Technically, it's been a year, four months and 27 days. That's if we're being precise. But we all know that wouldn't be such a good title.
In fact, I wasn't quite sure what to name this post as it's basically just me rambling on about graduating and still figuring out what I want to do with my life.
I was planning on writing this post a bit nearer to the one year mark but I was travelling Asia so I didn't get round to it.
In fact, I wasn't quite sure what to name this post as it's basically just me rambling on about graduating and still figuring out what I want to do with my life.
I was planning on writing this post a bit nearer to the one year mark but I was travelling Asia so I didn't get round to it.
And so here I am, finally sitting down to write about my life post graduation.
01/12/2017 / Lifestyle
In a Nutshell: November 2017
Well, it's safe to say it's certainly getting a little chilly and I don't think it's even officially winter yet. But, oh boy, has the temperature dropped.
And so we enter the final month of 2017. I'm not going to tell you how I can't believe it's nearly 2018 or talk about the year. That's to be saved for a post all about 2017. For now, I'm going to tell you about what I got up to in November.
NOVEMBER ROUND UP
1. University reunion
Well, not quite a university reunion but a night out with some uni friends who I haven't seen in a while. Some of them I haven't seen in over a year! It was initially going be a night out and get together with an American friend some of us had met travelling but she had to cancel. Seeing as I'd already got the days off work I decided to go to Birmingham anyway. I'm so glad I did as it was so good to catch up with everyone and also to have a night out!
27/11/2017 / Kuala Lumpur , Travel
How to stay in luxury accommodation for less in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
We all need a treat from time to time right? After many nights in hostel rooms or very run down guesthouses I was excited to get to Kuala Lumpur. Why? Because we had an apartment booked for our visit. And obviously because I was ready to explore the city!
Accommodation costs can add up A LOT. Especially when you're on a multi destination trip that spans a few months. I used to hate staying in hostels. I no longer hate it. Hostels have their pros and cons but I'm more than happy to share a room with strangers to save some money.
But like I said everyone likes a treat. I had a bucket list containing various places and things I wanted to do while I was in Asia but I also had a different bucket list. An accommodation one.
Most places I chose cheap and cheerful. However, Kuala Lumpur was one of the places I knew I wanted to have a treat. Plus the hostel I wanted to stay in was nearly as much as the apartment so it would of been rude not to make the most of more luxurious accommodation for less.
Most places I chose cheap and cheerful. However, Kuala Lumpur was one of the places I knew I wanted to have a treat. Plus the hostel I wanted to stay in was nearly as much as the apartment so it would of been rude not to make the most of more luxurious accommodation for less.
FLASH PACKING IN KUALA LUMPUR
Last Friday I headed down to London to meet up with an American friend I'd met travelling Asia and a university friend. Seeing as I don't go to London very often (I think the last time I visited was last Christmas) to go to some blogger favourites. And, of course, one of these current Instagram 'it' spots is the Peggy Porschen Cafe.
I was originally planning on staying overnight but my plans changed, it's a good job I paid to have an open return. However, this meant my train didn't get into London until around 2 o'clock. I hopped on the tube and met my friends and then we headed straight Peggy Porschen's cafe, hoping it wouldn't be too busy.
It was actually my non blogger friend who suggested we should visit the cafe, so I guess it's not just a blogger favourite! As soon as she told me the name I knew where she meant and of course agreed we should visit.
It was actually my non blogger friend who suggested we should visit the cafe, so I guess it's not just a blogger favourite! As soon as she told me the name I knew where she meant and of course agreed we should visit.
18/11/2017 / SE Asia , Thailand , Travel
Into the Wild Elephant Sanctuary | Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai, Thailand
It seems visiting an elephant sanctuary whilst in Thailand, or Asia for that matter, is the thing to do. And it’s easy to see why. Who wouldn’t want to spend the day surrounded by elephants?
I knew before I’d even stepped on a plane that an elephant sanctuary was something I wanted to do on my trip to Asia. However, this wouldn’t be my first experience of elephants. I saw them in the wild while on safari in Sri Lanka and in India where I’d had to opportunity to ride them. I’d decided against this. While I really wanted to see an elephant up close I didn’t want it to be done in this way. I decided to wait until I could do it ethically. Because, honestly, the cruelty greatly outweighs my want to see an elephant up close and always will.
INTO THE WILD ELEPHANT SANCTUARY
06/11/2017 / Lifestyle
In A Nutshell: October 2017
The clocks have officially gone back! And now that halloween is over it also means the official Christmas countdown can begin. Although to be honest it’s already started, as soon as the Boots Christmas catalogue is released it’s Christmas time for me.
Anyway I shouldn’t spend too much time talking about Christmas in my October post. I would talk about Halloween instead but I didn’t do anything this year. I have to admit I did miss covering myself in fake blood. But I did take full advantage of the halloween chocolate. Getting very few trick n treaters is a good thing.
