PROS & CONS OF 2017

HAPPY VERY VERY LATE NEW YEAR.

I started writing this post ages ago, but as per forgot all about it. Better late than never eh? Here's a little recap of my 2017, starting with the low points and ending on the highs. Last year was one of the best I've ever had, but no one's life is perfect and there will always be negatives - even if we choose not to show them. Luckily the good outweighed the bad in 2017, so let's begin! 

THE BAD

LIVING BACK HOME AFTER TRAVEL

I flew back to the UK on January 13th 2017, having been away travelling for 9 months. Although I had a reception job lined up, I was very lucky when my old boss got in touch asking if I wanted a  temp job. It was a position as a writer and was better money, so obviously I jumped at the chance. Although I'm so, so grateful for the opportunity (and wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for that job), I basically spent those 3 months miserable as hell. I loved the people - don't get me wrong - but the job just wasn't for me. I've always enjoyed writing, but I didn't enjoy the process of finding the stories or the topics I was writing about. I was bored, unmotivated and couldn't wait for the working day to end. Aside from work, I was miserable at home too. It's hard for me to remember what the issues were, but my mum and I basically spent a good few months not getting along. We had to adapt to me living at home again,
which I think we both found hard. My mum was used to her routine, and I was used to my freedom. We clashed a lot, but also knew it was only circumstantial. As soon as I moved out of the parental home, we knew things would go back to normal (spoiler: they did). It was just one of those really crappy transitional periods, which I'm glad to see the back of.

MY SMEAR TEST RESULT

I'm gonna keep this one short, simply because it was quite traumatic and I don't really want to relive it. But long story short - I went for my first ever smear test, got the results which showed I had abnormal cells, and was invited to have a Colposcopy at the hospital. The last thing you expect is any kind of abnormal result, but it's even worse when they send the letter with a ton of cervical cancer leaflets. Straight away you think ''I'm gonna be the unlucky one that gets cervical cancer", so I broke down in hysterical tears and drove home to my parents house right away (the longest 2 hour drive of my life). Luckily we were able to bring my hospital appointment forward, but that week of waiting was just awful. After the procedure, they sent a letter around 5 days later saying everything was fine and that I can continue with my regular smear tests every 3 years. Relieved is an under statement. You don't realise how important your sexual health is until something like this happens, and I sure as hell won't be taking it for granted again.

FEELING INSECURE AT WORK

I'm a pretty confident person but, like everyone, have a tendency to feel insecure when I'm out of my comfort zone. Put me on a plane to the other side of the world and I'm fine, but put me in a competitive work environment and I'll crumble. I've never been a 'career focused' kinda gal, so can sometimes feel uncomfortable in corporate office environments. Because of this, I've always doubted my ability and end up convincing myself that I'm not good enough (something my mum always tells me off for!) It's even harder when you start your new job with another person, so feel like you're constantly being compared to someone else. Instead of believing my boss when she insisted I was a good writer (and reminded me that I beat 150 odd people to the job), I couldn't help but beat myself up for not being as good as my colleague. I spent a good couple of months feeling worried, anxious and that I wasn't going to pass my probation. I've always been a slow burner in the workplace, and it can take a while for me to build up my confidence. But when it clicks, I feel like I really come into my own. I've been in my job for 6 months now, and finally believe I'm good at what I do. I'm a bloody good writer if I say so myself, so here's to having more faith in myself in 2018!

THE GOOD

AUSTRALIA

I kicked off 2017 at Sydney Harbour Bridge - finally ticking off the number 1 thing on my bucket list. I then flew back to Melbourne, surprised all of my friends at the hostel, spent a week living in my friend's luxury apartment, and spent my birthday in her rooftop pool overlooking the CBD (followed by a beach day, surprise party and meal with my friends).

SURPRISING MY MUM AFTER 9 MONTHS AWAY

Even thinking about her reaction makes me slightly emosh. There's no better feeling than seeing your parents after 9 months away, especially when you turn up at the front door and surprise your mum. I've never seen her so shocked!!

GETTING MY FIRST JOB AS A WRITER

Although I didn't enjoy the job (see above), I was SO lucky to get the position handed to me as soon as I arrived back in the UK. Not only did it allow me to save money for my America trip, it meant I had 'content writer' on my CV. It was my first foot in the door in helping me to achieve my dream of becoming a writer. If it wasn't for that position, I very much doubt I'd have secured an interview for my current job, let alone been chosen above 160 other applicants.

COPENHAGEN, U.S.A & CANADA

My America Contiki tour was one of the best - if not my favourite - trip ever. I never ended up writing about it on my blog, mainly because too much happened in the 5 weeks I was there. I'd love to go through everything day by day, but it would just take too long. All I can say is... IT WAS AMAZING. Click here to watch the vlog. Canada was a short but sweet stopover before I flew home. I stayed with my friend Emilie that I met in LA, and it was so much fun partying with her and her friends. Oh, and Niagara Falls was pretty spectacular too! And although I didn't massively rate Copenhagen as a city, I had a great time meeting up with my friends Jody and Beth for the first time since Vietnam. Three 24 year old girls singing their hearts out to High School Musical is my idea of a great mini break.

