AspiringNomad

The week flew by as Arron was off gallivanting in the North of the Country, enduring severe floods and equally severe humidity. Snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef and trekking through the Daintree Rainforest. Comparatively, my week was not so wholesome. My evenings were spent celebrating the Chinese New Year and heading to various bars…

It would be misleading of me to write this whole blog without mentioning that Arron and I, at this point, have spent 7 days together. When we wake up, after we shower, for every meal, for every second of every day until we go to sleep again! It’s only fair for us to get a…

We arrived in Melbourne and headed straight to the ‘Skybus’ which was to take us to the centre of the city. We sat on the upper deck of the bus and trundled along the big roads leading to the city, it wasn’t long until the Melbourne skyline revealed itself to us. A perfect backdrop for…

And just like that, January has rolled around again! Usually a grey, drizzly time of year when Arron and I would be getting excited for our annual Ski trip. But this year Arron had decided to fly over to Australia to explore the land down under and stay with me in Sydney. It was a…

Before you start, I apologise. This is a long blog entry. Sun burnt shoulders, Dad’s Holkham Hall hat, toll roads and a wine fuelled trip await. The sun is setting after a long and warm Friday in Sydney. I’ve been thinking of ways to show my appreciation and express my gratitude to have such wonderful,…

This will, without doubt be something I remember for the rest of my life. I’m currently laying in the sun in the botanical gardens. The Sydney opera house is so close I could touch it, the huge structure of the Harbour Bridge is the backdrop and most importantly, I have Mum and Dad laying next…

The enormity of moving to the other side of the world and settling into life in Sydney only came to light when I realised it’s taken me 3 weeks to try and put into words the highs and lows and moments inbetween that have shaped my existence in this amazing city! I decided to give…

Tetebatu will have my heart forever! What an incredible place. I have had the most perfect ending to my trip here. I spent the rest of Thursday evening lounging around the small hotel I booked, Pondok Suri Bungalows. A collection of 6 small bungalows on stilts in a well pruned garden with a pebble path…

Well, it was a bit of a hectic 24hrs to get from Kota Kinabalu to Lombok, Senggigi, but I made it! The flight was less than pleasant being sat on the very last row near the toilet. That will teach me for being tight and not paying extra to select a seat! I met Made,…

Part 2- Jojo and her husband drove us safely to Semporna with a few stops at some surprisingly developed petrol stations for toilet breaks and a chance to buy some food (Fuel update- £0.40 per litre here). I indulged in some Skittles, which gave me a nice sense of home during our journey there! Upon…

Part 1- I’ve left it a little while to write as I have been indulging and fully immersing in the amazing world of Borneo. It’s luscious green landscapes, amazing wildlife, laid back vibe, different culture, and burning hot sun has made this place one of the top places I have ever visited! Bavo and I…

Thursday morning started off like any other day, lazily! Bavo and I still hadn’t heard back from the travel company about our expected tour the following day and so we headed to their shop at about 12:00 to confirm our booking. We then decided to go to another one of the islands not far from…

I’ve just woken up from a nap on my flight between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. Much needed after an amazing weekend in Kuala Lumpur. Molly and I successfully arrived at KL International and made it through immigration. Whilst I was in the line filling out the immigration forms, tricking the system to…

OK, I may have spoken a little too soon about how peaceful and sunny life on the island could be. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved it here and the Starfish tour was amazing but we were all put through our paces today. Looking back, I still don’t think I would change it at…

And just like that I picked up my bags in Ho Chi Minh and waited in the airport for what felt like eternity before I finally boarded my flight to Phu Quoc. It’s an island southwest of Vietnam that I had heard was a ‘must visit’ destination at the very beginning on my trip. With…

If I have learnt anything from my weekend in Cambodia other than my now extensive knowledge of Khmer King Suryavarman II and the history of Angkor Wat, it’s to ALWAYS check your luggage at the baggage claim. Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending but it really could have ended badly. As I hit…