This post was actually supposed to be posted a few days ago but I've had no internet and blogging on an iPhone does not work very well!
OCTOBER ROUND UP
1. No internet
Last Monday I sat down to watch Made In Chelsea on my laptop (so I didn’t have to move from my bed) and the internet died. And not just for ten minutes like it has the habit of doing. It stopped working for over a week, in fact it was nearly two weeks before it finally came back.
Having no internet is obviously a very first world problem and while I don't want to whine about it too much it was also really annoying. I haven’t been able to blog or do any job applications. And most importantly I haven’t been able to have my nightly Netflix binge.
It wasn't the end of the world, downloaded Stranger Things 2 at work and binged watched it on my Ipad. Thank god Netflix lets you download programs.
It made blogging a lot harder. I’ve been writing my posts on Word instead. And really if I'd wanted I could have gone and found internet somewhere but my days off work mostly involved errands or doing something else.
It made blogging a lot harder. I’ve been writing my posts on Word instead. And really if I'd wanted I could have gone and found internet somewhere but my days off work mostly involved errands or doing something else.
In a way I quite liked the unexpected break from blogging and social media. It’s gave me time to think about the posts I’m going to write without feeling like I needed to get them published straight away. My blog schedule has gone out the window but I’ve actually managed to plan all my content up to December!
2. I caught a virus
I mean it is that time of year. While we all seem to love the crisp leaves and fresh air Autumn brings I don’t think many of us are quite so joyful at the bugs and colds that start floating around.
I wrote about this in my burnout post. I’d managed to escape the colds at work and then ended up with a virus of some sort which not only gave me flu like symptoms but also had me up being sick for most of the night. Fun.
I’d like to say I’m feeling better than ever but I’m not. I have some sort of cold still. Nowhere near as bad but I am beginning to resemble Rudolph from the amount of times I’ve blown my nose.
3. Halloween
I haven’t done anything to celebrate Halloween this year which is a little sad because I quite enjoy dressing up. But I can’t do a October post and not mention Halloween at all can I?
Some people love it , others hate it. In all honestly, I sit on the fence. I love dressing up but I don’t love Halloween. If that even makes sense. I don’t decorate my house or watch scary movies but I don’t sit around thinking what a pointless holiday it is.
Having said that I may watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. I usually watch it at Christmas time but maybe I’ll have to start a new tradition.
IN RESTROSPECT: OCTOBER GOALS
1. Read three books
You know how I completely failed this goal in September and I’m pretty sure I did in August too. Well, I did it! I think I have lack of internet to thank for this.
I’m still not finished It. I mean it’s a very large book but I’m starting to think that I might have to just give up and admit that it’s not going to work. I’ve read other Stephen King books in the past and got through them quickly because I‘ve liked his writing style. But this time I’m so slow. I’m going to give it one more try. But I have read three books, which is pretty good for me. Including The Bell Jar which I read in a day.
2. Keep my blogging schedule
I was actually doing well with this until my loss of internet. However, I have realised that while having a schedule is good there's no point stressing and publishing posts on set dates for the sake of it.
3. Be more interactive
I don't really think this has happened. I'm being more interactive on Instagram but twitter and general blog comments are still lacking.
NOVEMBER GOALS
1. Book a trip away
I've booked time off at the end of November but the trip I originally booked the time off for has fallen through.
However, I really don't want to waste the weekend as I work most of them. I'm looking into going to Copenhagen as I'd love to have one more break before the new year.
2. Finish my travel journal
I still need to finish my journal from Asia. Yep, that trip that ended nearly four months ago now. I don't think I'll remember everything but as long as everything's stuck in and the key things are written down I'll be happy.
3. Plan 2018
My plans for 2018 keep changing but I think I know what I'm doing now but it's too early to talk about anything properly just incase. But I need to do a lot of research and start doing a lot of applications.
Basically, I just need to sort my life out.
______________________________
What were your October highlights? Are you excited for the countdown the Christmas?
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16/10/2017 / Asia , myanmar , Travel
A guide to Inle Lake | Myanmar
I remember my first glimpse of Inle Lake. The narrow strip of water suddenly opened up revealing a great expanse of water. The whole lake seemed alive. We had just entered Inle Lake and it was truly stunning.
Inle Lake is one of the 'must sees' of Myanmar. Cambodia has Angor Wat, Vietnam has Halong Bay, India the Taj Mahal. Myanmar has Inle Lake.
Certainly not as famous as the other sights mentioned but what it lacks in status it makes up in with stunning landscape and friendly locals.
There seems to be quite a lot of blogger burn out posts in the blogosphere lately. A lot of us seem to have lost our sparkle. And I've been feeling exactly the same. But in my everyday life, as well as, with blogging.