GETTING MY SECOND JOB AS A WRITER

My big break! I was finally offered a content writer position with a well-known travel company - this time on merit. I think I've written a post about this before, but I really really love my job. The perks, the people, the city centre location, the snazzy building, the content I'm writing about - it's everything I've ever wanted and more.

MOVING TO MANCHESTER

Without mentioning all the cool stuff I did that made the second half of 2017 so great (I'm looking at you Bongo's Bingo), it's fair to say Manchester has changed my life. Since moving here in July, my social life has never been better. I've made new friends, wandered the streets like a tourist, and took advantage of everything the city has to offer. I'm surrounded by people my age - young professionals who dance on tables and do midweek tequila shots (seriously, is Albert Schloss ever NOT busy?) Living in a city that never seems to sleep is exciting, and I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else.

So there you have it, my pros and cons of 2017. Life will always throw curve balls your way, but it's how you deal with them and the choices you make that really determine how your life will pan out.
Here's to 2018!
xxx

VLOG / 4 MONTHS LIVING IN A HOSTEL IN MELBOURNE

I'm slowly making my way through the thousands of clips of footage I have from my travels so have decided to start with my recent venture... 4 months living in a hostel in Melbourne, Australia. When you settle in to living somewhere, you find that you're having too much fun to film anything so all I really have to show for my experience is drunken snapchat videos - apologies! Although I did manage to walk around and get some footage of the hostel on my last day before I boarded my plane back to the UK, so there's that! As always, videos never really show a true representation of what something is like so I'm sure it's hard to imagine how different it was living in a hostel for 4 months. My blog post The Pro's and Con's of Living in a Hostel might give you more of an indication, but as for the video - it was genuinely 10x crazier than it looks!

Enjoy!

xx

WHY I DECIDED TO GO HOME AFTER 9 MONTHS OF TRAVEL

No one in their right mind would choose to go home after weeks, months or even years of travelling unless they absolutely had to. I guess the most common reasons for going home are a) you've run out of money or b) your visa has run out or you have commitments at home like a job to go back to. Yes it's normal to get homesick and it can make you want to go home, but usually backpackers tend to stick it out and the pulls from home ease with time. So why did I decide to go home when I didn't have to?

My Australian working holiday visa was still valid for another 7 months, I had no time constrictions, plenty of money in the bank, plenty of friends and it was easy peasy to find a job. A few of my friends couldn't understand why I wanted to go home when I was in a better situation than most, but the truth is... I was fed up.

I'll start from the beginning. My first 4 months of travelling were amazing. My savings took me to Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, the Australian outback and New Zealand and aside from giving up my time to do a bit of volunteering, my time was completely my own and I had no commitments whatsoever. It was 4 months straight of partying, exploring and meeting new friends. IT. WAS. WILD.

Of course all of this partying comes at a price and in 4 months I'd spent around 70% of my savings. I had enough money to continue travelling but I knew it wouldn't last long and I was nowhere near ready to go home, so I decided to get a working holiday visa for Australia. After 4 months of enjoying myself I was more than ready to slow down and commit to working full time - that was until I ended up living and working at a hostel.

For the first 2 months things were great. I met a guy (who just so happened to be a party animal and a big drinker) and before I knew it a huge group of us were going out every night and I was so content being smitten that work became less and less of a priority. I even called in sick one day cause I'd been invited on a road trip to the Great Ocean Road, and there was another occasion where I had an interview for an amazing office job but decided to turn up smashed because I'd drank too much the night before. As irresponsible as that was, I don't regret any of my decisions because those first 2 months in Melbourne were so much fun - which at the end of the day is the most important thing.

When I finally decided to get my act together and dedicated myself to working as many hours as physically possible, that's when everything started to go downhill. I'll talk more about my job situation in another post, but at one point I was working 3 jobs and basically ended up running myself into the ground. I wasn't getting a lot of sleep, I wasn't partying as much or having as much fun and getting treated like shit at one of my jobs was slowly taking its toll on me. Over time I noticed my mood was changing and it basically got to the point where I couldn't pull myself out of it. I eventually quit one of my jobs so I had more time to enjoy myself and to see if it would improve my mood, but the damage had already been done.

A period of transition was also taking place at the hostel I'd lived and worked at for 4 months, which definitely played a factor in why my mood was so low. The hostel used to go through 'waves' of new guests and new employees every few months as people would inevitably leave to move into flats or move to a new city/country. When I first started working there, they had just taken on an influx of new staff after the last lot had left (including the guy I was seeing) so we all bonded and formed an instant friendship group that lasted a good few months. But when everyone slowly started to leave, the whole mood of the hostel changed and it stopped being as fun and exciting as it once was. Dare I say... it became boring. We knew there would be an influx of newbies soon, but as my mood was already low from everything else that was happening, I knew I needed a fresh start so decided to move to Brisbane.

Turns out, Brisbane didn't make me happy either. If anything, it made me even more miserable. There aren't as many job opportunities in Brisbane because there isn't much of a backpacker scene and it's a smaller city compared to Sydney and Melbourne. So although I found it easy to get a job in hospitality (2 in fact, although the hours were ridiculously low), that wasn't what I wanted at the time. I was dying for an office job that paid well and would give me a stable routine with my evenings and weekends free, but it was honestly impossible. I didn't leave 3 jobs in hospitality with good hours to work another hospitality job with rubbish hours.

