A Big Initial Hurdle... Parents Edition.

Now you've told your other half... now for your 'rents.

If your parents are anything like mine, their thoughts are SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY.... oh and did I mention safety?  Though I was going to be travelling with a friend of mine and won't be alone, that was still their number 1 concern.  This is what they said in a nutshell... "We've raised you for 26 years and we don't want anything to happen to you. What happens if something terrible happens to you and we can't find your body?!!".

How NOT to do it -
"Hi Mum, Dad. I'm going go give up my job and go travelling." BIG MISTAKE.  This scenario will cause them to go ape shit which they did on me with them shouting words like safety! job! career! money! etc.

How to do it -
I left it for a while then came back to them with the following...

1) Who - who you are planning on doing this epic journey with (and what they're like if they don't know what they're like already).
2) Where - show them a list of where you are planning to go (ideally produce a map in front of them if they're not particularly great friends with geography).
2) When - timeframes! Give them an idea of how long you are going for, when you are planning to go etc.
3) How - it's a good idea to show them how much money you think you'll need for this trip and show them how you are planning to go about financing it.
4) What & Why - tell them the benefits of going on this trip... how much you really want to do this, how much of a dream it is, character & experience building etc etc.

Basically, you want to show them in a high level plan of what you are going to do and how you are going to go about doing this then keep them up date if they want on the details.  This would put things into perspective for them and put them more at ease.


Tx

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Team Contiki Does the Bs!

A couple of weekends ago, I went on a team building trip with work to Bristol & Bath!  It was an experience on several levels:

1) I've never been to Bristol or Bath (yea and I've been in the UK for 20 years?!)

2) I've not been out with my work mates properly yet

3) I've not been on a 'Contiki'! (It's not the real mccoy, but we went on one of our new coaches, had a tour manager and driver).

It was an epic weekend not to mention tiring but here's a snapshot of what went down...

Day 1 - Bristol town for a scavenger hunt where we had to find answers to questions around the town and take photos. Dinner at riverside restaurant then followed by a booze cruise down the Avon stopping at a few pubs before hitting Reflex and a kebab before bed.

Day 2 - A visit to the Roman Baths and a wander around the beautiful town of Bath then back to Brom-Vegas.

I really enjoyed myself! Thanks Contiki.

Txx

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Travelling - A Big Initial Hurdle... Boy/Girlfriend Edition

So you've decided to go on the trip of a lifetime and your mind is set and have started saving up for it, there are 2 sets of important people that you need to involve...


Firstly the other half.

Getting them on board with the whole travelling situ should, in theory, be easier to deal with than parents as they are on your level... but nonetheless hard to tackle.  I didn't have to explain to Shawn why I want to do it because he knows it's something I've dreamt of for-like-ever. When I finally decided I was definitely doing it, he told me to go and do it because it's something that I've always wanted to do.  GREAT! So I go and book the flights then afterwards he's like WHAT?! You're going for THREEEE months.  I'm pretty sure I told him this before...


Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is make sure that you discuss all the details with your loverboy/girl because at the end of the day, it does put a strain on relationship being so far away from each other.  What I found difficult is communicating when there's the time difference to consider on top of just being busy doing things whilst you're away (especially in Australia where it was 11hrs ahead at times and you're totally on an opposite schedule).  Really hone in on the ways you can communicate with each other: 1 seriously good tip is BRING THAT SMART PHONE!


1) Skype will be your new best friend! Whether it's in an internet cafe or on your phone.  Every hostel/hotel in Asia practically has wifi so being able to use Skype on your phone is aweeesome.
2) Whatsapp
3) Emails/ Facebook etc.


Despite how difficult it was, I'm so glad I did it because we're still together and going strong at the end of it (he was SUPER nice when I got back as well - plus plus plus points!).  Though, sometimes I really do wish that he was there to go on the amazeballs journey with me to experience all the wonderful things too.



Tx

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Wanderlusting...

I've decided to add a travel section to my blog!

I want to share my experiences and tips to those who are:
A) thinking of going travelling
B) who are going and planning their travels
C) simply interested and live in wanderlust

Before I left, I was searching high and low through online sites, forums etc to find info and tips. So I thought I'd do my own version on here and hope to share everything from packing, budgeting, to tips on the road - though my experiences at the moment are limited to Australia and the South East Asia!

Tx

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Travel Bucket List

Everyone's got a bucket list of things they want to do & see before you know... you kick the bucket. Thought I'd share with you my travel bucket list... they're not listed in priority but definitely want to see all these places (and more)!

1) Petra, Jordan
2) Tel Aviv, Israel
3) Machu Pichu, Peru
4) Toronto & Vancouver, Canada
5) See the Aurora Borealis in Canada
6) West to East coast USA
7) Trinidad & Tobago Carnival
8) Great Wall & Terracotta army, China
9) Guilin, China
10) Nepal
11) Golden triangle, India
12) Indonesia
13) Istanbul, Turkey
14) Athens, Greece
15) Kenya, Africa
16) Uluru, Australia
17) French Polynesia
18) Hawaii
19) Bolivia
20) Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
21) New Zealand

Yeah this list grows...it's like mould or something hah. But I'm going to really make an effort and go to ALL (ok maybe some) of these places before I'm 30!

Do you have a bucket list and if so where would you like to go?

Tx
 

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Words of Wisdom

Source: lloso.blogspot.com via Terri on Pinterest

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Jump for joy!

A compilation of jumping shots from travelling...

Love T ♥

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Starry Starry Night

" Starry starry night... paint your palette blue & grey..."

      Source: VisualiseUs

       

Wouldn't it be amazing if my back yard lookeed like this...? To be able to lie down on the grass & watch the stars  in the evenings...

The most amazing sky I've seen in my life was in Boracay, Phillipines.  They have 'brown outs' occasionally and I experienced this whilst walking on the beach with my friend and literally the sky suddenly lit up like there was a big firework or something... then we realised the whole island was plunged into darkness.  The sky was lit up by the stars.  It was trully amazingggg... we sat & chat until dawn & it will be one of those memories I'll never forget & one I'd love for it to be repeated.

Boracay, Phillippines. Source: Terri Wong

Just one more thing... me and Shawn have talked about going to see Aurora Borealis in our lifetime... hopefully. It would be awesome to see it in Canada... or Norway.

  Source: www.visitnorway.com

Anyways... enough geekiness from me... will be doing a post on my ELF haul next :)


Love T ♥

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