I'm just burnt out full stop. I don't really know what happened but the last few weeks I've been mentally and physically exhausted. Work has been more demanding and I've felt a lot more anxious.
09/10/2017 / SE Asia , Travel
In retrospect: SE Asia bucket list
Back in March I made a SE Asia Bucket list before I headed off on my trip in April. It seems so long ago since I was doing all my planning and preparation! I thought I might as well do a follow up post to tell you whether I managed to tick everything off my bucket list. I decided not to make the bucket list too long or ambitious, I didn't want to feel like I had to try and get it all done so instead I chose 10 things to try and achieve.
1. VISIT ANGKOR WAT
I actually ended up spending three days at the temple complex. We saw the famous Angkor Wat on our first day exploring, however, we never made it to a sunrise which I do regret but it was still amazing to see it in person.
06/10/2017 / Lifestyle
23 things I've learnt in 23 years
If you hadn't already guessed from the title I'm now 23 (Technically, I'll have been 23 for a whole day when this post goes live). Yay. I can't even tell if that 'yay' is sarcastic or not. I'm not exactly over the moon about turning 23 but it's hardly old. But I'm going to do a separate post on my thoughts on turning 23.
This post, however, will be dedicated to 23 things I've learnt over the past 23 years. I sat down to draft this post thinking it would be quite easy to whip up 23 things. Oh, how I was mistaken. It's taken me a while. But here they are:
02/10/2017 / Bangkok , SE Asia , Thailand , Travel
Maeklong Railway Market and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market: A day trip from Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
Today's post is all about my day trip to the Maeklong Railway Market and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market while I was in Bangkok. There are so many options for day trips from Bangkok. So much so that it's hard to know where to start when looking at them! We were initially planning on taking two, this one and one to the Bridge over River Kwai. Unfortunately that one never worked out.
29/09/2017 / Lifestyle
In A Nutshell: September 2017
And so another month comes to an end. September is over for another year! I was going to write that I can't believe how quickly the year has gone but I'm unsure whether I've found it quick or not. For once, it seems like a normal pace. It is a little scary to think that we're nearly in 2018 though!
SEPTEMBER ROUND UP
September was a little more exiting that August was. I spent a lot of it working but I can't complain because I'm lucky to enjoy my job and everyone's nice there. Plus I need the money. Desperately. My four month trip to Asia definitely dented my savings.
Vienna was my last stop in Austria before heading to Bratislava . I spent three nights in there and managed to see a lot. I found the city quite big and never quite knew where I was in comparison to other places. I have to say out of the three places I visited in Austria (the others being Salzburg and Hallstatt) Vienna was my least favourite. That's not to say it didn't have it's good points. There was definitely plenty of places to explore and we had good weather during our visit.
Arriving in Vienna
We got the train from Hallstatt into Vienna and arrived in the afternoon. We then got the metro to our hostel (Wombats Hostel) which was on the outskirts of the city. Part of me wishes we'd chosen somewhere more central but the hostels in Vienna were pretty pricy.
The hostel was only a short walk from the metro station, we checked in and headed to our room, which we'd soon find out wasn't supposed to be our room at all! We headed to get some dinner and settled for a restaurant nearby for the sake of convenience.
We headed back to the hostel and before heading down to the hostel bar where we got a free drink each. We managed to persuade some other people from the hostel to come out and where meeting our friend who was also travelling at the club. The night out was really good and better than what I was expecting. We didn't get into bed until after 6 am!
The hostel was only a short walk from the metro station, we checked in and headed to our room, which we'd soon find out wasn't supposed to be our room at all! We headed to get some dinner and settled for a restaurant nearby for the sake of convenience.
We headed back to the hostel and before heading down to the hostel bar where we got a free drink each. We managed to persuade some other people from the hostel to come out and where meeting our friend who was also travelling at the club. The night out was really good and better than what I was expecting. We didn't get into bed until after 6 am!
The Borobudur temple, located in Yogyakarta, is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. This title means it's rather popular with both visitors and locals. I've been lucky enough to visit twice, once in 2015 and once this year whilst travelling around Asia. I can't remember many of the details from my first trip so this post will mainly be focused on my second.
I've now experienced both a proper sunrise and one that really couldn't be described as a sunrise as there was no actual sun! Seeing as I've done both I thought I'd write up a post about my visit and whether it's worth visiting for sunrise. Whether the 3 am wake up call is worth it if you don't actually get a sunrise.
I've now experienced both a proper sunrise and one that really couldn't be described as a sunrise as there was no actual sun! Seeing as I've done both I thought I'd write up a post about my visit and whether it's worth visiting for sunrise. Whether the 3 am wake up call is worth it if you don't actually get a sunrise.
