Background

Why are we going on an adventure?

Following four consecutive years of being students (three-year degrees, one-year masters courses), we've both spent the past year working in the real world. We both now know that we'll be starting PhDs next academic year at Edinburgh University. This, then, is a unique opportunity to go on a long adventure somewhere too far to go for a short holiday. It also seems like a good way to prepare for at least three years of hard slog back in the academic world.

We considered various parts of the world for our adventure. One main reason why we're going to Southeast Asia is that Hanna lived there for most of her childhood, in Singapore, and hasn't had the chance to go back for a long time. Mark has never been to this part of the world and Hanna has for a long time been dying to introduce him to it. This is why we're spending quite a lot of time in Singapore and Malaysia.

Yet another good reason to go to this corner of the world is that Hanna's father is currently working there, in Manila in the Philippines. We will be spending two weeks there with him at the end of the adventure.