaipur – Delhi to Seoul – Seoul to Sydney.

2.    Accommodations: We have booked 27 hotels in 24 different places. Average number of days in staying at one place will be 3 to 4 nights so we will be constantly on ‘moving mode’. Booking hotels was not a easy task to manage as we had to put many things into account such as price, location, reviews and the facilities we prefer to use. We needed to adjust our priorities for each place. For example, Venice and Amsterdam we had to compromise our choice on the quality or reviews of the hotels in order to get cheaper hotels as they were ridiculously expensive. ‘$150 per night for shared bathroom’ couldn’t be acceptable to me so I chose a hotel bit further from the city but it has own bathroom. In India, we could get unbelievably cheap accommodations but we chose reasonable priced hotels to avoid any uncomfortable situations. All most every night, my husband and I sat next to each other with two laptops opened and searched hundreds of hotels, and chose one hotel for one place. Our choices will be evaluated only by our live experience in each place we go but I have to give a big clap for our efforts. It was a hard work but it was also a good fun to search and discuss with my husband instead of staring news or watching TV in the evening. Do things for yourself always brings abundant of joy. We will still need to book 3 to 4 more accommodations in Czech and Korea for short trips but it will be easier as we know the places. I feel released that most of hotel booking have been done but funny enough I am missing the time of booking which made me fairly busy and stressed. I presume moderate busyness and stress/pressure motivated myself.

Bali for 21 nights @ 4 hotels - Ho Chi Minh for 4 nights -  Vung Tau for 3 nights - Phonom Penh for 3 nights - Siem Rep for 4 nights - Bangkok for 3 nights - Moscow for 5 nights - Prague for 2 weeks - Venice for 3 nights - Florence for 4 nights - Amsterdam for 3 nights - Marrakesh for 4 nights - Taghazout for 3 nights - Zurich for 4 nights - Seoul for 2 weeks - Shanghai for 4 nights - Beijing for 6 nights - Delhi for 3 nights - Dharamsala for 4 nights - Amrtsar for 3 nights - Varanasi for 4 nights - Goa for 3 nights -  Jaipur for 2 nights - Agra for 2 nights

3.    Visa: Getting visas was also one of the challenges we have to get over. My very innocent (stupid?) and unknowledgeable questions will be “Why do they have to require visa to someone who really wants to see their countries and spend money?” but very often this fair (to me) argument can lead us nowhere. I needed to have ‘just do it!” or ‘no pain no gain’ attitude. As I mentioned earlier in my post, Russian visa was a hard one. We have just got Chinese visa (fairly easy) so the last one we need to get before we leave is Indian visa, another difficult one. I didn’t expect getting visas would be this complicated and expensive. If we knew, our itinerary would be bit different from the current one. Let’s stop complaining! Positive points from getting visas will be learning being patient and organising skills. It requires a lot of paperwork (33 pages of paperwork for Indian visa) so I had to push myself to be well-organised before going to the embassy or visa centres to avoid wasting time and energy. Each visa requires different information and paperwork so better read the information re visa requirements properly before you start.

Indonesian visa, Vietnam visa & Cambodian visa can be acquired at the airport or the border – Russian visa – Chinese visa – Indian visa  

 

4.    Travel insurance: This should be on the ‘must do’ list. I hope no bad things will happen to us while we travel but no one can be sure about the future so travel insurance is a top priority on our ‘To-do’ list. Also, I have learned that many countries, especially visa required countries necessitate us to have travel insurance before applying for their visa. I have heard many cases about who put themselves into a very bad situation, especially financial difficulties because of they didn’t have travel insurance at the time unfortunate incidents happened while they were travelling. So we shouldn’t dismiss the importance of the travel insurance. Allow yourself have enough time and energy to search and compare to find a good insurance which offers reasonable covers and price. We have got ‘Southern Cross Travel Insurance (http://www.scti.com.au/)’ with very reasonable price and covers (with good customer reviews) so feel free to check it if you need one.

5.    Exchange currencies: We haven’t started exchanging AUD with local currencies yet because we still have time and want to observe Australian Dollar’s movement little longer. Main currencies we need to have will be USD and Euro. Most of countries will take USD so we need to get some before we leave. Unfortunately AUD has dropped quite a lot recently so we are hoping that it will be back up at least little bit when we buy them. We can’t carry too much cash with us so I organised a credit card only for this travel. I do not have any credit card and I didn’t want to have any as I refuse to spend money which is not mine. However, carrying too much cash wouldn’t be a good idea and using our debit card will cost us a lot with overseas transaction fees, currency conversion fees, etc so I decided to get this card, ’28 Degrees Master Card’. This card offers no annual fee, no currency conversion fees and no international transaction fees so it will be perfect for us who travel many countries for a long period BUT we will need to be careful not to miss paying them within 55 days otherwise ’20.99%’ will be charged for any purchase and cash withdrawal. To tell you the truth, I was very surprised how easy to get a credit card. I do not support anyone to get a credit card because it can be very sweet at the beginning but if you don’t control properly it will be very bitter and painful. I promise that I will destroy/cancel it as soon as I return.

