Asia

*This Vietnam e-visa post is a collaboration. Vietnam remains one of my favourite countries I have travelled and it is a place I would recommend anyone visit if they want a taste of authentic Asia. It's rough around the edges in

Bangkok is one of the most popular destinations in the world. There are plenty of things to see — from beautifully serene temples to the colourful hustle and bustle of the city. While the city can be touristy with all

It's been over four years since I first visited this amazing island, but Koh Lanta still remains my favourite part of Thailand. This amazing place stole my heart at the beginning of my solo travels and just a few weeks

*This travelling memories post is a collaboration with El Camino Bracelets, but as usual, all views are my own Travel is never about how long you spend in a place, rather how much you let it change you. When I left

This long winter has had me dreaming of beaches for months on end and I know I'm not the only one. I'm excited to be heading back to Asia on holiday soon, so it seemed a perfect time to start

It's amazing how time flies, it feels like just yesterday I was exploring the Cultural Triangle Sri Lanka. It's been nine months since I visited one of my favourite and most eye-opening countries to date. I'm still dreaming of this

One of my favourite countries I've visited, Sri Lanka has some incredibly unique luxury hotels. These are perfect for resting your weary head after a busy day's adventuring. From the cities to the beaches, to the jungle, there's a hotel

Okay it's official, all the snow and grey skies is making me lose the plot. I actually can't deal with what has easily been the longest and coldest winter of my life. So to stop myself from packing a bag

Sri Lanka had one of the most diverse landscapes I've been lucky enough to travel, as the days went by we would flit between beaches, mountains and wild jungle. It's fantastic because it means you really can travel there at

There are endless stunning beaches just waiting to be explored in Sri Lanka, but unlike many other parts of Asia they remain untouched and uncrowded with a certain charm I have yet to find elsewhere. From the blissful south east where

After spending a month exploring the wild landscape of Sri Lanka, we were keen to relax and spend the next two weeks on the beach soaking up every last bit of sun before heading back to a European winter. It

Two things that are always very important to me when planning a trip, is keeping my trips both as budget-friendly and eco-friendly as possible. I'll always be a backpacker at heart and while, of course, it's nice to treat yourself

Imagine sitting at the edge of Sri Lanka's wildest jungle surrounded by fireflies, and with elephants and wild leopards just beyond the fence, as you tantalise your tastebuds with a five-course feast by candlelight. It sounds magical doesn't it? Basically the

Since I was a little girl I was always captivated by the idea of riding in a hot air balloon high above some beautiful country – gazing down across animals grazing on the Serengeti, or the strange buildings of Cappadocia.

When you think of Indonesia, as a travel destination, most people think of Bali, to the point that few travellers venture out of the Bali, Lombok and Gili Islands region - yet there’s so much more to squeeze out of

I'm really excited to be sharing this post with you guys today, because not only was it a real highlight of my Sri Lanka trip, but it was also what sparked the inspiration behind the trip. Although Sri Lanka has

One thing I really loved about Sri Lanka was that it wasn’t just beaches and cities, there was a whole other side to the country, a wild, rugged jungle waiting to be explored. With plans to explore not one, but

Back in the UK now, I'm loving pouring back over photos and memories of my time in Sri Lanka as I write up post after post about my experiences there. I always enjoy reliving every moment so much when I

My first trip to Sri Lanka has brought with it some very exciting blogging opportunities, and the first of these was a really luxurious treat and welcome to this amazing country. I was invited to be the first blogger to

Layovers can be an annoying hold-up in your trip, or they can be a fantastic way to see a new city without committing to a whole trip to a new country. There are some places in the world that, although

For many years, Sri Lanka has been high up on my bucket list. After experiencing the beauty and culture of Mauritius - where my father is from - at a young age, I was eager to venture to other places

I will always be a backpacker at heart, but even I cannot deny the dream of luxury travel. While I love the simplicity and the freedom of carrying my life on my back and being able to change my plans

It's taken a while to get to my final Bali post but here we are, and what better to write about than my time spent in the incredible jungle haven where Julia Roberts famously found love again in Eat Pray

I can't actually believe how much time has passed since I was in Bali living it up with one of my best friends, with the serious lack of Melbourne sunshine I'm wishing more and more that I was back there!

