Last minute travels

Hello dear readers! How are things!? After last week’s mammoth post I figured I’d give you something much shorter this time around and tell you about some upcoming travel plans!

I kick off every year thinking about potential adventures for the year but I kicked off this year with real hope and optimism that the visa situation might actually be reaching a conclusion. We got confirmation in mid-November that my visa was provisionally approved and we just had a few last minute bits and bobs to provide and the end appeared to be in sight!

Then on the evening of Wednesday 28th January we got further confirmation that all of the necessary additional documentation was received and all that was left to do was for USCIS to arrange an appointment for me to attend at the embassy in London. Simple.

Or so I thought. Honestly, I’m not even sure what the holdup is at this point but we’re back to waiting. I don’t even get a say on when the appointment is so it’s not like they’re making plans with a friend and unable to find a date that suits all parties.

“Are you free on the 40th of Decembruary 2045?”
“Oh, no. Unfortunately I’m busy that day. I think I can squeeze you in before the next leap year though?”

I’m really reluctant to support or encourage anything AI related but humans don’t half complicate things that shouldn’t be this complicated. Just give me the next available appointment. Whenever that is. Please.

I was delusionally optimistic in thinking this part of the process would be quite quick but alas, the little research I’ve done suggests I’m probably still a few weeks away from hearing when I’ll have an appointment and a further 2-3 months before the actual appointment itself and thus, I’ve booked myself a last minute holiday.

I found myself in a similar dilemma last year where I questioned if it was right to go away or not given the “imminent” move but my patience is wearing thin as we approach day 500 of visa limbo and so I’m treating myself to a week away.

I would love to have gone to see Haleigh or to have gone somewhere together wtih Haleigh but sadly she’s swamped with work deadlines as tax season approaches and so instead I’m having another solo adventure.

Last year I deliberated a few options but there was this itch to explore somewhere a bit further afield. I’ve loved the places that I’ve been to but there have been a lot of European and North America travels, Australia being the only exception.

I want to start touching ground on new continents and really explore and experience some new cultures and get a little further out of my comfort zone. Alas, after whittling down a few options I still ended up going to a European country – Malta!

I loved it and honestly, it wouldn’t have taken much temptation to go back again this year but this time I really did want to get out of Europe with either a sunny Winter trip to North Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia..) or potentially somewhere in Asia if time and budget allowed. The closest I’ve come to stepping foot in either continent was Gibraltar (Africa within touching distance across the water) and long layovers at Singapore’s airport (this does not count!).

I figure Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and South America adventures can wait until I’m stateside and they’re on my “doorstep” but for now it was either North Africa and Asia and I’m pleased to say that next week I’ll be heading to Malaysia.

And Qatar.

I don’t know when exactly Malaysia started shooting up my list of places to visit but I’ve had a growing fascination for the country in recent years. Watching “Race Across The World” definitely played its part and added some intrigue in to visiting Malaysia and typically once a place is on your radar you easily find other content that gives you further reason to visit. Last year blogging friend, Hannah, posted a series of Malaysia posts and that helped whet the appetite to visit.

Qatar is more of an outlier, I can’t say that I had any particular reason to visit other than the fact it’s on the way. Genuinely. It breaks up the journey and I recall another blogging friend, Marion, talking about Qatar’s “stopover programme” and I figured why not take advantage of it if I’m going that way?

Qatar’s stopover programme is essentially a scheme to encourage people to visit Qatar on a stopover rather than theoretically flying to somewhere like Malaysia directly. You can stopover in Qatar for a few days with stays at a 4/5 star hotel at a reduced cost and enjoy some time in another country at the same time.

The programme was already on my radar but another blogging pal, Charlie, recently made the best of time in Qatar on a stopover trip and it added some further curiosity as I now knew of two people I’ve followed for quite some time who’ve used the programme.

It was only when planning this trip that I gave it some actual consideration.  I may well come home and say otherwise but the pros appear to outweigh the cons and the idea of a stopover in Doha has become that more appealing.

It’s all a bit last minute, booked less than two weeks in advance of the trip. I’m still conscious that with the pending visa that I can’t book things too far in advance so it’s a trip sooner rather than later.

Since booking I’ve had a little look at things to do in both Doha and Kuala Lumpur, I’m also tempted to pop up to Penang as I’m keen to visit that part of Malaysia but I don’t have any actual plans for either destination yet so feel free to chuck some recommendations my way. Whatever the plan, I’m just excited to visit somewhere new (Malaysia) and with the added bonus of briefly seeing another country too.

I don’t know how many other adventures there’ll be this year but hopefully this’ll be a fun first!

There won’t be a blog post next week as I’ll be busy in Malaysia but I intend to be blogging again mid-March.

Until next time!

Jason