Coming Home

I think the hardest part about travelling is coming home. You miss it when you are travelling and want to hug the people who love you and support you. But for me it has really been the hardest part, its the realisation that while so many things about me have changed and while my appearance hasn’t really changed I know for certain that my mind has been altered by the people I’ve met and the places I have visited and although you know that your different not many others can appreciate it and treat you like you have changed. After the initial excitement of coming home and being the new thing around, suddenly normal life takes over. You mentally have to swing your mind back around to think about jobs, university, and relationships. Your brain is split it two, thinking that nothing has changed at home and then trying to input your changed self into a familiar yet strange place.

 It was the same when I came back from Atlantic College, but the difference was that I could call Cat or Ciara and realise that though we finished school we are still all there for each other and the understood how much I had changed in the two years I was away. Now coming back from travelling, while away people are only in your life for a fleeting few days sometimes even a week but then they are gone to continue travelling or go home. And yes I have kept in touch with a lot of people I’ve met and it is a relief to know you can text them or call them when you feel at loss. But then because you are at home, you start to question the relationships you had out travelling, where they false friendships? Do they really know me?  But I think for me the answer is yes they are real friendships and yes they know me. They know me without the rest of the past events of my life that follow me around at home. They just know me; they know me as the person I presented and that is such a freeing feeling and one that I really miss. Here I am the odd person. The one who runs away. 

And frankly I am tired of being put into a box, and I guess when you get home the hardest part is to fully embrace yourself, the changed self not just sit back into your old husk and be safe. What gives the people you know the right to treat you as though nothing is different, if you are different then just put a mirrored box over your head and reflect all the assumptions that you will be exactly the same.

Coming home is the hardest thing. But instead of bashing your head against the wall, I’ve realised I must embrace it, the people around me and myself. Let myself be changed.

Cartagena

I arrived off the plane hungover and exhausted from the previous night of partying with Rishi and Nelson. I don't regret the decision to stay up drinking and partying till my flight at the moment but I totally regretted it while lying in the heat waiting till my bed was unoccupied. But let's not dwell on hangover moments, Cartagena was absolutely stunning. 

After napping for a few hours I met my co-year from AC who happened to be in Colombia at the same time. We ate a yummy lunch of arepas rellenas (filled corn patties with whatever goodness you want that day) and delicious fresh juice which was the perfect lunch for a hot sticky day. It was lovely to catch up with Tania during lunch and wandering around the old town. The old town is absolutely beautiful, the architecture is a combination between crumbling fishing village and Italian villa. And the flowers climb the verandas giving the sense that a giant octopus has wrapped it's leafy tentacles around the multi coloured buildings. After losing about half our body weight through sweating we decided to head back to the hostel and say our goodbyes. Quick dinner with my lovely Danish roommate, yummy crepes this time :) and then an early night ready for a full beach day the next day.

The beach (Playa Blanca) was beautiful, crop out the venders and the sunburn and the day would have been staged in a movie. Actually the vendors were a bit of a joke there were so many of them but Cartagena the city is surrounded by meters if not miles of slums from the surrounding area, all of the inhabitants trying to save as much as possible while living in the slums, and the beach goers definitely gave them business. Katherine (my danish roommate and friend) and I watched this lovely british guy get totally sucked into the ridiculous deals that were people handed willy nilly along the beach. We eventually rescued him from a crowd of sellers as he kept saying "Hola" instead of "No gracias." which had us laughing but he was utterly confused.

After chatting for a while we decided to head back on the late bus (well we kinda had to unless we wanted to stay overnight and with the mosquitos around even at the hostel back in cartagena I wasn't keen). We bounced along the dusty road back to our hostel, invited the british guy for drinks and then a lovely american photographer who was helping/working with Spencer Tunick (Check out Spencer Tunick Bogota) to do a arranged naked photoshoot with about 8,000 people in Bogota the day after I left. And let me tell you...Bogota is not like Cartagena. Its really cold even in summer, so 8,000 people got up in the really cold early hours of the morning and where placed around the main square in Bogota in order to just be. Nude and human. 