From lush tropical jungles to endless white sandy beaches with huge crashing waves, Bali has been described as paradise many a time and after just days on the island it was easy to see why so many expats have made

Now that the new year is well and truly underway, it's about time I gave you a little life update. This blog has been a little infrequent the last few months and I know that means many of you actually

There's no doubt about it, 2016 has been a pretty incredible year for me. I've had some soaring highs and felt pretty low at times, but I've also had the chance to experience some thing I never could have dreamed

When I travelled to Bali last month, I only planned to stay for a week but I fell in love with the Indonesian culture and the incredible landscape. A month later I only left because of my visa but I

Okay so my travels kind of ran away with me and writing has taken a bit of a back seat lately. The last six weeks since I left home have given me endless reams of adventures to share with you all,

It's official - tomorrow is the day, the day when I get to start living my dreams again. This last week has been the slowest of all time, I've been clock-watching and calendar-counting, just hoping the days would pass by

My life has always been about adventures. Call me cup-half-full but I like to view the world around me as a series of exciting opportunities that I just can't wait to seize with both hands. Looking back, adventures have come

I used to love packing for a holiday - the time spent planning my wardrobe, the purchasing of sun lotion and beach towels. Those final moments trying to make everything fit and realising there's just no way you'll squeeze in

Travelling through Vietnam was one of the most exhausting stints of backpacking I have done, but one of the most rewarding. It's an incredibly beautiful country with such a rich history, but I seriously underestimated how huge the country is

For months on end you slog your guts out working crummy jobs to save as much money as possible. You while away the hours stacking shelves or getting groped as you pull pints in some bar, always thinking of the

Let's be honest, not everyone goes to Thailand for the amazing culture and food, not everyone is interested in visiting temples and markets – there are a lot of people who go there just to party. Now while this wasn't my main

Every traveler is different - some are happier laying on a beach and relaxing through their summer holidays and others just aren't happy unless they've got adrenaline coursing through their veins. I like to think I'm a healthy mix of both,

The world of travelling has changed immensely in the last twenty years - not only has tourism completely changed the cultural experience we have in certain parts of the world, but we are simultaneously more connected and yet further separated

I may have been living on a budget since arriving in Australia, but travelling through Asia, there was something I never scrimped on. Even when we've given up all our worldly possessions in favour of a super-saver life on the

City breaks can be a great way to escape everyday life for a while without breaking the bank and without sacrificing too much of that precious time off work. Not all of us are as lucky to travel full time,

Wow, I can't believe 2015 is finally at an end. It's been a hell of a year and I still can't quite believe I didn't dream some of it. It's safe to say, this has been the best year of

I love Australia. I love it far more than I ever expected to. When I planned to come here, it was mainly because I knew I could work and save a lot of money on my way to New Zealand.

Packing is one of the hardest parts of preparing to go travelling. In your mind you dream of gallivanting on a beach with your slender, tanned frame draped in gorgeous, floaty fabrics looking like something out of an advert for

I had a pretty intense chat with a friend recently, he was going through a bit of a tough time and had lost his travelling way for a little while. It happens to us all when we get settled in

Sometimes horrible things happen and we just don't know why. It's a common part of everyday life and one we deal with on a daily basis - whether it's someone we love getting sick or injured, someone getting screwed over

By now, any of you who are following me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook will know that I have been living it up in Australia since the end of May. I've had so many posts to share with you that

I've been waiting a while to share this list with you guys, and I can't wait to tell you about my favourite hostels. I've now finished my Asian adventure, at least for now, and during my six months I stayed