Me and my friend Russell (who I moved there with) also found it hard to make friends because Brisbane isn't really a place where backpackers stay long term - it's more of a stop gap between popular destinations like Byron Bay and Fraser Island. I knew this before I moved there, but I guess I thought I'd get a full time job quite quickly so I could move into a flat with either long term backpackers or Aussies. Because that didn't happen, I was forced to live in a hostel with a bunch of guys who were never there and a bar that never seemed to be full. It was certainly different to the party hostel I was used to back in Melbourne where it was easy peasy to make friends. It probably didn't help that I moved to Brisbane with a friend (who already had a full time job secured) because 1) he was always at work so I spent a lot of time on my own and 2) because I knew I had my friend there for back up, it made me more anti-social and less bothered about making friends of my own. So what happened? I spent most of my days feeling extremely lonely but unable to drag myself out of my room to make friends. Seeing snapchats of my friends back in Melbourne having a great time made me feel ever worse and I started to really miss them.

After numerous phone calls home and plenty of tears, I decided that Brisbane wasn't for me and there was no point sticking it out just for the sake of it. But that was when my dilemma unfolded... did I really want to go back to Melbourne? I mean, I wasn't happy there either and a lot had changed at the hostel since I'd been away. It felt like my friends had moved on. Melbourne will always feel like my second home, but part of me knew it would be different second time round and I knew I wouldn't like it. The thought of moving to Sydney or Perth didn't really appeal to me either and eventually I realised what the issue was.

I was kinda over Australia.

It didn't excite me anymore. 

I was bored of working rubbish jobs and didn't see the point in staying somewhere that wasn't necessarily making me happy anymore. My mum and dad kept repeating the same sentence: "If you aren't happy, just come home." At first I wouldn't listen - going home felt like giving up and I'm not someone who gives up when the going gets tough. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I had been away for a bloody long time and it has to come to an end at some point - so maybe the 9 month mark was the right time? After all, I never set out to go to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa like a lot of people I knew did - I went away to travel. To visit different countries and experience different things. I couldn't compare my intentions with others as everyone was out there for different reasons. So yes there were people who couldn't understand why I was leaving when I still had 7 months validity left on my visa, but I knew what I left the UK for and it wasn't to set up a new life down under. In fact, the only reason I came straight home instead of continuing to travel was because of the weather in the countries I wanted to visit. I could have flown to Japan or China or the US if I wanted to, but I had my heart set on going when the weather was lovely and warm so decided to be patient instead of compromising on the experience I wanted.

So it was decided. I would spend Christmas in Byron Bay and New Year in Sydney before flying back to Melbourne for my birthday where I booked my flight home. As I predicted, everything at the hostel in Melbourne had completely changed and if I'm honest, I really didn't enjoy it. Luckily I only spent a night there before moving in to my friend's apartment, which gave me the opportunity to spend my last week exploring parts of the city I hadn't seen before and generally just staying away from the drama. Being back at the hostel, even on just a few occasions, assured me that I was making the right decision by going home and shutting the door on that chapter of my life. I wanted to leave on a high remembering the amazing time I had there with the people that shared the same experience as me, and I knew that if I stayed (with a group of people I didn't know and feeling completely out of the loop) I wouldn't remember it as fondly. Sometimes you just know when to call it a day, which is why a lot of people who arrived the same time as me all left around the same time too.

So that's why I decided to go home after 9 months of travel. Did I make the right decision? I think so. You're never fully going to know if you made the right choice in life, but right now I'm happy being home and slowly but surely my mindset is changing to a whole different way of thinking compared to when I was away. But that's for another blog post haha!

If you made it to the end - congrats!

Sorry it was a long one x

THE PROS AND CONS OF LIVING IN A HOSTEL

When I first arrived in Melbourne, my plan was to work for accommodation at a hostel until I got a full time job so I wouldn't have to spend unnecessary money on rent when my funds were already running low. Having stayed in some pretty gross hostels during my time in New Zealand (I'm looking at you Base!), I think it's safe to say I completely fell in love with United Backpackers the moment I stepped through its big yellow door. Voted the top hostel in Melbourne, it wasn't like a cold, dingy prison cell like other hostels are. It was warm, clean, cosy, colourful and modern but with an urban twist and I could completely see myself living there for as long as it took for me to get a job. Having attempted to work for accommodation at another hostel (I'll save that story for another blog post!), I returned to United and only had to wait around 3 weeks before a position became available on the bar. Four months later and I'm still here with no intention of moving out any time soon!

I'll explain my whole work situation in another post but here's a few reasons why I love living in a hostel... (and of course the downsides too!)

THE PROS

1) YOU HAVE THE BEST SOCIAL LIFE!

When you live in a hostel, you essentially live under the same roof as hundreds of other people. Friendship groups form quickly with other staff members/long termers and before you know it you're a part of a huge group who you spend all day chilling in the kitchen with and all night partying in the bar with. There are always people to grab food or go for a walk with and you can barely go a few minutes without bumping in to someone you know. It's very difficult to feel bored living in a hostel and the 'family' mentality develops almost instantaneously.

2) YOU LIVE RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE CITY CENTRE

Okay, so not all hostels are located in the city's CBD (in Melbourne for example there are plenty of nice hostels in other cool areas such as Fitzroy and St Kilda). But in general, one of the main benefits of living in a hostel is that you live right in the heart of the city centre! If you were to rent or own your own flat/house, it would cost you an absolute fortune to live in central London or a thriving area of New York. But for a fairly reasonable price, hostels allow you to live in an area where most people would only dream of living!