Back to Cartagena, we had a lovely night drinking with people from the Hostel. Stewart the lovely scottish/australian guy who helped us by giving us some of his aloe vera as we both looked very much like over cooked lobsters, joined us in the evening for drinking as well as the guys from the beach and a guy I knew from Medellin. All lovely people, but as I was so sunburnt I decided to just have a quiet night.
(New town on the right, old town on the left)

The next day followed our quiet night and we just chilled as it was both our last nights. Met to absolutely lovely English girls who I chilled with for the next day and totally clicked with them and I hope to see them again. After seeing a failed sunset, I had the most delicious and expensive meal Ive had in Colombia, but it was so good it was worth it. And the company, Stewart and Katherine, was excellent. More drinking (as it was my last night) but ended up just chatting to Alex who was the guy from Medellin, we talked about random stuff and it was super lovely and hopefully we will meet again as he to lives in the UK. 

 (My nest Burlesque act for sure!!)

My last day in Cartagena wizzed by and I wandered around taking last minute photos of the beautiful, timeless, colourful buildings. Covered by vines and though provoking graffiti. Some from the same artist that I had learned about in Bogota.  

(So adorable)

Off to Bogota, lovely last night in Hostel Sue who treat me like family. And then onto UK. 

Besos
xx

Budget travelling

Note to self and fellow travellers....never travel with only one card. Luckily I don't have much time left in my trip as my card is now cancelled and now I must rely on emergency money and money I have lent from a friend who was also travelling in Buenos Aires. It is surprising how limited you become especially in a place like Cartagena where prices are first world. But on the other hand there is suddenly so many things that open up as you try to look through and find odd activities to do that don't cost an arm or a leg. It's been pretty eye opening because as a traveller I relied heavily on my card and being able to take money out and when that ability is taken away from you it really leaves you feeling stuck as now there is no back up or security in having the card. But it is also incredibly freeing as what you have is all you have so you are more careful and appreciate everything.

Human kindness is also so prominent in travellers because everyone has been in some situation with money, passport or valuables. 

Just thinking out loud :) 

Buenos Aires

How to begin to describe a place that has been home for the last month? Maybe a recipe?

Ok here we go :p

A month in Buenos Aires, a recipe:

1/2 cup of fear and trepidation to be living on my own in an adorable flat in the centre of town

1/3 cup of loneliness that lead to acceptance and love for myself

1 tsp of tears of sadness and happiness

Once you have the above ingredients add beautiful architecture, thousands of cafes, theatres and bookstores. After these are included add:

4 cups of walking around the city getting lost and finding treasured squares, harbours and little cobbled streets. 

2 cups of submarino (which is hot milk with a submarine like chocolate bar placed in the milk to sink and melt into it). 

2.5 cups of exploring San Telmos twisted streets and sitting in old wooden cafes reading or writing and watching the people pass by and wondering what each of their stories were, where were they going? Why were they rushing? 

5 cups of love, they say that Italy is the country of love. But I disagree, Buenos Aires has so much love. Couples kissing on corners and friends long lasting hugs were dotted everywhere in the city. The way that people greet is a hug and a kiss on the cheek, with complete strangers you greet each other like that. So love is passed around from greeting. (The only downfall of that greeting is that if you hug someone who is ill the sickness definitely passes around quickly). Being alone in such a big city is terrifying but the acceptance and welcoming people allowed me to overcome to overwhelming the big city blues. 

Once you add all of these ingredients together you will smell the delicious smell of Autumn with a hint of winter in the breeze. The cake will have the colours of red and orange and be dusted with warm sunshine and green green grass. Set the cake to cool near the beautiful delta which with its cold water currents creates the perfect sunny winter day next to the sea side. 

Leave to cool for an hour before you ice it so it has time to reflect and think about how far it has travelled and how much it can truly believe in itself and love itself fully. 

With the icing, it is very simple, you just add a bucket full of tango, tango music, friends and alfajores. Friends from home, friends from January, friends from travels and new friends, all blended together to overflow the cake with happy emotions, love, laughter and promises to see each other again soon. Tango filled my days and my ears filled with the most beautiful notes. I started tango thinking it was a dance but woah was I wrong. With the steps and spins came more emotions than I could possibly predict.  I never thought I could open up so quickly to a stranger and trust him with leading me in a very complex and powerful dance. Just truly amazing, proud of myself and one of the things I will miss most about Buenos Aires. Now I hear tango music and I feel the steps within the notes and can hear the pauses, the breathing and the heartbeats within the moving magical music. Now, on top of all of that sprinkle crushed up alfajores the chocolatey cakey goodness :) even though these delicious cake things exist elsewhere in South America they really aren't as good as the ones you get in Argentina.

Once icing is mixed up spread over the cake and let it sit in the airport for a while, feeling oddly in limbo between wanting to go back to Colombia and staying here in the city that has become my home in the past month. I am truly going to miss it and i will come back one day.