GETTING THERE
06/09/2017 / Lifestyle
In retrospect: 101 in 1001 days
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Way back in 2014, the 20th of July if we're being precise, I made a 101 in 1001 days list. Incase you don't know what ones of these lists is, its a list of 101 things you want to do or achieve in the 1001 days. You can pick anything you want. I sorted my list into categories to make it a bit easier to read. I'm not going to rewrite all of my list in this post but feel free to check it out. Instead, I thought I'd write about and reflect upon some of the key things I managed to tick off and some of the ones that I never got round to doing.
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Seeing as this is the first category in my list it seemed like the perfect place to start my review. I am not a health freak nor do I love exercise. In fact, I suck at keeping fit which is one of the reasons I chose this as a category. I have to say I didn't tick off as many things in this category as I would have liked.
I did manage to go without chocolate for a week and have since also gone without. A big success for a chocoholic.
Going to the gym also got ticked off, although 'going to the gym' equates to about six trips so not that great...
There was a lot I didn't do in this category. The yoga class never happened. Nor did the 30 day squat challenge. I think I managed a two day squat challenge.
Oh and I never got round to going for that run.
But I'm even more motivated to improve my fitness now I've looked back and realised how terribly I did in this category. Hopefully, I'll tick some of these off in the future!
When researching what to do in Mandalay a place was mentioned a lot. I researched it some more and the pictures alone were enough to add the ancient capital (one of four surrounding Mandalay) to my must visit list.
My next point of call was figuring out how to get there, it's outside of the main city along the Ayeyarwaddy river. It took me a while to find all the information I needed. A lot of websites were offering me a tour or a combined tour which was something I didn't want to do. I like to try and do things myself if possible to make the day cheaper. Seeing as I struggled to find information I thought I'd put together a blog post about my day in Mingun including all the information you need to know for your own visit!
28/08/2017 / Lifestyle
In a Nutshell: August
My 'In a Nutshell' posts are back. The absence of these posts was intentional but was because of my trip to Asia. I decided not to blog whilst travelling but, instead, scheduled various posts to go up while I was away. However, these sort of posts can't be pre planned like that, I can't write about what I did in June if June hasn't even happened yet!
My trip was amazing but I won't go into detail about it in this post; this post is about August and sadly my trip was already finished by then!
AUGUST ROUND UP
1. I went back to work
When I left in April to go travelling I wasn't expecting to be going back, I'd handed in my resignation and accepted the fact that I'd need to sort out another job when I got back. Luckily, my boss wanted me back. I'm only working in a coffee shop but it's something and it was nice to be asked back. I had four days to get over the jet lag, daydream about the sun and cry because I was back in England before I started working again.
2. I met up with friends
Travelling for four months meant that I hadn't seen my friends in a while. Especially as it had already been a couple of months before I'd even gone travelling. One of my closest friends lives in Manchester so I headed there for a weekend. My other friend lives in my home town like me so we met for brunch. It was great to see them both again, although I still don't feel like I've had a proper catch up with them yet!
3. I had a massive sort out
This seems to be a recurring activity, as soon as I'm back from a trip I sort my whole bedroom out and get rid everything I no longer want (or the things that no longer fit me!).
4. I started blogging again!
The decline in blog posts was an intentional break but not because I'd fallen out of love with blogging. Rather because I just couldn't commit to blogging whilst travelling. I didn't want to take my laptop with me and knew the quality of my posts just wouldn't be the same. So many people choose to blog as they travel but I didn't think it would work for me for that specific trip. Anyway, after nearly a month of being back in the UK, I'm back. It took me a while to settle back into life at home but I'm excited to blog about all the places I visited.
SEPTEMBER GOALS
1. Read three books
My love of reading has dwindled recently. In fact I didn't manage to finish a single book whilst in Asia. Shocking I know. Since returning from my trip I've been trying to read more. I don't want to force myself but as soon as I find a good book then I'm fine it's just getting into the book. If I get bored I find t hard to persevere.
I've managed to read two books during August and have picked up some more from a charity shop which will hopefully be good!
2. Exercise
I probably sound like a broken record because I'm pretty sure this always appears as a goal in my summary posts. Well, here it is again. Let's just leave the goal as exercise and see what happens.
3. Decide what's next
This sounds dramatic. It's not as dramatic as it sounds. I'm currently in limbo. Although I'm back at work it's not somewhere I want to work in the long term. I'm thinking about teaching abroad and need to look at this properly and decide whether I'm going to take the plunge and go for it or choose a different route.
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So there you have it, my very short August in a nutshell. My September post will hopefully be a bit more exciting, especially as I'm off to Madrid for a weekend break with some uni friends!
What did you get up to in August?
Sophie
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I usually make travel posts more informative, I do a 10 things to do or a how to spend three days, however, for Salzburg I decided to make the post a bit more personal and diary like. Partly because I thought I'd switch things up but mostly because I don't feel I explored Salzburg enough to be able to write a 'here's what you should do' type post.
