Where did the time go!?

Hello hello!!

First I just wanted to say that I know I have not posted anything for months, and although I am sorry for this I must say there hasn’t been too much to blog about! For the last few months I have been very busy trying to get organised for my move over to the UK. I got a new job where I worked 40 hour weeks to save as much as possible, and in between I had to organise my UK visa, travel insurance and all of the necessary things!

If you would like me to do a separate post on how I went about getting my visa and the whole process, just leave a comment! 🙂

And now more to the point of this post.. I am flying out in less than 48 hours!! I can’t believe how fast these past few months have gone and although I am so so excited I am also getting a little nervous – which is expected right? I’m starting to realise just how much I will miss my family, but I know that once I am off on my adventures it will be 110% worth it (after the 25+ hour flight, that is!)

I previously posted about my plans for my time in Ireland, and not a lot has changed since then. I decided not to book in advance as I would like to have the freedom to change my itinerary if need be. The only bookings I have made at the moment are my first few nights accommodation in Dublin, and my flight out of Ireland nearly two weeks later. My rough idea is that I will go Dublin>Galway>Killarney>Cork. And with these I am hoping to do a couple of day trips such as the Cliffs of Moher and the Ring of Kerry, but I guess time will tell and I will see what happens!

I am hoping to make a post every few days to keep updated, and they should be a little more exciting than my last few, with plenty of pictures!!

As for now, this is most likely the last post from me in the Land Down Under, next stop > The Emerald Isle!

xxx

Where have I been?

It seems that there are actually people out there reading this little blog of mine, so I figured that I would give a little rundown of the countries I have visited so far – even though there aren’t a lot at all – just to give you a little more info about me 🙂

Countries I have visited…

My first overseas trip was a family holiday to Fiji for eight days, when I was in primary school. My family and another family went together and stayed at a family resort called Naviti, as well as doing day trips to experience the local culture. It basically rained the whole time, but we still made the most of it and had a great time!

Fiji. Photo by Black Book Communications on Pinterest.

My second and most recent overseas trip was to France, England and Scotland in 2013. One of my sisters was living in Scotland at the time so my mum and I decided to do a three week trip to essentially visit my sister, but also to do a little travelling. We flew into Paris and had a wonderful ten days in the city, where my sister joined us for the last five days here. We didn’t venture out of Paris, although I plan to see a lot more of France in the next couple of years (and plus, Paris is amazing and ten days was definitely not too long!!).

Atop the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Photo taken on my trip in 2013.

After our ten days in Paris we took the Eurostar to London where we stayed for a few nights, and then flew to Scotland where we had three nights, visiting the town where my sister lived and meeting all of her work colleagues and friends she had made. We also had a night on the beautiful Loch Lomond in Scotland, this was one of the highlights of my trip. After Scotland, my mum and I flew back to Paris for yet another couple of days, as we had our connecting flight home from here. Overall it was an amazing trip, and it was after this trip that I decided that moving overseas to work and travel was 100% what I wanted to do after school.

The famous Tour Eiffel! Photo taken when I was in France, 2013.

So now, that leaves me where I am today! I have to date only visited those four countries, but I have many others that are on my list which I plan to tick off in the next couple of years and more! My #5 will be Ireland, where I will be in less than 12 weeks now, and I couldn’t be more happy and excited. I will be posting on here about my travels so be sure to follow if you’re interested!

Where was your first overseas trip and how many countries are ticked off your list?

xx

Travel Inspiration!

While planning the next big trip, or simply just craving adventure, we all have our different ways of getting further inspired to go out and do the things we love! As it is only around fourteen weeks until I move across the world to another country, I have recently found many things that have gotten me more inspired to see and do as much in this world as possible, so I thought I would share what has been getting me excited for my adventures!

Books

Now that I have started a new job and have been busy working to save my dollars, I haven’t had an abundance of time to read, though in my spare time I have been reading my Lonely Planet book on Western Europe, as well as loving Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Wild’. This book follows the true story of Cheryl’s solo adventure, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, USA over the space of a few months. Such an inspiring story, especially for females planning to travel solo, I definitely recommend!! After such good reviews, this book has also just recently hit the big screen, coming to Aus on the 22nd of January, how exciting!! Speaking of movies..

Movies

Movies are a great way to get inspired and excited for the next big trip, because as well as they tell stories, you get to see amazing video footage of different places to which you may be travelling to. For example, as I will be travelling around Ireland in April, I have been loving the movie PS I Love You, even though it isn’t a movie specifically about travel, it shows gorgeous Irish scenery as well as a little Irish music too! Another movie I have recently watched is based on the novel by Christopher McCandless, Into The Wild (2007). This is a true story of Chris’ life, where, after graduating college he gives away all of his money and travels part of America before going to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Like Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Wild’, Into the Wild is an amazing solo journey of self discovery and connecting with nature, a must-watch in my opinion.

Photo credit: Etsy on Pinterest.

