Packing List

I’m currently lying on my bed listening to Sam Hunt sing from my speakers, all while wearing this silly little travel cushion around my neck haha.

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I finally have some free time to write a quick blog about getting ready for my travels overseas!!
Last Friday was my last day at work for the next few months. The other administrative girls bought me a cake for my ‘Last day’ which was really nice of them 🙂

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As I leave tomorrow to head up to Auckland, I’ve spent the day packing all my stuff together and hoping that my backpack ends up at a respectable weight…
The final weight was just under 14kgs so I think I did alright. Ecspecially as I’m taking shampoo, conditioner, a big bottle of fake tan and lots of contact lenses!!
These past 2 weeks I’ve been have eye after eye problems so I was slightly freaking out that the first part of my trip I’d have irritated eyes but it’s all cleared up now 😥
I had been using this eyelash serum called F Lash for a few weeks (this was to make my eyelashes supposedly grow and not get eyelash extensions) and I ended up getting a swollen cornea from it 😣 was so annoying! And then two styes on top of that!
I know some people who use the serum though and they’re fine, I think my eyes are just really sensitive to stuff.

So yes, I haven’t quite gotten to my maximum weight of 23kgs I’m allowed on the plane. Im a bit disappointed however I couldn’t stay under 12kgs. That was my goal weight!

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I figure most of the stuff I’ve packed I’ll use up on my trip so it can only get lighter ☺
It’s not too bad to carry on my back, but I do want to buy stuff along the way.
I’m thinking I’ll collect magnets as my souvenirs from everywhere I go. It was either that or pens haha.
This is what I’ve packed so far. (And please note that I’m a real girly girl so some of this stuff most people wouldn’t bring)
☆ 2 pairs of shorts
☆ 3 tops
☆ 2 pairs of gym pants (1 long and 1 short)
☆ 1 casual play suit
☆ 1 dressy play suit (for dinners/going out)
☆ 1 light dress
☆ 2 skirts
☆ 1 pair of jeggings
☆ 5 pairs of socks
☆ 5 bras (2 strapless for dresses)
☆ 5 pairs of underwear
☆ night gown
☆ small/light dressing gown
☆ 1 Kathmandu insulated jacket
☆ Jandals
☆ canvas shoes
☆ Nike sport shoes
☆ 3 face cloths (I use these every night to wash my make up off)
☆ 1 bottle of kerastase shampoo
☆ 1 tub of kerastase masque
☆ small bottle of contact lense solution
☆ 90 pairs of contact lenses (dailies, grr. Wish I had great eye sight)
☆ st tropez dark mousse tan
☆ tanning mit
☆ razor
☆ talcum powder
☆ toothbrush
☆ sunglasses
☆ hair brush
☆ hair straightener
☆ travel hair drier
☆ pillowcase (I like to have my own)
☆ 1 towel
☆ camera
☆ camera charger
☆ phone & tablet chargers
☆ adaptors for each country
☆ bathroom bag

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Which has
– make up brushes
– make up (Eg, foundation, blush, powder, concelor, Mascara, lipstick)
– travel sized shower gel
– travel sized moisturizer
– night cream
– day cream
– eye cream
– face scrub in a little travel sized tub
– body bronzer in a little 100ml bottle
– cotton tips
– ear plugs
– sea sickness tablets
– pain relief
– mouth ulcer ointment (I always get them when I’m run down 😩)
– Bactroban ointment

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In  my carry on bag I have…
☆ My passport
☆ all my documents in a folder (including all my Contiki tour stuff)
☆ glasses
☆ phone
☆ wallet
☆ tablet
☆ kindle
☆ headphones
☆ ipod
☆ 5 magazines (which I’ll get rid of when I’m done haha)
☆ small torch
☆ spare top & pants
☆ lip balm
☆ small travel tub of my origins overnight hydrating mask
☆ face wipes
☆ travel toothbrush and paste

I think I’ve covered pretty much everything.
Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten anything. I feel like all the stuff I’ve packed I’ll actually need. I know I could just pack my phone and not bring my tablet or anything but I’m going to use it on the plane and watch all my ‘Orange is the new black’ on it. Plus I feel it’s pretty good for writing my blogs and watching stuff on the long bus trips.