After saying goodbye to the beautiful Lake Bled we hopped on a train to Salzburg. The first of our three stops in Austria.
After saying goodbye to the beautiful Lake Bled we hopped on a train to Salzburg. The first of our three stops in Austria.
We spent three days in Salzburg. From the little research I had done beforehand it seemed like there was a lot to see. Having now visited I think we could of spent less time there but we did skip things like the Sound of Music tour which is probably one of the main attractions!
09/06/2017 / Croatia , Travel
A pocket guide to Zagreb
Zagreb was the fourth stop on my interrail trip. We'd already been to Split but Zagreb is very different. I mean I wasn't expecting any ocean or beach but the architecture of the city is also very different to Split. We only had one full day in Zagreb and it was surprisingly hot! We also decided to have our first night out of the trip in Zagreb. On a Tuesday night. Probably not the best day of the week to see what Zagreb had on offer but all the bars were surprisingly busy. More on that later!02/06/2017 / Sri Lanka , Travel
Hiking to Lipton's Seat, Sri Lanka
There are so many walks and hikes in Sri Lanka from Adam's Peak to the world's end. On my three week trip around Sri Lanka I only managed to do one. Lipton's Seat. We stayed in the town of Haputale for our walk. I wouldn't call it a hike as such, it's not too tough and a lot of it is fairly flat.
26/05/2017 / University
University Series | General Advice
I haven't written a university post in a while so thought it would be the perfect time to write one and take a break from writing about travel. Most of my university posts including my freshers week post were written after I had finished my first year at university. However, I have now graduated after spending three years studying so thought doing a general university advice post would benefit those of you who are off to university or thinking about applying.
I'm by no means an expert but I think my three years have taught me a few things about life at university.
I thought as well as doing my freshers week post I would write about other tips and advice for the whole of first year / university experience, these are things that I have picked up over my first year at university.
19/05/2017 / India , Travel
The highs and lows of travelling India
I only spent three weeks and India and quite frankly you could spend three years there and still not have explored the whole country. Although, I have many countries on my bucket list that I've never visited India is still on it because I barely scratched the surface.
However, while my trip to India was short I still learnt a lot about the country and travelling there. So I thought I'd create this post as a summary to the highs and lows of my time in India.
The washing machine is the most sought after thing in the house
Yep, even more so than the bathroom on a Friday night. If you don't tell everyone via group chat that you're next in line for the washing machine there's a good chance that someone will have put their clothes on for wash whilst you're in the shower. Even though your bag of dirty laundry was sat next to the washing machine acting as a sign that you're next. There are no signs, no 'oh I was going to do my washing', if it's not written on the group chat there's no point. This means that sometimes it's necessary to plan your washes but most of the time I still just did it when it my basket got full.
Empty drying racks and radiators are a rare sight
Obviously all that washing needs drying. We did have a tumble dryer but it was combined with the washing machine and none of us ever figured out how to make it work efficiently. I never bothered using it but some did and still had to hang their clothes up to dry. I was sneaky and kept my clothes rack in my bedroom. If I was asked nicely I did lend it but there were two downstairs which were used the most. Sometimes you have to be selfish to get ahead. In this case to ensure you're wet clothes have somewhere to dry.
It's not constant sleepovers and movie watching
I'd always imagined that living in an all girl house or any university house would be like one big sleepover with your best friends all the time. And yes it is sometimes but a lot of the time, especially as you get further into term and deadlines begin looming for everyone there's a lot of evenings where you'll be the only one in the kitchen as everyone's busy studying. I lived with six other girls and there were still some days were I'd hardly bump into anyone. However, there are the fun nights too where everyone's cooking dinner at the same time (this is slightly squishy but we made it work) and you all watch trashy TV and pretend you've got no studying to do.
05/05/2017 / hostels , Travel
The ups and downs of staying in a hostel
Any backpacker knows that hostels are part of the lifestyle. They save money and are great for meeting like minded people. However, they can also be incredibly noisy and a bit run down. Travelling for 12 weeks this summer meant that I stayed in a fair few hostels. I thought I'd write this post to summarise the pros and cons of hostel life and how to make the most of staying in one.
28/04/2017 / Ljubljana , Travel
Ljubljana Graffiti Tour
Ljubljana was one of those places were I didn't really know what to expect. Compared to other places I'd visited I hadn't done that much research for it. So when we got to our hostel the first thing we did was take a look at the leaflets that they had in reception. There was the usual walking tours and day trips to Lake Bled but since we were already going to stay in Lake Bled after Ljubljana we didn't need to plan a day trip. Soph then picked up a leaflet about a graffiti tour which looked really cool and so we decided we'd check it out on our first full day in Ljubljana.
21/04/2017 / Lifestyle , Travel
How to survive a long haul flight
We've all been there. Checking the time thinking that there must only be an hour left of the flight and being horrified to see that you haven't even made it half way through yet. This is especially painful on long haul flights. This summer I took four long haul flights, some of which were better than others! I thought I'd write a blogpost to share my tips and what I learnt from taking these flights.
