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Celebrating the life of

YOLO Holiday 2019

All the best moments from the trip of a lifetime! On July 15th 2019, I left Melbourne to start a three month adventure around South East Asia! Over 89 days, I travelled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and even managed to squeeze in visits to Tokyo for the Rugby World Cup, Las Vegas and New Orleans, and a quick trip home to Ireland before landing back in Melbourne on October 12t...

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14 Jul 2019National Storage South Wharf, Melbourne

Rachael Cairns Everything safely in storage! All I need is my backpack for the next three months

15 Jul 2019Melbourne

Rachael Cairns This might look like I had a big plan but actually I set off with just the first week booked, the hotels in Las Vegas and New Orleans, and a promise to my boss that I would be back in work by October 14th! I kept this shared excel doc updated as I went as 1) a way to capture all the movements of my trip so I would never forget them; and 2) my parents also had access and so could see where I was staying as I went! I didn’t want them worrying about their little princess 👸🏻

15 Jul 2019Melbourne Airport

Rachael Cairns Waiting on my flight to HCMC at Melbourne Airport! Red wine and tapas at Movida is an international flight tradition for me 🍷

16 Jul 2019Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Me and my backpack!

17 Jul 2019Phu Quoc, Kien Giang, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Straight into the vodka caprioskas. At the bar. The bar at the pool. I mean the bar in the pool 🤤 So good

21 Jul 2019Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns La vie en rose🌹

23 Jul 201993 Đường Đồng Khởi

Rachael Cairns One of the best bars in all of HCMC randomly happened to be in the same building as my hostel. Perfect!! Mani and I at Layla enjoying cocktails 🍸

23 Jul 2019Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Loving my banh mi for breakfast on a street corner in HCMC

23 Jul 2019Mỹ Tho, Tien Giang, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns

24 Jul 2019Tiền Giang, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Buying a coconut at the floating markets at Cai Be

25 Jul 2019Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Rachael Cairns Tastes like fried chicken 🕷 😆

25 Jul 2019Châu Đốc, An Giang Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns About to transfer from a little wooden boat into something more sturdy that will take me from Vietnam to Phnom Penh in Cambodia (5 hour trip)

28 Jul 2019Phnom Bakheng

Rachael Cairns Sunset at Siem Reap really got me 😧

28 Jul 2019Angkor Wat

Rachael Cairns Sunrise at Angkor Wat

29 Jul 2019Krong Siem Reap, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Rachael Cairns Me with Yvonne who I met in Phnom Penh and Mr Ne who was our tuk tuk driver for our two days temple running in Siem Reap

30 Jul 2019Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang Province, Laos

Rachael Cairns The beautiful town of Luang Prabang in Laos

31 Jul 2019Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang Province, Laos

Rachael Cairns Overlooking the Mekong River

1 Aug 2019Kuang Si Waterfall

Rachael Cairns Day trip to Kuang Si Falls near Luang Prabang in Laos

Aug 2019Myanmar (Burma)

Rachael Cairns Myanmar was an interesting place to visit. I met my great friend Michael Tran there in Yangon and we travelled to Bagan for a couple of days to see a breathtaking amount of temples! In Yangon, we visited the restaurant with the blue front. There was a young boy working there and he was the only one that spoke any English. He served us and worked the room with a bit of swagger. Our bill for two people for dinner came to US$6. We left a US$4 tip which he tried to give back to us. We insisted absolutely not and that he deserved the money for his great service. The poor kid was nearly welling up and as I walked away he was dancing behind me. Of course I found out later from a documentary that child labour is extremely common in the cities in Myanmar as rural families send their kids to the city where they make US$2 a day. That made the whole thing a lot more eye opening for me.

1 Aug 2019Kuang Si Waterfall

Rachael Cairns

Aug 2019Pai, Mae Hong Son, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Zero stress sitting in Pai

6 Aug 2019Old Bagan, Mandalay Region, Myanmar (Burma)

Rachael Cairns Flying from Bagan back to Yangon was fun! Handwritten boarding pass, a sticker to put on your t-shirt to show you were checked in, and an airport where the electricity cut out every 20-30 minutes!

10 Aug 2019Pai, Mae Hong Son, Thailand

Rachael Cairns The sweatiest afternoon of my life!

15 Aug 2019Chiang Mai, จ.เชียงใหม่, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Elephant Sanctuary

18 Aug 2019Bangkok, Thailand

Rachael Cairns A one night treat at the Lebua in Bangkok (definitely not backpacker budget!) - but it was so worth it! The hotel features in The Hangover 2!

21 Aug 2019Khao Sok, จ.ชลบุรี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Tubing on the Khao Sok river with the staff from where I was staying (I was one of a handful of tourists in the town - low season!)

21 Aug 2019Khao Sok, จ.ชลบุรี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns It was all fun and games with the monkeys until one of them slapped my hand and then I low key panicked for the next few days about rabies (even though I had had my shots and the slap didn’t break my skin)🙈

22 Aug 2019Khao Sok National Park

Rachael Cairns Visited the Khao Sok National Park in Thailand which included an overnight stay in a floating bungalow! More like a hut, it came with free ants, geckos, frogs and cockroaches as well as an environmentally friendly lack of electricity 😊 Fun times 😆

22 Aug 2019Khao Sok, จ.ชลบุรี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Literally climbed a waterfall!

23 Aug 2019Khao Sok, จ.ชลบุรี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Morning on the lake

24 Aug 2019Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns VBH Hoi An... Probably the biggest week of my life 😂

24 Aug 2019Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Me and my cousin Barry on our first drink of many after meeting at Danang airport and travelling to VBH in Hoi An

25 Aug 2019Hội An

Rachael Cairns Dinner and cocktails in Hoi An

28 Aug 2019Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Margaritas 😋

29 Aug 2019Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Hair of the dog! Last night in Hoi An, might as well make it a big one 🥳

30 Aug 2019Danang Golden Bay Hotel

Rachael Cairns 3 day hangover in the tackiest hotel in Da Nang (it had a gold plated swimming pool) before venturing on to the next stop... 😂

30 Aug 2019Hội An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Too funny not to share. My face leaving Vietnam Backpackers Hostel after 6 nights on the tear!