3) CHEAP DRINKS!

If you're fortunate enough to live in a hostel with a large bar area like I am, you'll spend most of your nights socialising with friends lapping up the cheap drink deals that cleverly entice the budget backpacker. $2 champagne, $2.50 vodka and $5 schooners make it almost impossible to resist an evening bevvy, especially if you take into account staff discount and the numerous bar tabs that can be won throughout the week.

4) FREE FOOD!

With most travellers only staying at hostels for a few days at a time before they head off to their next destination, it's common for people to leave their unwanted food behind that they can't bring with them. Granted, the majority of food left on the free food shelf is almost always butter, aoili or bags of oats... but there are odd days when you can pick up bread, milk or pasta which can save you a lot of money in the long run! A lot of hostels also run free food nights (for example: free tacos on Weds, free Dominoes on Thurs and a free BBQ on Sunday) which saves you having to make dinner a good few nights of the week.

5) IT'S LIKE BEING BACK AT UNI

I'm probably in the minority here, but I quite like sharing a room with 11 other people and having my own little bunk bed that I can personalise like I would with my own room at uni. You get used to not owning a lot of materialistic possessions, so even just personalising your bed with a sarong or your locker with a few hooks and a floral wash bag can really make a difference in making it feel more like home. I legit got excited about buying an extension lead the other day so I could plug my phone and laptop in at the same time... (aint about that 1 socket life) It must sound like madness to most people, but I guess it's no different from being at uni and having to make do with what you have and trying to personalise it as best as you can. I enjoy living in a 12 bed dorm and having people there to talk and laugh with when I want to, but also being able to shut myself away behind my rape drape* when I want some time alone.

*legit what the drape used on bottom bunks for privacy is known as - trust me!

THE CONS

1) THE HOSTEL BECOMES YOUR LIFE

When you work, sleep, eat, watch tv, socialise and have nights out all under the same roof, it's easy to become too comfortable in the one environment and you have the tendency to never leave. Of course this doesn't happen to everyone, but from my experience my long-termer friends and I are so comfortable living at the hostel that we rarely branch out and explore the city we're living in (which has actually been named the world's most livable city for 6 years in a row!) Yes we'll occasionally go out for food or take day trips to the beach, but 9/10 our daily routine consists of getting fast food from local burger/pizza places (that are no more than a 5 minute walk away), coming back to the hostel and eating in the chill room before going next door to the hostel bar and getting drunk off of $5 basics. Don't get me wrong, it's fun living in an environment where everything you would possibly need is on your doorstep... but after a while you realise that you're massively missing out on a lot your city has to offer. Melbourne is one of the coolest and most diverse cities in the world with hundreds of quirky cafe's and rooftop bars that I would be DYING to visit if I was living a normal life. But when you're so consumed with what's happening at the hostel, you forget about all of the amazing places you could be experiencing and continue to have the same old routine day in day out.



2) YOU BECOME ANTI-SOCIAL

As I said before, hostels are amazing for meeting people and having a massive friendship group to socialise with. But I can almost guarantee that as soon as you've established a friendship group that you feel settled and comfortable in, you won't feel the need to make an effort with 'newbies' or 'outsiders' and you find yourself becoming more and more anti-social with people outside of your group. It sounds horrible, and to some extent it is, because you were new once so you know what it's like to not know anyone and how lonely it can be when you first arrive somewhere and want to make friends. It's bizarre because it completely goes against everything you were doing before you settled at the hostel, where you'd hop from island to island in Asia and would start conversations with random strangers every 2 minutes because you just wanted to be friendly and make friends. But we're all human at the end of the day, and after a long time on the road of constantly making an effort with people and having the same old 'Where are you from? How long have you been travelling for?' conversations, you get sick and tired of wasting your energy on people. I mean... if you were out for dinner in the UK with your friendship group that you've known for years, would you go over and start making random conversation with a stranger? Probably not. When you finally have a base, a routine and a stable friendship group, you almost revert back to living a normal life - so chatting with new people in your room or making conversation with strangers at the bar just isn't a priority anymore. It's normal to feel that way, but at the same time you can't help but feel guilty that the hostel environment has made you a less friendlier person - especially with those that live away from the hostel. I have some amazing friends in Melbourne that live in apartments just 10 minutes away, but have I ever made the effort to go and see them? Of course not, because I'm too wrapped up in my hostel family. If I lived in my own apartment away from the madness, I 100% know I would make more of an effort with friends that live in and around the city.



3) GOSSIP GALORE!

Everyone loves a good gossip, lets not beat around the bush here. But when you're living in a hostel (aka the school playground), it can get pretty out of control. Everyone knows everyone, therefore everyone knows everyone's business. If a guy has spent the night in a random girls bed, you can bet your bottom dollar that the manager of the hostel, the guys ex girlfriend and pretty much the entire hostel knows before he's even done the walk of shame home. It's honestly that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's highly entertaining for everyone else but when the shoe's on the other foot and everyone's talking about you and so-and-so falling out, you honestly just wish that everyone would mind their own bloody business!