So as my flight is called out I think back on all the little moments that made Buenos Aires so amazing and I promise myself to come back and tango once again along the narrow cobbled streets and below the high ceilings of old tango clubs.

Ciao Buenos Aires. 

I will miss you. 

One last step :) eat the cake and remember all the good memories that come with the taste of experience. 

(Not sure if Buenos Aires or I was the cake.... But I'll leave that up to your interpretation) 

Besitos

Xx

Uni gap year summary

I was recently told by my university to send a summary of my gap year so I wrote a short version of what's happened in the past 6 months and I thought I would share it here as well.

Xx

Gap year:

Finishing Atlantic College was difficult. Two years being free to be whoever you wanted without the world yelling from every corner that it's weird or odd to be free, but to me that's exactly what AC felt like, a secluded area to be myself. So leaving was terrifying but I was ready. 

I started my gap year working at a pub and dancing. Living in London is amazing, so many things to do at all hours of the night and day. The pub was a lively place to be most day's although the I've got to say by the 4th month there I was very happy to be leaving, not in a negative one just simply that I was itching to travel and see the world. Dance kept me busy and I become so much more confident in myself through doing burlesque, that I think without it my travels would have been very different. 

The journey begins. I flew to Ushuaia (very bottom of Argentina) to begin my journey and saw the most incredibly landscapes, mountains and glaciers adorned my ever view. My path varied from mountains, to jungle to beaches to desert. To explain every story, hiccup in the road and grand adventure would take many hours and I can't simply begin to explain how amazing travelling around South America has been. From the bottom of Argentina I went north to Buenos Aires, across to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and then looped back to Bolivia and now I am in Buenos Aires. 

When I think back on my last 6 months I think of the people. My memories are absolutely filled with amazing people, fellow travellers and South Americans alike. For me that's what travel is, the people. 

The areas, landscapes and cultures are so important and I feel so privileged to have seen Machu Pichu, Patagonia and the Salt Flats in Bolivia, but it's the people who have made a lasting mark on my being. People who will hopefully be part of my life for a very long time and people who I know I can count on and for me that is so incredibly special. 

So to finish off, the best combination is to see incredible things with people who mean a lot to you, which happens often as you connect quickly to people on the road.

Travellers are a different breed of people, to go so long without being home, living out of backpack for months and bouncing around hostels takes a lot of courage and strength. 

Travelling has changed me but it has also welcomed me, because I know wherever I go in the world if I'm travelling there will be travellers also. 

The world and the people in it are a lot kinder than one thinks. We are a lot more similar than we are different. Travelling to me is freedom. 

Sucre and Santa Cruz

This will be post as I spent very little time in both places, although I wish I could have spent longer I Sucre because it was truly a gorgeous a idilic city in Bolivia. The people so friendly and the terracotta roofs and white city walls reminding me a more European city than South American. I had the best breakfast and wandered up to the view point which was a spectacular view of the city. And finally I spent a bit of time picking up bits and pieces for my family and friends back home, which is alŵays fun as you imagine all these woolly creatures back in London :) and Wales :)! 

 

Looks strangely middle eastern/Spanish. 

Sunset from bumpiest bus from Sucre to Santa Cruz. 

That bus ride. Was hell. I have been on loads of buses throughout my time in South America, yet this one was the worst. Maybe I should have listened to every guide book/website suggesting a $35 flight rather than a $11 bus that took the bumpiest road because they hadn't ever paved it as the whole road was on a cliff age. So not only was it bumpy but I was terrified continuously that we were going to fall of the edge. But thankfully I made it to Santa Cruz, had a bit of difficulty with bank machines and finally just chilled in a hostel till midnight. But a quick story of human kindness. I was completely out of money and needed to get to the centre, so I was going to walk there. 5 minutes into my walk I come to a junction and I don't know what road to take, so I stop and ask a stranger tending a garden how to get to the centre. He asked me if I was walking and so I told him I was because I couldn't afford to get in by bus or taxi. He looks at me with a big smile and digs in his pocket and pulls out 4 Bolivianos and tells me to take the bus across the road which was 2 bolivianos. He smiles as I thank him and says to be safe and stay by the driver. As I pass by the garden he was tending I look for him to give back the 4 bolivianos but he is gone, didn't expect anything in return. He made my last day in Bolivia memorable because of his kindness. May seem like a small act but it was lovely to have someone look out for me even just in passing. 