I can’t believe I am already on my last blog entry of Vietnam! I’ve ended my visit to Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh, a crazy city that is saturated with history and thriving with heavy tourism, good weather and a beautiful skyline. I find it hard to understand why it isn’t Vietnams capital as it…

What a crazy 48hrs in Nha Trang! For somewhere that was just meant to be a little stop over to break up the journey between Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang has been an absolute whirlwind of meeting new friends, jumping into the sea, failing to shotgun a beer and showing off my…

That evening we grabbed a taxi to Hoi An. I had been really excited to get to Hoi An as I had heard great things about it and seen multiple photos on Instagram of lantern-lit streets and pretty buildings by the river. We booked to stay for 3 nights so we could really enjoy it…

The tour started just like any other. Bundelled into the air conditioned bus, the guide introduced herself and explained the itinerary for the day! Our first stop was a waterfall in a national park. I must admit, this stop was a little underwhelming but it was nice to take in the waterfall and snap a…

Turns out I can’t keep up to date with my blogs as well as I thought I could! Finding time to sit and write about the one million things that happen every day is so hard. But I find myself in Da Nang at midnight, in my cosy double bed (yes you heard that right,…

The highly anticipated ‘trip of a lifetime’ blog is finally off to a start! I waved a tearful goodbye to Mum and Dad at Heathrow Airport on Monday afternoon. I left UK soil at about 7:20pm and I must admit, not knowing exactly when I would be back on it again left me feeling all…

Arrivederci, ciao, per favour, grazie and buongiorno. The only 5 Italian words that Mum and I know that we hope will carry us through the next 3 days. We perfect our Italian accents as we travel to Stanstead arriving with plenty of time to spare at 5:30am. Brimming with excitement, we browse the duty free…

Our last day of skiing has come to a close and we are back in our apartment. Let me paint the picture for you. We both have a cup of tea on the go, our Ski gear is sprawled across the furniture to air out, our hair is all sweaty and stuck to our heads…

It has been precisely 393 days since Arron and I embarked on our Ski trip to the French Alps in the February of 2023. I seem to remember promising myself that having my older brother give me unwanted skiing advice for a whole week just wasn’t worth doing it again.However, here I am, Arron in…

OK, I’ve just boarded my flight from Sao Paulo to London following my first flight from Santiago to Sao Paulo. I must admit, my heart feels like it has been left at the foothills of Patagonia or Machu Picchu, or at the depths of Kicker Rock or somewhere deep in the night life of Bolivia…

It’s hard not to get sentimental about my trip to South America as I think back to all the incredible things that I have been lucky enough to experience over the last couple of months. However, I will try my best not to get too emotional in my final couple of blog posts! We (Chris…

Chris and I arrived in Buenos Aries at about 11:30pm on Friday night. Pumping with adrenaline after eventually making it to the apartment we watched some Netflix before eventually drifting off to sleep. The next morning was another chance to get some errands ran. Chris headed off early to Western Union to grab some cash…

Argentina, you fantastic country!We arrived in Salta after what turned out to be a better bus than expected thanks to the random shacks in the middle of the desert at the border selling Empanadas, crisps, biscuits, Coca Cola and of course, water! Much needed for all of us. We walked to our little apartment and…

Emily and I arrived back in La Paz on 16th November. After a fairly uncomfortable bus ride back (but not the worst) we headed to our new Hostel and crashed out on the beds. Unfortunately, Emily was feeling quite unwell, maybe a touch of food poisoning? I caught up on Selling Sunset whilst Emily took…

We arrive in Rurrenabaque at about 6am on Sunday morning. The heat hits us like a tone of bricks! It turns out that even after 3 days, I am still not used to the muggy heat that currently fills this area. We head straight to our hostel in the town and get into bed. Concerned…

As I leave Rurrenabaque on the night bus back to La Paz I have mixed feelings about my time in the Amazon. I have watched the sunrise and sunset in one of the most magical places on earth both for the diversity of animals and fauna that thrive here but also the huge impact the…

