It is just over a year ago that I set off for my travelling around the world. It was a trip that I had thought about doing for a number of years. It was a trip I wanted to do before I went to University but I thought if I went travelling for a year then I wouldn't end up going to University. The plan then was to finish my undergraduate degree and then set off for the trip after graduating. That was until I saw a Masters course that I really liked the look of and I decided to continue my education until I had got through the Masters and THEN I would go on my trip. As the Masters' Graduation was in January I decided to wait until the following summer before setting off. The main reason for this was because the plan for the journey was to spend as little time on a plane as possible and to travel from European country to European Country and then once close enough I would head into Asia and continue my travelling through there with the ultimate destination being Australia by November. Once there I would spend a couple of months travelling about Australia and then head to New Zealand in the new year before setting off for home via Japan and finally the Americas. The original timeframe for the trip was about a year or until the money ran out and I had to set off for home. That was the plan and on the 10th June 2014 I set off on a journey that I knew, for one reason or another, would change my life.
As I didn't want to spend much time on a plane I got the 3o'clock train down to London where I transferred to the Eurostar for the 5:15 crossing to Brussels before changing to a local Belgium train that took me to Bruges. I had chosen Bruges as my first destination because I really enjoy the film In Bruges so I thought "where better to start?". I eventually arrived in Bruges at about 9pm and was looking for the local bus route that would take me to my hostel. I looked up at the big electronic screen but couldn't see the bus I needed. I managed to find a paper timetable which stated the final departure time for the bus I needed was 8pm. Not the best of starts to the journey. Or was it? Because also looking at the timetable was a girl who also had a big backpack and a perplexed look on her face. I asked her if she knew if there was another way to get to the hostel I was going to and she stated she was also looking for the very same place and had done the same thing as me. As there was now two of us trying to get to the hostel we decided to get a taxi. We were waiting for about ten minutes before a taxi arrived and when it did, we and a Greco-American couple were almost fighting over who had been waiting longer for it. The taxi driver asked where we were all going and offered to take us all as they were all on the way. The girl, Sarah as I would find out, and I climbed into the very back of the car, the couple sat in the middle and off we went. It only took about 15 minutes before we were dropping off the other couple and a further 5 minutes down the road we were at our hostel. Sarah and I spent most of our time in Bruges together until it was time for me to leave 3 days later. I had had my first experience of travelling: I had spent hours travelling between countries, missed the last bus, made a friend, nearly got into a fight over a taxi and before I knew it I was now saying goodbye to the friend I had made. I am a strong believer in everything happening for a reason and my first experience of travelling was no exception. Had I not decided to get the train into London I did, in order to get the Eurostar to arrive into Bruges for 9 o'clock, I never would have missed the last bus and met Sarah, someone who I am still in regular email contact with now. My first friend travelling has turned into my longest lasting friend from travelling.
From Bruges I headed North into Rotterdam, again chosen for no reason other than I like the song by The Beautiful South, and successfully made my first real travelling transition. In Rotterdam I met some girls from Hong Kong whom I would stay in contact with, AJ in particular, for the rest of the trip including my subsequent journey into Hong Kong, although that was not for a few months. Rotterdam led me into Germany before Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Italy saw my presence on their land. By the time I got to Italy I was more than ready to slow down for a week or two because my journey had only lasted about a month and I had already visited 11 cities, 7 countries and spent no more about three days in each place. This is what I thought travelling was all about, seeing new places and jumping from one place to the next, barely stopping to pick up your hat on the way out. Don't get me wrong, it is a great way to travel but you really have to be both mentally and physically ready and fit enough for the draining experience it turns out to be. No sooner have you arrived in a new place, just about found your bearings, got to know some of the surroundings and some of the people, you are moving to the next place to start it all over again. Each new place I arrived in felt like the start of a new week because you cling to whatever routine you can find when you have nothing to anchor on to. In my head I had been travelling for about three months and everything was flying by. In reality it had only been just over three weeks and the days were starting to drag. One of the reasons for this was because each new place, although the actual layout of the map was different, the history and the culture of each place was surprisingly familiar. Travelling about some of the major cities in Europe and you soon find they all have one very similar feature; World War Two. Most of them had an 'Old Town' that was rich in history, some were recreated as they had been before being bombed in the War and some managed to avoid a lot of the damage. In some cases a 'New Town' was built on the same spot where the 'Old Town' had been as a modern day equivalent to pay respect to what had been before but also to show their horrific experiences as a result of the 1939-1945 conflict. The nail in my European coffin was found in Vienna. Here was a city stooped in history and culture and grandeur and I was walking around it bored. Completely and utterly bored, there was nothing new, nothing really exciting with the exception of the Schönbrunn Palace and its garden set high atop a very large hill. The view from the top was something special but there are only so many times you can climb to the top and look out over the landscape. I was only in Vienna for a couple of days and for me, that was a couple of days too long so I knew I had to change my plan slightly. As part of the original plan I was due to leave Vienna and travel west to Salzburg before travelling North back into Germany, Munich in particular, in time for the final of the football World Cup. I just couldn't face it, I couldn't face going back to a mainstream, mainland European City that would possibly be exactly the same as all of the other mainland cities I had been to. I needed a break, I need to see something different, I needed the sea, I needed the beach!