Adidas Bolvia 

Xx

Besitos 

Xx

Snow and sleepy puppies (continued)

Next day we got up at 5:30am to eat breakfast quickly and go on a bumpy ride along the salt flats and finally we stopped at some train tracks that we had to cross over so we stopped and took silly photos on the tracks to pass the time! The bitter wind was crazy cold and the day was over cast so the photos aren't as bright as thprevious day but they are funny :) 

After the train tracks we moved onto the Martian landscape, but as it started snowing!! we didn't stay long but it was a strange landscape, with rock formations that looked like craters and odd vegetation. 

Jumping quickly onto the next bit we saw flamingos at varies ponds and strange stone trees before we headed to a red lake and then to our hostel for the night. Saw a beautiful rainbow and lots of llamas as we drove through the cold and barren landscape. 

Can you spot the flamingos? 

Look how wrapped up I am!! 

Rainbow :) Arcoires :) 

Red lake and pink flamingo, with some serious weather coming in, in the back of the photo :) 

When we got to the hostel there was the most adorable puppy, that me and this little girl seen the entire night passively fighting over her. But she was cold a few times and the little girl would hand the puppy to me and I would warm her up under my sweater and she actually kept me warm as, like a mini hot water bottle. :) isn't she adorable? I almost snuck her away when left the next morning at 4am. 

But I am so glad that we left so early, because the sunrise was completely worth it. 

A was seeing the geysers :) 

Just stunning scenery, so different to what I have ever seen before. 

That's snow on the ground and on the mountains:0 

The Salvador Dali desert :) looks fake don't you think? Crazy beautiful. 

We reached the border between Chile and Bolivia an hour before the bus, so waited around and then when the bus came we lost two of our group :( as they headed to chile. And we returned exhausted to Uyuni, where me and Heather caught a bus to Potosi after a yummy borrito dinner. 

Xxx

Salt Flats, Snow and Sleepy puppies

Ah hello again! If you have been reading from the start let me tell you I am impressed that you are still with me, considering my infrequent posts and randomness.. But enough of my rambles. Back to Bolivia and the great adventures of the salt flats. 

I arrived after a good night sleep (well good for a bouncy bus) at 5am to Uyuni. As I stepped off the bus the first tour caught my eye as it was the tour my friend had been on. So I went along to their office and got briefed and then paid £70 for a three day excursion into the salt flats and surrounding deserts and lakes, everything included. I thought it was a bargain and in most ways it was a complete bargain, especially as the people who joined me to do the tour were a bunch of characters with their own humour and stories and we all got a long like a house on fire. 

Now this three day journey could be described through paragraph after paragraph of writing or a few photos ... So I am going to do half and half.  A few photos and a bit of description to acompany them. 

First stop was the train cemetery just outside Uyuni where a bunch of trains caring coal crashed and burnt out and so now there are just the abandoned old exoskeletons of trains littered haphazardly beside the still functioning train tracks. 

The next stop was a salt hotel and flag outpost in the middle of the salt flats, this consisted of some salt statues, a tiny hotel which was pretty awesome as it was entirely made out of salt! The only disappointing thing about the flag outpost was that I only found the Welsh and Costa Rican flags. There wasn't even a British flag or a Canadian flag and definitely not a Caymanian flag. But still a beautiful outpost, so many colours surrounded but complete whiteness. 

Holding out the Costa Rican flag against the fiercely cold winds! 

As we headed deeper and deeper into the salt flats the surrounding areas grew flatter and flatter till nothing but white salt flats existed in our vision. Finally we stopped and we got out to take the famous salt flag perception photos. After many failed attempts we got some pretty random and creative photos! 

 

So the photo above are a few the best of the photos we took while out for a long while on the salt flats. 

Piling back into the car we drove for ages until we reached our last stop for the day, the cactus Island.

It was pretty strange island and I felt a bit prickled looking at it... Terrible pun I know. 

 We entertained ourselves by messing around with pictures as we were all too cold and stint to pay 3 quid to climb around the cacti. So this is our failed panorama that we did, really amusing as it really just looks like body parts floating around the salt flats. 

By the time we were on our way again the sun was setting and about 15 mins before reaching our destination for that night we stopped to watch the sun set over the Savannah of salt. 

Filter? Or old film? :0

We settled into our hotel that was mainly made out of salt and had a delicious dinner before tucking into our beds with way too many layers on because heaters didn't exist out on the salt flats. 

