The Trip

I thought I'd post an overview of our trip, maybe I can review it once we get home! The big plan was drawn up in Excel no less, and included a fancy map, time tables, references to Lonely Planet pages, etc.

We fly into Johannesburg from Aberdeen on the 6th of November. We then embark on our 3-day safari (where I was worried we might get eaten by tigers, although I was assured that tigers only live in Asia) and start out "backpacking" on the 12th of November (Happy Birthday Haau!). Here's a map of our planned adventure, courtesy of Baz Bus (www.bazbus.co.za)...

We stay in double rooms in backpackers lodges all the way. How does that fit into the concept of flashpacking? Stops planned and booked are as follows:

• Northern Drakensburg - 3 nights
• Durban - 1 night
• Port St John - 2 nights
• Cinsta - 2 nights
• Port Elizabeth - 1 night
• Storms River - 1 night
• Stellenbosch - 1 night
• Cape Town - 4 nights

We are most looking forward to our stay in Cape Town, we are staying at private luxury cottages. We've got 2 booked for good measure!

• http://www.thevillagelodge.com/content/ct_108Awaterkant.asp for 2 nights
• http://www.thevillagelodge.com/content/ct_80waterkant.asp for 1 night

We'll come back and tell you which ones we liked the most... =)

Our Gadgets

Further research into the concept of "flashpacking" and I found this:

"The term flashpackers has also come to denote backpackers carrying expensive electronic gear"

Mark has been eyeing the PSP for a while now... When he found out that we would be on the bus for several hours at a stretch, for a few days, it appeared to be sufficient justification for him to get a PSP. So a PSP he got...

It was a Sunday evening, we'd just got back from dinner. I was out in the hallway playing with Missy the chinchilla, and suddenly this yelling starts in the living room. "Ah, I've just been outbid, what do I do, what do I do? Ah, ah, I can't take this anymore!" - The joys of ebay-ing!

So he bought his PSP, and subsequently bought the accessories to go with it. There's now a pile of "presents" waiting for him in the bay window. I nearly brought out the Christmas tree so I could pile them underneath.

As for me, I've bought myself a cool new camera! Unfortunately my camera got held for customs charges, and I am still waiting for it to turn up. A spiffy Canon Powershot A710 IS, wahey!

I might draw up an electronics/gadgets inventory before we leave just for a laugh. Watch this space...

Pre-Departure Shopping

Reading the last post I think it would be easier to add names to the blog. I'm Chiin, and my better half is Mark. Rather than referring to each other by our initials... :)

In the excitement of planning our trip, we did a bit of shopping around good ol' Aberdeen!

We went to Rohan and bought me something to cover my head with (?!). I got the pink one you see in the pic, it looks cool, and you can make it into all sorts: a pirate cap, a headband, a balakava, etc. I will model it for another post. :)



We then wandered into Fat Face and I saw these Colorado Trousers....
£10 discount? Bargain! :) I needed trousers anyway - although I must admit I'm not sure how suitable these are for South African weather in November, but never mind that! I'm modelling them as I write and I can assure you they are very comfy.




Finally, for completeness, I thought I'd show you the bag I will be carrying on the trip. Mark has a similar one but smaller, so he won't be carrying his on this 3-week trip. I can't find a pic of it because unlike me he's a bit of an adventurer (hee hee) and bought his bag a while back. My lovely bag, bought in Malaysia 3 months ago, is an Osprey Meridian.




So there you have it, my shopping so far. Lots of other (probably more important) things to buy like sunblock, insect repellant, malaria tablets (?) but they won't look very interesting in pictures. A niggling voice at the back of my head is saying I'm like a rich spoilt girl pretending to go backpacking. I mean, Fat Face??

Junior Flashpacking, case in point. :)

Junior Flashpackers - The Beginning

Think 5* hotel,
Think beautiful suites (Penthouse, Honeymoon, etc),
Now think Junior Suite...

And that's where the "Junior" part of our title comes from. The lowest, cheapest form of flashpacking available, but flashpacking none the less...

I first read about flashpacking a few months back in a travel magazine, and was intrigued because it appeared to describe our travel lifestyle. However, more in depth research into the term showed that it was close, but we didn't quite fit the profile.

I found this today:

Evening Standards definition of the term flashpacker is “Thirty-something backpacker who does the budget hotel thing but jets around on internal flights or helicopters because they can’t be bothered with 20 hour bus trips.”

Well, to start with we are not 30 (yet), and we can't really afford the £350 per room per night hotels just yet. We do however condone suites on special occassions for a night, and have stayed in some very decent hotels. Ultimately, what we look for is maximum incremental luxury for minimal incremental price, and we are willing to search high and low for it!

We are currently in the process of planning a so-called backpacking trip to South Africa - this is what prompted me to start this blog. I do however hope to cover our previous travel adventures and romps in lovely hotels in due course.

And for the record, the "we" refers to two of us. ME = male, CHT = female (that would be yours truly) in our sign-off nick for this blog.

Happy reading, here's to the birth of a subcategory of flashpacking, Junior Flashpacking! I'm sure there are many more of you out there...