Camping in The Clouds

I survived my first journey as a lone traveller safe and sound, and arrived in San Cristobal after a very uneventful night bus from Oaxaca. Saying farewell to Greg proved harder than I thought it would, not only because we'd got on so well and had such a great trip, but also because he was my last piece of England out here; the last piece of England that I am going to see for at least six months. So I got a little teary and he got a little awkward, but all in all I think I kept it together pretty well until I got onto the bus and could bury my face in my double chocolate chip cookie. Never down play the benefits of comfort eating.

In San Cristobal, however, I was quickly comforted as I was met by the beautiful chica, Adriana, one of my closest friends from my first term of university who I haven't seen since she returned home from her exchange last January. In true Em style, I was rather animated about the ordeal and was so, so excited to catch up on all the gossip of the past year and a half. I've said it before, but finding little pieces of home away from home all over the world really is one of the joys of traveling. For me, home isn't necessarily a fixed place, but instead it's a feeling you find inside any person you love and feel comfortable with. It's those little perks that make these adventures so addictive.

Adriana took this just after I arrived.

I stayed just one night at Adriana's house before we set off for the jungle the next day. Adriana and Manu (her boyfriend) had picked a place for us to camp in the heart of the jungle called Las Nubes, which required around four and a half hours in various modes of transport to get there. In the morning Adriana and I had been teaching an English class in a rural community about a hour and a half drive form the city, which meant we were in a bit of a rush, and by the time we'd finished a quick lunch of roast chicken (priorities!) we were already setting off pretty late. It turns out this would then cause the start of our adventure to begin long before we arrived at our destination campsite.

We were about 10km when we arrived in a rural community near Las Nubes in the dark, with little money and no means to get to our destination due to the only connecting bridge being under construction. We had been kicked off the bus by the driver who told us that 'el puente' (the bridge), wasn't far away. LIES. We ended up having to negotiate with a family of locals, who tried to extort us for all we were worth for a lift either to Las Nubes or the bridge. We even debated staying in a room that they offered to rent us for the night, but in the end, due to a combination of mistrust and Manu's expertise on all things nature related, we decided to risk getting a lift to the bridge, camp out there for the night and carry on the next day. So we jumped in the back of the 'helpful' family's pick up truck (for the fee of 100 pesos) and were off.

Although by this point I was exhausted, rather scared and pissed at the situation, there is still very little that compares to the feeling of riding in the back of a pick-up truck after a long day, the warm rainforest air suddenly de-sticking your sweaty clothes from your back and making you feel alive again. Just don't open your mouth... I learned that the hard way.

We spent the night by the river, the extremes of the intense humidity and pounding rain each preventing the other from driving me completely insane. I've come to find that Mexico is a very extreme kind of place in many aspects, be it the weather or the people. It's taking a little getting used to.

Everything seems so much less sinister in the light. Turns out our camping spot was pretty beautiful once the sun rose.

The next morning we got ready pretty sharpish as the night watchman of the bridge has offered to give us a ride to Las Nubes when his shift finished in the early hours. So another pick-up truck ride and a short walk later, we arrived, tired and drenched in sweat, but (for me, at least) utterly relieved. It's not that I didn't enjoy our first night camping, it was just nice to finally feel safe again and I think the feelings of uncertainty are always perpetuated in an unfamiliar setting (such as being in another continent, on the other side of the world, in the jungle...)

Staying in Las Nubes was a really relaxing time. We swam and slept and explored and I had a lot of time for writing which is always lovely. We ate fresh mangos from the trees (Adriana told me that mangos here are like a religion; I'm totally converted) and bought beans from a little old lady down the road who thought we were nuts for coming out here with so little money and food, and at night time I lay in a sea of fireflies staring at the clearst sky I've seen in a very long time. I think it's all too easy to forget how breath-taking the stars can be.

There wasn't much space for swimming because the current was so strong and the rapids were crazy, so we made the most of a little area by the campsite which was sheltered by trees. It was pretty incredible to have the place to ourselves.

I can't tell you how happy I am that we had Manu as a guide through the woods, because there is no way we would have been able to find our way in and out alone!

Yes mum, I actually cooked! The guys at the campsite were really confused when we turned down food because we has our own and asked if we were vegetarians... We obviously looked like the crazy hippy traveler types.

