Well we have been back in England for a month already! Time really does go by so fast!

Looking back over the time we had on our trip we can't believe we did so much in the time that we had. We climbed two mountains, rode on elephants, came face to face with wild orang-utans, hiked on a glacier, jumped from a platform suspended 134 metres, jumped from a plane 14'000 meters and swam with bull sharks to name just a few!

Our favourite country was definitely New Zealand with Cambodia a close second!

The best thing I did over the year was probably overcoming my fear of deep sea diving and the bungee jump!

Ady's favourite thing was the jungle treks we did, also our trip to Whitsundays in Australia.

Our top ten tips for anyone wanting to do a backpacking trip would be:

1. Speak to a travel consultant at STA they are very good at helping to organise your trip

2. Grab yourself a lonely planet book before you go but don't use it for EVERYTHING!

3. Get an up to date lonely planet book as you don't want to be caught out with old visa information like we did!

4. Dont take too many books there are free book exchange in most hostels around the world.

5. Don't organise everything too much your plans always change!

6. Get yourself a silk sleeping bag liner great for SE Asia and really cheap on EBay!

7. A very small notebook laptop like our Asus eeepc comes in handy

8. Get a Skype account great for keeping in touch cheaply with friends and family

9. Get an YHA/VIP/BBH card as soon as you get to countries which accept them it saves you quite a bit on hostel costs.

10. Look at reviews on websites like hostelbookers.com it gives you a true indication of what you can expect from that hostel before you book or turn up.

Also other items that can come in handy include:

Money belt/wallet

Sarong (for the ladies can be used as a beach towel/pillow/blanket

Basic First Aid kit

Miniature hairdryer

Worldwide travel adaptor

Tinted moisturiser/Mascara/Vaseline

Clothesline

Travel towel

Good walking shoes unless you want to go for style like me and ice-skate down a mountain!

Waterproof daypack and raincoat

Eye mask and Earplugs!

We're off to plan our next trip now! Hope you have enjoyed our blog and any comments on the message board about the blog would be greatly appreciated. The blog will be going to the printers shortly to get printed as a hardback book for us to keep.

Thanks again

Siobhan and Ady xx