Traveling Changes You

I never understood people that don't want to travel. I've always thought how can you not want to explore? Go on adventures? Find out what's out there? I'm a big believer that when you travel it can be one hell of an experience  and maybe not the experience you were hoping for. I've have been traveling for a few years now and everywhere I have been I have learnt something about myself, I have found that I have been so appericative of where I live and become more independent.

                        

In Fiji I found I felt that I was so blessed to live in Australia where the wage are so high. When I went to Fiji I saw so much poverty as it.Fiji is very 3rd world. Although you wouldn't think so by the above picture. When I was sunbaking on the islands I was speaking to this lovely staff member and she was telling me how they work 14 day weeks and get roughly $2 a day. $2 that is insane! But you know what the strange thing is. All the staff that were there earning $2 a day were the happiest people that I have ever met. They were helpful, friendly and were always laughing. We all worry about $ so times but take a page from the  Fijians money isn't everything. 

My next trip was to New Zealand bro. I know this is what you would except me to say but I overcame my fears and felt like I became a stronger person for it. I used to suffer from anxiety. And if u suffer from it or know someone who does you will know its crippling. My anxiety ranged from being afaird that I would get sick when I'm out with friends and wreck their  evening to be scared to try new things. My anxiety got so bad that I was pike on friends and make up excuses so I didn't have to go out.Traveling was a big step forward for me at this time. I knew I wanted to travel but it still scared me. When I got to newzealand I had allready booked a bungee jump in I was excited and nervous but I couldn't wait. The day came for me to do it and my anxiety kicked in and made me feel sick so I cancelled and changed it to the next day. The next day I gathered up my confidence and walked down to the centre shaking with fear. When I got to the centre I changed to do the Nevis swing and we headed up the mountain.

I felt so sick. I wanted to hurl. I nearly did as I stepped onto the platform. When they dropped me 60m off a cliff face in that moment althought it was filled with sheer terror I felt free.

                                   

A lot of people let fear hold them back from doing the things they want to do. I did and do sometimes. But after this experiences I try not to let fear get to me. And I try to give anything a go when I travel. Fear! You don't control me...

After NZ my anxiety took the back seat to my new found confidence and I decided to do my first trip solo.... When traveling 

Nz and Fiji I had friends with me but doing europe alone and being so far away from home scared me. I didn't know if I could do it. I wouldn't even go see a movie by my self. For awhile before I booked Europe i tried to get friends to come. No one was keen, had the money or wanted to. Then I got lucky and my brother was like hell yes I will go with you. I was so excited.... I was going to europe it was something that I had always always wanted to do. 

We spoke about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go.The week that we were meant to go he cancelled on me! I was frurious!!! It was my dream to go to Europe and him canceling would stop me going. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty pissed off with him at that moment. 

I was speaking to my boss the next day and I told her about the situation. She said these words to me that shock up my perspective "Would you rather go alone to Europe or not go at all?" 

Was it really that simple? Could I go alone? My anger flushed away as I said "I would rather go alone" in that moment I knew what I was going to do. I wasnt anxious I just knew it's what I wanted and I was going to go to europe.  I'm not going to lie yes when I booked I was scared but excited. Everyone I told that I was traveling alone said to me "aren't you scared? Won't you be lonely? It's so far away what if something happens? Don't you want to share the experience with someone? I couldn't do it". They didn't expess exciement for me just so so much negativity. I didn't get a "Good on you Sarah I'm proud of you for going for your dreams" at all. 

When I was in Europe for the first time it was a whole new experience. I wasnt lonely, I wasn't scared.... I was excited, adventours and a explorer. This by far in my life was one of the best things that I have even done. And I'm so thankful for my boss to give me that little push. I prefer traveling alone now. When I was in Europe you wake up in the morning and the day is yours! No one telling you what to do, or where to be, I wasn't following anyone's schedule or having fights cos I didn't want to do what they wanted to do. I got up and said.... "What do I want to do today?" And you know what..., it felt good! 

                               

 I was more willing to talk to random people...I always knew I was outgoing but I learnt that "traveling Sarah" spoke to anyone. She didn't care.

 I spoke to taxi drivers, people on the bus, people on tours that I did ect. It was a bit of an eye opener for me. I realised that I don't have to wait for people to go for my goals. Other people don't control my happiness. If I want something I can go for it!!!! One saying that I have picked up over the years and I'm sure I have used before in this blog is "A good goal should scare but excite you!" And this is what traveling solo does. 