It’s weird, I feel I’d be more excited for this trip because everyone else is. I just don’t think it’s really hit me yet that I’m going. I think once I’m on the plane I’ll be like “holy shit I’m going overseas by myself”
Eek!

Happy travelling everyone xx

My Beauty Cupboard

So this post isn’t travel related but it’s something I enjoy talking about anyways. Beauty products! 💄🚿
And many of these products I’m going to be taking on my travels anyways so I guess it’s travel related 😋. I bought a new beauty bag im going to take with me too. Very useful to hang up in the bathroom! 🙂

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Frank Body Scrub
I mentioned this in my last post and I absolutely love it! I ran out of it in the shower this morning but thankfully I’ve ordered a couple of more bags so they should be coming in the mail soon 😍
Frank is 100% Australian owned and made. Their products are mainly scrubs but I see they’ve bought out a face cleanser, body balm and face moisturiser which I have yet to try!

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All their scrubs are made out of roasted and ground robusta coffee beans and green coffee extracts. They have no parabens, sulphates or silicones.  I always see pictures on their Instagram from toddlers and men using their products which makes me think it’s pretty safe for all ages! It’s great because once you’ve scrubbed in the shower, your skin feels and smells amazing when you’re all dry.

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I’ve noticed a difference in my skin since using it as well. I’d upload a photo but I’m half nudy in it so it’s probably not appropriate for here haha.

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Order here – http://www.frankbody.com
I’ve talked on the radio about this product before and couldn’t believe how many people didn’t know about it!!

Origins Intensive Overnight mask
I have to hide this from my partner as he has really dry skin. He works as a builder so all the stuff he works around makes his skin flaky and dry.
It’s $25 USD from Sephora, so about $38 NZD

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I usually use this about twice a week or whenever I feel like my skin is looking really dry. You just massage it into your skin and leave it. It’s great as you can just go to bed with it on and not worry about having to wait 10 minutes like most masks and then wash it off afterwards.
Origins is a natural brand too so they don’t have any parabens or sulfates.
I’m definitely taking this on holiday with me as I love to use it on the plane!! No dehydrated skin for me 👍👌

MAC Mineralized Volcanic Ash Exfoliant
LOVE LOVE LOVE
I don’t think I’ll ever be using a  different face exfoliater after I tried this. It’s made with sugar crystals and volcanic ash and leaves your face feeling amazing. I use it about once a week or when I’m about to go out and put make up on nicely 🙂
Costs $29 USD on the MAC website or you can buy it from your local MAC store in NZ which is a bit more spendy.

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Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Lip Protectant

I bought this when I was in duty free coming back from Australia once. I didn’t even want it, I just had a voucher to use and needed to use it up so it was the cheapest thing there.
Now every time I’m in duty free I buy one! It sits on my desk at work and keeps my lips Hydrated while I sit in an air conditioned office. It lasts on your lips for awhile and I love putting a bit on before I put on matte lipstick 💄image

I just tried to look up the ingredients online and the only Elizabeth Arden lip protectant that comes up is in a stick. It either looks like they don’t do it anymore or they’ve replaced it with this…

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😐
St Tropez Dark Tan Mousse
The holy grail of all fake tans!!
I used to do spray tans when I worked as a beauty therapist, which are great (until they become patchy when they come off) but if you want something at home, I can’t stress how great the stuff is.
Yes it’s expensive. But you get the nicest colour, and I can vouch for that as I am as pale as a ghost and it never turns me orange.

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I’m taking a big bottle of this with me on holiday, and I know what you’re thinking “why don’t you just lay in the sun and get a real tan??”
First of all, the sun causes skin cancer, leathery skin when you’re 50 and ugly sun spots.
Second of all, I can’t tan. I’ve spent weeks in Thailand and Australia and I’ve only ever stayed white, gone a bit pink or burnt.
It is a bit of a hassle to put on all the time but even 1 application lasts nicely for a few days. Obviously do a few consecutive days if you want a dark tan. 🙆

Work stories and future life ambitions.

