• The Twenty-Minute City

    When I was planning my Australian adventure, I knew that I wanted to incorporate a trip to the huge monolith that is Uluru. After booking onto a six-day tour that departed from Adelaide, I decided to tie in a few extra days to explore the state capital of South Australia. Adelaide is known as “the 20 Minute city” because supposedly, any major point of the city can be reached in just 20 minutes. Whilst, smaller than Melbourne and with around a quarter of the population, after my four day visit, I felt that I had just about scratched the surface. The first two places that I visited (by accident) were…

  • Melbourne Love So Far

    It’s been three months since I stepped off a twenty-eight hour flight and into the place that has been voted as the world’s most liveable city for the past 7 years – Melbourne, Australia…and I can safely say that it really is a fantastic city! Here are just a few of the things that I have discovered so far. The Shopping Options Currently, I am avoiding clothes shopping unless it’s essential but if I wanted to go on a shopping spree, Melbourne would not disappoint! From the big name high street and designer shops in the Central Business District, to the quirky independent stores and vintage shops on Brunswick Street…

  • The Day it Happened

    I was cold. It had been warmer in London. I was wet. In London the sky had been blue without a rain cloud in sight. I was tired. Staying awake for most of the previous night packing and re-packing my backpack had been a bad idea. My shoulders were still aching from the hour I’d spent wandering around with my heavy backpack trying to find my hostel and I was starting to wonder if I had already missed the best of the European summer weather by opting to travel  towards the end of August and into September. This was my first multi-destination trip and I had chosen to fly the solo…

  • Why I Choose to Fly the Solo Flag When Travelling

      In the past, my solo trips have attracted a variety of responses ranging from “You’re so brave!” to “It would’ve been more fun if you took someone with you!” and “Didn’t you get lonely?” However, for me, choosing to travel solo has benefited me in ways that I could not have imagined. As an introvert, I recharge my internal batteries by taking time out alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with friends and family and I have great fun when I do so – but I find it tough to be around people 24/7. A solo trip just provides an extended opportunity to re-energise – and…

  • Liebster Award

    Yay! Thank you to Ola for my nomination for the Liebster Award! Here you can see my answers to her 11 questions: Which is your favourite travel destination and why? Probably Ko Lanta in Thailand. The people were so friendly and it was quite rustic – gasoline was sold in bottles and from old school American-style petrol pumps. There were beautiful quiet beaches with less than 10 people on them and I got to watch some amazing sunsets. I stayed in a great hostel with wonderfully kind staff and there was a lovely family owned restaurant across the road which served delicious food. I had such a relaxing time there…

  • Barcelona-Bound Runaway Train

    When I decided to take an InterRailing trip in 2013, Nice and Barcelona were on my list of must-see destinations. From the research that I had conducted beforehand, I knew that travelling between these two cities was no easy feat but I hadn’t realised just how long-winded the journey could potentially be. When I went online to check the different route options, I found that the shortest option would take eight hours and involve at least two changes.  I would also need to buy seat reservations for some of the trains but I decided to wait until I had arrived in Nice to do this. Big mistake. When I got…