My top 5 misconceptions about travelling...

Even after all my research, chatting to friends, family and having my own ideas about what travelling would be like, some things are very different to how I imagined them to be. Here's my top five.

1. 'Mosquitos... mosquitoes will be everywhere!'

I brought a mosquito net with me on my first backpacking trip. I ended up donating it to The Red Cross in Myanmar as I didn’t use it once. I found that hostels, guesthouses and hotels will provide a net if necessary, or the rooms are secure enough that they rarely come in. You can't beat them totally, but mosquito repellent with DEET and taking the malaria tablets when we've had to is plenty.

2. 'Before I leave the UK I must buy 'travelling clothes', clothes I don't like but they will be great for travelling!'

I bought several long-sleeve tops, ugly trainers plus shorts that I hated, yet thought they would be perfect for the trip. Turns out that if you don't like it at home, you won't like it travelling! I did not expect a huge shopping mall in Yangon, the monstrosity of Siam Paragon/MBK/Central World in Bangkok (H&M, Zara etc) or all the amazing things to buy in the Indian markets!

3. 'I'll be eating local food all the time.'

Yes, local food is usually amazing, cheap and readily available, but that doesn't mean that we don't fancy a bit of home-style food once in a while! And it is so easy to find. Cereals, fish and chips, cheese boards, every chocolate bar you can imagine... it's endless, if you want it you'll be able to find it! We even found a sports bar with pie and mash and a pub quiz in Myanmar - my mind was blown!

4. 'Taxi drivers know where they are going.'

No. They do not. If we didn't have Google Maps on our phones in order to direct them, we probably wouldn't have made it this far! Especially in India and Sri Lanka, we would explain to the driver that we would direct them, yet they still stop every few metres to ask people on the street, so packing your patience (and your Google Maps app) is vital! We used ‘ok maps’ in Google to easily download our map before heading out to our next destination.

5. 'Going to the toilet will be a constant squatting experience.'

I think I had to use a squat toilet once in India. Perhaps a few more in Nepal. But really, the only times when toilets aren't western is usually service stations, rural areas and up mountains! The rest of the time, I've been pleasantly surprised - although it is amazing how quickly you get used to it and it doesn’t bother me any more at all.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any extras you'd add to this list? Or different experiences?!

Kiarna x