Instead of returning North to Germany and risk getting caught up in mainland Europe again I set my compass to South and headed for Italy. This of course would only come after I had travelled to Salzburg and Innsbruck as they were already booked and were sort of on the way. Salzburg actually became a little saviour in itself because for the first time since I left I was surrounded by mountains and hills and more greenery than I felt I had seen in years. It was a relaxing place with fresh air and not a single mention of the War my entire time there. Innsbruck was similarly freeing as the hostel was built at the foot of a mountain and you were never more than a short walking distance away from sheer tranquility. Incidentally while in Innsbruck I also went to a traditional Austrian Dance show which had thigh slapping, yodelling and Dirndls a plenty. Naturally accompanied by a schnitzel supper and a beer. After my little stop in Innsbruck I finally made my way South towards Italy and Venice to begin with. I was treating Venice as a little stop over on the way to my week by the beach. I spent a couple of days there and already I was starting to notice the atmosphere of the trip starting to change. From Venice I went to Rimini and spent a whole 5 days by the beach in one place. I was able to make friends for longer than a day and I really got to know the surrounding area quite well although the main reason I went was to be by the sea, not worrying about moving and being able to focus on relaxing. That's exactly what I did, I went to the beach, I went for a couple of bike rides, I went to a couple of clubs, one of which was an outdoor club, something I never even dreamed possible given the inclement nature of England's weather seemingly all year round and all in all I did very little. It was great. I continued my slightly relaxed style of travelling as I went to Rome where I stayed for 7 days. Far and away the longest time I had committed to one specific place and I was rewarded for this decision. I stayed in a little place just outside of Rome called Zagarolo at the Wiki Hostel & Green Village. This particular hostel was possibly one of the best of the trip because it had everything I could have wanted, it was close enough to Rome that getting in and out wasn't a problem, it was quiet when I wanted it to be but sociable when that was the plan. There was a farmer's market near by that did the best gelato I have ever tasted and at no point during my stay there did I wonder about what I was going to do. For the first time on the trip it didn't matter if I went out exploring or if I stayed at the hostel and read my book all day by the pool. These are just some of the reasons that after I had been to Naples for a few days; where, incidentally, I had the best Pizza in the world, managed to help create a potentially massive conspiracy theory and danced maniacally with a taxi driver on the way up a volcano, all of which are probably stories for another day; I returned to Rome and more specifically to the Wiki Hostel & Green Village.
Another four nights passed before my time in Italy was over and the time had come for me to finally board a plane. It was a fairly short flight from Rome to Athens where I had a stopover in the airport. I landed in Athens International "Eleftherios Venizelos" Airport at about 2 in the afternoon and my onward flight to Kefalonia was at about 5 the following morning. Due to the flight being so early, I had looked at the different options of getting a hostel or hotel nearby for the night but in the end I decided that it would be too much hassle trying to get to and from in time for my flight. So for the first time on the trip I didn't have a proper bed for the night, I also didn't have most of my belongings as they were in transit waiting to be transferred to my second flight. As it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn't have a big heavy bag with me I should have taken the initiative and gone exploring around Athens for the afternoon but I just didn't fancy it, I didn't really know where to go, I had no one to go with and from what I had heard, Athens as a city wasn't very enjoyable to look at. So I stayed and stayed and stayed. I think my waiting time was about 15 hours in the end which on your own in an airport seems to double if not treble in time. Athens, as an airport, is probably one of the better airports to find yourself stuck in because there is a mini museum and there are educational videos about Eleftherios K. Venizelos, the Greek politician the airport was named after. Venizelos, as a matter of fact, is an extremely interesting character and one I would highly recommend researching into if you enjoy political history. The airport is also home to a great deal of shops and food outlets, some of which produce some very fine food, it also has televisions situated at various points that were playing sport and in particular football from the English Premier League. I definitely found that when faced with nothing else to do, even the most mind-numbing activity can become enjoyable. As time manages to do, it ticked around to the time of my second flight and I boarded the smallest plane I've ever been on and made the short jump to Kefalonia.
