Once upon a time (on 1^st June 2015) in a land far, far away (Manchester) two small but lovely (that’s debatable) ladies (also debatable) decided to pack up a 40 litre Osprey backpack and venture off into an unknown land (a continent called Asia). They thought their journey may last 6-12 months but no one would have ever guessed that 10 years later they wouldn’t have made it home (don’t worry – they’re not dead). One of them had the fabulous idea that whilst conquering (definitely didn’t conquer anything) these new territories they should write a blog all about their quest. The blog was to be called Two Small Mancunians. And for years they managed to create hilarious and factually incorrect chronicles of their voyage. However, on a dark and stormy night 4 years ago the last blog was published. Puff, the Two Small Mancunians simply disappeared into thin air (except on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and email). Their three avid blog followers have since been pondering the whereabouts of these two travelling Mancs. Where were they after all these years? Had they finally grown their Indian fringes back? Had anyone else fallen down the toilet? And was the one named Lyvette still fly fitting her way around the world?!

1^st June 2015. The day we left home. Ten Years ago. It feels like “Once Upon A Time” to be fair!

Ten years since we headed off on an adventure with our trusty Osprey backpacks, armed with little to zero knowledge of Asia and a f**k ton of enthusiasm. Ten years since we both decided that some injections in the bum and a plane ticket to India was exactly what we needed. Nobody, including us, knew what would happen or where we’d end up. I don’t think anyone expected neither of us to be back.

Ten years ago we made a choice and then we kept on making these choices until one of us ended up in New Zealand, the other in Australia. And now here we are, ten years later.

Ten years and what a ride it’s been. Even now I still have people we’ve met along the way message me asking; “Where are you now?! And how are you still out there?” In reality, I’m not sure how we ended up here. I doubt Lyvette does either.

Over the past ten years there have been so, SO many memories that I wish I had followed Lyvette’s advice and blogged more, just to remember. Recently I’ve started rereading blogs for exactly this reason. Because I forget. We both forget.

I’d forgotten about the time I woke up to a Vietnamese boy shoving a comb up my bum (we were at a homestay!). I’d forgotten about the time in Penang, Malaysia when I accidently got involved in a ritual and witnessed a half naked man pull a chicken out of a plastic bag, snap it’s neck and drink its blood. Or when we ended up at the head of a protest in Kuala Lumpur. I’d forgotten about the time in Cambodia when some guy randomly managed to bat a fly into my mouth and I nearly choked to death. Or when we went white water rafting with no white water. Or the time in Don Dhet when my bike mechanic was a 4 year old boy with a spanner (which was of absolutely no use). Or the time I got red ants in my knickers. Or when we got stopped and interrogated by the police in Singapore airport whilst they raided Lyvette’s knickers. I’d forgotten about the time in Tonga we lost all of our clothes and had to walk around with stripey blue childrens t shirts and spotty pink knickers.

I’d forgotten about the time in Bali when we witnessed a man quite literally dance the soles of his shoes, about the time we camped on Fraser Island and I woke up dressed head to toe in someone else clothes, with Lyvette’s big toe in my mouth and her starkers next to me. I’d forgotten about that time in Sri Lanka when I turned up to my hostel to find it was a shop, with no beds in it. About Lyvette’s ELD’s (Emergency Lie Down’s) in every place we visited. About the made to order clothing in Vietnam – when I apparently order a playsuit with one leg longer than the other. I’d forgotten about the time Lyvette’s dad, Frank gave me 8kg of Galaxy chocolate and two Soap and Glory packages to take back to Lyvette in Sydney – meaning I had space for half a sock. I’d forgotten about the time we stayed in 8 different hostels in 5 weeks and we met a boy from Bolton who swore he kept his feet smelling nice by washing his toes in conditioner and dabbing them dry with tissue paper (we can confirm his feet did not smell nice). I’d forgotten the time we stole Patrick and his bowler hat from a kitchen in Byron Bay and hiked for hours at 4am to the lighthouse and then fell asleep with our heads in his crotch (we didn’t know Patrick, we just claimed him for the adventure). There’s a whole blog dedicated to this particular story…

We have forgotten so so many things. And this makes me sad. That we can forget the memories that made up the best parts of our lives. But we also remember so many things, so many feelings and people and places and cultures. Maybe not in as much detail but enough to make us smile and appreciate those Two Small Mancunians that 10 years ago, led us to where we are now.

We haven’t forgotten the belly laughs at the unprecedented experiences, the horror when things go wrong. The feeling of standing atop that new viewpoint and wondering how the hell you got there. We haven’t forgotten what a bloody good time we had for the past 10 years, that we’re still having. Nor have we forgotten the feelings of the highest highs and the lowest lows. We haven’t forgotten the people we’ve loathed, liked and loved, the people we’ve lost. We haven’t forgotten how we miss our people at home, our essentials. Nor have we forgotten why we’re still here, doing whatever it is we’re doing (hell if we know). We haven’t forgotten that feeling of freedom.

And we definitely haven’t forgotten THOSE $1.50 Indian haircuts. Or the time Lyvette fell down the toilet and severed her achilles (who could forget that?!)

So this blog is a tribute to all the memories we’ve forgotten and ones we haven’t (mainly because they’re hidden somewhere in the depths of this blog).

This blog is a tribute to those Two Small Mancunians, that 10 years ago set off on an adventure. And thank god they did. Because 10 years later we’re still here, still exploring and still smiling at the memories from the past ten years. Still doing our thing, causing chaos and creating new memories that we’ll probably forget…