4) YOU HAVE TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOUR

Speaking of it feeling like you're back at school, hostels are known for being strict and enforcing rules. Not forgetting the 30 or so cameras that cover every inch of the building... yep, it's basically like living in Big Brother. Being loud and lairy in the corridor after a big night out? You'll get your first and final warning from the night housekeeper (happened to me). Drinking alcohol in your room? Happens twice and you'll get kicked out for good (happened to 2 of my friends). It's even worse when you work at the hostel as any wrong move will be reported back to the manager who'll send you a disciplinary email. I have friends who've been given a warning for sleeping in a guests room (a big no no for staff), for getting with someone late at night in a public area and for having a full blown argument with another staff member at 2am and potentially waking guests up. These things happen and in a normal environment no one would blink an eyelid, but when you live in a hostel you really have to be mindful of what you're doing and saying (even when you're drunk and have no control).



4) YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY

This leads on from point 3 and the most obvious downfall about living in a hostel is having absolutely no privacy. This wasn't something that bothered me for a while, despite sharing a room with 11 other people and a bathroom with our entire floor. But after a few months, you get fed up of getting dried and changed in a shower cubicle because you don't wanna get naked in front of the guys in your room. If you're feeling ill, you wanna go to the kitchen without make-up and looking like crap in your scruffy pyjamas without bumping in to all of your friends (and possibly guys you like). When you're trying new clothes on, you want to pose in a full length mirror and decide what you want to keep without the whole female species being in the same shared bathroom as you doing their make-up for the Halloween party (yep, slightly off-putting). There are moments in life when you really just want to be on your own, even those times when you need a good old cry, but it's just not possible living in a hostel. And don't even get me started on the lack of sleep...

5) THE LACK OF SLEEP

Sorry, I couldn't help myself... But long story short, 9/10 you will really struggle to sleep if you live in a dorm. Whether it's people working different shift patterns to you and alarms going off at 6am to people storming in drunk at 2am and waking the whole room in hysterical fits of laughter. It just aint happening and trust me... you will turn into a sleep deprived, irritable cow.



6) IT COSTS MORE

Plain and simple... the weekly rate to sleep in a bunk bed in a 12 bed dorm will usually cost more than having a single bed in a room with one other person in an amazing modern apartment with a gym and a pool. The only time it's actually worth it is if you're working for accommodation so you're essentially paying no rent at all.

7) YOU CAN'T LIVE LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING

Imagine this... you keep all of your food in a cool bag in 1 of 4 big fridges, so every time you want to eat you have to dig out your bag from behind a ton of other bags. If you don't label your bag, the housekeepers will come along once a week and either bin your stuff or put everything on the free food shelf. If you accidentally leave your bread and milk out one morning, you'll come home from work to find it was taken from the free food shelf by a stranger hours ago (so you can say bye bye to that cuppa you were looking forward to). Wanna cook a meal? Good luck cooking in a kitchen with 30 other people. Oh and you'll have to wait until that guy over there is done hogging all the pans so you actually have utensils to cook your pasta with. Wanna go to the toilet? Don't forget your room key or you'll be locked out. Getting ready in the bathroom? Don't forget to bring your toothbrush/toothpaste/shampoo/conditioner/shower gel with you EVERY SINGLE TIME. Cause that's not annoying at all... Basically, you just can't live like a normal human being. Although I guess that's the whole point of travelling right? You're not meant to live like you would at home.




So there you have it... an honest account of what it's like to live in a hostel.
Could you do it?
xxx




*** UPDATE ***
You've probably noticed that my 'cons' list is a lot more detailed than the 'pros'. I've since moved out of the hostel as my mood was starting to get quite low, so at this moment in time my emphasis is on the negatives (but I'll save that for another post). Having said that, I still stand by my 'pros' list and can honestly say that living at United was one of the best experiences I've had travelling so far!

I’VE BEEN TRAVELLING FOR EXACTLY 6 MONTHS TODAY!

So for someone who rebranded her blog so she could blog whilst she’s traveling, I think it’s fair to say I’ve been nothing short of a disappointment. There are so many experiences that I wish I’d have written about on my blog so I could look back and remember everything but in all honesty, blogging hasn’t been a priority for me at all.

I’ve been on the road for exactly 6 months today – which even saying that fills me with a weird sense of pride and amazement that I’ve made it to this point already. I always knew that I wanted to travel for around 6 months, but you never know how things are going to work out so I’m honestly so proud that I’ve managed to make it this far and that everything has gone to plan. Not as if I had a plan to begin with… quite the opposite actually. I left for Bangkok on 13^th April 2016 knowing that I would embark on a 10 day tour with the company Real Gap Experience, but everything following that was completely undetermined – allowing me to 100% make things up as I went along. Since then I’ve travelled Vietnam with an American I travelled most of Thailand with, Indonesia with a friend from home, Australia, New Zealand and have somehow ended up back in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa.

That is the beauty of travel. You don’t need a plan. Your route can completely depend on who you meet, the weather, how much money you have… and in the end I believe that everything works out exactly the way it’s meant to. If I hadn’t have moved hostels in Koh Tao to be near some people I knew (even though I didn’t particularly like them), I never would have met my friend Catherine who I ended up travelling the whole of Thailand with. If I hadn’t have met Catherine, I never would have gone to Vietnam where I had the most amazing time partying on Castaway Island. If I hadn’t fallen out with my guy friend from home in Bali, I never would have met my friend Pam on a snorkelling trip who I ended up staying with when I first arrived in Melbourne. If flights to Darwin from Bali weren’t so expensive, I wouldn’t have spent a week volunteering at a dog shelter to kill time waiting for a cheaper flight.

