All posts tagged: Philosophical

My Travel Bucket List – 3 Months In

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin Before I embarked upon this journey  wrote a little bucket list of things I wanted to see, do and experience. 3 months in, I thought I’d see how I’m doing, so here is my UPDATED bucket list… READ MY ORIGINAL TRAVEL BUCKET LIST 1. Get a massage Still a big fat no, the thought of an old Thai/Indian/Balinese woman crawling all over my naked body fills me with fear. Having now actually seen the famous Thai massage I can honestly say I will go to my grave without ever having one, gladly. FAIL 2. Have a holiday romance I guess I’ve had a little ‘romance’, I’ve had 4 Tinder dates, 2 non-Tinder dates, a few snogs, a few disappointing experiences, a dalliance in a hut… so I’m getting by. But no big romance… yet. WATCH THIS SPACE 3. See the Taj Mahal Yep, seen it. It was magical but obviously the one time I see it it had scaffolding on. FML. WIN 4. Not swim with dolphins Still haven’t and …

Pushkar – India’s Hippie Oasis

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In the mountains of Rajasthan there lies a small but very holy town by the name of Pushkar. In Hindi ‘push’ means ‘flower’ and ‘kar’ means ‘hand’. The town is home to India’s most holy lake where each year thousands of hindus make a pilgrimage to the sacred waters. Legend has it that the lake was formed by the tears of Lord Shiva who was distraught after the death of his wife Sati. When Sati died Shiva cried so long and so hard that his tears created two holy lakes (in Pushkar and Ketasha – which means ‘raining eyes in Sanskrit). While visiting Pushkar it is possible to take part in a ceremony at one of the 52 ghats surrounding the lake. I obviously took part in such a ceremony at sunset (when in India…) where a holy man leads you in a series of chants and offerings, sugar, rice, pigments and flowers symbolising health, love, prosperity, for good karma. The experience was awesome, especially in such a picturesque setting – I honestly found myself …

Girl wearing matador hat

Don’t Tell Me to ‘Be Careful’…

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I’ve been planning my round-the-world trip for almost a year now, and without fail, the first thing anyone says to me when I tell them my plans is ‘Ooh, be careful’. Not ‘wow, that’s amazing’, ‘have fun’ or simply ‘why?’, always a warning about the dangers that await me out there in the big wide world. I have no proof but I could bet my bottom dollar that a male announcing a backpacking trip wouldn’t get the third degree. At first I wasn’t annoyed by all the negative ninnies but after the 100th time I just told the person expressing concern for my safety to f*ck off. It’s boring. It’s rude. It’s xenophobic actually. There are dangers everywhere, of course, but when someone tells me they’re going on holiday I don’t tell them that their plane could crash, they could get robbed or they could trip over, bang their head and die. If I did tell them that I’d be called many things, but definitely not caring. Though not the same, this faux-concern reminds me of …

Why Going Travelling Nearly Made Me Have a Nervous Breakdown*

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* Not literally, obvs, but planning a RTW is hard! I had second and third thoughts before I even stepped foot on a plane (let alone another country). I pulled it back though and that’s the important thing, but nevertheless, I found that I had a bit of a wobble a few months before my trip… So, okayyyy, in the big scheme of things, a year or two spent travelling is a drop in the ocean, but when you’re in your twenties, a year is a long time. A whole lot can happen in a year (and often does) and that scared me, I thought ‘sh*t am I wasting my prime years?’. The answer to that is ‘no’, because like Jennifer Lopez, I will not reach my prime until my early 40s which leaves plenty of time for globetrotting. Financially travelling scared me too, this is because prior to actually committing to a year of travel I was a bit ignorant of the costs. I knew about flights and making sure that I had enough cash …

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8 Reasons to Travel in Your Twenties

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This is an article written for those of us dedicated to long-term travel who are a little bit tired of the same old questions. “Why are you leaving everything behind?”, “What about your job?”, “Aren’t you scared?”. It gets tiresome, so maybe print out this page and hand it to anyone who asks you travel-related questions. Of course the short answer is “because I bloody well want to!” You’re young, hot and living by the laws of YOLO baby… 1. If not now, when? You’re not getting any younger, so make hay while the sun is shining and head out into the big wide world. Seriously though, the older you get, the harder it is to drop everything on a whim. 2. Everything will still be there if you go back The career you left, your friends and family, they’ll all be waiting for you if and when you choose to go back home. Taking a year or two out of your life is a drop in the ocean – You’re not Rihanna, no one minds …

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Why I’m Staying ON The Beaten Track

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I think there’s a lot of travel snobbery, with more experienced or ‘better’ travellers believing their apparently more authentic, ‘off the beaten track’ travels being worth more than enjoying the tourist trail. To them I say ‘everybody calm down’ – one type of travel is not more valid than the other – these are the reasons why I’m proud to be following the masses, experiencing the world’s biggest tourist attractions and (mostly) staying well and truly ON the beaten track. All those people can’t be wrong Places are popular for a reason, the world is getting smaller and smaller and we humans have pretty much figured out where the best sights are by now. Conversely, some places aren’t that popular because they’re a bit sh*t, hard to get to, or just plain dangerous. I would never want to miss out on seeing the Taj Mahal just because it’s a traveller cliché. I don’t care – I want to see it, and I’ll deal with the crowds and queues to do so. I’m already taking a …

The Most Inspirational Travel Quotes Ever

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“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill “I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher “To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” – Anonymous “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – …

The Worst Things About Planning a Round The World Trip

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I’m going to, in this article, try to cover everything I wish I’d known when I started planning my Round the World trip. Full disclosure, there’s a lot of admin and crazy amounts of planning that go into travelling for an extended period of time… which probably doesn’t come as a shock. I think that a lot of travellers like to perpetuate the ‘pack your bags and go’ myth, but there are quite a few loose ends you’ll need to tie up before you leave. Everyone’s got an opinion You will have to deal with your friends, family and colleagues questioning your decision, constantly. And until you fly away from home, this will probably be your sole topic of conversation. Which is sometimes nice but when your Dad just won’t quit giving you murder stats for female travellers and your mates are talking about how you’re so ‘brave’ (read mental) for giving up your WHOLE LIFE… it gets a bit old. My suggestion is to memorise a small speech about why you’re going on a …

Why Travelling In Your Twenties Is Never A Bad Idea

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As someone who has already made this monumental decision, I can fully vouch for the old clichés about travelling like; ‘If not now, when?’ ‘Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.’ The one about the world being a book and if you don’t travel you’re always on the same page… or something to that effect. They’re true, so true, but you might sound like a tit when you start spouting off quotes from carefully curated Pinterest boards. For me, the travelling began the moment I decided that I wanted to go. Even though I was still in cold and rainy London. Making that choice put everything into perspective. As a twenty-something you have literally NO responsibilities, none at all. No partner, no kids, no house – I realise a select few twenty-something’s might have some of these things (yay for them) but for a lot of us they’re so far out of reach. This used to feel like a bummer but actually it’s incredibly freeing – we’re free as birds, not tied …