Travel | footstepping..

My European weekends for 2012..

After returning from my latest trip I managed to pick up a couple of different temp assignments for a week or two before Richemont called me to say they wanted me back!! This was great news as I enjoyed working for Richemont, they were a great company and I learnt a lot working there. I ended up working there until my time was up in London.

The start of my weekend trips away was local, in Birmingham, to stay a night with my friend who was studying there. Charlotte showed me around and we hung out in the small city where the sun was shining for us. We did visit the Cadbury Chocolate factory which of course we felt ill from so much chocolate afterwards but well worth it.

The following weekend was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee which meant an extra-long weekend, perfect to book a European trip away, Prague in the Czech Republic it was. I went solo and managed to meet some great people on the walking tour and at the hostel where I stayed.

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Three continents in six weeks..

My first stop was Amman in Jordan my original tour was meant to head straight to Syria followed by Jordan and Egypt but with all the conflict happening at that time, the Syria leg of the trip was cancelled. Therefore, I had quite a number of extra days in Amman so I did some research about heading to Jerusalem in Israel for a few days (this is not as easy as it sounds because of the border crossing).

I arrived at the hostel in Amman (Jordan) where I met one of my roommates who told me that a few of them heading to Jerusalem the next day and asked if I wanted to join – perfect! There were four of us in total which helped a lot with the cost of the taxis to and from everywhere.

The view of Amman (Jordan) from my hostel window..

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My first family visit and another weekend trip to Europe..

After working my ass off every single day (over 70 hours per week) for the last couple of months, my Mum and Sister arrived. It was good to see them. My sister had her 18^th birthday in London which we celebrated by having dinner at Jamie’s Italian restaurant and a quiet night as we were up early the next day to go to Copenhagen.

We got to Copenhagen where my Mum’s cousin (my second-cousin but still call him my ‘cousin’) picked us up and took us to his family home. They treated us with a yummy Danish lunch and then took us on a bike ride around the city of Copenhagen – it was beautiful!

Our cousins - Scott and Jeanette — Our cousins – Scott and Jeanette

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Hogmanay and back to London with a weekend trip to Europe in the mix..

I returned to London just before New Year’s 2011 and headed straight up to Edinburgh to bring in the New Year with the Hogmanay Festival.

I was with a group of friends and we hired an apartment in Grassmarket Square which is pretty central and not far from Princes Street Gardens. We had a few cook ups and roasts and joined in the festivities of the Hogmanay Festival which included artists such as Mark Ronson, The Vaccines and Bombay Bicycle Club etc.

Fireworks over Edinburgh's Castle for New Year's — Fireworks over Edinburgh’s Castle for New Year’s

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Another first for me, snow!

One of my mates organised for a group of us to head to the French Alps for Christmas with Fanatics Tour Group. The package included transport, accommodation, lift pass and ski hire.

We met at Waterloo Station late in the evening and jumped on the bus to Risoul (La Foret Blanche) in the South-eastern French Alps. Little did I know how far away from London this actually was and how long it would take us to get there.

We stopped a few times along the way for food etc and at one stop I finally got to experience snow, at last! It made everything so beautiful, and slippery!

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Croissants, chocolate and cheese..

It was December and so I boarded the Eurostar from St Pancras bound for Paris . It was so simple, a simple show of the passport, sit down in your seat and you were off to another country, via train, underwater.

As my mate had been to Paris before, I went off and did the free-walking tour while I waited for her to arrive (she was coming by plane from Edinburgh). The Sandeman’s free walking tour was great and went past a few of the major sites, Notre Dame, down Champs-Elysees with the Arc De Triomphe in the distance, past the various museums and through the arch at the Louvre. This was a perfect way to get my bearings around the city and learn some history all for free (funding based on tip at the end).

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My first few months in the United Kingdom..

I arrived in London with no plans. However, I was lucky enough that my cousin, Tarlia, had also just arrived and had kindly booked me into a hostel with her for a couple of nights.

For about a week I hostel-hopped whilst checking out some housing options and setting up my bank account. I was having no luck with the house search (via houseshare.co.uk and gumtree.co.uk) until one of the girls (Aussie) I met on the tour (through Portugal and Spain) got in contact with me and said I could crash at her place until I found somewhere. This proved perfect as Chloe was actually leaving London and moving back to Australia, so after a week dossing on her couch she told me I could take over her room and it was only £380 a month including bills!!! I had somewhere to live!