14/04/2017 / Travel
My SE Asia Bucketlist
If you read my 2017 travel plans post then you'll already know I'm planning a trip to SE Asia in April. I've done quite a lot of research already and have started to finalise a route. There's so many things to see and while I hope to see everything realistically I will probably have to miss some things. I thought I'd put together a bucket list of all the places I really don't want to miss.
25/03/2017 / Interrail , Travel
Planning a backpacking trip around Europe
Back in September I flew off to Europe for five and a half weeks. I went with Soph my university friend and met another of my friends Tilli half way through. We had planned on interrailing through Europe for quite a long time, however, my planning for the trip wasn't as detailed and thorough as I would have liked due to most of it being done while I was in India. However, I think the planning I did was successful and so I thought it may be useful to put together a post of the general steps I took to planning the trip and tips I learnt whilst planning and whilst on the trip.
HOW LONG WILL YOUR TRIP BE?
This seems like a sensible place to start. This determines a lot of other factors, such as where you'll visit and how long you'll stay in each place. You may be lucky and have no restrictions on the length of your trip. However, realistically they will be some sort of restriction, maybe it's the amount of holiday you get at work or the fact that you're at uni/college/school or that you only have enough money to go for two weeks unless you eat baked beans on toast three times a day for the next six months. Travel is great but I don't think anyone should have to make that sort of sacrifice.
WHEN WILL YOU GO?
A lot of people go interrailing in the summer. Firstly, because of the good weather and secondly if you're at school, college or university then this is the only break you get that's long enough to go and you'll most likely have no work to do during the summer.
WHERE WILL YOU GO?
Europe is massive! Realistically, you won't be able to do it all, maybe not even half! It's best to focus on one area, for example central Europe or Eastern Europe. Lots of people who backpack Europe choose to do central Europe such as Paris, Rome, Berlin etc.
I personally didn't visit any of these of my trip. I chose to focus mostly on Eastern Europe and places where I wouldn't necessarily choose to go to for a weekend away or holiday. Places like Paris I could see myself visiting for a weekend or when I'm older so I didn't prioritise them.
HOW LONG IN EACH PLACE
This links back to how long your trip will be. If you're only going for three weeks then the amount of places you visit will be quite different than a six month trip. If you're trip is quite open ended then I think going with the flow is the best approach, stick to just booking up the first couple of nights or if you want a bit more set in stone then decide how long you'll stay in the first couple of places you visit.
If your trip is tighter and you have an exact end date then deciding how long you have in each place will help you get the most out of your time. We booked up all of our hostels either beforehand or about a week before while we were travelling. You don't have to be quite so structured. If you want the freedom of changing your itinerary then stick to booking hostels as you go. Or even just turning up. However, while I did this quite a lot in India and Sri Lanka I think it would have been harder to do so in Europe, especially in high season. A lot of the places I stayed in were fully booked or nearly fully booked and I visited in September and October which I wouldn't even class as high season.
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HOW I PLANNED MY TRIP
Planning a trip is sometimes a bit daunting, especially at the start when all you know is that you're going on the trip. You don't know where you're going in specific but you know you'll be heading off to Europe.
Blogs are often my first point of call for starting to narrow down where I'll be going. Oh, and Instagram but that's once I have a bit of an idea of where I'll be going. Because I was Interrailing on my trip I used the interrail website quite a lot. They have information about each country that the pass can be used in and this helped me a lot when deciding where I would go.
I also like to open google maps to start to form a route. If there's one place I want to go to that seems further away from everything else then I need to figure out if it's plausible and how to fit it into the trip. A prime example is Venice. I really wanted to fit it into my trip but it would involve a 10 hour detour and mean that we'd have to cut our time in cities such as Prague and Budapest. It wasn't on the way to anywhere I was going so I decided it was best to skip it and allow more time in other places. I'm glad I did this as Prague and Budapest both needed a few days to see the sights and it meant we were able to fit in a night in Bratislava which was on the way to another destination we were going to.
MY FAVOURITE RESOURCES
Skyscanner: The place to go when you need to book a flight. Or the place to go if you're dreaming of you're next trip. I usually use Skyscanner as my starting point for checking prices. Sometimes I book directly through a website and sometimes I book through Skyscanner, it completely depends on the prices. If you're dates are quite flexible then choose to search the whole month to see which days are cheapest.
TIP: Delete your cookies and history if you've been looking up flight prices a lot. This may make the prices a bit cheaper. Or get somebody else to check the prices, a family member or friend on a different device and see how the prices compare.
TIP: Delete your cookies and history if you've been looking up flight prices a lot. This may make the prices a bit cheaper. Or get somebody else to check the prices, a family member or friend on a different device and see how the prices compare.