Music We all know that music can play such a large role with our emotions, listening to sad, slow songs when we are upset, upbeat songs when we are happy, and there may be songs you love because they remind you about somebody or someplace. Well just like all of these things, there are also songs out there that may inspire your travels. I have a whole playlist of music I like to listen to when researching travel on the net, and i’m sure they’ll be playing on my iPod as I fly into Ireland in a few months. Although these songs are not all particularly about travel, they are what get me in the travel mood personally. A very small percentage of these songs include:

Galway Girl – Steve Earle

Rather Be – Clean Bandit

Take It Easy – Eagles

Budapest – George Ezra

..and my favourites of all, all songs by the sister duo from Sweden, First Aid Kit.

Travel blogs and the internet

Now this is one of my biggest inspiration finders for travel! I have read countless travel blogs as well as searched the internet for hours on different travel destinations, and I also follow different travel pages on Twitter. A few of my favourite travel blogs include The Aussie Nomad, World of Wanderlust and Adventurous Kate, be sure to check them out and read up on their travel tips and stories!

There are many other inspirations I have but these are just a few for now.

What are some of your travel inspirations? Whether it be books, films, blogs, songs or something entirely different, i’d love for you to share! 🙂

Solo Female Travel.

Two years ago, when I decided that I wanted to travel solo overseas after finishing school, I guess most people just thought it was a dream that would never really happen. But over those years I kept researching on different countries, reading many travel blogs and adding many places to my bucket list. Then, about four months ago I started looking at flights, trying to find a good one to book. “So you are actually going to do it?” my Mum asked me when I had found a good flight. I told her that of course I am!

When I started telling family and friends that I am going over on my own I seemed to get (and am still receiving) the same reaction, “oh, you’re so brave to go on your own” “be careful, a girl going on her own could be dangerous” and “you’re so lucky, I wish I could do that”. Now of course I can see where they are coming from, having heard lot’s of stories about female travellers being kidnapped and what not. But really, they only ever show the bad stories in the media. And also, it’s not like I am flying straight into a war zone. I’m flying into Ireland where everybody speaks english, and where I hear you will find the friendliest people in the world. I may also add that according to the Global Peace Index, Ireland is the 13th safest country in the World, two spots in front of my own country Australia.

Photo from: http://dailyurbanista.com/2014/03/12/10-things-we-learned-while-traveling-through-europe/

Now in saying this, it doesn’t mean you can just go out and do whatever  you wish to and you’ll be fine. Just like if you were in you’re home country, you have to use your common sense. For example don’t go walking around by yourself at night time in a foreign place, don’t go anywhere with a stranger, don’t get drunk if you’re alone and as my mother has been and is constantly telling me, use your womanly instincts, if something doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t.

As I have heard and read in many places, solo travel is one of the most rewarding experiences. You have the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and you don’t have to worry about anybody else’s plans. And really, it’s not as if I’ll be completely alone. I’m going to be staying in hostels where I will be sure to meet travellers alike and maybe make some friends along the way. Being on my own means that I will become more independent and i’ll be sure to gain confidence along the way.

So hopefully, with a little education, people (my mother included) will realise it’s not as dangerous as it may seem, you just have to know what you’re doing and be smart about it.

Have you travelled solo, how did/do you find it?

Flight booked!!

After checking flight prices constantly over the last few months, I’ve finally went ahead and booked my ticket overseas! Over the last month I made the decision that I wanted to fly into Ireland so that I could do a little travel and sightseeing before settling into a job in the UK. So come April 20, I’ll be flying into Dublin!! As I was filling out my details online to book my flight, it dawned on me that I really am going to do this, after years of dreaming and researching, it’s really going to happen! I guess it’s good to have a few nerves though, and I know that this is definitely the right decision to make for myself! So now I really know that I’m going to have to save as much as possible, and probably not much of a social life over the next three to four months!

But with the lack of social life will come the spare time to plan my Irish trip!! At the moment i’m thinking of spending around five days in Dublin, then heading to the west coast city of Galway for another few days, and then to another county, for instance Cork or Kerry, for the remainder of the trip.. (all up i’m thinking of about two weeks in the country).

Galway, Ireland. Image from: http://www.touropia.com/best-places-to-visit-in-ireland/

I will be staying in hostels and doing as much as possible, but obviously will be on a budget too! If you have been to Ireland and have any tips on where to stay or things to do/see, feel free to let me know in the comments!!

The time is now..

It’s that time of the year again where everybody is thinking of their New Years resolutions, but for me, mine was decided quite a while ago. After just finishing school, many of my friends will be heading off to university to further their careers, but for me, after thirteen long years of school, I knew that going straight to university was never my top priority. So, come April 2015, I will be taking the leap and moving to the UK for one to two years on the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme (Visa). As a young female who craves adventure, this decision was an easy one for me, although some say it’s a game move to go alone. So over the next four months, I will be very busy organising everything that needs to be done to kick this dream into full swing.

Flying into France, 2013.

Most importantly, I will be trying to save like mad, as well as organising my visa and securing myself a job for when I arrive in the UK. The idea of this blog is not only for me to look back on as a sort of journal, but also to hopefully learn some tips from travellers and nomads alike, and once I have gained some experience myself, hopefully I can share with others too. Until next time, The girl on foreign soil. xo