Las Nubes is famous for it's waterfalls, and there is no debate as to why. Walking through the forest alongside the river, you can see exactly just how dramatic these falls are, with huge rapids and twenty foot drops appearing almost from no where, weaving in and out of a valley carved through the dense greenary. There's a walk of just less than a kilometer that you can take up to a mirador (look-out point), from which you can see just how vast these rapid and waterfalls become once they escape the forest.

View from our campsite.

 From on top of the mirador. As always things never look quite as good in pictures, but man it was stunning.

Our third adventure of our three day trip began when the time finally came to go home. Unfortunately we'd severely underestimated the amount of money we'd need to get back and I'd some how managed to lose 100 pesos, meaning that we had to walk much of the 6km walk back to the bridge. On an average day 6km would be nothing to me, but with all the camping gear, lack of food/water and the serious heat, it was proving a bit more of a challenge. Luckily, a family on their way to the next town picked us up and took us most of the way, and in that moment I've never wanted to hug someone so much. So after trundling along in a car with seven people, but built for five, that had almost no windows or seatbelts (pretty much no-one uses seat belts here) and a short walk and another combi ride, we reached the bridge, to catch another combi to Comitan (about three hours away), where we caught our final hour long combi ride back to San Cris. Journey's like this are really common out here and I actually quite enjoy the fact that no-one really seems to be in a rush to get anywhere. It's qutie refreshing to take the pace down a few pegs from London.

So we made it home, safe and sound. I showered, we ate some delicious quesadillas at a really cool place down the road and then slept for about a bazillion hours. And aside from the GIANORMOUS bug bites I'd received, we'd done it all pretty much unscathed too.

I'm not sure how well you can make that out, but that bite was basically the size of my entire thigh (bigger than my hand). We spectulated a lot, possibly a spider or a really nasty ant, but basically, I'm just very allergic to tropical bugs.

Nostalgic Feels

It's less than two weeks until I head off on my next journey.

I'm excited/nervous/terrified/raring to go/trying to come up with ways to get out of it. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for when pre-travel stress finally starts to sink in.

I always knew I'd be going away on another big trip again (and again and again and again) but it's been two years since I last left the continent and I've changed a lot since then. Undeniably travel is one of the things I live for, I guess I'm just nervous that it won't love it as much as I love being at home in London. I've become so settled where I am, with awesome family and friends both here and back in my home town and the prospect of leaving them all behind is rather sad. I feel like last time I really had something pushing me to leave; I'd just come out of the most important long term relationship I'd ever had (and still have ever had to be honest) and I was on my gap year between college and uni and all my friends were away having fun at their respective unis. Really, I just wanted to get away from it all, to escape the quiet of my home town and head off on my own adventure, that was more exciting than working three jobs in the town centre. This time it's all a little different, seeing as I've finally found somewhere that I feel settled and happy within myself.

There's also the added factor that some of my bestest friends in the whole wide world who I've hardly seen over the past year will be returning home from their years abroad - in Australia, USA, Hungary, Germany... the list goes on - and I won't be around to see them when they get back. I've been pretty shabby at keeping in touch over the year too (I'm so sorry guys), which makes me miss them EVEN more. Plus there's all the summer fun they'll be having without me...

I know right, BOO HOO to me going off travelling, it's a hard life. Believe me, don't for one second think that I don't feel super lucky to be in the position I am in, but our highlight orientated society dictates that I should focus on all the awesome stuff I am missing out on and sometimes that mentality is difficult not to sink into. It's when I think about that, that I realise exactly why I am so in love with travelling.

I mean, there are no expectations or constraints on you as an individual. Yes, you may be in the expectant mindset of 'THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST TRIP EVERRRRR', which isn't a bad one to be in, but there are literally 0 expectations on you as a person, and you learn how to be a much more open-minded and well-rounded person because of this. You can get up when you like, eat when you like, eat what you like, talk to whoever you like (travellers are friendly folk). There are no deadlines, essays, time constraints, meetings, classes, events, nothing that you HAVE to do or anywhere you HAVE to be. Whilst society back home is telling me I should be sad about missing out on the guaranteed fun I could be having there, travel beckons and whispers, 'Who knows what will happen, let's go and explore'. How could I ever say no to offer like that? As cliché as it might sound, there is nothing that can read or buy and no prediction that you can make to 100% prepare you for travelling.

'Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness' - Mark Twain

I was reminiscing with a couple of friends last night about previous trips I've been on, as two of them had come up to stay the night before jetting off this morning on a trip around South America (they'll be in Brazil by tomorrow night!). Of course you remember all the big highlights of your trip: the big mountains climbed and oceans you swam in, but what about all the little things that make the journey so worthwhile? The people you meet, the foods you try, the music you listen to; all the things you would never and could never experienced from the comfort of your own home.

This was taken in San Pedro de Atacama, just before a three day 4x4 trip towards the Salt Flats. We met Steve and Georgia a day and a half earlier when getting off a bus, when I dropped a bag on my foot and swore rather loudly in strong northern accent, to which Steve responded, 'Are you English?'. We then travelled together for a month and a half.

I met Mani in Cusco, when he had tagged along with our crew for a while on his year long world trip. Since then, we've visited each other in our home countries of Germany and England, and no doubt we will do again.

My favourite story to tell is that of an unlikely couple. When Evie and I travelled to Peru, we met a guy called Sam (far right on the cover photo!), who quickly became a close friend of ours. One thing lead to another, we travelled together and then he came to visit us in the UK on the European stretch of his world trip. Which is when he met our friend Niamh, who I'd gone to high school and was living in Edinburgh for uni. The two met, fell in love pretty much instantly and he has now permanently moved to Scotland to be with her and they are making plans to move to Aus after her degree has finished... Sometimes I forget just how crazy-romantic that story is until I say it out loud. I'd like to think that story alone made our trip worthwhile, but we got that and more, along with life-long friends all over the world and some of the craziest stories that you just cannot make up.

These are the things I try to focus on when I get scared about going away, that uncertainty is not necessarily always a bad thing; it can be terrifying and fun and absolutely bewildering all at the same time. Over my travelling years I have done some of the craziest things and met the coolest people, including zip-lining over the Inca Jungle, surviving drugs raids on Peruvian buses, epic car chases and becoming the best of friends with the male version of myself just one afternoon together in a Croatian hostel. Who knows what this next trip is going to entail.

A Pyjama Party and Muddy Shoes

A week and a half later and I am finally getting around to sharing my weekend in Exeter with you guys... Sorry about that! I think I've mentioned in another post how I'm kind of moving house at the moment and therefore living in a limbo between various places, meaning I haven't had access to my laptop :( But it's slowly getting sorted, so hopefully I can get back on track with my posts in the near future!

I had a LOVELY weekend in Exeter with my amazing friend Louis, who is quite literally me in male form. Except I move at a much speedier pace and he doesn't like chocolate dessert?! -  I know, I questioned the friendship at that point too, it was difficult for me to take in. We did lots of exciting things and I spent almost the entire timing laughing myself a six pack and teaching him how to be a country boy.

As I arrived before he finished uni I spent most of my afternoon exploring the town and failing to resist book shopping. The cathedral is gorgeous however I refuse to ever pay any money to go inside a religious building, so I didn't get to see the interior. £4 seems a little steep to chat to God when you can just do it wherever you like anyway. I'm not sure of my stance on whether putting God in a 'house' is the right thing to do in the first place as the Bible says it's a no-no, but then people do need somewhere to gather and feel safe. Which is why it really ticks me off as churches are supposed to be a place of refuge for those in need and if those with little or no money can't go in then that totally defies the point of even having a church building in the first place. I don't care if you need money for the up-keep of the church, if the church isn't being used for the proper purpose what on earth does it matter if it looks all pretty inside anyway? I could go on, but I think you get the point.

ANYWAY I met Louis for a drink in a pub called 'The Old Firehouse' which apparently is the place that J. K. Rowling based the Leaky Cauldron on in the Harry Potter series, which as a Potterhead I was rather excited about. It was a lovely place too, with a proper inviting and warm English pub feel, which counts for a lot on rainy English autumn days. Seeing as we're super classy we then decided to get a Tesco take-away curry for two for dinner, before settling down for the night by playing drinking games with his flat mates, which eventually turned into a bit of a pyjama party with choreographed dance routines and some drinking a little more than their stomachs could handle. All in all, a great night with some awesome people! Just goes to show that you can still meet great people even if you don't go off and stay in a hostel and do the traditional travelling thing.