So here I am… 6 months later, living in a hostel with a huge group of friends, working 3 jobs and saving money to continue travelling in 2017. Trust me, the life I’m living right now doesn’t feel real sometimes and I’d love to sit down one day and recap on everything so you guys can read about everything in greater detail. It might take me a while, but writing this post has made me realise how much I miss blogging so I promise you it’s going to happen. I’m so excited to update you all on what it’s like to live in a hostel and how crazy my job situation has been since arriving in Melbs, so keep an eye out for those!

xxx

MY FAVOURITE TRAVEL MOMENTS OF 2015

2015 has been a great year full of memories I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. There’s nothing I enjoy more than flicking through old photos and remembering exactly how I felt at that very moment. The moment might have been and gone, but the memory will always be there to make you smile. Making memories that you can cherish forever is what life’s all about.

With that being said, here are my best travel moments of 2015 :)

1. PARTYING IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

2015 got off to a bang when I flew to Sydney on New Year's Day for a Contiki tour along the East Coast of Australia. We were staying in a hotel in Kings Cross so headed out to a local bar where things got crazy pretty quickly. Lets just say it involved a lot of alcohol, pole dancing and making lots of new friends! I can remember thinking 'oh my frigging god I'm partying in a bar in Sydney 9000 miles from home' and I literally felt like I was living my dream.

2. STROLLING THROUGH THE OLD MARKET SQUARE AS THE SUN SETS
IN LEUVEN, BELGIUM

This photo doesn't really do the moment justice, but you can get a feel of how beautiful the Old Market Square in Leuven is in my vlog here (skip to 8:30) The sun was setting, it was lovely and warm and the streets were filled with people eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. It was such a lovely atmosphere - a combination of the buzz of a city with the architecture and beauty of a small Belgian town.

3. BATHING IN THE BLUE LAGOON IN GRINDAVIK, ICELAND

An obvious choice! What's not to like about chilling in 38 degree water sipping rosé whilst the sun sets behind you?

4. DRINKING GOON ON THE BEACH AT SURF CAMP IN COFFS HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA

You've probably seen this photo 100 times before but it's honestly one of my favourite photos ever! It sums up exactly how perfect that evening was... sat on the beach with new friends, watching the sun set, drinking goon and just feeling completely content. We then got extremely drunk whilst playing drinking games and spent the night partying on the beach. Absolute heaven!

5. TOASTING MARSHMALLOWS & DRINKING WINE IN OUR DRESSING GOWNS

IN CHESHIRE, UK

As much as I love going abroad, I've had some equally amazing moments throughout 2015 at home in the UK! Me and my uni gals try and meet up as often as we can, so in the summer we all went to Emily's house for a BBQ and spent the evening sat around her outdoor fireplace (which is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!) toasting marshmallows and drinking wine. It was honestly one of the loveliest evenings I've ever had!

6. HAVING A BBQ AFTER SWIMMING IN LAKE MCKENZIE ON

FRASER ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

After a relaxing afternoon swimming in Lake McKenzie on the stunning Fraser Island, my Contiki tour group were led to a private area for a BBQ lunch. For some reason, I always remember this moment as being an absolutely perfect way to end a very special day. I love crystal clear water, I love 30 degree weather and I love BBQ's, so I was completely in my element!

7. WHITE WATER RAFTING DOWN THE TULLY RIVER IN CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

I think this photo pretty much sums up why white water rafting down the Tully River in Cairns is one of my favourite travel moments of 2015! I loved the adrenaline of feeling like you were going to fall out of the dingy on the grade 4 rapids, but equally loved floating around in the tranquil water surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery I've ever seen in my life.

8. RIDING AROUND LANGMORN STATION ON A TRAILER
IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

I'm sure you're beginning to notice that the majority of my favourite travel moments of 2015 are from my trip to Australia! I was there for 2 weeks and, as it was a holiday of a lifetime, I did pretty much every activity there was to do! So it's not surprising that I made a lot of amazing travel memories :) One of my favourites is riding on the back of a tractor around Langmorn Station wearing cowboy hats and drinking vodka in true outback Aussie style!

9. CLIMBING THE SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

Please excuse my Rudolf nose... the sun did not like my pale English skin haha! Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge was the one thing I always wanted to do, so I was a bit lost for words when it actually happened! I'm so glad we ended up doing a night climb as we got to see the sun set over Sydney half way up the bridge and the Sydney Opera House all lit up against the black sky at the top of the bridge - the best of both worlds!

10. SKYDIVING IN SURFERS PARADISE, AUSTRALIA

You might think that jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft having only had 3 hours sleep (oh and did I forget to mention I was still drunk as it was my birthday the night before?) sounds like hell, but trust me... DO IT.

What are your favourite travel moments of 2015?
xxx

HOW I VISITED 4 COUNTRIES IN 1 YEAR WHILST WORKING FULL TIME

Don't you just love how unpredictable life is?