2 Sep 2019Hải Vân Pass

Rachael Cairns En route: Da Nang -> Hue via motorbike

2 Sep 2019Phú Lộc

Rachael Cairns Random pit stop on the way to Hue!

3 Sep 2019Imperial City

Rachael Cairns Imperial City in Hue. Home of the Nguyen Dynasty.

5 Sep 2019Hue

Rachael Cairns Next stop Tam Coc, Ninh Binh... via a 12-hour overnight train. You could book a 4 or 6-berth cabin. Luckily, I found some random luxury option online for an extra $5 and ended up with my own cabin 🥳 Brought snacks and drinks but once I saw the toilets on the train I decided I would refrain from drinking any liquids 😂

7 Sep 2019Ninh Bình, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns

7 Sep 2019Ninh Bình, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Trang An Boat Ride

7 Sep 2019Ninh Bình, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns

9 Sep 2019Hạ Long Bay

Rachael Cairns

9 Sep 2019Hạ Long, Quảng Ninh, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Halong Bay trip

12 Sep 2019Hanoi, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Got very comfortable on the bike very fast!

13 Sep 2019Lao Cai, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Sa Pa took my breath away! I was after having a few crazy days of being a tourist and was running out of steam. I was leaving Vietnam in 2 days and I could have got really lazy and stayed in Hanoi but I made myself go to Sa Pa. It was so worth it. The scenery, the people, the fun I had... Roughly 30km of trekking over a couple of days up and down rice fields with a local guide was really special 💚

13 Sep 2019Lao Cai, Vietnam

Rachael Cairns Rice wine shots and grasshoppers 😋

13 Sep 2019Sa Pa

Rachael Cairns

15 Sep 2019Koh Samui, จ.สุราษฎร์ธานี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Me and my cousin Frank - first night in Koh Samui so we thought we would just have a quiet one and kick things off with a jaegarbomb 😬 😂

16 Sep 2019Koh Samui, จ.สุราษฎร์ธานี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Lapping up the luxury of the Vana Belle resort in Koh Samui keeping an eye on the best boy in the pool

17 Sep 2019Koh Samui, จ.สุราษฎร์ธานี, Thailand

Rachael Cairns At ArkBar

19 Sep 2019Bangkok, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Out for dinner in Bangkok...just a quiet one? 🤦🏻‍♀️

20 Sep 2019Bangkok, Thailand

Rachael Cairns Just 3 hours sleep after going a bit mental in Bangkok (unplanned!) and we are on our way to Tokyo for a big weekend!

20 Sep 2019Tokyo, Japan

Rachael Cairns Karaoke with Barry!!! I shall not go home “I’m not going home, you can go home!”

20 Sep 2019Roppongi

Rachael Cairns Street drinking in Tokyo (no room in the pub!)

21 Sep 2019Shibuya Crossing

Rachael Cairns Shibuya Crossing

22 Sep 2019Yokohama Stadium

Rachael Cairns Rugby World Cup 2019: Ireland vs Scotland

22 Sep 2019Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Rachael Cairns Scottish or Irish... who knows

22 Sep 2019Yokohama

Rachael Cairns Pre-match drinks

24 Sep 2019Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan

Rachael Cairns The colourful world of Harajuku 😘

24 Sep 2019Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan

Rachael Cairns Yoyogi park for some downtime

24 Sep 2019Shinjuku City, Tokyo, Japan

Rachael Cairns

26 Sep 2019Las Vegas, NV, United States

Rachael Cairns

26 Sep 2019Las Vegas, NV, United States

Rachael Cairns Bellagio fountain 🥰

27 Sep 2019Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino

Rachael Cairns Thelma’s hen party night

28 Sep 2019Boulder City, NV, United States

Rachael Cairns In a helicopter over the Grand Canyon with my mam 🥰

28 Sep 2019Stallion Mountain by Wedgewood Weddings

Rachael Cairns The cousins photo at Rob and Thelma’s wedding

28 Sep 2019Grand Canyon National Park

Rachael Cairns Champagne breakfast in the Grand Canyon!

29 Sep 2019Fremont Street

Rachael Cairns Fremont Street in Vegas

1 Oct 2019New Orleans, LA, United States

Rachael Cairns Bourbon Street party time

1 Oct 2019New Orleans, LA, United States

Rachael Cairns Mam and I on the Creole Queen sailing along on the Mississippi River

4 Oct 2019Boston

Rachael Cairns One of the best decisions I made was to go back to Melbourne via Ireland (yep - the long way!). I will never forget calling my Dad once I had it booked to tell him I would be home in a couple of weeks. He thought I was joking with him. It was so nice to be home to recover after almost three months of partying. I only had a few days but it was worth it. 💚💙

12 Oct 2019Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, United States

Rachael Cairns Trip of a lifetime all wrapped up in one video!