Seizing the day

We've been in Wellington nearly 3 months now and wanted to seek some adventure in our new little Nissan – so we looked at the map for the nearest volcano and out popped Mount Taranaki. In the thick of it in Egmont National Park Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, is in the region of Taranaki (go figure). Taranaki is slap bang in the middle of Auckland and Wellington on the west coast. The volcano itself is near the city of New Plymouth, which we wanted to check out too as we'd heard that it's very artsy and trendy. The journey from Wellington It's a 4 and half hour drive (well, that's what Google told us) from Welly to Egmont Village – where we were staying for 2 nights. With the car all packed up, Fleetwood Mac on full whack, and a Peoples' coffee in tow – we set off on State Highway 1 out of Wellington. The drive isn't so bad once you leave inner and outer Wellington, but coming from someone whose driven the horrors of motorways in the

It's one of the first things you Google when planning a big trip: "How much money do I need?" I can only tell you from my recent experience of how much my partner and I spent on accommodation, food, drink (mainly coffee and beer), and transport in Southeast Asia. How much you'll need really depends on a number of things: how long you want to stay in places how many places you want to travel to how you get around, for example cheap buses vs planes if you like drinking lots of beer and coffee day trips and excursions. Rule one: don't take life too seriously - it's only money Our itinerary  Over the 3 and half months we went to: Thailand - 1 month Laos - 1 week Vietnam - 1 month Thai islands - 3 weeks Malaysia - 2 weeks Singapore - 4 days In total we spent just over £5,000. Now let's break down the costs. Accommodation  Overall we spent : £1,665 Thailand : £532 - average £22 per night (one of these nights includes a st