When I got back from Europe I found that I wasn't afaird of going to movies by my self, I was more independent and I would get up and say "what do I want to do today?" Don't worry I'm not a bitch. If I was with a friend I wouldn't disregard what they wanted to do. What I'm speaking about is that traveling solo has given me this new found confidence to try things I had never tried before. And I took this confidence back home with me. If I can travel solo any one can do it. 

                            

My most recent trip to Europe (which im still blogging about... Stay tuned) was for longer than I ever thought I wanted to be alone for. I went for nearly 6 weeks. I took more risks, caught trains, did a small top deck tour, caught ferries and did things I never thought I would want to. You may be thinking caughting a train... Big whoop! But when your alone in Europe caughting a train and doing day trips to places solo and organizing it your self was something i hadn't done before. I had always booked little day trips with a travel company. I have also dealt with motion sickness all my life so going on boats... Was a pretty big deal for me. Espically an 8 hour ferrie ride over open water from Santorini to Athens. 

                          

In this trip my luggage was broken into and also lost by the airline. I got lost in Venice for a good serval hours and no one spoke English. These chicks were fighting on the small top deck tour and I was smack bang in the middle of it. I danced on a bar and did shots in Mykonos. I accidently punched a girl. (All stories i will tell u later in my blogs) but what I'm trying to say is this trip changed me as a person. Not only did my confidence sky rocket anything that this trip threw at me I wasn't scared I just breathed and pushed through. 

                          

Traveling is a whirlwind... Traveling is life changing.... And has made me grow as a person so much. I am so wonderfully blessed to be able to do it. 

Don't take for granted being able to travel. There is a lot of people in this world that will never leave the place they were born. 

Go out and explore... We weren't made for one corner of this world.... 

Love S

  

How to keep safe when traveling solo

My family and friends have different thoughts about me when I travel. If I dont text

My partner thinks: that the movie taken has happened
My dad thinks: that Ive been in a plane crash
My brother thinks: tht sarahs having a great time
And mum thinks: that I have died

I get alot of warnings from people before traveling alone. You stay safe they stay but they never really gave me tips how to do so they just told me not to go.

Keeping safe when travelling is something we all want to do. No matter if your traveling to Europe or to India I have complied some tips and tricks to help you stay safe and give your family members some security.

1.Book in advance
One of the biggest tips I could give you is book your hotel in advance. There is nothing worst then turning up to a new city and having to search for a hotel only to be told that they have no available. The good thing about booking in advance is you dont have to worry about wherr you will be sleeping the next night, you can give your family and friends the phone number and address for the hotel plus you will allready know if your staying in a dodgy part of town or your centrally located to what you would like to see.

Hotel in Wellington New Zealand 

2. Give family and friends your itinerary

Your friends and family will feel a bit more at ease if they know where your going to be every night. Espically if your dad would go Liam Neisen taken style in the country your in to try and find you. If you give them an itinerary that has your hotel names, phone numbers, flight numbers and times,  dates you will be in certain places they will feel that they will be able to get in contact with you if they need to.

3. Book a tour

Another option is you can book a tour. Tour companies are a great way to stay safe while your traveling. Your itinerary is pre set, your always in a big group and your family have a point of contact if they need you.

4. Arrive during the day 

This is a great way to get your bearings when you arrive in a new city. I can not count the times where I have arrived at night by myself and catch a cab wondering if they are going to take me to the right hotel. A new city can be scary at night. Espically if your alone.

5. Book transfers

Transfers are a great to pre purchase so you know your going to go straight to your hotel safely. The cool thing is you will get to catch to the local driver and see pick his brain for things to do and see.

6.Book activities and day trips

This is a great way not only to meet new friends but to make sure you get to see what you want to see safely. 

7. Research research research

- research what you want to see and do while your there

- what places are safe

- where your hotels are going to be located and there reviews on trip advisor 

- ask friends who have been there beforw where to stay and what to do

- pre buy train tickets or car hire

-  if you need visas

- currency 

- where your countries embassy is just in case 

- where the local police station is

- get a pre paid sim card

- load your familues and friends numbers in your phone and write them down in a book and keep it in your bag just incase you loose your phone 

8. Contacting your family 

- Check in on face book so your family can see where you are.

- organiee a way that you will contact your loved ones either viber (free messaging app that runs off wifi)

-call them off facebook 

-or if you have the money call them off your phone

- set up a blog and blog daily so your friends and family can see what you are up to

- organise a time you will contact them.a day so they wont be worried 

London Day Ten

Day 10

Before I left for my European adventure I tried to plan as much as I could about my trip. And I knew when I got to London there was one place I had to see and that was Stonehenge. I booked a tour before I left with a company called Golden Tours. The tour office is located on Buckingham Palace Road which is a bit to far to walk at 7am. I caught a taxi to their office and lined up ready to get on the bus. The bus took 2 hours to get to stonehenge. It was the funniest thing that stonehenge is situated on a side of a road. Your just driving along through the middle of no where and there it is.