Hostel world: Some people love them, some people hate them. Hostels are
my main accommodation especially in places like Europe where there aren't really guesthouses like Asia and the price of accommodation is a bit more pricy. Hostel world is the best place to find hostels, the app makes it very easy to find accommodation on the go.
TIP: While I book most of my hostels through Hostel world it is also worth giving your chosen hostel a quick google to see if you can book directly through them as many of them are a tiny bit cheaper if booked direct.
Air bnb: Air B n B is a great place to find nice places to stay but it is also great for finding guesthouses. I always try and compare prices on booking.com and air b n b as quite a few guesthouses are on both. But the main reason I use Air B n B is when I want to stay somewhere a bit nicer as a treat. There are so many great apartments and villas on Air B n B and a lot of them are very reasonable. We stayed in one for my birthday in Prague and while it was more expensive that a hostel it was cheaper than a nice hotel and we got an apartment to ourselves including a kitchen where we made breakfast each morning.
TIP: Recommend a friend and get them to sign up and you'll both get some travel credit. Even better if you're both travelling together as your friend can book one stay and once you've stayed there you'll get credit which you can use for the next time you use Air B n B, which may be on the same trip!
my main accommodation especially in places like Europe where there aren't really guesthouses like Asia and the price of accommodation is a bit more pricy. Hostel world is the best place to find hostels, the app makes it very easy to find accommodation on the go.
TIP: While I book most of my hostels through Hostel world it is also worth giving your chosen hostel a quick google to see if you can book directly through them as many of them are a tiny bit cheaper if booked direct.
Air bnb: Air B n B is a great place to find nice places to stay but it is also great for finding guesthouses. I always try and compare prices on booking.com and air b n b as quite a few guesthouses are on both. But the main reason I use Air B n B is when I want to stay somewhere a bit nicer as a treat. There are so many great apartments and villas on Air B n B and a lot of them are very reasonable. We stayed in one for my birthday in Prague and while it was more expensive that a hostel it was cheaper than a nice hotel and we got an apartment to ourselves including a kitchen where we made breakfast each morning.
TIP: Recommend a friend and get them to sign up and you'll both get some travel credit. Even better if you're both travelling together as your friend can book one stay and once you've stayed there you'll get credit which you can use for the next time you use Air B n B, which may be on the same trip!
Interrail website: If you're not planning on Interrailing this might not be that much use to you but it still may be worth checking out as there are example itineraries and plenty of information on countries.
TIP: Download the app. It's free and you can check train times and routes without needing to be connected to wifi. You can also track the train you're on to see how close you are to your destination.
TIP: Download the app. It's free and you can check train times and routes without needing to be connected to wifi. You can also track the train you're on to see how close you are to your destination.
Tripadvisor: I don't tend to use Tripadvisor that much, I prefer to look at blogs to find out what to see but i do like to use it for food. Sometimes I prefer to find places to eat on my own or through blogs, sometimes the best places are the local hidden gems. However, sometimes you just want to save some hassle and eat somewhere that comes recommended, sometimes this pays off and sometimes you end up in a very busy restaurant that's a little overpriced. But more often than not Tripadvisor recommendations do pay off.
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Have you backpacked around Europe? Where did you go?
Sophie
21/03/2017 / Sri Lanka , Travel
Kandy | Sri Lanka
We arrived in Kandy on a bus from Matale. We hadn't booked any accommodation so set to work finding somewhere to stay when we got there. We'd looked online but a lot of places were booked up or very pricy because it was the Esala Perahera. In hindsight maybe we should have booked in advance. We found a tuk tuk and asked the driver if he knew any guest houses. He said he did so took us to the first one. We looked around and the price was very high, again because of the Esala Perahera, we tried to negotiate but they wouldn't budge. I don't mind paying higher prices but the quality of the room was not reflected in the high price in any way. We moved onto another guest house and it was the same problem. We asked the driver to drop us off in town and we'd found our own accommodation but he kept insisting we see 'just one more!'.
He eventually dropped us off but demanded triple the price we'd negotiated because we hadn't picked any of the accommodation he'd shown us even though we'd asked him after the second one to drop us off. After the stress of trying to find somewhere to stay our next task was to try and find somewhere with wifi to conduct our own search.
We found a bar / coffee shop so sat down to have a coffee and get some (very bad) wifi. Using the wifi we managed to find a hostel with beds available. We headed to the hostel, dropped off our bags and headed into town. The hostel was around a half an hour walk from the main city. The walk was very hilly but thankfully was downhill on the way to the city, we usually got a tuk tuk home because the hill was so steep!
I have to say I never really got my head around the logistics of the city. What I mean by this is I usually had no idea where I was going. I'm usually quite good at getting my head around a new place, I start to recognise landmarks and work out how to get around. However, with Kandy, we could never quite get the route into town right. We ended up walking to the train station both times which was the opposite to where we actually wanted to go! It does feel much larger than anywhere else I visited in Sri Lanka (apart from the capital, Colombo).