Kefalonia wasn't necessarily part of the original plan, it is one of the Greek Islands, which were part of the plan, but spending three weeks sat by a pool next to the sea definitely wasn't. The reason for this diversion to the plan was because my friend Sally was flying over to Kefalonia to meet me so we could have a proper little holiday together and we had a fantastic time. We went to the pool pretty much every day at the same time, we became regulars at the Pool Bar, even acquiring nicknames from the bar staff, we ate out every night and we even managed to go on a couple of day trips, when we got on the boat on time of course. The hotel we stayed at was a little family run place and if one of the owners saw us, we found it very difficult to turn down their offer of "Wan' coff'?" or "Glass wine?". The three weeks by the pool with Sally was a great way to recharge the batteries, I read more books in those three weeks than I think I have in about five years, we played bat and ball in the pool until the bats literally disintegrated in our hands and we lay in the sun allowing the UV rays to penetrate our usually pasty white English skin. On our final night in Kefalonia we went to our favourite bar and we were chatting to the staff who asked us where we were headed next. Sally said she was returning home but I explained I was continuing my travelling and was heading to Crete next, more specifically Rethymno. No sooner had the word Rethymno come out, were the staff talking very excitedly to each other in Greek. It was at this point they explained that the sister of the two of the workers, works in a small cafe in Rethymno. They asked if I would deliver a postcard to their sister, to which I replied that I would give it my best shot. They filled out a postcard, I took it and the next day I set off to continue my journey while Sally went in search of the airport for her flight back to England.
I made my way to the port to catch the ferry that would take me to mainland Greece before getting on a bus to continue the journey to Athens. It was a stiff welcome back to being on the road again because once I made it to Athens I had to make my way across the city to Piraeus. I needed to be in Piraeus as I was getting the over night ferry down to Crete which would be my home for the next week. The ferry there was bearable, I found stuff to do, ate some debatable overpriced food before finally finding a small corner where, using my towel as a cushion, I could try to get some sleep. Once in Crete I boarded the coach to Rethymno and finally made it to my hostel. I was definitely greeted with hostel life once again, but in a good way. On my first night there somebody suggested going to see the sunset at the old abandoned battlements, I agreed to go, as did the person next to me and the person next to them. Before we knew what was happening there was about 15 people all making their way to the battlements and it was possibly one of the greatest sunsets I have ever seen. Naturally the group of 15 didn't stay together, we branched off into a couple of smaller groups but there was still a good number of us who went to find some dinner. We searched for a good hour or two trying to find somewhere everyone liked and somewhere that could fit us all in before we went back to the first place we found and ate there. After we ate we went down to the beach where for some reason there was a chair just sitting in the middle of the sand. I sat on the chair and before I knew what was happening the others were all sat around me in a semi circle, as if waiting for me to tell them a story, so I did. Then we played some classic children's party games such as Duck Duck Goose and when we returned to the hostel, Wink Murder. The next day a group of us rented a car and visited Balos beach, a destination I was the designated driver for and a trip that had its own fair share of drama attached to it. The rest of the week was fairly event free apart from handing the postcard to its recipient, throwing a ice cold bucket of water over my head and taking part in an impromptu sing-a-long session at the hostel. My overnight ferry ride back to Piraeus wasn't quite as good as the first journey as I was hit with my first real illness of the trip. It was a very long night! Once back in Athens I made my way to the airport and flew over to Cyprus where I met my parents who were heading out there for a summer holiday, although only my dad knew I was going to be there.