When I booked they said the tour lasted 2 hours. The bus drives past stonehenge and down a side street into a little carpark. The busload of people and myself waited on the bus while the bus driver went and got us audio guides. When he came back to the bus he let us know that we have an hour and a half until we need to be back on the bus. 

It took a couple of minutes to walk to the information centre from the car park. When I got into the information centre I lined up to take the small bus that runs every couple of minutes up to stonehenge. When I booked this tour I didn't realise it was self guided. I got on the bus and it took a couple of minutes to get up to Stonehenge. When I walked up to the attraction it is roped off around it and have little numbers that when you pressed them on the audio book it explained bits and pieces about the ancient site. I spent about half an hour listening to the history listen and then jumped back on the bus to the little gift shop and cafe. 

I headed back to the bus. I was a bit disappointed with this tour because I had so many questions that weren't answered by the audio headset. But it was amazing to see this in the flesh. I jumped back on the bus and we headed back towards the city. They failed to mention that they don't drop you were you got picked up but about a 20 minute walk back. About 2 hours later when we all got dropped off at this point I stared at my map wondering how I was going to find my way back. I started talking to a couple from Texas and we started to walk back together. 

It took roughly half an hour but I walked past Harrods, Harvey Nichols and did a bit of shopping. I then walked to Hyde Park. It was so beautiful and huge.

It took awhile to walkaround the park. There were people on paddle boats, swans, ducks, flowers and deck chairs. Deck Chairs I didn't realise that you have to hire them out. 

They were also setting up a festival for the weekend. The guys setting up said I could have a sneak peek inside which was pretty cool.

I walked up to the main shopping strip and went to Primart. Primart was so cool and amazing cheap. Discounted clothes, make up, shoes and pj's (Boys and Girls clothes). There was nothing over 15-20pounds.

After Primart I walked about 30mins to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. 

This was really cool. I then walked back to the hotel which took about 30mins. My body is so tired. I must be still jet lagged. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Munich 

   

London Day Nine

Day 9

Today I had a bit of a sleep in and walked down to get back on the hop on hop off bus. I jumped on the bus and it was PACKED! I got off at one of the next stops and meet a couple from Melbourne. And we walked together to another bus stop. Its crazy how many people that you meet from your home country when you travel. We got to talking and we realised that they were seeing Wicked tonight as well. When we got to the stop I realised how close we were to Piccadilly circus.

A did a bit of shopping and went to one of my favourite places MnM World. I did a little bit of exploring then had lunch at this little Italian place and had some amazing gluten free pizza. I went to Henleys the Worlds biggest two store. It was amazing. 7 story's of toys. 

They had storm troopers made of lego. I got back onto the bus and got off the bus at Westminster Abby.

I visited Westminster Abby, Parliament House and Big Ben. I then went walked to the Apollo Theatre for Wicked.

Wicked was the first show that I saw in London. The show was FANTASTIC! I would recommend it to anybody. It was so funny and entertaining. 

Edinburgh to London Day Eight

Edinburgh to London Day Eight

This morning I got up at 5:30am.... Ohhhhh so early. The transfer driver picked me up at 6am and took me to the airport. The driver was really cool. He was telling me how his driven around all of these famous people.

This is my its way to early to be up face

I got to the airport before line to my flight had even open and waiting in line for 15 or so mins before the flight booked in. The flight was quick and smooth and I was in London in no time. I walked out the gate and there was the transfer driver with a card with my name on it. It took roughly half an hour to get to my hotel. It wasn't a pleasant ride thought the driver was driving erratically. I got to my Hotel about lunch time and I booked a ticket for Wicked for tomorrow night. I didn't realise until I got to my hotel room that the Tour De France was on today. I brought a hop on hop off bus ticket because last time I was in London it was such a good way to get around. But this time there was so many road blocks that it was so slow to get around. 

I got off the bus at Buckingham palace to watch the end of the race. It was pretty cool. They had food vans and natural ice blocks. There was so many people there. People had even scaled the gates to watch the race. The sky looked pretty dark and I forgot my umbrella so I thought I would take shelter under the tree. It started to pour down rain and then I found that another 200 people had the same idea as me. 

People scaling the gates to watch the race

After the bikes flew by I walked up to Harrods for a bit of a late afternoon shop. I forgot how large Harrods. 

