Malaysia 2016 just has a good ring to it doesn't it? It just sounds good, you know? And you could probably guess by the title that, yes, I am travelling to South-East Asia next year and, yes, this company is probably going to overcharge me and my school friends for this, but it's a once in a lifetime experience, who could say no!
Now, let me introduce myself. I’m Juliet - but you can call me Jules - and I’m in year 12. I attend The Misbourne School in a quaint little town in England. Pretty mediocre.
But next year I shall be heading for Malaysia with 15 or so others to complete World Challenge, eek!
So what exactly is World Challenge? Well, in their words, ‘Since 1987 World Challenge has been at the forefront of devising educational expedition programmes which teach life skills and expand minds outside the classroom.’
Basically, they gather a team together, take us to another country (after lots of fundraising of course) and teach us life skills you couldn’t learn in a classroom, plus we get to help a charity partner, pretty rad if you ask me.
But how does it all work? Okay so, I’ve got until June next year to raise around £3,000, this is probably the most difficult part of the challenge. Then when July 2016 rolls around, we fly off on a 14hr plane journey to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
From here we work on 4 phases over the course of 2 weeks: Acclimatisation, Trekking, Project work and Rest & Relaxation.
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| All of the World Challenge Phases |
I haven’t included the Planning & Prep phase because technically we do that before we leave.
Our itinerary:
Day 1&2: Leave London & arrive in Kuala Lumpur, agree as a team on some exped. rules and start confirming or booking anything we need, buy supplies and change money. It’s going to be hectic
Days 3-6: Cameron highlands.Explore self-guided trails through tea plantations, flower-growing areas and surrounding forests.
Day 7, one week in: Travel back to Kuala Lumpur. Head back to the city and maybe use this time to plan what to do next.
Days 8-10: Project phase: Develop relationships with our community host and immerse ourselves in Malaysian culture, really give back to the community and help out.
Days 11-12: Travel to Pulae Pangkor: Go over to this sweet, tranquil island for some chill out time, reflect on the last 10 days and have some fun!
To some of you this may seem like a holiday, but I know it’s going to be a lot of hard work to raise the money and organise everything, yes, we are organising everything ourselves!
To be honest, I think I’m writing these posts to show others how I’m raising money and what It’ll be like while I’m out there, maybe encourage some of you to do World Challenge or even visit Malaysia.
Or maybe some of you are reading this because you like to travel, or want to someday. Well, so do I. Personally, I think World Challenge would give me a real insight and first hand experience of what it’s like to go backpacking, teach me some stuff about it. And then if I ever do go backpacking, I’ll know what it’ll be like and i’ll know how to budget and survive.
But as they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and this first single step is going to be difficult one, but we’ll get there in the end!
So I hope to see you all again on the upcoming blog posts about how I’m raising money for this big trip. I just hope I can get it all done it time!
Jules x
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