On the Saturday Louis and I decided to become wilderness explorers and venture out into the Exeter countryside, with no plan of where to go, no map and no provisions, because we are super smart and organised. Within about 30 minutes we'd wandered off into some field (public footpath my arse) and begun a bit of an adventure I'd like to entitle 'How the hell do we get out of here?'. Luckily I'm used to this sort of thing as where I grew up there are loads of fields and farm land so I'm not stranger to being chased by sheep or accidentally trespassing on private land. Louis however, is a massive city boy and began to panic a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit, when we managed to get stuck in some private field. And then when we eventually found the road, there was no footpath. Which Louis didn't like so he began reminiscing about his beloved 'safe' underground in London... *SIGH* ;)

Louis LOVES the outdoors. It's funny coz he actually does. He just doesn't like the prospect of getting his shoes muddy...

Beautiful view of the Devon countryside. I always think that the beauty of the English landscape is understated. I mean this is beautiful and the picture doesn't even do the real thing justice.

This is the field we were 'lost' in and tried to find an escape route from, only to discover it was surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

So after our ridiculous adventure (after which we found out if we'd stuck to the road we could have covered the distance we walked in two hours in just 20 minutes...) we were cold and wet and tired, so we went to grab some comfort food at the student bar, which is AMAZING. Seriously, Exeter student union is incredible, I've never seen anything like it! I do sometimes wish I'd chosen to go to a campus uni or one that isn't based in the middle of a busy city. It was really nice to be surrounded by nature and not feel the pressure to rush anywhere or to have to do a million things at once. City life kind of sets you up with that mentality. Though if I was in the country I'd probably be complaining that I was bored and had nothing to do, so really I can't say London is all bad.

In the evening we joined the rest of the gang and went to watch his flat mate Laura in a short play put on by, I assume, the drama society. It was actually really nice to see original plays performed by students (and I think written by students), as I don't know if we have something like that at my university or not. I think there's something beautiful about seeing a brand new character portrayed by the first time by an actor who has made it their own, rather than basing it on a previous portrayal of a character we've seen 100s of times before. The performances as a consequence were raw and oozed sincerity, something that creates an undeniable connection with the audience. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it and would love to see more of that kind of thing on my home turf.

And that pretty much sums up my short but sweet stay in Exeter. I met some amazing people and as always had some brand new experiences. I'd recommend to anyone to visit the city not only because the surroundings are breath-taking but the city itself is really something; quaint but with a lot to offer. I next get to see Louis at Christmas, hopefully with the rest of the Croatia gang, so I've got that to look forward to! I haven't yet planned my next UK trip but it's only 90p on the bus to Coventry so that looking like a likely candidate. If you have any suggestions on places to visit or things you'd like me to write about please let me know :)

10,000

That's right, I finally reached my 10,000th blog view yesterday!! I can't actually believe that so many of you are continuing to read my ramblings - thanks so much :)

I thought I'd do a quick post dedicated to all my trips since I started the blog. I suppose this could act as a bit of a catch up for any new readers, as well as a celebration of all the wonderful things I've experienced and incredible people I've met over the past two years.

East Coast USA

New York - Philadelphia - Washington DC - Knoxville - Nashville - Atlanta - Orlando - Miami. In three weeks. Possibly the most hardcore travelling I've done to date. These first two trips are the reason I started the blog, which is pretty crazy considering how much it's come along now!

Started off the trip with Rach and Ferris as well as Aimee to celebrate Rach's 18th birthday! We managed to pick the rainiest cloudiest day to visit the Statue of Liberty and to be honest were pretty underwhelmed by how big it was... Still, been there, done that, got the t-shirt and it was still a pretty good day.

WE MET ED SHEERAN. In Nashville after a Snow Patrol concert at which he was the support act. He smelled wonderful where as I was sweaty and horrible and hadn't washed my clothes for far too long. Sorry about that Ed.

Our first basketball game! Heat vs Pistons and Heat won it by a mile. We also got on the big screen by dancing like loons whilst people around us held up giant cardboard cut outs of H E A T.

Peru, Chile and Bolivia

Lima - Cusco - Arequipa - Arica - Iquique - San Pedro de Atacama - Uyuni - Potosi - Sucre - La Paz - Copacobana - Isla del Sol - Cusco - Huacachina - Lima. A beautiful continent full of beautiful people. I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Peru: This was actually taken on our return to Peru at our last stop in a place called Huacachina. It was a great place to end the trip, with our good friend Sam from Aus, pretty much just partying all night and eating BBQ chicken wings all day. In this picture we'd decided to go on a midday booze cruise on the tiny lake with a surprisingly strong current in the middle of the oasis town. Such a great memory :)

Chile: Arica, the dryest city in the world, where in 10 years in rains only enough to fill one tea cup. 25 degrees everyday without fail. What an incredible place.

