Dan's Adventure

A tourist visa for China is only valid for three months. If I get one before I leave the UK, it will almost have expired by the time I reach China. I therefore need to obtain one in Hong Kong. I’ll have a day or three around Hong Kong whilst waiting for the visa to be processed so I’ll have the chance to see the sunset over the city from Victoria Peak and to see the harbour light show.
Due to entering and leaving in the south (I will be going …

Over the next few days I’m going to be posting rough itineraries for my trip. I have an idea of where I’d like to go and what I’d like to do up to New Zealand which is almost 8 months in. Throughout the trip I will be staying in cheap accommodation (hostels, beach bungalows, camping, guest houses) and will be travelling by train, bus, boat and whatever other forms of transport present themselves along the way.
India is a huge country and the distances between cities is massive. I didn’t really …

In Africa I will be travelling from Nairobi in Kenya to Cape Town in South Africa with Acacia Africa. The tour departs from Nairobi on August 9th and I arrive two days prior to that in order to attend the pre-departure meeting in Nairobi on the evening before the tour. My flight from London arrives on the night of the 7th so I’ll have a day to explore Nairobi before the tour begins.
For the 6 weeks of the tour I will be travelling by truck for the most part with …

This week I am going to be stabbed with needles many times. On Wednesday I will be going to Monklands to get the third and final Japanese B Encephalitis vaccination along with several others; the first of three for Rabies, the first of three for Hepatitis B and finally Meningitis ACWY. I will also be getting the oral vaccination for Cholera which I think requires two doses. This is followed by a trip to the Strathaven Travel Clinic on Friday to get another two vaccinations, Hepatitis A and Typhoid, and …

After deliberating over whether to buy a waterproof camera housing or an actual waterproof camera, I ended up opting for the two camera approach. Last week a Pentax Optio W60 arrived to take the place of waterproof camera and a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 arrived to be used for everything non water related. I’m going to take the TZ5 out with me over the next couple of days so expect to see some new pictures appearing in the Scotland gallery.

To accompany the cameras I have purchased a Gorillapod which is essentially …

This morning I started filling in the online application for my India visa. I’m applying for a 3 month tourist visa which currently costs £30 plus a service charge of £8.66 and the cost of special delivery to and from the application centre. The High Commission of India has outsourced its visa application handling to VFS, it is VFS who add the service charge. Anyway, I started filling in the form but then reached a section requiring an address in India. My plan was to find accommodation on arrival so …

For years I’ve wanted to do a roadtrip across the USA and catch a few dates of the Warped Tour along the way. The Warped Tour is a punk festival that travels across the USA during July and August each year and always features a lot of bands that I lover. The line up changes slightly from city to city which is why I’d like to catch a few dates.
I fly into Los Angeles and out of New York City 4 weeks later and apart from a rough idea of …

After a trip to Glasgow to try out rucksacks and travel packs I finally setlled on the Berghaus Jalan 60+15. Its a travel pack which means it is front loading rather than top loading thus making it easier to access the contents. The main compartment is 60L and the attached day pack is 15L. I didn’t want anything bigger as I knew that regardless of the size, I would still manage to fill it! The pack is fitted with an adjustable harness which is just as comfortable as some of …