Why Didn't We Fly?

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  We ask the same question on a daily basis. After spending the past 12 months weighing up the idea of driving from our current base in Melbourne, Australia, up through Asia, into China across the width of Russia, and finally into Europe has thrown up so many logistical challenges. It has been a journey already and we haven't even set off! An over landing journey of this diversity will allow us to see and explore more of the world taking us into places far off the grid, giving us the opportunity to experience different cultures, traditions, and cuisine, on a longer time frame than a quick fly-in, fly-out holiday. This really will be a trip of a lifetime.

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  After completing a 3-month coast to coast trip from Miami to San Francisco we arrived in Melbourne, Australia in November 2015 with the expectation to spend the next 12 months exploring the country. A few factors changed our thought process and with both of us securing jobs we pushed back our travel plans. Then after months of deliberation, we made the decision about an overland adventure from Melbourne through Asia, across Russia, and into Europe, it's either now or never and we decided to go for it!

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  Within the first month of arriving in Melbourne before committing to the world trip, we started looking for a suitable vehicle to take us around Australia. We spent hours doing research on four-wheel drives taking into consideration the availability of parts, maintenance, and reliability. The decision came down to a Diesel Toyota Landcruiser and so the search commenced. After scrolling car sites we found our truck, a 1998 Toyota Landcruiser. The truck came with many additional items such as a rooftop tent and a fridge. With a few checks of the car and paperwork we transferred the funds and a couple of days later the truck was ours, given the name ‘ohno’

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  Choosing a route is a challenging undertaking, it has taken many hours of research taking into consideration political and geographical concerns. Originally we entertained the idea of traveling through Southern Asia, The Stans into Iran and Turkey, with political instability at present in these areas, we tailored this out of our indented route. Maybe one day in the future we'll explore these areas!

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  The plan now is to drive from Melbourne to Darwin setting off in mid-September 2016. Ship "Ohno" to Dili in Timor-Leste, Island-hop through Indonesia using car ferries then travel across to Kalimantan, enter Borneo, Malaysia, cross into Brunei then container ship from Sabah to peninsular Malaysia. The next stage takes us through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos then into China where we pick up a guide. They leave us at the Mongolia border, then on to Russia, Kazakhstan, back into Russia before entering Eastern Europe through the Baltic's then south towards Serbia, and up to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest! The last dash is to the car ferry from France to the UK in later September 2017 where we end the journey. It's going to be an epic trip and will sure to change!

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  We will update a blog on our journey as we go, internet permitting. We have found pockets of good, fast internet is not always available so updates tend to come in big chunks! We will also be adding content to our social media as regularly as we can, on our Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter accounts under @wdwfly #wdwfly If you have any questions please Contact Us Tristan & Robyn