Harrods is so cool. They have a huge section devoted to fresh foods and sweets. There is so much to look at. 

I went to get back on the bus and the bus driver told us that the bus doesn't go back to the hotel when it was meant to. There was a few people that were arguing with the driver. The people who were arguing with the driver got off at a stop near a train station and I got off at the last stop. If I walked back to the hotel from this stop it would of taken me an hour. When the bus driver dropped me off he told me the if I run quick there was a bus in front of us that will take me to the hotel. I was very lucky that I got there on time. 

People don't realise how expensive dining out every night while travel can be. When I got back to the hotel at 9 I popped into a little supermarket close to my hotel and got a salad, bananas, muesli bars, water and chips for only 6 pounds. 

Edinburgh Day Seven

Edinburgh Day Seven

I met Sam today and we got breakfast and we went to the  Edinburgh Dungeons. I hadn't heard much about the dungeons and I wasn't sure what we should expect. It cost us 16 euro's each and the experience took 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was really funny, dark and informative. It was a really unique take on Edinburgh's History.

We walked up to the Art Gallery... I'm usually a bit of a fan of art galleries but it was so boring. We then started to walk towards the botanical gardens. We stumbled across a little farmers market. We got some cheese, fresh strawberries and salad and went on our way to the botanical gardens.

Markets

It took us about 30 minutes get to the botanical gardens and they were beautiful. And we had our little picnic.

Our Picnic

 We stayed in the gardens for a few hours relaxing and then we had coffee at the coffee shop before heading back to the city.  

Squirrels in the Gardens

We got caught in a storm on the way back to the city. And we got soaked. This was when I found out my rainjacket wasn't water proof. We then went to a little pub and tried haggis. We also sat down and listened to a Scottish band. 

It was such an amazing day. Tomorrow at 6:30am I'm off to London.

Dublin- Edinburgh Day Five & Day Six

Day Five

This morning I got up and relaxed before I caught my transfer to the airport. My transfer driver was this lovely older Irish gentlemen named John.  

The view from my hotel room 

I had some breakfast at the airport. When it was time to board the flight we got on us a bus that took us to a small plane. We sat on the tar-mat for an hour. The cabin crew let us know that they were having mechanical issues and they would fix them soon. They ended us putting us on another bus and putting us on another plane. The flight didn't take long to get to Edinburgh. But by the time I got through customs at Edinburgh my transfer car was long gone. I caught a taxi which took roughly 20 minutes to my hotel. The Novotel Hotel is very impressive.

Novotel Edinburgh 

I arrived in Edinburgh late afternoon and I went for a walk. I can't believe how beautiful Edinburgh is. It is stunning. You can see the Castle from every where you turn. There is so much history and beauty in Edinburgh. I had a friend from Australia who was arriving by train that afternoon. I meet up with her and we wander and explored. We had dinner in this little pub and planned what we would do the next couple of days.

We then went and watched the sunset at 10pm. 

    Day Six

Today I woke up in my massive beautiful room and I went to meet Sam for Breakfast. We went and had a hot chocolate at this little bakery that had wifi. And planned what we were going to see that morning. We started out after breakfast by walking to the Edinburgh castle. It took 10mins to walk to from where we had breakfast. When we arrived there was a huge line up to get in. We waited for about 45minutes until we brought our ticket and then headed in.

The castle was amazing! Its huge! I didn't realise that the castle is made up of lots of different buildings on site. We saw the changing of the guards, the crown jewels and the prison. 

We walked down the mile. There was so many interesting characters along the mile. Yoda, storm troppers and this lady who had the most piercings overnight. We did some shopping and went to a fudge making shop. We stopped for lunch at this little cute funky restaurant for lunch. 

We then walked back down the mile and had a look at the peoples story exhibit. We then wanted to go into Holyrood palace which is where the queen stays when she comes to Scotland. But it wasn't open as the Queen had stayed there a few days before. We saw on the map a famous spot called King Arthur's Throne which is on top of a mountain.

King Arthur's Throne

So we decided to climb the mountain to see the throne on top of the mountain. It took us over an hour to climb this mountain. It was step and rocky and hard. Our calves burnt all the way up and we got rained on. We passed this couple who were on their way down and the said there was hail up the top of the mountain. 

We got to the top and there were two little things that could be considered the seat. We had no idea which one was the throne. 

