Ursprungsland Biathlon Team is expanding their activities to “down under”! The dream of having a longer break has been back of Marja’s and Jukka’s heads already few years.  We’ve been inspired by our branch in Czech Republic, the family with two small boys is ready to leave for a longer holiday. So why not us as well? Meeting the cross country skiers from Australia and New Zealand has always been really nice, what they have told us about their home countries has been waking up our curiosity! Last June we had Jarrah from Tasmania in our place for some time, he was training for Junior World Orienteering Championships. What would it be to try orienteering in the jungle among koalas and snakes? Or is it purely surfing there? And aren’t they anyway upside down?

So, we will take a break of about three months to travel to Australia and New Zealand, starting in November 2016. We are aware the time is too short, and there would be things to see for years. However, we would like to be back in Finland for the real winter (it’s not possible to skip the whole skiing season!). The autumn is quite desperate in Finland, rainy and very dark, so the timing is perfect! The final decision wasn’t done too much before the departure, and it in the end came with simple thinking: “It’s now or never!”. It’s good that there is not too much time, as more time there is, the more nervous we would be with the practical issues.

When planning a longer trip, our tips:

• Do you have the time? What is your time frame?
• Do you have money? How much you can save (selling things is sometimes quite profitable!)? Are you ok with the fact that it will be all gone?
• Do you have friends? To travel with? To meet there?
• Are there some milestones on the way? Some happenings you want to join? Competitions?
• What are your goals? And do you share this with your companion?

Our trip starts in few days,  guess we can give real tips after the departure, now it all seems to be a mess… And instead of hard planning and packing, we’ve been just normally working and training during the weeks, and enjoying meeting friends during the weekends.

Oh yeah, the actual plan: Helsinki – Kuala Lumpur – Gold Coast – Brisbane – Coff’s Harbour – Sydney – Cairns – Tasmania – Melbourne – Auckland – ?. Stay tuned!