Bolivia: Sugar Daddy, The Cow (that's me...), G-meister General and Evester, setting out on three day 4x4 tour of the salares and salt flats. The trip consisted of the absolute coldest nights I've ever experienced, as well as the most breath-taking views.

Eurotrip 2012

Prague - Vienna - Budapest. A trip to reunite all the homies after a year away at university and travelling.

Prague: For some reason we decided to climb a really big hill just to see what was at the top. If I remember correctly, there really wasn't much up there, but the view was pretty special.

Vienna: This is from the night out where we went to the club 'Flex' and got invited on stage by the DJs simply because we were 'foreign'. Great night, from chucking shoes at Peter to the wall of sweets in the bathroom. Even though I wasn't wowed by the rest of the city I had a really good night.

Budapest: Since we're dead mature and all we decided to spend a day renting go carts and bikes and ride around the park. One of my absolute highlights of the trip as Pete and I rented a tandem and failed miserably at riding it. We also enjoyed ice creams and played in the musical fountain.

Abersoch- Girly Summer Holiday

A week holiday with all my favourite girls from high school. Unfortunately I didn't blog about this at the time but we had a lovely time chilling out at the beach and doing some serious charity shopping, whilst sleeping in a lovely cottage we rented.

The beautiful girlies. We decided we weren't too old to fit on this little train ride around the park and all six of us crammed into the back seat, making the ride rather squished.

This was pretty much our own private beach, about 15 minutes walk from the house and hidden away from the main busy one. This is also the beach that destroyed my apparently indestructible camera that had survived three months in the USA and South America... 

Five days in Amsterdam

Another one I didn't blog about - sorry fellas! - because I only really started blogging again in January where as this trip was in November. In short we stayed in a caravan, visited a lot of Van Gogh exhbitions, the Botanical Gardens, Anne Frank's House and a fair few coffee shops. You know, the usual Amsterdam thing.

Note to self: Going on a holiday with four boys and no girls to a place like Amsterdam is probably not the smartest thing you could have done.

Me and the guys chilling in a pretty cool coffee shop in the Red Light District. Going with four guys means you spend a little too much time in that area of town.

I met Desiree and Sophie from the Machu Picchu trek!! We went out for a lovely traditional Dutch meal and I tried Bitterballen which I am a BIG fan of. It was great to be reunited with some old travel friends :)

We LOVED the Botanical Gardens. I can't remember the exact price anymore but I know it was pretty reasonable (especially if you have a student card) and they also have a butterfly house!

Eurotrip 2013

Siegburg, Cologne and Bonn - Krakow - Vienna - Bratislava - Budapest - Belgrade - Sarajevo - Mostar - Novalja, Pag (Hideout Festival!) - Zagreb - Dubrovnik.

I spent the first four nights with my friend Mani who I met in Cusco, Peru. We had such a great time chilling in the sunshine, swimming, sharing a few beers and throwing popcorn at each other.

Highlights picture created by my wonderful friend Mitch. I joined the trip at picture number nine. I can't believe how much we did in such a short space of time!

Mitch and I chilling at the lake in Bratislava, one of my favourite pictures from the trip. This is the day we tried Bull's Testicle Goulash and Josie burnt her ass and stomach. Silly girly.

And last but not least... Hideout Festival and Zagreb!

On Novalja, Isle of Pag with 11 other members of the Preston crew. Probably the best festival I've ever been to.

Danny and Ki living it up on the first day. This was at a pool party with a live DJ set (goodness knows who it was) where we danced like crazy and drank tasty but pricey cocktails.

Sunrise at 6am. I saw four of these during the five day festival. Not bad for a girl who didn't even like house music before she went.

(Almost) Everyone together in Zagreb, which pretty much acted as a recovery session for the festival. Despite the criticisms it's had I actually really liked the city, which is much more chilled out than others so a welcome break on a busy trip.

And that just about sums up my last two years worth of travelling. Looking back at the post I really haven't done too badly have I? Especially considering I had to cancel two trips to Madrid and Dublin. I'm really excited for my cruise round the Canary Islands in August now :D Once again, thanks so much for reading (I wouldn't be a proper Brit if I wasn't excessively grateful now would I?), it really is quite flattering that so many of you want to read my thoughts, documentaries and rants. You're the best! :)

Serbian Madness

We got another night train to Belgrade, forgetting to factor in the border control which woke us up repeatedly around 2.30am. I say woke 'us' up, I personally didn't sleep a wink but the others were getting pretty annoyed by the third passport check.