We started to walk back down the mountain and we realised that there was a path that took you down to the  bottom. We walked down this path and we were down the bottom of the mountain in no joke 10 minutes. We spoke to a ranger about the mountain and she said that we took the long way up. We asked her which monument was the throne and she said that the whole mountain was the throne.  Even though we climbed the mountain for nothing I felt as though this was a big accomplishment for me because I wanted to quit and stop alot of the times on the way up.

We went and had dinner at this little Mexican restaurant and had ice cream. It was an amazing amazing day.

Dublin Day Four

Today my body clock woke me up at 6:30am due to jetlag... Being on holidays I don't exactly mind. Apart from the fact that most of the attractions in Dublin open at 9am. I went down to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast. I'm currently staying at the Harding hotel it which is a few minutes walk to the centre of town. Today I wanted to do a bit of exploring and go see the Kilmainham Gaol. It took me 40 minutes to walk the old jail. It turns out there was a bus out the front of my hotel that I could of taken that would of taken only 5 minutes to get there. 

Tours go every 15 minutes or so minutes. It cost 6 euro's for an adult ticket. The tour took roughly over an hour. It was really interesting. The guide spoke about Ireland becoming independent and the great famine. 

After the jail I walked across to the IMMA art gallery and had morning tea. I caught a bus back into town. The one thing I did know is that if you catch a bus in Dublin that you have to have the correct change. If you don't you have to go to the head office in Dublin to collect your change. It was quite cool today in Dublin but by the time I made it back into town it was hot. I ended up popping back into the hotel and changing into something cooler. 

When I walked back into town and had a look in trinity college and got some lunch and had lunch in Stephens Green. 

I went for a walk around the park and around the neighbour and I found this cupcake bakery that had all of these amazing gluten free cupcakes. 

In Ireland the weather is very temperamental and it started to rain. I headed into Grafton Street and did a bit of shopping.  The past few days I have realised that my diet had been up and down. And I never thought I would say this but I'm really craving a salad. I went to a little food shop and brought a salad for dinner. Dublin was somewhere I always wanted to visit but I was more impressed with Blarney then Dublin. Dublin is beautiful. But tomorrow I'm off to Scotland. 

Dublin Day Three- Blarney Castle

My official first day but my third day travelling started pretty early. And by early I mean early 5am I was up to catch my 6:15am train. The train station was a 30mins walk from my hotel. I'm pretty hopeless with the maps so I do tend to get lost alot. At 5:30am (the sun is well and truly up) there is funny enough not a lot of people that you can ask for directions. I managed to get to the train station just in time. Before I left Australia I booked a return to to Cork to go and visit the Blarney Castle. The fast train takes 2 hours to get to Cork.

I got off the train and got to cork at 8:30ish and walked out looking for the best way to to get to the bus station to catch the bus out to cork to the Blarney Castle. I asked a bus driver and he gave me a free lift to Parnell Place which took a few minutes. If I had pre planned the directions to the bus station I could of walked to the bus station.

When I got to Parnell Place I brought a ticket for the 215 bus that goes to the Blarney Castle. I got on the bus and it took roughly 30mins to get to the Blarney Castle.

In the movies Ireland I have always seen Ireland is green full of flowers and castles. Blarney is how I envisioned Ireland to look like. Flowers, castles, green meadows, water falls and little shops. Out of all the places that I went in Ireland Blarney was the most beautiful. When I hoped off the bus I walked through the little town and found the Blarney Chocolate factory. Yum.

 They had so many choices of chocolate. I may have brought a few. I then walked to the Blarney Castle. The Castle takes about 5 mins to walk to from the bus stop. It cost 12 euro's for adults and 5 euro's for a child. The castle was amazing. I spent 3 hours on exploring you could definitely spend half a day here. 

The grounds themselves were spectacular. They have caves, walks around the castle, waterfalls, and of course the Blarney Stone. If you want to kiss the Blarney stone and get the gift of the gab I would suggest doing this first as there is usually a bit of the line. Kissing the stone was a really cool experience.  To get to the stone you have to walk about a shiteload of step steps and pull your self up with a rope. When you get up the top it will only take a few minutes until you kiss the stone. There is a person at the top that will help you to do this. There was a man at the top. He got me to lie on my back and he holds you as he pushes your towards the stone. They also take 2 pictures while you were doing this. I asked a man in the que behind me to take a photo of me doing this. 

I spent the next few hours on site doing the wonderful walks and looking at the views

I then went into the town to get some lunch. They had a few different restaurants for you to choose from. I choose The square table. The restaurant was gourmet, reasonable priced and the food was amazing. 

I then catch the bus back into Cork to do a bit of shopping and jumped on the 6pm train and I was back in Dublin about 8:30ish. It was an amazing day.