There are some travelling sights that you spend months imagining, planning and waiting for. Cambodia was a place I had waited so long to experience, see and feel - now we've established it was a bit of a disappointment, but

I'm so excited to share this post with you guys, and I warn you in advance its going to be a long one, because it's all about one of the most amazing places I have ever been - a place

Now many of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram will already know what happened to me while travelling from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap, but for those who don't, it wasn't pretty. I was in yet another crash

When I planned my trip around South East Asia, I spoke to a lot of friends, colleagues, and random strangers who had all travelled there previously - they turned out to be a wealth of information about where to go,

After a crazy month of travelling and partying full throttle across Laos and Vietnam, and after an emotionally draining couple of days in Phnom Penh, my body was crying out for a break. So after doing a bit of research,

It's taken me a long time to get round to writing this post and I'm not sure that even almost two months later I'm actually going to have the words to really do it justice, but I'll give it a

To say I didn't have the greatest time in Cambodia would be an understatement, it was one of the worst countries I have ever travelled to and much of my time there was spent feeling unsafe and really vulnerable. Now

After days of stuffing my face with Hoi An's delicious food, me and the boys decided to catch a sleeper bus to Da Lat and to get physical. Da Lat is the place to go in Vietnam if you fancy

I was really excited to arrive in Hoi An - all through Thailand and Laos I kept meeting people who had loved it there, who raved about the food, the shopping and were often wearing fabulous clothes they had made

I made a bit of a silly mistake. Well, it wasn't too silly, basically I got a bit too carried away having fun in Laos and kind of forgot the dates on my visa for Vietnam. By the time I realised,

About to take your first sleeper bus across Asia? Well this post is for you - before I went on my first one I had no idea what to expect and although my experience went horribly wrong, there are plenty

To say I didn't have the best first experience of Vietnam would be an understatement. It was a sad goodbye I said to my friends as I waved them off in their bus from Laos to Chiang Mai for Songkran

When you first pack your bags and head off into the big wide world on your travels, it's a pretty exciting time. It's been a long time coming and you've lost count of how many times you fantasised about being

On the face of it, tubing sounds like one of the most rubbishy, touristy things you can do - something for the uncultured among us travellers. You couldn't be more wrong, it's a rite of passage for backpackers, something you

Dropped off at the side of a dusty road in Vang Vieng after the most traumatic journey through winding, mountainous roads, I won't lie and say my first thought wasn't "oh God this place is a hole." It looked like

It's been a while since I had the opportunity to indulge my inner mermaid, so when we heard about the huge waterfalls in Luang Prabang, we simply had to make sure we went there. Now I have to clarify that

Laos proved to be a country with two very different sides to it - the drunken, touristy side you may have already heard about where we aren't exactly welcomed with open arms by the locals. And the pure beauty of

Since travelling across Asia I've been on my fair share of buses, trains, motorbikes, tuk tuks and ferries - but one of my favourite methods of transport so far had to be the slow boat from Thailand to Laos. It

When I booked my trip and started reading up on Thailand and all the places I wanted to go, Pai was a name that came up again and again. I remember saying to friends after just reading up that Pai

Before discovering my love of journalism and writing could actually lead to a career, I had planned to become a teacher. An English teacher to be precise. When I went to university to study English literature with language and communication,

I'm so happy to hear how much you guys have been enjoying my elephant-themed posts this week - it's been such a highlight of my trip to become a part of the work at Elephant Nature Park and I'm glad

Since volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, it has become a regular topic of conversation with friends, family, fellow travellers and complete strangers. Everyone seems to have elephants on the brain and its little wonder why,

My travels have been made up of several incredible, life changing experiences so far, but there is one that has stood out more than any other. The very second I booked my week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park, almost

A final part of my journey as booked by the Thai Tourism Agency was a hill tribe trekking experience in Chiang Mai - something I was looking forward to after a few weeks of cycling and walking, it felt good