6.    Packing: Not yet. I do need some time to think and organise for this. I will need clothes for four seasons and three types of shoes (especially my running shoes are very important.) with extras so certainly it will not be easy to pack. Nowadays all the airlines are very tight on weighs of baggage so I need to make sure to keep under the limit.

What do you think? We are quite ready for the journey, aren’t we? I know that something will come up at the last minutes but as long as I prepare now, less things will bother me later. Most of my colleagues already know my departure and ask many questions enviously. They also organised a lunch together before I leave (Thanks). I am glad that we have decided to make this dreamed trip come true and now I can share the dream with friends and colleagues who also want to do in future. I feel already overwhelmed by priceless excitement while I am writing about the trip.

Thanks for sharing!

"Hey, Jin! What's happening with your blog?"

When I was just stepping out from the office for heading to the Chinese Visa Centre in Sydney, all of sudden my colleague asked me this unexpected question.

'What about with my blog???' My fuzzy face probably showed my miscomprehended mind. She quickly added a few sentences to explain what she really meant and pointed out my blog site on her mobile phone.

"Already one week no blog has been posted. Look at this.... I am addicted...."

This post is totally for her and I am truly thanking to her. You know, when you start doing something especially, you are not sure whether you are doing well or just wasting your time and energy for nothing, any simple complements can be meant a lot to you. I am not writing my blog to be recognized or try to make others to like me but her comments brought to me an indescribable pleasure. How wonderful to know someone is willing to share my thoughts and stories. She wouldn't even know her simple comments made my day absolutely delightful and encouraged me to keep working on my blog. I still enjoy the cheerful moment and surly it will keep me writing my blog diligently. Doing what I want to do and knowing that what I do pleases someone is blessing for me.

Thanks my friend!

How to get Russian Tourist Visa

Finally, we have got Russian visa and I have to congratulate ourselves for this recognisable achievement.

If I knew how complicated it would be to get Russian visa, I would not even give a slight thought on the option when my husband offered me as a brilliant idea to stopover for five nights in Moscow on the way to Prague from Bangkok. However it was too late to pull out or change the decision when I realised that getting Russian visa is not easy ( Simply a pain!) because I had already booked flights and hotel for the memorable five nights. I had to admit that I have made a mistake to decide staying in Russia before checking visa requirements but I knew that I can’t change anything by complaining or regretting about our decision. All I could do is ‘face the problem and get over it!’.

From now I will write about our journey for getting Russian Visa and some tips for ‘ How to get Russian visa’ based on our live experience. I truly hope this will make your journey bit easier if you want/need to get Russian Visa.

At the beginning, I had to persuade myself to think about preparing stuff for Russian visa would be a good experience. I came to Australia from South Korea in 2001 and it took me 3 years to get a permanent resident status so I do know how hard to get visas and how complicated preparations are required to get the appropriate visas. So I personally have bit of allergic reaction on getting visas but I pushed myself to give a try. I browsed Russian Embassy Website (http://www.australia.mid.ru/11_e.html) and easily  found 'visa on-line application' link ((http://visa.kdmid.ru<http://visa.kdmid.ru/>). The site advised that they will not accept any manual applications from 15 June 2013 and encouraged using on-line application form. It was absolutely no problem to use on-line form as I am a fan of no-paper working environment so I was happy for filling on-line application UNTIL it showed error message without any explanation. Technical error? It could happen as nothing is perfect so I patiently tried it again and again but it stopped exactly same page with same error message, “Error”. What would you do then? I rang the embassy for some help but no one picked up the phone. Next day, I tried it again and again, and the annoying error happened again and again, and I tried to ring them again and again. Suddenly and finally, someone picked up the phone and started speaking Russian. When I tried to explain why I rang in English, he shortened my question by saying in English (Thank God.) and ended the conversation.“ Ring between 3pm and 5 pm”. I tried many times to catch anyone between the time, I could only get the endless sound, “tototototototototototo....”.