Brrrr 

(To be continued in next post) 

Xx

Lake Titicaca and La Paz (Bolivia)

After staying a few days in beautiful Arequipa, it was time for me to leave Peru and head to Bolivia. And as I look back over the last 2 weeks sitting in a peaceful cafe in the tranquil city of Sucre, I can't help but think how lucky I have been to see the places I have seen in Bolivia and how I can't wait to come back to explore more. I arrived at 4:15am in Puño, the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca and waited for a bus that would take me and many more people across to Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. I arrived at 11 after easily crossing the border into Bolivia, seems that most countries are happy with allowing Canadians to come to their countries. 

Oop now I am on the worlds bumpiest bus from Sucre to Santa Cruz, 15 hours long so I a, hoping that the roads will get better but to be honest it's South America, roads are barely paved. It makes life more exciting when you are bumping along the edge of a ridiculously high drop. But back to Copacabana, the lake was absolutely stunning. I arrived to the little town and met up with two kiwis and a German chick, which I had met in the bus station, and we quickly got onto the last boat to Isla de Sol, 2 hours later we reach the most beautiful little bay with one street with hostels and restaurants dotted on either side. We stayed at the edge of the village in this cute little hostel with the nicest view of the sunset and the bay's on either side of the island. For 25 bolivianos we stayed there in our little hostel on the edge of the town, that is roughly £3 and I haven't found a cheaper place since, but to be honest....the beds probably were why it was so cheap. We sat down on them and they swallowed us into their springy mattress. Funny at first till sleeping needed to occur.  

Piglets

We got up early the next day and were greeted with warm sunshine and clear skies, we wandered into the village, followed by some little piglets and a donkey as we looked around for breakfast. Finally we found a little cafe open and had lovely fried eggs, semi hard bread (the South Americans haven't quite gotten bread yet) and coca tea. Quick word on coca tea, it's made from coca leaves which help with altitude sickness, these are also the leaves that are made to use cocaine. So if I was tested for drugs I would test positive for cocaine due to the amount of coca tea I have been drinking. After our delicious breaky we decided to climb up to the in a ruins, after wandering around the top of the hill for a while we decided that the flat rocks we stood on must be the inca ruins and proceeded to all lie like starfishes on the Rock and get in lots of other tourists photos. After a while the altitude in general (lake Titicaca is the highest large lake in the world) started to get with us, so we skipped back down to the little village and got on a boat back to Copacabana. It was the slowest boat ride ever and super over crowded. 4 Bolivians where playing a weird and seemly nonsensical card game loudly and kept squashing me into the kiwi sitting next to me. Opposite us the other kiwi was having an even worse time squashed between the wall a huge Bolivian lady who was being squished by 2 of the card players. But eventually we made it and settled into the town with a yummy stake dinner and a hot chocolate. The little village reminded me of a small Caribbean village, the boats and houses all different colours and shapes. 

The morning dawned bright and early, and after a restless night I got onto a van heading to La Paz, never before have I had such an eventful bus ride. First it was 4 of us and by the time we are out of Copacabana its 6. Baring in mind that there is only 9 seats all together. As we wind our way to La Paz we pick up another 2 on the road and while we are crossing the river, which we cross by farrie, we pick up the last passenger... Or so I thought. 2 hours from La Paz, we stop to let one person out and 3 more get in, one with a giant basket. How people were sitting in woolly clothes I have no idea, I was sweltering in my thin leggings and T-shirt. Finally! We make it to La Paz, where I get dumped off into the middle of the city and have to get a taxi to my hostel where I collapse and chill for the rest of the evening. 

The following day I wander around the city, see little markets, big squares filled with pigeons and dogs everywhere. The people in this city are brusk and unforgiving, seems like quite a harsh city set high at ---- meters. La Paz is actually the hugest governmental seat in the world. Crazy, from the hostel window I could see a mountain top with snow on it! 

Homesickness hit and I was plagued with the feeling that I wanted to curl up on the purple couch back home and chat with my family over a episode of castle or elementary. Drinking good tea and eating backed beans on toast. To combat my homesickness I went to an English pub, drank PG tips and had a steak and ale pie and felt a lot better as though the good home food had warmed my soul.

After eating and much debating about timing I decided to leave that night to the Salt flats (Salar de Uyuni) in the south of Bolivia. 

English PG tips tea 

That night I boarded a bus and off I went on the 11 hour journey to Uyuni, glad for the change of seen after homesickness and a terrible bout of being surrounded by assholes :p