The train arrived at the station so early in the morning I'd rather not think about it. We crawled into the hostel and straight to bed before taking in any of our surroundings. Night trains always seem like a good idea at the time but we ALWAYS forget about how difficult they are to sleep on and often you end up losing time by making up for the sleep you missed.

Belgrade was surprising, though I'm not sure what I expected it to look or feel like.  They are without a doubt the friendliest people we've met so far (closely followed by The Polish). One Serb we met in Bratislava explained how it's due to the desire to change outsider's perspectives of the country, after so many years of war and human rights abuses. And I can truly attest to what a lovely nation it has become, everyone wants to help you out and I even felt safe walking the streets at night, a notion I don't even get in some areas of London.

Ice cream AND free wifi?! A travellers dream. I'm sold.

On our first night we decided to try some tradition local cuisine at a restaurant called the 3 Hats, as recommended to us by Srdjan, owner of Madness Hostel (highly recommended!) and absolute legend. The food was once again, really tasty. I love Eastern European food! We also had to try Rakija shots which are traditional in Serbia to drink before and after each course. These on the other hand, were disgusting. I am not a shot or spirits person at all.

Our American friend being serenaded by the restaurant's live band.

Fake smiles at the prospect of Rakija.

We managed to rally a group together in an attempt to try out the local nightlife but unfortunately Tuesday night isn't the night in Belgrade so Steve, Josie and I along with the guys whose cabin I shared on the train and two lovely Swiss girls chilled at a local bar and then called it an early one after failing to find a club. Oh and I also mentioned the 'Liquid Cocaine' shot we tried in my last post... Possibly the worst thing I've ever put inside my body. It was a mixture of all my least favourite beverages plus you have to snort a bit of the liquid too... First time I've ever snorted anything and my last, thankyouverymuch.

Day two consisted of CAITLIN'S RETURN (!!) and sleeping a lot once again (the others are starting to hit the travel wall after going hard for so long and I'm still a little poorly) but Josie and Mitch powered through and whilst on the walking tour discovered the oldest restaurant in The Balkans called '?'. I tried some special Schnitzel with cheese which the waitor refused to give me ketchup with... He was right though, it was so tasty by itself! 

Absolutely stuffed and nuturing rather large food babies we strolled around the markets in the park and took a little train around the castle for an incredible view over the city. 

Being real Serbs. Mitch legitimately considered buying this hat.

That night I was so tired I decided to have a chill one with my train buddies Will, Chris and James whilst the others went on a bar crawl, with a few beers, playing cards and eating watermelon out of a frying pan... (There was some logic behind this, though I can't rightly remember it...)

However I somehow managed to only reach my bed around 4am, making the 6.30 get up for our bus to Bosnia rather painful. Though at least I had it a little easier than Steve who hadn't actually slept, bless him.

I realise this post is made up entirely of sleep, food and drinking, it's been a lazy couple of days! However I'm determined to get my tourist hat back on today and do some proper exploring. Come at me Sarajevo!

Eurotrip 2013 begins

This is it. I've finally left Moonraker and said goodbye to the last of my exchange friends. I'm currently sitting in the train station waiting for my train to Gatwick airport, where I will board my flight in just over five hours. I've been reunited with my pack, which I already loath and love all over again, and the tingly sensation is already invading my fingers and toes, knowing that I'm setting off on yet another adventure.

I don't know what to expect. I certainly couldn't have predicted the events of my last jaunt. All I know is that as I left, a good friend hugged me and said, 'Come back with a smile on your face and sparkles in your eyes' and that's exactly what I intend to do. I've been devoid of my sparkles for far too long.

My first stop is Cologne, Germany, where I'm staying with my friend Mani who I met in Peru last year (as I've mentioned before, keeping in touch is a strong point of mine!) I literally cannot wait to see him and explore the city as I've never been there before. It's going to be interesting hanging out in a setting where I'm the guest, rather than where we're both travellers. I've also realised I'm wearing exactly the same clothes as the last time he saw me, as my travel wardrobe is fairly limited... I'm sure he'll appreciate the familiarity!