Travel Blogs

New Zealand is simply beautiful. This country of two islands with a population of only about 4.5 million has it all……volcanoes, lush rainforests, beaches with golden sand (there are black sand beaches too!), mountains surrounded by glaciers, charming fiords, thermal hot springs and mud pools, and not to mention, all those lovely creatures that I like---sheeps and penguins!! Before coming here, I knew that this country is pretty from pictures that I have seen, but now having seen it with my own eyes and having been immersed by the stunning landscapes, I have to say that this is the prettiest country that I have ever visited.

From my experience, the best way to explore New Zealand is by car because it allows you to make stops at different scenic spots and it gives you the flexibility to change travel plans when the forecast predicts five days of rain when you want to spend some time relaxing on a beach (speaking from personal experience!)
I spent my first two weeks on the North Island and loved it! (Don’t let people persuade you to “skip the North Island and just head to the South Island”!) In the North Island, there are nice beaches all along the coast and great opportunities to hike up dormant volcanoes, to experience thermal hot springs in Rotorua and to explore caves and see glowworms in Waitomo. Perhaps the one thing that is on a lot of people’s list of “Things to do” in the North Island is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This alpine crossing is a 19 km one-day hike that is touted as one of the best one-day hike in New Zealand and perhaps even in the world. The crossing is one section of the 4-day Tongariro Northern Circuit trek in Tongariro National Park. It is one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks” as set out by the Department of Conservation (http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/great-walks/). Well, I did do the 19km hike and even scaled up Mt Tongariro. I can say that it was certainly a memorable one for me but I can’t testify whether it is indeed the best one-day hike I have ever done because I hardly saw anything that day!! I didn’t even take one single picture on my camera!!!
The day started out fine but as we got higher up, the wind got stronger and the rain started and did not stop until mid-afternoon when we got down from the alpine zone, which is supposed to be the prettiest part of the walk with nice views of the surrounding volcanoes and emerald coloured lakes. Sadly we miss all of that. We did briefly have a quick peek at one of the coloured lakes before the clouds hid it from view again. The cloud/fog was so dense that we could barely see the next orange pole/trail marker in front of us.

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Look at Morocco on a map. You could be forgiven for assuming that, being so close to Spain, Morocco would exhibit a strong European influence. Once you set foot in Morocco, you can see the reality is much more complex. Although Europe and Morocco may be geographically close, they feel worlds apart. Morocco is the gateway to Africa, straddling a crossroad of cultures. From the east, the influence of Islam and Arab immigration. From the north, the power of Europe, both conquerors and colonisers. From the south, the Sahara and the Berber people, original inhabitants of the land. Together, these influences have moulded Morocco into the country it is today. Magical, ancient, majestic, chaotic, and proud. Morocco is a true melting pot.

Beautiful stucco

A cat relaxes in the medrasa

We began our personal Moroccan experience in Fes, one of Morocco's three imperial cities (along with Marrakech and Meknes). As we exited the plane we spotted a local farmer herding his goats beside the runway. We definitely weren't in Paris any more. Following some thorough internet trawling (there we go with that 21st century travel again), we had booked in to Dar Houdo, a guest house embedded within the Fes medina (the old city). Previous guests had recommended, or rather compelled us, to pay for the airport pick up. We were sceptical, but we relented, and so were met at the airport by our driver. We were driven from the airport down long roads and around bustling roundabouts. All looking very normal and fairly organised. We drove through a large, beautiful, key-hole gate. “Old city of Fes”, our driver waved out the window. Then, abruptly, we stopped. With bags in tow our driver led us off the road and turned left. The streets began to narrow around us. A right and down some stairs, small shops began to appear on either side of the street, the smell of olives and herbs wafting from within. A quick left down a little alley, dodging a loaded mule. Right, left, left, right. Before we knew it, we were completely lost. Our only hope was to follow our driver, who had become more like our lifeline. Thankfully he didn't lead us astray, and almost as quickly as our journey began we were ushered through a small door into our beautiful guest house. Our host, Mohammed, greeted us with what we discovered was typical Moroccan warmth and sat down with us and a map. We definitely needed the map.

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I've been back in my relatively sleepy hometown of Bury St Edmunds for just over a week now (upgrading to London soon); and now my travels have begun to sink in more, I decided to put together my travel Top of The Pops. Can't you tell I'm getting a bit bored?

Bury St Edmunds: The 'Montpellier of Suffolk' ?

Here are some of my best bits and recommendations for those of you who are hitting the same spots.

