Phase One of our travel plan was to drive from Malaysia to Wales in 2025, and we achieved it! We travelled through 19 countries and stayed in 18! Slovenia was just driven through as time was not on our side. We travelled for 332 days and covered over 23,000 miles and loved every minute of it. There were many highs and we would go as far as to say there were no lows, there were challenges but these were overcome with a smile! We would definitely say that the journey was a fabulous life time experience, it exceeded all expectations and we made lifetime memories as well as friendships.
We had no favourite country, all had a beauty and uniqueness that we fell in love with. Our initial plans of travel were changed as was to be expected and with ever changing border requirements, we found we had to be flexible and adjust plans accordingly.
We travelled through Malaysia and managed to visit new places that we had never explored despite having lived there for ten years! We hugged the South coast of Thailand and again found hidden secrets that we had never seen. We spent longer than expected in Bangkok waiting for Chinese visas and then found ourselves jumping from Laos, to Thailand back into Laos and then Cambodia because of the restrictions on the car passport!
The journey through China was spectacular and this was where we met like minded people who had a common interest, travel! And some have become friends for life. Drive China was the perfect company for us to travel with and we were highly impressed with their organisation, planning and attention to detail. From here we travelled into Kyrgyzstan and the Silk Road became part of our journey through Central Asia. The journey along the Pamir Highway was certainly a highlight and a dream come true.
Our continued journey west was a three day transit through Russia and into Georgia. The idea was to keep going west through Turkey, however this was a major travel plan change and we didn’t make it into Turkey which was a disappointment. We were allowed in on our UK passport but as the car is Malaysian and we are British the passports don’t match hence the car was denied entry! We ended up on a ship going across the Black Sea which was an adventure in itself.
Our travel through Europe was about three months with a break in the travelling to visit friends on Naxos. We arrived back in Wales at the beginning of December and enjoyed Christmas with family and friends.
Phase 2 was going to happen at the beginning of March. We planned to travel across Canada and the Pan American Highway, with the target being to get to Alaska while ensuring the borders are still open due to seasonal weather. We were then making our way down South to Patagonia. But … this Phase 2 is now on hold, it could turn into Phase 3 .. who knows, but we do have a new Phase 2!
Whilst visiting friends on Naxos, we fell in love with the island, so much so we are now proud land owners of a plot on the island of Naxos! We now need to make steps to selling a property in Wales so that we can build our forever home on the island. Hence we are not traveling too far. We had already decided that we had wanted to make some alterations to OTW, which Mike has been working on and we will update you again about what that included! We are now planning to head back to Naxos and discuss the next steps with the land regarding permits and from there we will be do the Schenghen shuffle, explore more of the Balkans before heading back to Naxos after our 90 days. . But of course this is open to change and we are good at being flexible!
Phase 3 could be Canada, or it could even be South Africa. Whatever happens, because of our 2025 travel, we have itchy feet and we are keen to be on the road as much as we can and see as much as we can before actually settling in our forever home on Naxos .. and when that will be .. who knows!