Anna, Emily and I eventually escaped the strange world of Wolf Totem at about 5pm. Emily, unfortunately had a bad stomach during our last day in the Sacred valley which meant that we had to push back our plans to get to Puno. This meant that we all headed back to Cusco for another night.…

I finally find myself time to write about the insane 9 days I have just lived whilst I wait for my friend to get a tattoo in Malqui Tattoo in Cusco. I have about an hour and I think I might just be able to jot down just a few things that I have done.…

How naive of me to think that I might be able to catch up on some sleep in Mancora. After a fairly chilled and wholesome 6 nights in the Galapagos, I decided to book a hostel that would be a bit more lively. I had heard from my friends that Mancora wasn’t particularly busy at…

I am feeling elated after the last 12 hours, in fact, after the last week!I can’t help but think, that it’s this exact feeling that people get addicted to when travelling!I started my morning feeling a little sad that I was having to depart from the beautiful island of San Cristobal. It was warm and…

I have seen various programmes documenting the wildlife across the 13 main islands of the Galapagos (shout out to BBC 1, Planet Earth). I have heard amazing things about the place from other travellers, but I wanted to start my trip with zero expectations. Mainly because I have just had the most amazing 7 days…

The next morning, feeling surprisingly fresh we packed our things and set off for Cotopaxi at 10am. Part of the same company, the organisation of this trip was very good! We arrived a couple of hours later to a beautiful place surrounded by volcanoes, cows, alpacas and grassland. Without any phone signal, 4g or WiFi…

I set off as early as I could manage this morning as I wanted to make the most of my one full day in Madrid. I was out of the hotel at around 8:30am. I feel like I have walked about 100 miles today but I have squeezed in a weekends worth of sight seeing…

I’m sitting al fresco at a small cafe in the centre of Madrid. Sipping a cappuccino and fresh orange juice and eating a croissant. The smell of coffee and the sound of chatter fill the air (mix in a little cigarette smoke too, I am in Europe after all). As cheesey as it sounds, I…

It’s been one hell of a whirlwind trip to Athens and I feel like I haven’t even touched the sides of what this city has to offer. I hoped yesterday that going out in the late afternoon/evening the weather might be slightly cooler. As I headed down the lift in my apartment block, I refreshed…

I left the apartment this morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. Firstly I headed in the direction of the restaurant I ate at last night. I remembered that I walked past some vendors that looked like they might have good options for breakfast. I grabbed a pan au chocolate and a frappe and made…

My first big day in Athens began with my 6am alarm and there was no way I was allowing myself to miss this one. I hopped straight out of bed albeit a bit weary eyed and made a cup of tea which I had on my balcony as I watched the sun come up over…

It’s been 10 whole hours since I woke in sheer panic as I realised I had over slept my alarm. I think the adrenaline is still racing through my veins and I am unsure as to whether I will ever be able to peacefully fall back to sleep again. It has not been the nice…

I started my Sunday morning like the last two, with a cup of tea and cereal in bed. I don’t think I would ever tire of waking up with the sun beaming in through the gaps of the shutters. It’s honestly like something from a film!I checked the train times for Santa Margherita and packed…

Saturday turned out to be a completely different day to what I expected, good and bad!Once up and ready, I walked to Via Garabaldi. This street is home to some of the most popular tourist spots in Genoa and has many palaces to wander round.I bought my ticket and an app with a virtual guide…

I’ve just had a plate full of delicious looking buschetta delivered to my table in a very busy restaurant called Ai Troeggi. I’m secretly pleased that the restaurant I was meant to go to didn’t have any tables available.I have no WiFi and can’t get any data so I have chance to reflect on my…

My journey finally begins, pulling away from the Fakenham Shell garage roundabout, and I wasn’t looking back. Well, not until Monday that is.The journey to Stansted was very smooth which makes me a little apprehensive that I might become delayed elsewhere on my journey to Genoa.My first stop was Barton Mills McDonald’s, old habits die…