Only one more week of work before I go away! (And one day as its Thursday)
I can’t believe that it was back in November 14′ I was planning my trip and now I’m about to embark on a 3 month journey around the world.
Sometimes I think – I wish I didn’t rush into planning this trip because now that I’m about to go, I want to spend longer in some places! I wish I added on South East Asia on the end of my trip. I’ve been to Thailand before so I would have loved to go again and just have no plans and chill out for a bit. Plus South East Asia is so cheap that I would have loved to splash out $40 a night for a 5* hotel!

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While I was planning my trip I was concerned with work and if I’d have enough money to travel the world for 3 months.
And to be completely honest, without the massive help from my mum and being a very un-social human being these past 8 months I don’t think I would have had enough money to travel. Everytime someone says to me they can’t save for travel, I always say “book your flights and then save!”. Once you have something set in stone to look forward to it makes you save your money.💲💲
Whenever I think to treat myself to lunch or a few drinks, I always think ‘would I rather have a few drinks here at home, or on my Contiki in Las Vegas’  hmm. …

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Not to say I’m perfect however. I defintaly didn’t give up everything. I still bought my M.a.c make up and ordered my Frank body scrubs from Australia.   I still had the odd night out and went out for dinner and kept up my gym membership.🍹 I still needed a life! But not as much of a life as I used to have…
It also helps that I’m still a child and live at home, scrounging off my parents and very rarely buying my own food unless I went out. 😶

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If you want to travel, it doesn’t always have to be to the most expensive destination. Somewhere nearby to where you live is still a little adventure in itself. Get a group of friends together and hire a batch out for a couple of days. Volunteering abroad or teaching english is always another way to travel without spending too much money. Before I won my trip, I looked into teaching English overseas or becoming a nanny in the States or Europe.
As I went to beauty school and only received a diploma, it kinda limited me to what countries i could teach in. If you have a degree however you can teach pretty much anywhere you want to. Eg, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand
Teachers in China can earn USD $250-425 Once they’ve completed a TESOL Course.

When I get back from my trip. I need to finally decide what to do with my life. Well that’s what people keep telling me anyways. I’ve always had  job but never really a ‘career’
Back in the day I thought I wanted to be a beauty therapist so I studied that for a year, worked in Auckland and spent 5 days a week massaging people, giving manicures and telling everyone what products they should be using on their skin. My clients were fab, the company I worked for – not so much. Unless you sold lots of products and upgraded every treatment you’d never get a pay rise or any ‘bonuses’. That would have been okay if they didn’t yell at me every Monday and tell me I hadn’t sold anything so to work harder and force me to call up clients so they could book treatments. That’s not really my personality…and after a few too many tears in the storage cupboard I quit.
After that, I worked at a pharmacy. It was pretty chill and if you wanted more money you could try and swap shifts with someone to work the weekends. Some of the people there were so much fun, but there was only so much dusting of a shelf and telling people the cheaper cold medicines had the exact same ingredients as the more expensive ones I could take.

One of my most favorite jobs has been a nanny. I got placed with my first family who I’m still in contact with today. They lived right around the corner from my house when I was nannying for them so I can’t complain about the 8.30am sleep in!
I got along with the parents really well and the kids were great. It ended eventually when the mum became a stay-at-home mum and my services were not required any more 😐
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I’m currently working at a radio station which has its perks. But the role I’m in I wouldn’t say it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. I was thinking of becoming a flight attendant! At least for a couple of years and maybe work my way up or just get the travel bug out of my system haha. I should really talk to the cabin crew on my flights that I’m about to embark on ✈ I follow so many flight attendant blogs on here it just makes me want to become one!

Well this blog is kind of a ramble blog.
I got a new tablet yesterday that I’m really stoked with. I’m gonna take it on my travels too so it’ll keep me entertained on long bus rides!

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It seriously has the best graphics. I’m a Samsung girl, so it syncs up nicely with my phone. Apart from my ipod of course. That’s always gonna stay apple… haha
Right, well its nearly home time for me. I’m currently at work typing away on here so I should get ready to head home. 😆

💕