Well the last 4 weeks has been pretty fun so time for my monthly summary on my backpacking antics! If there’s any info you guys think I should add to these updates let me know, I’m basically putting them up as a rough guide of what you can expect to spend and encounter whilst backpacking – so if you want to know anything just ask!

June 12th – July 12th

After Matt flew home I left Bangkok and headed down to Phuket for my first taste of ocean air in over 6 weeks! I was shortly joined by my brother and his mate Tom who flew out for my birthday on the 15th where we also met up with fellow blogger @AllyToullec for some party carnage in Patong with a 4* hotel to recover in!

We quickly bailed to explore the island paradise of Phi Phi where turquoise waters and lush beaches greeted us and Ally took us out for some diving with Barakuda Dive. After a week of topping up tans and relaxing it was time to island hop over to my beloved Koh Tao for more diving with Davy Jones Locker and hostel living at Koh Tao Backpackers.

Good times were had all round, where we met heaps of awesome backpackers who partied hard with us on the Koh Tao Pub Crawl and then joined us for Full Moon on Koh Phangan.

After a quick one night pit stop on Koh Samui (my least favourite Thai Island!) Josh and Tom flew back to the UK – leaving me as a solo traveller for the first time in a few months. It’s all god though as I jumped on a plane to the surfing mecca of Bali in Indonesia where I’m currently enjoying lazy days surfing in the sun!

Happy days indeed!

Stats

Total distance travelled = 4080.7km (including the flight from Phuket to Bali)

Flights =  2611.96km

Overland = 1468.74km

My Route Through The Thai Islands

My Full Route This Month

Main Places Visited - Bangkok, Phuket (Patong Beach and Chalong Beach), Phi Phi Islands, Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Bali

Transport taken – sleeper bus, bus mini van x 2, passenger ferry x 5, sleeper cargo ferry x 1, tuk tuks, taxis,

Flights  = HKT – DPS (Air Asia)

Money Breakdown

Thailand – £659 over 23 days= £28.60 per day

Bali – £76 over 8 days = £9.50 per day

TOTAL SPENT – £735 = £23.70 per day

So I’m still slightly over my budget – but hey I’ve done heaps this month and had some serious big spends on my birthday and full moon! Time to tighten up to wallet though if I want to stay in Asia longer!

Cheapest Place - probably Koh Tao if you take the diving out of the equation

Most Expensive Place - easily Phuket. Not even because of my accomodation but the cost of taxis/tuk tuks, meals and general living.

Biggest Splurge/Unforeseen Expense - my birthday weekend. I raped my budget on a 4* hotel, lush steak meal and a couple nights of hardcore partying. But hey it was my birthday!

Oh and I might have smashed out a shed tonne of dollar on a new Canon 7D body (but I’ve kept that out of the budget spend as it’s not really relevant!)

Highlight - a couple this month, it’s a toss up between the beautiful beaches of Phi Phi and diving with a whale shark on Koh Tao – both are things I’ll never forget and have been major highlights of all my backpacking so far.

Lowlight - probably having to say bye to my little brother, no idea when i’ll be seeing him again.

Top Shot

After grabbing a new SLR last month I’ve been heaps less slack on the photo front! My top shot this month featured as my Photo of the Week a couple weeks back – finally managing to snap this image of a Thai long tail on the islands made me super happy!

What’s next?

Well I’ve only been in Bali for a few days and I intend on spending the next 4 weeks getting some serious surfing in after being away from the waves for nearly two months! I’ve also booked to fulfill a lifelong surfing dream – a weeks surf charter boat trip towards the end of the month around the islands of Indonesia with Dream Weaver Surf Charters which I’m super stoked about!

I’m heading back to Thailand on Aug 5th and I’ll be joined by my favourite Swiss girl for some time relaxing back on Phi Phi before the birthday chaos that will be  happening for @AllyToullec.

So overall a pretty epic month ahead! Bring it on!