I surprised my mum to great effect at Cyprus airport the day after I arrived and I then spent the next 10 days living the life of luxury with them in their hotel suite. It is safe to say that not all travelling has to be a struggle. After spending most of my time, once again, sat by the pool reading books, I said my goodbyes to my parents, easier said than done, and made my way back to Athens airport. This time for the longest of my three visits to the place and once again I would remain awake for the entire duration of my time in the airport. The time finally ticked round for me to catch my flight and I flew from Athens to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to Delhi and then Delhi to Hong Kong and by the time I arrived, two and a half days had passed since I left my parents. In Hong Kong I met my cousin and embarked upon a stop that would define a lot of my trip. I loved it in Hong Kong, the people were so nice, the scenery was stunning, the food was good quality and extremely good value and the nights out were very enjoyable, if you could afford to fund the drinks bill come the end of the evening. I spent two weeks wondering about the fabulous place before I decided to go North of the border into China for a week and a half...biggest mistake of the trip. Well that might be a bit of an overstatement because some of the stuff there was very enjoyable and the scenery was out of this world but I can confirm that I won't be returning anytime soon. I was only in the country for a week and a half but it was definitely a week and a half too long for my liking but by the end of my time there I returned to Hong Kong for another week or so. During my whole time in Hong Kong I was made to feel very hospitable and a lot of this is thanks to my cousin Dom and his flatmates for looking after me but also thanks to AJ who I met in the first week of my trip in Rotterdam. It is thanks to her that I got to visit Lamma Island, a secluded little spot far away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, I got to busk on the street dressed as Charlie Chaplain, I got to be involved with one of the most life changing events in Hong Kong's history as they protested against the Chinese government and I was able to feel like Hong Kong was home and it was just what I needed to happen.
After I finished in Hong Kong it was time for the last stop on my trip; Australia. Little did I know that not only was Australia about to be my longest stop of the trip but it was also going to be a stop that would change my life, forever, but in a very good way. My first destination in Australia was Perth and it was here that I was reunited with one of my childhood friends and neighbours, Charlie. She has been in Australia over 5 years now and has found herself a husband in Jon and has produced the most gorgeous little girl, Lilly. I was originally intending stay with them in Perth for a couple of weeks, 17th October to just after Halloween when I would head off to continue my adventure. Things changed slightly as I stayed on with Jon, Charlie and Lilly for a bit longer as we were all getting on so well and I had no inclination to leave. I was in a settled little family atmosphere and I was genuinely enjoying myself with them and re-affirmed a friendship that distance tried to silence slightly. I also forged a new friendship with Jon and he led me to one of the best hardware stores in the world and my reasons for thinking that will become clear soon. This store has everything, stuff for the garden, stuff for the house, stuff for renovation on both professional and amateur levels and best of all they serve breakfast twice a week for absolutely nothing. It was during one of the many trips to this store and one of the many breakfasts I ended up having that I got chatting to a very special person. She is one of the genuine hearted people I have ever met and she managed to win my heart quicker than even I realised. When she chatted to me, or tried to chat to me because I went extremely quiet and nervous, I thought she was doing it because she had to chat to the customers to keep them happy. Little was I to know that it wasn't just for that reason. I shall be coming back to this little story in a minute because first I needed to continue my travel around the rest of Australia.
Heading to Adelaide first, I met a new breed of hostellers, people I ended up referring to as 'lifers' those who were over in Australia in order to work and live and stay for longer than just a couple of weeks. These people all knew each other, all ate together, worked together, partied together and did everything together. It was for this reason I found it difficult to join in with them, they were always very welcoming and would accept you if you made the effort but the sheer size of the groups was enough to put even the most outgoing person off. Within about a day and a half of arriving in Adelaide I knew where I really wanted to be and that was back in Perth, I enjoyed the lifestyle I had too much to want to be away from it for too long. So at that point I worked out the remaining time of my trip. I planned to head to Melbourne and then Sydney before returning to Perth and finally making my way to Brisbane where I already had my flight home booked. So, as planned I headed to Melbourne and I encountered what is possibly my favourite city in the world. Before arriving, everyone said to me that I would enjoy Melbourne but nobody could tell me why, it was only when I experienced it for myself that I fully understood. There is something for everyone to do, there is a great sports venues, great theatre and artistic places, shopping districts, rooftop bars, you name it and I can almost guarantee you will be able to do it in Melbourne. I also went on a day trip along the Great Ocean Road where I met a number of very nice people including a Mother and Daughter combination who were far more accommodating to me than I thought possible. Julie and Sarah kept me company on the trip and kept me laughing all day and by the end of it I had made two very good friends. From Melbourne I travelled to Sydney for another brilliant stay in a wonderful city. Sydney held possibly my favourite spot; looking out over the the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge I sat on a bench near Mrs Macquarie's point and had the freedom to write to my heart's content and that is what I did most days.
