Have you got the travelling bug?

Lindos 2010

I’ve always had this itch to go out into the big, bad world and explore all that is available to me. I love going on holiday, but when choosing where to go, I have to do some research and see what the town is like. Whether there is history, monuments or famous landmarks, researching my holiday destination is a big must.

Right now, I’m in my 2nd year of university and I’m graduating in 2012. I’m currently saving up to go on a gap/working year before being thrown into the realms of full time employment, which I am not looking forward too, as I am not ready to be released.




I’ve always had the ‘travel bug’ but I think it grew more when I had the opportunity through school, to go to Kenya for a month in 2008. 50 6th form students from Wales were chosen to go to the African country with a charity called Moving Mountains / Adventure Alternative who were fantastic and helped us overcome home sickness and treated us like family.

(If you want to know more about my trip to Kenya, follow this link http://misszp.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/my-kenya-experience/ )

So after we all came home from Kenya, everyone was upset as we grew to love the country and the culture, even over a small period of time. But coming home and seeing my friend’s was great, I did miss them but because I was so busy every day and night, you kind of forget about everything at home and focus on what is in front of you.

2 weeks after coming home, and it was back to school for the last year of 6th form. My friendship group started to think about an end of exam holiday, where we would go and let our hair down, not be in the presence of our parents and we could do what we want so guess where we picked…

MAGALUF!

4 girls – 3 taken and 1 single. Not really a place to go if you aren’t single, as Magaluf is renowned for sun, sex and late night partying. Although we didn’t stay in Magaluf, just outside in Palma Nova, we were a 5 minute walk from the Strip, so we weren’t in the party zone, but close enough so we could get to the clubs easily enough without taxis.

The four of us aren’t your normal girls, we didn’t like to sunbathe all day, we wanted to go into Palma Nova / Magaluf and walk through the streets and browse all the shops on the strip and so one day we took a trip into Palma which took 40 minutes on a bus in the boiling heat!

When we jumped off the bus in the city, to say I was taken back, was an understatement. The Harbour, with the sun glazing down on the water is breathtaking, especially with all the boats and jets lightly bobbing up and down as well. We also visited the Cathedral of Palma and posed in the distance from it, so we got the church in our pictures.

I did watch the sunset and the sunrise on Magaluf beach with my then-boyfriend (who went to Magaluf with his friends 3 days after me) which was actually really romantic to watch with your boyfriend. Although we aren’t together now, I won’t forget that night.

So that was our holiday after A Levels results, which brings me to my holiday after our first university exams with my university girls. We all decided we didn’t want a ‘mad’ holiday; it was to be chilled and relaxed after a hard year of work.

We booked to go to Pefkos on the island of Rhodes, which can I say is overwhelming. The views! I could have sat and just looked out to the sea all day, every day. Wherever we walked, whether it was just to the shop, or the restaurant or the beach, Pefkos was never short of the perfect picture. And since I am obsessed with taking photographs of such views, my camera was slowly becoming filled with the sea, the castle, boats, flowers etc etc.

A night trip to Rhodes was also bought, for a cheap price of 17euros. As I had been to Rhodes previously with my parents, we didn’t explore in depth, as you know what parents are like! So with the girls it was a nice change that everyone wanted to walk around, go in shops and stroll around the harbour together.

All I can say is Pefkos and Rhodes are my cup of tea. They have the gorgeous picturesque views, the Greek food and men but they make you feel so welcome that you don’t want to leave.

I know my holidays probably do not seem like travel opportunities, yet to me, holidays are part of my travelling hence “travelling abroad.” It doesn’t matter to me how long or short a holiday is, as long as I have seen everything there is to see or to do in that certain area, I have fulfilled one travelling bug.

Adding up all the places I have been to– Tunisia, Spain, France, New York, Kenya, Greece, Turkey – although it is not that many, I feel lucky to have experienced their cultures and to have had that opportunity to visit that place.

When thinking about which countries I plan to visit at the end of 2012, the obvious few come to mind, but then places like Norway and Germany, which really aren’t peoples first choices, would been mine. I would love to see the Northern Lights and visit the concentration camps.

Spending a year travelling around the world and working along the way to support myself may seem daunting, especially to me, but I know I will benefit greatly from other countries cultures and delving into their way of life, especially gaining more independence and becoming more confident with speaking to new people.

Travelling as a solo is something that I need to do, to see and do everything that I am dreaming about without being held back.

The world is out there to be seen, so why not go out and grasp it with two hands and experience things you never thought you would.