Pre-trip preparations can either be fun and exciting, or annoying and time consuming. Getting your visas generally falls into the latter category

To get a Chinese visa you have to personally go down to the Chinese embassy and stand in line (in a small room with no air conditioning!) and drop off your passport, then return 3 days later to pick it up along with your shiny new visa. My story, however, went more like this:

Last week, I mustered all the strength I had and with the encouragement of my girlfriend, took the plunge into the unknown world of unemployment before we set off for 8 months traveling Asia.I had a job where I enjoyed the people I worked with, that paid really well and most importantly I enjoyed the job itself, but there was still something missing. I knew it was time to leave and time to move onto my next stage in life. Before suddenly leaving behind a career you may wish …

With laws prohibiting smoking, billboards, plastic bags, traffic lights, the support of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product, Bhutan is unlike any other nation. It’s uniqueness coupled with superb Himalayan trekking, authentic Buddhist culture, and astonishing bio-diversity, it is surprising that Bhutan sees less than 20,000 tourists a year. This is because like all other aspects of the nation, Bhutan has a different way of doing things.