After spending a few days exploring Ayutthaya, I was ready to move on and see how Sukhothai compared in grandeur. I wasn't disappointed, it had its own beauty that separated sightseers from the main roads and invited then into a

This post will take a little break from sightseeing for something a bit more spiritual I found along my travels. Ahead of Friday's post on my time in Sukhothai, this one will focus on one very small part of my

 Growing up, I loved the Indiana Jones movies and the Jurassic Park trilogy - I can't imagine there are many people my age who didn't do exactly the same. So I feel really lucky to have been able to explore

Millions and millions of backpackers move through Thailand each year, probably more, all looking for golden sands, cultural experiences, outdoor activities and more. Thailand is a huge centre for us all to forge connections, friendships and to chase that elusive

A couple of weeks ago, I returned to Bangkok with a friend just days before she was due to fly home. Now I'll happily admit that although I liked Bangkok when I first arrived, it was pretty overwhelming and after

I can't actually believe I'm writing a post about this hell-hole. My friend Lily and I travelled up from Koh Tao and decided to break up the journey to Bangkok by stopping off in Hua Hin, which we had read

After nearly a week of hard partying on Koh Phanang, it was time to explore further and we'd all heard amazing things about Koh Tao. Koh Tao is kind of like Koh Phanang was around 5-10 years ago, it's the

This is probably going to be one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write, not because of some deep emotional turmoil, but because Koh Phanang holds some of the best travelling memories for me so far. How are

I woke up with a jolt as an alarm went off in the lake hut next door, had I really even been asleep? It felt like just minutes ago the French guy I'd ended up sharing a hut with had

One of my favourite experiences in Thailand so far has definitely been my time spent in a 160 million year old rainforest slap bang in the centre of the country. When my Lonely Planet and a few websites all described

Phuket Town really started to feel like home for me. Why? Why this place in particular? Out of all those beautiful tropical islands? Well it's because this is the first place, and the first time in nearly a month that

I hate goodbyes. I'm writing this just after saying goodbye to two people who have been a huge part of my travels, one in particular has become like a sister to me despite just spending a few weeks together. When travelling,

 Okay so you remember that time I wrote about smear tests? This is going to be a little bit like that

My final post on my time in Phuket is one about a particularly amazing experience that I was lucky to survive. I decided one evening to wake up early the next morning and hike up to the highest point of

One of the main things I absolutely adore about travelling is all those completely unexpected and unplanned experiences that you stumble across on your journey. For someone who was little miss organised at home, it's a refreshing change from life

After a few days in Krabi, I started getting itchy feet and was keen to explore somewhere new - Phuket was close by and happened to have an Emirates office, which I needed to reorganise my flights so the decision

It was a hot and sweaty climb down the steep steps with my bag, followed by a breezy longtail boat ride from Railey before I reached Krabi town. I couldn't wait to dump my bags at the hostel and to

There are plenty out there who think backpacking, when it really comes down to it, is pretty much just spending months on end lazing on a beach, tanning and partying as soon as the sun goes down. I won't lie,

After Koh Phi Phi, I was exhausted and desperate for a break and a chance to relax on a beach soaking up some sun. I'm not as young as I used to be and four big nights in a row,

When we arrived back, we were starving after the rubbish food on the boat so we headed straight for food. We decided to try out some crocodile skewers, which, I hate to say it, but tasted so much like chicken

Okay so to say my expectations for Koh Phi Phi were low was a serious understatement. I really couldn't bare to leave Koh Lanta and to say goodbye to all my friends. Everything I had heard about Phi Phi put

After a day on the road, in the air and on the open sea, I finally arrived in Koh Lanta where I was to meet up with some friends for a few days of birthday celebrations. The ferry over gave

Research everything - especially prices. You can save yourself a lot of money by checking how much a taxi from the airport should be to where you are staying - they will always bump up fares according to whether you

After around 24 hours of flying, driving and waiting to travel, I was so pleased to finally arrive in Bangkok - desperate to get to my hotel for food and a shower. It was early evening when I arrived and