What to see in Kandy
The Esala Perahera
This is one of the most important Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka. The tooth that is held in the Temple of the Tooth is carried through the city in the procession. Being able to see this depends on what time of year you will be visiting Kandy. The festival takes place from the end of July until the first week of August. If you're in Sri Lanka in this time then it's worth checking out. I can't tell you exact dates as they vary slightly from year to year but I'm sure a quick google will tell you the 2017 dates.
If you do visit, get a spot early! The procession starts around 7 pm but the city will get packed a lot earlier, it will start getting very difficult to get around due to roads being blocked off, trying to get from one side of the street to the other is extremely hard in certain areas. There are plenty of places to watch the procession but they will fill up quickly. We looked for a place to watch around 5.30 and a lot of areas were already full.
Ensure you sit somewhere that the procession actually passes. We initially sat down in a space but were told that the procession didn't actually come past us, it came close but not past. There were lots of other people sitting in this area so I'm not sure if they knew. We quickly moved on. We ended up sitting right by the end of the procession. We sat 'front row' on the street but as the procession went on it was clear this was not the best position.
TIP: Don't sit near the end of the procession, most of the dancers had stopped by this point so we missed out on seeing a lot.
You can buy seats in restaurants or shops to view the procession from. We found these pricy. They varied from around 25 to 35 pounds, most were just a small chair in a shop front, others were more fancy.
There are plenty of markets in Kandy to explore. I can definitely say that we spent a bit too much time exploring them. Many of the outside ones are like the usual ones you find. Set up for tourists selling traveller favourites such as elephant pants and knock off brand clothing. However, we found an inside market which seemed to be very much the same as the outside ones until a man invited us up to the top floor. This actually sounds incredibly creepy when I write it but it wasn't as creepy as it sounds. We assumed he was just going to take us to another floor of the same stands but we followed anyway as we could easily turn around if they were. However, the top floor was a bit of a goldmine. We seemed to be the only tourists up there. The stalls were a complete jumble of clothes. It was like one big charity shop.
It was great as a lot of the clothes were the sort you'd find in some quirky vintage store except without the high prices! We got a bit too carried away. We had to look through a lot of bad clothes to find the gems but it was great. I have to say I enjoyed escaping sightseeing for the afternoon. We came away with way too many clothes and had to buy a bag to carry them all in. Not a good move but I do wear a lot of the clothes I purchased so I guess it worked out well.
I think the market we went to was the central market but I'm not completely sure. I didn't take too much notice of my surroundings and we always ended up getting a bit lost on our walk into the centre!
The Lake
This is one thing we didn't get chance to see (probably thanks to our mad shopping afternoon). We did however, see some of the lake whilst walking around the centre of Kandy. I think you can hire boats to go out onto the lake or just walk around it.
The Temple of the Tooth
This is, maybe, the most important temple in Sri Lanka. It's also one of the main reasons for visiting Kandy. We went very early before our train to Nawalapitiya (where we'd treated ourselves to a night at a cute hotel in a tea plantation). We were supposed to go the previous day but we got carried away shopping in the markets. Long story short we got very excited over cheap clothes and bought way too many. I greatly regretted this when I had to carry all these new clothes in my rucksack!
When we went the Temple of the Tooth closed earlier than usual for the Esala Perahera festival. We had seen this on our first night but did not want to see it again so planned on going to the temple in the later afternoon. However, we couldn't so ended up having a very early start. I guess it was karma for going shopping instead of being cultural!
The entrance fee to the temple is higher than most of the others we visited but it is the most important one and this reflects in the price. You have to hand over your shoes before you enter. There are people offering to give you guided tour but we declined, we were in a hurry and didn't want to spend extra money and not be able to fully appreciate a tour.
The temple was already quite busy when we got there and we were there pretty early in order to fit it in before our train. There are various other buildings in the complex some are included in the ticket but many of the museums have a separate fee.
The entrance fee to the temple is higher than most of the others we visited but it is the most important one and this reflects in the price. You have to hand over your shoes before you enter. There are people offering to give you guided tour but we declined, we were in a hurry and didn't want to spend extra money and not be able to fully appreciate a tour.
The temple was already quite busy when we got there and we were there pretty early in order to fit it in before our train. There are various other buildings in the complex some are included in the ticket but many of the museums have a separate fee.
Summary
- Bus from Matale to Kandy: 40 rupees (less than an hour)
- Easy train access from Kandy train station to traveller favourite such as Ella.
- Can also get the bus from Dambulla, slightly longer and costs more but still very cheap.
- Entry to the Temple of the Tooth: 1000 rupees
- Go to the Temple of the Tooth early as it can get very crowded inside!
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