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Published: February 4th 2011
And so my first big adventure has come to an end... In the past four months I have been to 12 countries. I have crossed boarders by boat, car, plane, bus and on foot. I've had my feet in oceans, seas, and rivers, made sand angels and rolled down sand dunes like a kid rolling down a grassy hill. I fed squirrels, birds, and stray cats. I spent Halloween in a market, Thanksgiving in a burger joint, Christmas camping in the desert, and new years in a cold fluorescent lit room where drinking was not allowed. I have jumped off a bridge twice, gone camping in the winter in Scotland, swimming in my undies, covered myself in mud, stayed up all night, drove on the opposite side of the road in the opposite side of the car, and on safari. I've seen fist fights, tons of animals, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world(Victoria Falls), movies, family, friends, beautiful views, and countless numbers of historical sites/monuments/fountains/etc. I've seen 2 of the New 7 wonders of the world(Petra & Coliseum) and the only Ancient world wonder that still stands today, Giza. I've been to a lychee festival,
smoked shisha, ridden street rides, gotten lost, and been smacked in the face by a pigeon flying by. I went 4 wheeling in sand dunes, to new countries with no plans and no reservations, wondered ancient cities and newer ones, I sang karaoke, danced the night away, and made a wish in a fountain. I slept on boats, ferries, in taxi's, vans, busses, planes, trains and out on the sand.
I have been strip searched, injured, sick, jet lagged, sleep deprived, happy, cold, excited, in pain, drunk, and completely in love with life! I've eaten strange things, delicious things, spicy things and sweet things, drank local beer in every country, and more bottled water than I care to think about. I've walked in the footsteps of history, drank out of a glass made of ice, danced around a fire to traditional Bedouin music, raced go carts, and hiked till my muscles and feet screamed in pain and begged me to go no further. I’ve pushed myself past my boundaries, overcome fears, stepped out of my comfort zone, made new friends, and discovered who I am and what I am capable of. For the past four months I
have been lucky to consider myself a traveler, a backpacker! I have carried and lived out of a 16kilo backpack and loved every moment of it!
I want to thank everyone for following me on my journey. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my blogs! I would love to hear any of your thoughts/criticisms/comments about my writing that you have. I have rediscovered my love for writing and am thinking about turning it into a career so any of your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!
I have had many people asking me lots of questions about possibly doing trips of their own so I put together a list of some things that could be helpful for them. I have also decided to add My favorite photos from the trip and a few of my favorite moments in each place!
SCOTLAND - Favorite things; Spending time with and getting to know my cousin Jean again, jumping on that trampoline thing, going camping and making new friends
LONDDON - Favorite things; Big Ben & Tower Bridge, walking around town and riding the trains, sitting on the top and in the front of a double
decker bus, The Clink Prison Museum, Abby Road, Stonehenge, watching movies with Alex's mom, Primark, hanging out with Alex's grandma(and basically all around just getting to know her family), taking pictures on an empty train, riding the street rides, and getting hit in the face by a pigeon! hahaha
SOUTH AFRICA - Favorite things; Seeing my family, going on safari, ThunderGun pepper burger, hanging out with Brent and Leigh, well pretty much all of it I love South Africa cause my family is there and it is a beautiful country
BOTSWANA - Favorite things; Driving down the wide open road with Nothing for miles and miles, Seeing Elephants along the road, our stay at Elephant Sand Lodge ~ all the bugs making it an unforgettable and very funny night
ZIMBABWE - Favorite things; Our first night at Shoestring Backpacker spent dancing, drinking and partying with the locals!, Walking and having lunch at Victoria Falls, Talking with and getting to know the locals their views on life, religion, politics, and learning about how they live and survive and things that have happened in their past, finding once again my passion for wanting to help the people of Africa
ZAMBIA Favorite thing; Bungee Jumping!!! (since it is the only thing we got to do on our day trip over there! haha But also because IT WAS AWESOME!)
EGYPT Favorite things; Camping in the White Desert, the day spent at Giza, spending 2 days on a Felucca, and just the general chaos that drove me crazy, made me laugh, disappointed and annoyed at the time but I can now look back on and just laugh!
JORDAN - Favorite things; Petra, the little ally way restaurant we found in Amman, fresh squeezed orange and carrot juice, and the candy man
ISRAEL - Favorite things; Wondering around the Old City, Frozen yogurt, having a hot shower, Covering ourselves in mud and floating in the Dead Sea
GREECE - Favorite things; EVERYTHING!!!! hahaha ok that’s not fair I’ll try pick just a few.... The food, the graffiti all over Athens, chewy coconut sticks, hiking and swimming in the cove on Kea, our little room above the hardware store, the Acropolis
ROME Favorite things; the food and wine and ice cream and... I’m suddenly hungry hahaha, the Trevi Fountain, the cobble streets, the fog that sets in the
evenings, the peoples love for their city and their history, and Alex's family that we got to eat, shop and spend time with
MOROCCO - Favorite things; Our little bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town surrounded by orange trees and bright flowers, all the beautiful lamps, the traditional cinnamon chicken dinner we had
MY ADVICE FOR PACKING The less the better
don’t pack anything you are not willing to loose and/or destroy
a small sleeping bag & compressible pillow
Chewable Imodium
Hand sanitizer
Band-Aids and Anti-biotic ointment
Really good walking/hiking shoes
Small computer(if you want to keep a blog or book flights/hotels/etc. on the go/last minute otherwise you don’t really need it)
1 just in case supply of Antibiotic for if you get really sick
Malaria meds if needed for where you’re going(get before you go for sure!)
Clothing requirements will depend on where you’re going but remember the less the better!!!!!
A Pen
Any required medication(like for me was an Inhaler and make sure you have the prescription with you too)
OTHER GENERAL ADVICE -Don't worry
about forgetting too much packing wise, most places you can get what you need along the way
-Have a basic plan, know where you want to go and what you want to see and maybe a general timeline but I think overall it is better to not have an actual Plan Plan because plans change especially when you hit the 3rd world countries, things don’t always work out so it’s usually easier to go with the flow plus then if you don’t like a place or see everything early you can move on and if you love a place you can stay longer!
-Make sure the places you are going do not require visa's prior to arrival (none of ours did and getting them at the boarder was for the most part easy but some places you do have to have them before you arrive at their country)
-Check for any Required vaccinations
-ATM's were everywhere, it is better to carry a card or two that you can pull money off of rather than carrying a bunch of cash around (Capitol One was great for me because they do not charge a service fee for using
non-bank ATM's and they did not charge me a currency conversion fee either)
*Step outside of your comfort zone, do what you usually wouldn't do, find the joy in every moment(even the shitty ones) Alright I think that is all for me now 😊 If you have any more questions I’d love to help email me, call me, whatever works! And THANK YOU again for reading about my journey!!!
Love Vanessa
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Tom
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Writing
Coming from a family of "writers" as I do, the only words of advice I have are those which was passed to me. It's only four words, but they are the only four words that a young aspiring writer needs to hear. "Go back to school." I never did heed those words and have lived to regret it. I've loved reading your blogs and they have helped to ease an otherwise dreary winter. Take care of yourself Nessa, and stay in touch. tg