Planning is so hard!

So planning. Planning is so hard to do from here, because we're currently in Malaysia. We can't buy a van and do lots of practice runs before we go. We can't test drive tow vehicles. We can't do a towing course (but we will as soon as we have the car and the van). We can't slowly work out what we need and what we don't. We're going to have to do all our research now and hope that we're not very wrong in our preparations.

We have printed out a number of maps and have started scribbling all over them. Directions to travel, places to see, people to visit, dates that we hope to be in certain places. And of course, once we agree on a route, we change it for a better one the next week.

Our plan is to have no firm plan, but at this stage we're heading to Uluru first, then north, then east, then south (Melbourne around Christmas), then west, then north, then east, then south again. Annoyingly vague yet? This plan should have us avoiding most of the cold weather down south and most of the hot weather up north.

We've downloaded Wikicamps (brilliant app!) and I've been getting heaps of advice from a friend here in Malaysia who did the same trip three years ago (what are the odds of that?!). I'm arranging  first aid courses for all of us (yep, even the kids are going to learn what to do if they get bitten by a snake). We're getting ready to sell everything (garage sales were the only way to get the kids to part with a lifetime of kid junk - they get to keep most of the money, but they'll also donate a portion to a charity of their choice). We'll ship some things to Australia, but most of them will stay in boxes until we move to the next overseas destination after we finish our lap. Everything else will be sold or given away.

We've only got just over 100 days left before the end of the school year, and I know that the end of June, our departure date, will be here before we know it. We really need to get organised...!!