A spontaneous trip to Australia in January is where it all started.

From that moment on, I was determined to travel. I made it my mission to see as much of the world as I could on a graduate salary and 27 days holiday.

In March, my mum and I went to Paris, France to celebrate her birthday and my new job. In August, me and my friends went to Brussels, Belgium to visit a friend we met in Australia. In October, two of my friendship groups joined together for a winter getaway to Reykjavik, Iceland.

Visiting multiple countries in one year isn't actually as difficult as people think. If anything, the most difficult thing is finding people to go with. Luckily that problem was eradicated for me when I met my 'travel friends' (as I like to call them) in Australia at the beginning of the year. If I hadn't have met them, there's absolutely no way I would have had the adventures I've had this year. I was extremely lucky to meet a group of people who share the same desire to travel as I do, and who are in exactly the same boat as me when it comes to working/studying full time. Trust me, it can be done!

So, if you're lucky enough to have a partner, family member, best friend or group of friends you can go away with - grab the bull by the horns and do it!

TRAVEL. LIVE LIFE.

If not, don't panic! This is how I visited 4 countries in 1 year whilst working full time...

1. DON'T WASTE YOUR ANNUAL LEAVE

27 days + bank holidays (the amount I get) might sound like a lot, but stretch it over the course of a year and you'll find that it runs out very quickly. I've purposely been very sensible with mine. Want a 4 day mini break to Paris? Don't book 4 days off - that's a waste. Go over the weekend so you only have to take the Friday and the Monday off. I flew to Brussels and back in just 2 DAYS and only needed the Friday off work. Trust me, you don't need as much time off as you think you do! Save your annual leave for a time when you'll really need it. There's nothing worse than needing a good holiday but not being able to book one because you've used all of your holidays!

Alternatively, if you HAVE to use up your annual leave by a certain date - make the most of it! Don't sit at home being bored (everyone else will be at work and daytime TV really isn't that great...) Use that precious time off to visit a new country because, lets be honest, who would choose to stay in the UK when they don't have to?

2. EUROPE IS CHEAP - MAKE THE MOST OF IT!

Granted, it isn't as cheap as Asia but still... Europe is so affordable! We're lucky that us Brits live so close to mainland Europe that it literally costs nothing to hop on a flight or jump on the Eurostar and we're there. I'm pretty sure my trips to Paris and Brussels cost no more than £200 (return transport and accommodation) for 2 nights, which ANYONE can save if they put their minds to it. Trust me when I say hostels and airbnb are the way forward! Don't bother with overpriced hotels - they aren't worth it. If you're going away to enjoy yourself and have fun, chances are you won't be spending a lot of time in your room anyway. I'd much rather rough it in a hostel for a couple of nights than pay an extra £100 for complimentary shampoo and conditioner that I won't use.

As for flights, always fly from London. Yes it may be inconvenient getting up at 3am to get the 4 hour coach down to Heathrow (you don't even wanna know how many times I've done that journey), but again it will save you a bomb on flights compared to flying from your local airport (East Midlands why so expensive?!) Do your research and you'll soon realise how cheap holidays to Europe can be.

3. NO ONE WILL GO WITH YOU? GO ALONE!

This decision was the best one I've ever made. You might have the time off work, you might have the money... but oh no! You have no one to go with. I think this is something that holds a lot of people back from travelling as much as they want to. A lot of the time you can't rely on other people because everyone is off living their own lives and have their own schedules that will never match up with yours. You're skint when they have money... they're going back to uni when you have money... you both have money but want to go to different countries. It really is impossible. As I said, if you're lucky enough to have someone to travel with then you're already halfway there! But if you don't, there's nothing stopping you from going on your own! There are SO many tour groups out there and, although they're not for everyone, going on a Contiki tour to Australia was the best thing I've EVER done in my whole entire life! Read about my trip to the land down under here

4. JUST BOOK IT!

One of my pet peeves is hearing people go on and on about how much they want to go somewhere, yet they never actually book anything! What is stopping you? If you can get the time off work/uni and have money saved up (which everyone is capable of doing! Read my tips here) then you've got yourself a winning formula! When my manager at New Look said I could have 3 weeks off to go to Australia, the first thing I did when I finished my shift was go to STA Travel to book my flights. £1200 gone just like that, but I didn't bat an eyelid because it was something I really wanted.

Don't say... do. I could reel off a million and one travel quotes from Pinterest right now but I'll try and refrain myself. But honestly, anything is possible if you put your mind to it :)

xxx

CONTIKI BEACHES & REEFS / AUSTRALIA DAY 15 & 16 (PLUS VIDEO CLIPS)

The next morning, 7 of us were up (not so) bright and early for our last adventure activity in Oz - White Water Rafting! The famous Tully River in Cairns is known for being the best place to go rafting so I made sure I was insured up to Grade 4 before I left the UK as there was no way I was missing out!! As you can probably tell from our smiley faces, we had the BEST day! I'm one of those losers that loves team building activities so I loved the fact that we all had to work together and we didn't stop laughing the entire time! Because I was the smallest, I had to sit at the back with the instructor (what is it with me getting put with instructors ay?) so I didn't have to work as hard! Yayyyy for being 5"3!

