It was Liz’s 21st Birthday party last Saturday night, the theme was celebrities and famous characters. Typically I came up with an idea at the last minute and rushed to get it all sorted. I decided on the Cat in the Hat, and quickly realised I wouldn’t be able to find all the pieces for the costume in a few hours so I decided to make it. It turned out surprisingly well considering my lack of artistic/craft skills (my worst subject in High School was art!).

Anyway the picture below shows how it turned out, which I thought was great considering it was made out of cardboard! It was also taken after the party which I think is a credit to my hat making skills, that it actually lasted that long haha. It also shows the bow-tie which Ben’s mum made for me in about 30 minutes, which is crazy!

Travel insurance is a must have when travelling overseas, I’ve heard many unfortunate stories where people did not get travel insurance and where their family had to sell their assets to pay for hospital bills and sometimes special flights to get them back.

It is not only important that you get travel insurance, but it is also important that you get it as early as possible. Everyone should be aware of the travel problems in Europe which have been caused by ash from the Icelandic volcano called; Eyjafjallajokull. Now for most insurance companies if you purchased your insurance policy after the ash had caused problems the first time you would not be covered for ash related problems. The reasoning behind this is because travel insurance is meant to protect against the unpredictable, however it is now highly probable that the ash may cause travellers problems.

So my advice is for everyone to get travel insurance and to get it early to avoid future problems such as these.

My grandparents said they would help me out for my upcoming trip by buying a backpack for my upcoming 21st birthday. I noticed Kathmandu had a 50% sale on and thought there no better time then the present, so I went out a bought this pack:

The only difference is mine is black. The RRP is ridiculous and I definitely wouldn’t pay $619.95 for backpack, but because it was 50% off I got it for $310. The service was great and the guy who served me really knew his stuff, its surprising how complicated backpacks can be, mine has sooo many adjustments it’s crazy, but most make the pack way more comfortable and are well worth it if your going to be using it a lot.

That brings me pretty much all the way on my trips check list, just need my travel insurance sorted and I’m all set!