'Hit it'

(Whole lotta love - Top of the Pops theme tune)

Top Three Cities

1. New York by far comes in at number 1. A city I immediately felt at home in, never got bored of exploring and need to one day get a work VISA for. The buzz, the food, the park, the people, the crippling cost and of course the jazz. Take me back.

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Think swirls of orange, pink, yellow and white cake mixture, or those kids rainbow toys with all the colours twirling into each other - the last few days road tripping through north west Argentina have made me think that the creation of the rainbow was actually inspired by the geological greatness of the low lying Andes.

It´s not called the ´seven colours´ for nothing. Jutting peaks compete with each other in the ´hue´ steaks - greens and blues stand out among the orange glow. Yellow and cream rock layers separate years of evolution making nature look like a graphic design cartoon. If Mandela hadn´t got in first, this little pocket of Agrentina would have gotten my vote for the ´rainbow nation´!


Two days of freedom to explore and drive off the gringo trail ´oo-ing´and ´arr-ing´ at the monstrous formations, eroded shapes, holes, canyons and statues that have been created over centuries in this orange landscape is a real travellers´ pleasure and could have been a 5 star finale to a colourful few weeks this diverse and vast country, but oh no... a few life lessons obviously still needed to be learnt...

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"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." Albert Einstein

I have re-discovered something about myself as the planning for our adventure progresses…I’m really good at having a Grand Plan. To quote an iconic Australian movie, The Castle, I’m an ‘ideas man, Steve’ - (although I’m not a man and you might not be called Steve those are details which are irrelevant to my point, so let's agree to skip over them.)

When it comes to ideas, I’m a marathon runner. I never tire of discussing concepts, unleashing new dreams, letting an idea float by and follow it to see where it settles.

When it comes to details, I’m a sprinter; I'm quick, direct and focused. For about a minute.

One of my Visions for our adventure was a few nights in a castle. Instead of casting said vision and letting Someone Else Do the Work, I found myself researching castles, jumping from website to website, converting pounds and euros to dollars and endlessly emailing with booking enquiries…this is because I am studying a Masters in Management and checking out websites about castles was a perfect way to fill my ‘break from study’ time - or was my study time a perfect way to fill my ‘break from castle websites’ time?

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It started something like this:

The Duke: ‘How about a short Easter break somewhere non-Eastery.’
Me: ‘Yup. Was thinking it would be good to get out. Anywhere in particular?’
The Duke: ‘How about Jordan’.
Me: ‘Great! Are two weeks short enough for a short Easter break?’
The Duke: ‘I was thinking more something like four days.'
Me: ‘Ok. How about two weeks?'
The Duke: ‘Two weeks is longer then I thought’.
Me: ‘Yes. I reckon it’s not going to be long enough. Maybe we could do three.’
The Duke: ‘Lets see when there are cheap flights.'
Me: ‘Good idea. Lets start with looking at couple of weeks and take it from there’.

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I have now spent a full week on Bolivia and everything about this country is a loud contradiction.

The minute you cross the border from Argentina (on foot, walking 20 minutes from where the night bus romantically drops you off at dawn), you are plunged into color, age and chaos. Women dressed in traditional garments seeming to have jumped off the pages of a travel magazine, streets that never seen asphalt, houses of all colors cramped on top of each other at various heights and shapes that give the place a real gaiety and charm.

If you swallow a bit of water or eat the leaf of lettuce uncannily served with your lunch, you are guaranteed 3 days of urgent bathroom meetings.
Yet, the cars you see on the streets are an impressive and healthy variety of American and Japanese 4x4.

In the remote villages that we visited, electricity is restricted to a few hours at night, yet they have solar panels and all the toilets I´ve seen (no need for details, but at 4+km altitude and drinking 4 liters a day...), they all flush and not a single one was just a hole.
Toilet paper is never free but a luxury suit at a 4-star hotel is $40.

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My Mexican husband always complains about the green salsa on green enchiladas. There's never enough, and it's never spicy enough. In Cuernavaca, you're not likely to get very spicy food (at least in my experience) at popular, touristy restaurants because (they think) foreigners just can't handle the heat. I beg to differ. But if you want to start sweating and cleaning out your sinuses, you're going to have to find a hole in the wall comida corrida where the locals go.

