After spending more than 10 years organising art and design exhibitions in London and around the world, I could do with a bit of a break and a change of scenery.
My lovely employers (the Victoria & Albert Museum in London) have granted me a 9 month (unpaid) career break from September 2011. As I’ve always wanted to undertake a long trip (to see if I could actually do it as much as to see if I like it) and to try living in another country for a while, I thought I would take the opportunity to do just that!
So my round the world ticket (booked through the very efficient Round The World Experts) goes:
London > Lima overland to Buenos Aires > Sydney > Melbourne > Bangkok overland to Singapore > Mumbai > London
Patience and language skills will be tested in South America, budgets will be stretched in Australia, tasty food will be consumed in SE Asia, achy muscles will be developed in India, and BA (One World) air miles will be earned!
Why the yoga mat and ICOM card? Well, I hope to have more time for yoga and meditation on my trip and I’ve got an ICOM card (of sorts) on the back of my staff pass, so I hope to get into lots of amazing museums for free with that.
trying to travel light 
Hey Kit, I was just researching a bit for my trip to South America and bumped into this blog. Really nice!!!
After 13 years of work I as well decided for a 9 months sabbatical and I can’t wait. Your packing list is really helpful… since I travelled as a backpacker 13 years ago I see a lot of things changed:-)
Cheers Silvia
Hey Silvia! Glad you found the blog useful. Have safe, happy and wonderful travels. Dana x
what is an icom card??? :X)
It’s an international museum card that gets you into museums for free. I think it will be more useful in Australia than South America…