Edit: Below is my personal Norwegian Air flight review. However, this edit from my most recent experience. We flew for a 3rd time with Norwegian Air, and while the flight itself was flawless (except for one rude-ish flight attendant), we did not receive our suitcases for 3 days. It did not make it from Gatwick-London to Singapore. Now, that’s fine, and I get it might happen. But we were advised by the lost baggage office in Singapore that we could potentially claim for the items we had to purchase in the 3 days we didn’t have our bags. Imagine leaving London in freezing cold with winter clothes, and arriving in…
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Tips for a Long Haul Flight; What To Take, and What To Do!
Currently flying from Bangkok to Stockholm right now, and this non-stop 12 hour journey can either be a drainer, or pretty comfy. Hopefully we survive this long-haul flight! I’ve put together a quick list of essentials that can either make or break a long plane ride. Check them out and let me know if you have any more tips or tricks to add! Check the requirements for carry on luggage. Most airlines we’ve come across will allow a carry on bag (various weights and sizes depending on the airline) that you will store in the overhead locker, and will also allow a smaller bag that you can store under the…
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Goodbye Island Life….
So long story short, we have now left Koh Tao. The place where we made our lives for the past 5 years; made a home, created life-long friendships (cheesy but true, especially when you work, drink, eat, even sometimes live aside one another!), and most importantly, started our diving careers from Open Water students, through to Master Scuba Diving Trainers. To run through it quickly, the biggest reason we left the comfort of our island home is because we are looking for the next challenge, and in that, we decided that we needed to find something that will set us up for our future. We love being Scuba Instructors, and…
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A Plastic World
We were having lunch in Amed, #Bali when we noticed this kid singing and yelling, trying to entertain himself from outside his family's shop. During our travels around #SEAsia I loved checking out these little #cornershops where locals would buy everything from 3-in-1 coffee satchets to toiletries and enemas (don't ask me how I know)! Unfortunately, everything is packaged in tiny wrappings of multicoloured plastic which is then discarded and thrown onto the ground. As a diver we see the effects of the everyday plastic which gets washed into the ocean, literally choking the marine life and the coral. This won't get broken down for thousands of years and may…
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Not Missing Home Yet (even after 3 years)
Not gonna lie, but as we near our three year mark of leaving Melbourne, I still have to say; I don’t miss it much. Honestly, there isn’t much to miss. With advanced technology and the so-so internet speed on the island, we still have access to Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook etc. I actually communicate on a more frequent basis with my immediate family back in Australia. We have a group chat where we greet each other with ‘Good Mornings!‘ and messages about the mundanes (‘I’m making a coffee right now and reading the news.‘ – thanks for letting us know Mum), to the excitements (‘I got a new job!’ – Congrats…
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Money Matters in South East Asia
Money is obviously important everywhere and anywhere, but especially when you’re moving from one place to another, and changing currencies. Here are a few things we discovered about money as we traveled.
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Excuses To Not Travel
We come across a lot of people who after hearing that we just decided to pack up and leave home to travel South East Asia, tell us that they wish they could do it. I then give them a list of reasons of why they should do it, and they then give me a list of excuses on why they can’t. Here’s my response! I Have No Money Bull. You have money. You just don’t know how to use it. You obviously have enough money to buy a computer and to buy the internet to read this. You have money, you might not have enough to travel using planes,…
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WHY HAVEN’T WE BLOGGED RECENTLY?
Because… A. I forgot my username and password to wordpress B. We were working a lot in the past few months as Dive Masters C. I started doing some video work for the dive shop in the last few weeks D. Lionel has dengue fever E. We moved into an apartment with an ocean view, kitchen, livingroom, separate bedroom F. All of the above ***SPOILER ALERT*** It’s all of the above.
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Cooking? Now I’m Homesick
The biggest thing I miss from home? Cooking. I was a cooking show fiend back in Australia. I devoured Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules, Iron Chef, Heston’s shows, Nigella shows, Top Chef, and of course, all of those shows that concentrated on cooking organic, gourmet, English produce set in a a quaint farmhouse. Argh, I loved them all. In the past three weeks that I’ve been housebound, on account of the legs being burnt, I’ve had the chance to not only catch up on re-runs of Sex and the City, The Real Housewives of New York City, and my personal favourite, Pregnant in Heels, but also to tune into the Asian…
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Australian Open in Thailand
Mosquitos are a big problem anywhere in South-East Asia and unfortunately Koh Tao is no different. Dengue fever is very common on the island, so the aim of the game is not to get stung at all. This is a tough mission however as they are everywhere and use our bathroom as a breeding ground. I don’t hate many things, but mosquitoes I do hate. Usually you don’t feel them on you until it’s already too late and when you slap yourself to kill it, you also get a nice patch of your own and worse someone else’s blood on you. We were losing the fight until we armed ourselves…
