Life in Beijing
3 months after making the big move to Beijing, the initial cloud of culture shock (or smog) has finally settled, and life as a Beijinger has become the norm. As I sit in my very own hutong (traditional Chinese house) nestled among the stereotypical narrow streets across the way from the mighty Forbidden City right…
Life in China
It’s fair to say that that I had no real idea what to expect of life in China. All I really had to go off were a few misinformed suggestions, second-hand stories and inaccurate stereotypes. However, nothing compares to dropping yourself there and seeing for yourself what the country’s about. Now that the initial dust…
Indonesia – Top 10 Highlights
Indonesia is the most underestimated country found in the ever-popular backpackers paradise of South East Asia. The enormous array of activities and spine tingling moments are limitless and scattered throughout its multiple islands of varying personalities. Over 2 months, many unbelievable moments were spent between 5 islands. It was difficult to cut the list…
Australia – Top 10 Highlights
I covered a hell of a lot of ground in my time in Australia; from the entire East Coast, the agonisingly long bus-ride to the red centre and back out all the way to the Northern tip. This incredible country provides a hell of a lot of bucket list moments, backpackers flock here for a…
How will I Survive in China?
“How are you going to survive in China? They don’t speak English! What are you going to eat? It’s going to be cheap there! You can’t go on facebook?! What if World War III breaks out!?!?”. I’ve heard it all as soon as I told people that’s where I’d be venturing off to next. To…
Beijing or Shanghai?
With the offer accepted and the contract signed for the spectacular opportunity of being able to live and work in China, I find myself with a pleasant problem. The company I applied for has schools in multiple cities, so I didn’t know where they’d put me. Turns out they’re leaving the decision up to me;…
A New Adventure Awaits
So, what’s the next adventure? The last 3+ months of travel (almost exactly a year ago) has started a fire to say the least. Well and truly infected with the travel bug. Despite the last tour coming to an abrupt halt, it can be considered a very good test run. Lessons learned for future travels.…
Coming Home (Via Singapore, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey and Germany)
I’ve been through 24+ hour bus journeys, 12+ hour flight connections and every other heartache on my travels, all of which with a smile across my face. However, for my final journey home, fate decided now would be the perfect time for everything to go horribly wrong. Singapore The journey starts from Singapore…
Jakarta
The bus slowly rolled through the hills towards Jakarta from Cianjur, where it had reached night as I was dropped off on the outskirts of the capital. Jakarta would be my last stop, an enormous capital; population 40 million. I already have a strong bias against metropolitan cities, which wasn’t changed much here. I took…
Java (Part 3)
This would be my second and last time volunteering on my travels through Java. Although both when applying looked very similar; both being English schools, the difference was staggering. My trip began from Klaten as Ms. Dee bid me farewell and I boarded the bus which would take me to Cianjur. [mappress mapid=”7″] Yet again,…