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First stop, Europe and a little Africa..!!

Goodbyes are never easy and I had my family there to bid me farewell, I had a two-year visa but no real idea of when I would be back.

After a mammoth flight, I landed in Lisbon, Portugal (Adelaide-Melbourne-Hong Kong-Istanbul-Lisbon). It was a solid 25 hours on a plane.

I was doing a ‘Top Deck’ through Spain and Portugal for two weeks as a ‘welcome to Europe’ for myself.

What I saw of Portugal was beautiful. We went from Lisbon to Porto which was stunning. A boat ride down the Douro River was ideal and a great way to see the sights.

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In preparation of my move overseas..

Within a week of returning from India I gave my boss notice and signed up with various agencies to start some temp work (higher hourly rate and experience in other companies). So I could save to move overseas. To the UK it was, solo all the way.

For my UK visa, I applied online and booked a day trip to Melbourne (from Adelaide) for my biometrics. The visa cost £208 (roughly $370 AUD) and was simple enough to follow. I applied for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme which allows Australians to work in the UK for 24 consecutive months, allowing you to exit and enter the countries as much as you like in the meantime. There are a few rules such as: you must be between 18 and 31 years old, have £1,890 (roughly $3,250) in your bank account, and you must apply for the visa outside of the UK. For an ‘Ultimate Reference Guide on the Youth Mobility Scheme’ please click here to see how Chris from ‘The Aussie Nomad’ explains it in great detail. Continue reading “In preparation of my move overseas..”

A day of wandering in Singapore..

I had a full day in Singapore on my way home from India and wow could you notice the difference. Coming from India to one of the world’s most ‘cleanest’ cities was a bit of a shock for me, I missed the chaos of India already.

Singapore was nice for a day – I walked around, a lot, and noticed pretty much all the shops were the same just in different shopping complexes. I did go on the Singapore Flyer which gave me a good view of the city and ate some yummy food. Continue reading “A day of wandering in Singapore..”

My first trip alone, but I was never alone..

For my 21^st birthday I decided to go to India but I could not tell you why India. I don’t know myself but it proved life changing and I still hold India close to my heart.

As it was my first overseas trip going ‘solo’, I booked a ‘basix’ tour with Intrepid Travel. Because it was ‘basix’ it meant all our means of transport was by the local transport, no air conditioned buses. Amazing. This was a highlight and made for some of my favourite memories. We travelled by cycle rickshaw, motor rickshaw, local buses, trains, overnight trains and a few taxis.

I flew into Delhi and had a couple of days before my tour started. I was alone and in India. I finally got the courage to leave my hotel room on the first day to change some money and head to Connaught Place. Continue reading “My first trip alone, but I was never alone..”

A trip away with friends ..

We were 20 years old so it seemed about right to book a trip overseas. I went back to Bali with my (then) boyfriend and a few friends. It’s such an easy place to go overseas from Australia.

Again, the smell and humidity hit me as soon as I stepped out of the airport – I knew I was back.

We stayed at The Losari Hotel & Villas in Kuta which is off of Jl. Padma. The Losari was a good distance away from the hustle and bustle but still walking distance as it was on the border of the, much quieter, Legian. This hotel suited us just fine, it had a small pool, which we didn’t really spend much time in as we were out at the beaches most of the time, and a yummy breakfast.

As is standard in Bali, we hired scooters. Doing this opened up a whole range of possibilities and each day we zoomed around from surf beach to surf beach. Each scooter carried two of us with the surfboards strapped to the side of the scooter.

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A family affair in Indonesia..

As majority of Australians do, we went to Bali. It was me, my parents and my younger brother and sister (8 and 6 years old at the time). I was about 12 years old and for our first trip ‘overseas’ as a family. It was 2002, the year of the Bali Bombings.

The first impressions of a foreign country still sit with me – the smell as soon as you stepped outside of the airport hit you straight in the face. I can still smell the mixture of stale sweat and hot air.

We stayed at The Jayakarta Hotel which (as kids, we made note of this) had about five different pools – paradise! The hotel was opposite Legian beach where as soon as you step out of the hotel you get the calls from the local Balinese selling their goods from the beach.

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