As per my new plan I headed back to Perth where I was supposed to stay for a couple of weeks before heading to Brisbane to be reunited with Julie and Sarah who offered to be my hosts for the final week of my trip. Once back in Perth, however, things changed slightly as Jon needed my help and so I did what anybody would do and I stayed on for an extra week doing anything and everything possible to help my new friend out. This did mean I wasn't able to see Brisbane for as long but I still had an enjoyable and most welcome time once I eventually made it across the country. I was really made to feel like one of the family once I entered the home of the Gilfoyles and for that I am extremely grateful and very proud. Although I must say this, before I left Perth I managed to get in contact with the girl who served the breakfast at the hardware store during my last stay in the city. Things progressed from a one sided conversation over the breakfast fryer to an actual face to face conversation. Although it has to be said that what we talked about wouldn't make it into the record books as being that momentous. I was still firmly under the assumption she was talking to me out of politeness and a duty to work. I thought things might change when she was invited to spend some time with Jon, Charlie, Lilly and I outside of work for a bit but this thought was firmly squashed when after about twenty minutes she had to leave. I said that I might be back in Perth again the following year and we agreed to stay in contact but after travelling for over 6 months I knew that was the plan with everyone but eventually, with most people, the contact ends. So I set off for my final destination of Brisbane and had an excellent couple of days that gave me a lot of opportunity to reflect on my trip as a whole and it left me smiling.
From Brisbane I headed home, I left Brisbane International Airport at 00:50 in the morning on Christmas Eve. My planned route took me to Hong Kong for a brief stop over before I boarded my final flight for home at 9:40 local time in Hong Kong. I couldn't really describe my emotions, I was relieved I was heading home but there was also a sadness that my trip was finally at an end. I remember landing at Hong Kong and there was a door open on the gangway back to the terminal and I felt a crisp coldness that told me I was back in the Northern Hemisphere for a cold Christmas. I wasn't waiting at the airport for long and soon I was on my final flight knowing that the next time I left the plane I would be back in England again. Sure enough the plane landed safely and at about 14:15 on Christmas Eve I was collecting my bag at London Heathrow. From there it was just a matter of getting the train home which I did with the help of Reuban Cadman who gave me a car ride home from the station. I can't remember what the first thing I did when I got home was but I remember it being dark. My family were out singing at the local church carol concert, just as I had planned they would be. Very few people knew about my return and even fewer people in my family knew. First my Nan arrived back and then my Dad and both were suitably shocked, surprised and delighted to see me. It was a fantastic feeling. That night I slept in my own bed for the first time in six months and it felt so good! The next morning I helped Mum to get things set up and ready for Christmas lunch before it was time for more surprises as my Grandad came over and then the person I was wanting to surprise more than anyone; my sister. It is fair to say Suze loves Christmas more than any other holiday and she hates to spend it apart so I knew the one thing I wanted to get her for Christmas was a massive surprise. Sure enough she came into the kitchen as I was hidden around the corner and to say she was lost for words was an understatement. It was the perfect way to end what had been a fairly perfect trip.
If I thought the final 6 months of 2014 would be life changing I had absolutely no idea that the first 6 months of 2015 would dwarf the changes in comparision. One of the reasons for this is because of one of the people I met on the trip; Kirsten Mofflin. Kirst was the girl who had served me breakfast whilst I was in Perth and the girl I was too nervous to properly talk to. The only thing we really managed to do was exchange Facebook information. From the day we were able to communicate electronically, that is exactly what we did, everyday, as much as the time difference would allow. We had and still do have a connection that I can't fully explain and it is one that led her to make the decision to fly over to England so that we could experience the connection in person, rather than just through the internet. She flew over to England at the start of February and by the end of the February we found out that the connection was going to be everlasting one. Kirst was pregnant!
After we found out the joyous news Kirst made arrangements to head back to Australia to get things ready for the birth and I decided to stay on in England to earn as much money as possible...a decision that is great on paper but extremely difficult when put into action. Having said that though, we have got through it, there is just over a month before I fly out to Perth to meet up with Kirst and Little Baby T, who is going to be a girl, and we are going to set up our own little family together. It has been a whirlwind few months and I've seen more than a few eyebrows raised when they hear about the circumstances but I have no fears that we will be perfectly happy together and everything will work out just as we want it to. I am a strong believer that some things are just meant to be and that everything happens for a reason. I may not always be able to explain the reasons but I do know that you might as well just live in the moment, look to the future and enjoy the ride.