I've spent the past 4 years of our relationship trying to learn to make the a green salsa that is at least better than the artsy cutesy restaurants downtown, and while I always mess up some part of the process, I figured I'd share the recipe so you can start learning to perfect it as well. The fun thing with salsa is that you can always add more or less ingredients- more chile, less salt; more onion, less water. Play around to find the combination that's right for you. Provecho!

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“Would you like a…beer?” asks the guy in a hushed voice. I’m boiling. It’s about hundred degrees Celsius outside, the red plastic chair feels uncomfortable and I’m about to rip off my burkha in a fit of childish temper tantrum. I look around. The small kebab shop in middle-of-nowhere, Iran, doesn’t seem like the likely place for a secret drinking den. In fact, it and the dusty road dotted with small huts looks like just about anywhere in the Middle East. However, my companion, a burly bloke who’s been talking about beer non-stop, answers enthusiastically for both of us. Tomorrow, I’m getting rid of the burkha. I feel slightly silly wearing it; no modern or fashionable girl in Iran wears one, and as a foreigner, they are slightly bemused by me wearing it. At the border crossing a middle-aged woman pulled my hair covering off, and seemed disappointed not to encounter blond hair; nevertheless, she insisted on a photo of me- the first of many.

The beer arrives, and to the disappointment of my companion, it’s tepid non-alcoholic beer, mango-flavoured. I don’t care; the sweat is now mixed with dust from an earlier sand storm and I’m ready to drink anything.

Women in Esfahan

Tea and cake break

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Like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. If I had a dollar for every time I said that it has gone by fast, I would be rich by now. But, that is the way all good things go I suppose. What started as a crazy idea – quit our jobs and travel the world – initially seemed so out of reach and far away, but now, here we are almost one year later with the dream having become a reality.

Whenever you feel the end of something coming it makes you feel pretty reflective about what it meant to you and what you have learned along the way. Summing it up with just a few words is near impossible – it is either inadequate or cheesy. So, instead, we have made a list of our “biggest travel lessons” which sums up a lot of what we have learned. Hope you enjoy it

TOP 10 LESSONS FROM TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD (in no particular order)

1) Most people are normal.

Watching the news anymore makes people feel like there is no safe place left in this world to visit, especially for Americans. The news makes us worry that we will be kidnapped, robbed or worse. It leaves us with a guarded and often mistrustful demeanor towards foreigners. But, the more we get out there, the more we see that the vast majority of the people in this world are just like you and me. They may dress differently and speak a different language, but in the end, they are just trying to live their lives as best they can. Overwhelmingly, they are kind folks who are proud to show off their country and are interested to learn about ours. And while we may feel like there is a lot of anti-American sentiment out there, most foreigners are pretty good at separating ones government from its citizens.

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Ever since we started planning this trip, over a year ago, it has been dubbed the Siobhan indulgence tour, well mainly the Paris leg. From the age of 7 Siobhan has been fascinated by the Eiffel Tower. She has pictures of it, people have given her Tower statues, she has it on her clothes. One day 1 in Paris as we were trying to overcome our jetlag we went on a small 6 hour walk. Some people may say we were lost, some may say we were delirious from jet lag, these days we call it a stroll.We intended on just making our way to Notre Dame and it managed to be one of the few sights of Paris that eluded us.

We stumbled across the Louvre and made or way through the grounds, heading towards the Pyramid. Just as we passed the glass erection I looked to my left and there she stood, The Eiffel Tower. I grabbed Siobhan by the shoulders, it was only day 1 I wasn't at the point where I wanted to grab her by the throat yet, steered her left and said "Look!". The expression of awe on her face was worth the price of the plane ticket alone, I even shed a tear, not because I was thinking about the price of the tickets, but at the obvious delight on Siobhan's face.

There was no time to make our way over to the Tower on that day, but we made it a priority for our next day.The night before we make our homage I check opening hours for the structure. I am informed that one of the lifts is not working so expect a 2 hour wait. Knowing this, we go prepared, a bottle of water and a bag of jelly beans.....we are such novices at this waiting-in-line gig.

We arrive at the desinated Metro station and make our way up to the street level. We step into the sunlight ready to be smacked in the face with the Tower, but we can't see her anywhere. I call it 'her' as only a woman could be as mysterious and teasing as her, and only a woman would make you wait as long. We follow the throng of people who have arrived at the same time as us, obviously on the same pilgramage. We turn a corner and there she is. Once again Siobhan has a look of awe on her face and I again have a tear in my eye, this time it is due to the line I can see snaking around the Tower. I have never seen a line so long, not even at a Berlie bra sale!!