When you don’t know where to find information you need, what you can do is help yourself. I searched internet again and lucky enough that I found PDF application form to fill-in manually. Bravo!! Still May 2013, so I thought the form would be fine to be accepted as they announced on their website the effective date will be the 15th of June 2013. I proudly, carefully and properly completed the form and attached all the supporting document such as flight confirmation, hotel booking vouchers and travel insurance details with our valid passport. I congratulated myself for the perfect preparation and organised a date to visit the Russian embassy in Sydney. It was not too bad (than I expected).

First time, my husband and I drove to Russian Embassy with well prepared visa requirements, I was sure that I would get the visa without problem as I was sure about my preparation. However, when we tried to enter the gate of the embassy, a guy who seemed to be on a same boat stopped and let us know that embassy was closed due to a public holiday in Russia. It was the 8th of May which is 'Victory day' in Russia. OMG...

Second visit, I was  lucky enough that I could enter the embassy and get in a que. When I handed my application forms with supporting document, the officer looked at me and rejected my applications with two reasons. The first one was they don't accept manual form any longer and second reason was I needed to submit ' A copy of high quality or original standard tourist confirmation ("Podtverzdeniye") and a tour voucher from a hosting Russian travel agency or hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorised to invite foreign citizens in the Russian Federation. Confirmation carries a REFERENCE-NUMBER of the hosting company (which confirms that this company is allowed to receive foreign tourists), personal data of each tourist, dates of trip, itinerary in Russia, services as paid. Confirmation and voucher must be signed by authorised person and carry the official seal of the Russian travel company.' I couldn't understand what he really meant but there was no chance to get more details from him.

OMG.... I felt like that I came back to the spot where I started without any clue but all I could do was 'start again!'

Sorry for the long story but I want you to feel how frustrated I was at that time so I would like to share some practical tips from my live experience with you which can help you to get Russian visa easier.

Step 1. Take a deep breath. You will need this all the way.

Step 2. Get a list of what you need to submit to obtain a visa:

• A completed application form (http://visa.kdmid.ru<http://visa.kdmid.ru/>), one per person.
• National passport (original) valid for at least 6 months after the intended date of departure from Russia. At least one page of the passport should be free from notes.
• One professional passport sized (3,5 x 4.5 cm) The photo should be attached to the specially marked place of the application form.
• A copy of high quality or original standard tourist confirmation ("Podtverzdeniye") and a tour voucher from a hosting Russian travel agency or hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorised      to invite foreign citizens in the Russian Federation.
• Copy of itinerary (flight details).

Step 3. Complete all travel booking, flights and hotels and travel insurance as you will need all the details to complete the on-line application form.

Step 4. Contact the hotels where you will stay in Russia to get the original standard tourist confirmation ("Podtverzdeniye") and a tour voucher.Make sure the confirmation carries a REFERENCE-NUMBER of the hosting company (which confirms that this company is allowed to receive foreign tourists), personal data of each tourist, dates of trip, itinerary in Russia, services as paid. Confirmation and voucher must be signed by authorised person and carry the official seal of the Russian travel company. It sounds more complicated than actual it is so do not worry too much.You can use some companies such as 'GotoRussia (www.gotorussia.com) that offers visa service and charge you $30 per person but your hotel would have own agency to issue them cheaper (about $15 per person). This visa requirement seems to me that they try to create a business to rip-off travellers but there is simply no way to avoid it so you have got to pay to have them.

Step 5. Prepare the information to complete the on-line application.

•  The last three places of work, including the current one (Name, Address, Phone Number, Chief's surname and date of joining-dismissal)
•  List of all educational institutions, except high schools (Name, Address, Phone number, Course of study and date of admission and graduation)
•  List of all countries you have visited in the last ten years and indicate  the year of visit

Step 6. Take a deep breath again.

Step 7. Complete the on-line form. If you prepared the things I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't be too hard to complete.

Step 8. Print out the form and attach passport photo.

Step 9. Attach supporting document to the application form.

• Application form with passport photo.
• Flight itineraries
• Hotel vouchers
• A copy of travel insurance voucher
• A copy of marriage certificate (If you have different surname with your partner)

Step 10. Go to the Embassy (Check opening time before you go. They open only short time in the morning for only 4 days (in sydney). Also, check Russian Public Holidays).

Step 11. Submit and pay.

Finally,

Step 12. You can get the visa!!! ( After waiting 7 working days.)

I am so glad that we have got the visa and ready to enjoy the unforgettable time there. I hope my tips can help you out from the confusion I have experience at the beginning.

пойти удачи -"go luck" in Russian

 

           Sample of Russian Visa Tourist Confirmation

 

      Sample of Russian Visa Tourist Voucher