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and it honestly felt like we were in a dream. We couldn't believe how lucky we were to experience something so beautiful. When we were away from the rough water, we jumped off the raft and floated around in our life jackets. It was probably the most relaxed I've ever felt in my life. If there's one thing I've learnt about myself in Australia, it's that I really love the water.

We stopped at the halfway point for a BBQ lunch then continued on for another few hours to the end of the river. We were SO exhausted afterwards so I ended up sleeping the whole way home (and got caught on the sleep cam that entertained us on pretty much every coach journey since Day 1). I was my typical unprepared self and forgot to bring a spare change of dry clothes with me, hence the borrowed Superman tee from my superhero obsessed bus buddy. That evening, we all went out for dinner and said our last goodbyes to mark the final night of the trip. You'd think the last night would be the craziest but none of us were in the mood to drink so we ended up heading back to the hotel earlyish to pack. We did however make time for one last dance to Uptown Funk! We pretty much screamed the bar down when we heard the opening beat, jumped straight on the table and threw our hands in the air like we just didn't care. The looks we got from the other travellers - who were peacefully eating their dinner - were priceless!

Reality hit the following morning - I was officially going home. I spent my last few hours buying snacks from Woolworths and getting ice cream with some of the guys who weren't flying home until later that afternoon. It was really difficult saying goodbye to the Aussie guys I had met, as chances are I would never see them again. I may have shed a tear (or ten) in the taxi on the way to the airport after they waved me off. 3 planes, a 2 hour delay sat on the runway, 33 hours and plenty of Tim Tams later, I landed at Birmingham Airport.

As promised, below is a video made up of random clips that I recorded whilst I was in Australia. If you've been reading since Day 1 (thank you for sticking around - I know it's taken a while!) then you'll probably recognise a few of the things I've written about. I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my Contiki adventure and I'm sorry it's taken me over 6 months to finally finish it! Note to self: don't try and write a travel series when you've just started a new job! I'll be writing a review on Contiki within the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out for that if you're interested.

CONTIKI BEACHES & REEFS / AUSTRALIA DAY 13 & 14

We were back on the mainland today for another 7 hour drive to our final destination of the tour, Cairns. Home to the Great Barrier Reef, it's safe to say we were equally excited and sad about arriving in Cairns as the trip was swiftly coming to an end. We didn't really do a lot on our first night apart from our included dinner where we all tried Kangaroo (when in Rome!) which tasted just like steak but was lovely nonetheless. After dinner we went for a wander around the night market and me and a few of the girls decided to pay for a Chinese massage. I clearly thought I was in Thailand for a second because I assumed it was going to be this amazing experience where they would use oils and I'd come out feeling like a new woman. Instead, we basically went behind a curtain with 10 other strangers and they gave us a massage ON TOP of our clothes and it was SO painful. Not only because he was pressing really hard on my sunburn (note to self: don't fall asleep on a beach), but it felt like he was bruising me and I spent the whole 10 minutes wishing it would end.

Stupid tourist 0 - 1 Chinese masseuse. We grabbed an ice cream on the way back to the hotel (which melted within SECONDS - no word of a lie it was like 30 degrees at 10pm) and called it a night.

The next morning we headed out to the number one thing on everyone's bucket list - the Great Barrier Reef! For once in my life I was actually prepared so the second I stepped on the boat I popped a few sea sickness tablets and was good to go! Me and a couple of the girls rented an underwater camera for the day to take snorkeling and scuba diving, but looking back I REALLY wish I'd bought a GoPro beforehand. The water was a bit hazy so the photo's weren't the best quality and it's really hard to get decent photos of yourself when 3 people are sharing a camera. Even so, scuba diving was one of the best experiences of my life! I was pretty scared at first (more scared than I was for my skydive!) because it's such a weird sensation having to breathe normally underwater without holding your breath! Luckily I got the hang of it beforehand when I was snorkeling, but scuba diving was another level of scary! We were taught all of the hand signals to use underwater in case of an emergency, but I really panicked when we were practicing taking our regulators off underwater (the thing in your mouth that gives you oxygen and keeps you breathing). When I tried it the first time, I didn't do the technique right so I ended up inhaling water and frantically floating to the top gasping for air. I find it so bizarre that you can remove your regulator underwater when it's the only thing keeping you alive! A trained instructor took us down 2 at a time so me and my friend Connor held on to each arm as the instructor guided us deeper. A lot of my friends paid for 2 dives but it was quite expensive so I decided to just do the 1. Definitely regretted that afterwards! I loved every minute of scuba diving, so much so that I'm planning on getting my PADI Open Water Diving licence in the foreseeable future!

We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the rays, eating endless buffet food, listening to music, chilling on a glass bottom boat and squeezing in some last minute snorkeling before we headed back to the mainland. The staff were so lovely (and as always the guys were very easy on the eye!) and they really made us feel at ease the entire day. When the boat docked, the staff lined up at the exit and shook our hands one by one as we departed which was really cute! Later that evening we all bought our passes for the bar crawl which was by far the best deal we had of the entire trip! $30 for dinner & an alcoholic drink at each of the 6 bars on the bar crawl - all for the equivalent of £15! I had the BEST night - plenty of table top dancing, drunk piggy back rides and Uptown Funk lovin'. At one point I had 3 vodka soda cranberries in my hand so yeah, things got messy.

Tomorrow we're going White Water Rafting down the famous Tully River!

xxx