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The day has come - today is my last day of work for the next 12 months. It seems all surreal, as if nothing has changed and I will come back to the office next Monday. As if today was just make-belief and the real world will catch up with me in the next couple of days. Never mind the pastries I bought this morning, or the neverending stream of people who want to catch one last glimpse of the guy who is doing this crazy thing like travelling the world. Never mind that my desk is empty, my Inbox clear for the first time in six years and no more things on my "to do list". Surreal.

Then it hit me: I have been institutionalized - leaving the familiar scent of the herd I have come to both love and hate, how will I survive out there in the big wide world? I mean it's a JUNGLE out there!...
Where will I prepare my morning tea without which I cannot open my eyes? Or the sometimes terrible food of the canteen that my belly has grown accustomed to - what will I do without it? Will I survive outside of the four walls I have spent the most part of my adult life?

Don't worry, judging by the smile I have on my face today and the good mood that is probably sickening to everyone around me, it seems as if I am prepared to walk out that door and see what kind of monkeys hide out there in the big wide world!

So here we are, clean desk and all, the last of the pastries now almost gone, the sweet smell of freedom already filling the air (or that might just be my deodorant, I am trying out new things!). Time to go now.

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Pattaya is more than just a beach city...

Beside hanging around at bars and clubs in walking street or relaxing on a beach bench along Pattaya main beach, i'm totally surprised to find out there are many old temples. Every time the moment i hear the word "temple" or any words that have association with it, it somewhat trigger my excitement and thirst-for-adventure mood. Anyway, so after gathering some free brochures and information from our hotel, we decided to go on our own as is cheaper and more free time for us to explore. We hired a whole Songthaew (pick-up taxi) to ourselves for whole day which cost 750 bhat in total. Can you imagine how cheap is that just for two person?

So our first stop was Khao Chi Chan which a big Buddha image is sculpted on the cliff. I wonder how they manage to do that? Anyway, is very interesting and you probably will be spending most of time taking photos. Next was Wat Yansangwararam which resemble a Pagoda that i have seen in China. There's nothing spectacular about the temple though but is worth dropping for a photo taking.

Last but not least we arrived at Sanctuary Of truth, the gorgeous looking large wooden structure overlooking the ocean from a rocky hill top and is the most spectacular sight in North Pattaya. The inside and outside of the structure has all the beautiful, elaborate wood carvings. It truly is an amazing sight which you have to make it a must-see attraction when you are in Pattaya.

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When people think of Paris the first images that usually come to their mind are the Eiffel tower, the romantic evening walks near the Seine river and the delicious french food and pastries. In my case my profound love for Asia lets me take another approach to the city of love. What many people don´t know, is that Paris is a great place to get a glimpse of the japanese culture in Europe. Of course it will never replace the experience of travelling to Japan but as an European myself, I see it as a great opportunity to have a completely different cultural experience without travelling to much. Here is a small guide to my favorite japanese places in Paris:

The convenient thing is that most japanese shops are located in the same spot. Roughly around the metro station: Opéra, Pyramide and Quatre-Septembre. It is also rather close to the "musé du Louvre".

Places to shop:

- Uniqlo: A casual japanese wear designer with a very affordable price tag. A little bit like H&M or Zara though Uniqlo also plays the "rigorous japanese quality" card to earn the loyalty of its customers. Personally I´m already hooked. Many of my favorite clothes were bought there. This brand is really famous in Asia but so far they have only opened a few shops in Europe. Another reason to go there during your next visit to Paris!

Address: 17, rue Scribe 75009 Paris FRANCE

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“Then there is the most dangerous risk of all– the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” — Randy Komisar, The Monk and the Riddle

One of the top 3 questions that I get when we talk about the trip is "what about your job?" (specifically, my mom asks me this a lot). She doesn't like my answer that I'm taking a Career Break, which is probably why she continues to ask me this question over and over again.

Fortunately, I work in a field that is project-based, meaning that my professional life has a cyclical nature. This makes it relatively easy to take time off of work - I can finish one project, take some time off to travel, and then come back to the next project. Of course, this is just a working theory up to this point - our upcoming trip will be the first time we put this into practice (hopefully it won't be the last time...)

Taking time off of work has always come with its share of challenges. Besides the obvious impact to your income, the prevailing wisdom is that gaps in-between jobs on your resume showed that there's some sort of "issue" with your ability to hold down a job. Therefore, leaving a job to travel (or do something otherwise non-job-related) was a potential negative for employers to identify as they reviewed your resume.

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