10 places on my Travel bucketlist

At this time of year I always seem to start thinking about travel and all the places I would like to visit the following year. My travel wishlist is ridiculously long as I actually want to visit just about every country in the world, even some I’ve already been to!

I thought I’d compile a list of the places that are at the top end of my travel bucketlist, in the hope that I may make it to at least 1 of them in 2020!

In no particular order…

Iceland

Iceland is probably the country at the very top of my list. There are so many amazing things to do in Iceland but the two I’m most keen to experience are seeing the Northern Lights and swimming in The Blue Lagoon. Iceland is probably one of the easiest countries on my list to get to so it just leaves me wondering why the hell I haven’t visited it already?

New Zealand

At the complete opposite side of the world is New Zealand. It looks AMAZING! Such a beautiful country and sooooo much to do! I want to visit the Glow worm caves, Hobbiton, Mt Cook, Milford Sound, Queenstown… the list goes on. I was actually supposed to go in 2019 but I cancelled the trip for various reasons. However, I’m still determined to visit one day!

The Maldives

I’m crossing my fingers that I get to visit these beautiful islands in 2021. I’ve always promised myself that The Maldives will be my honeymoon destination and as I’m getting married in 2021, hopefully I’ll get there! I would love to spend a week in a water bungalow with my husband just relaxing and enjoying married life!

Peru

South America and Antarctica are the only continents I haven’t yet visited so I think I really need to get to South America soon. I’ve chosen Peru mainly as I want to visit Machu Picchu. Also, from what I’ve read about South America, Peru is one of the safer countries to visit and has a more developed tourist trail.

Safari

Ok, so this isn’t technically a country, but I realllly want to do an African safari. Seeing all the animals in the wild would be an amazing experience. I would probably look to safari in South Africa but any of the African countries that you can safari in would do!

Santorini

Greece isn’t technically a new-to-me country as I’ve previously visited Corfu and Crete, but I’ve never been to Santorini. Greece is so beautiful and a perfect summer destination but let’s be honest… I’m desperate to see the sunset in Oia.

Canada

Canada is another country that just looks stunning. There’s so much to do and see, from cities, to skiing, to wilderness, there’s something to appeal to every type of holiday maker. It’s also said to be one of the friendliest countries in the world as well!

Sri Lanka

I’ve wanted to visit this beautiful island for a few years now after reading many blogs and watching lots of vlogs. I’ve fallen in love with it. I want to visit Kandy and take ‘the most scenic train journey’ in the world. I’m hoping to tie this in with my honeymoon in 2021.

Lapland

Oh my goodness!!! I’m desperate to visit Finnish Lapland. In fact, I’ve spent part of today pricing up holidays for next December! If I didn’t have a wedding to pay for I think I would have booked this already! Who doesn’t want to go visit the real Santa? Or be pulled on a sleigh by reindeers or huskies? I could even see the Northern lights!

Japan

It was hard to choose the 10th spot as I could name at least 3 more places but I’ve chosen Japan as it looks amazing. The culture is fascinating and, again, there is so much to do. I want to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Sapporo, Hakone, Hokkaido… where else in the world can you ride around in Super Mario cart?

Just over 24 hours in Hue

The sleeper train arrived in Hue at around 11am. It was glorious hot sunshine, which was better than the cloudy humidity in Hanoi.

We quickly dumped our bags at the hotel (which was very nice! Possibly the nicest of the trip!) and headed out for lunch. We ended up at a place called Golden Rice and it was really nice. I had a mango smoothie and chicken with lemongrass. I always feel healthy and eat loads more fruit and veg abroad!

Later on, we went on a motorbike tour around Hue. I’m not going to lie, I was crapping myself. I’d never been on a motorbike before and was having visions of accidents, especially after witnessing the traffic in Vietnam! I very nearly chickened out! I actually sat on the bike and then jumped off again screaming ‘I can’t do it!’ Some of my fellow travellers were really patient and tried to calm me down. The advice I got was ‘lean with the driver’.

Luckily, I enjoyed the tour and it actually ended up being one of the highlights for me. I could have happily stayed on the bike for hours exploring the countryside. The first few minutes were a bit nervewracking but I soon settled down. Some of the busy roads, a roundabout and some of the off-road bits were interesting!

We visited loads of places including a mausoleum, Bunker Hill, an incense place, the Japanese love bridge, a Buddhist temple and a museum with the most amazing lady working there! She was about 80 but had a zest for life! She had a fabulous time trying to explain everything to us all and flirting a bit with the group leader! She was fab!

My driver was called Ko and obviously found me hilarious! Every time I screamed in his ear, he laughed!

I’m very glad I did the tour though. It was a great way to see Hue. It’s really pretty and I saw lots of places that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

 

We finished the tour with a traditional dinner at a home. The food was amazing! We had pumpkin and peanut soup, pho (obvs), caramel tofu and pork, morning glory, Jackfruit salad and pineapple for pudding. Delicious!

The next morning, we visited the Imperial Citadel. It’s very impressive. Our guide was very knowledgeable but I think he thought we had a deep understanding of Vietnamese history – which I don’t! He asked us loads of questions about the citadel and emperors and we didn’t have a clue!

 

After our morning tour it was back on the coach for the drive to our next stop – Hoi An!

A roundup of 2018

I’ve been really rubbish with documenting my travels this year. I’m still writing about my Vietnam and Cambodia trip which was summer 2017! I haven’t written about the disastrous end to my Lisbon trip, or the incredible-ness of New York or how much love I have for Stockholm! I’ve got quite a few tales to tell still.

I will try and get better at blogging next year. Mainly so I can keep my own record and diary of my trips!

In 2018 I did 4 trips in 4 different countries, visited 2 continents and 1 new country.

April – New York

In April, I went on a 4 night stay in NYC. This was my second visit to the Big Apple and it is just as amazing and impressive as my first visit. I went with a friend who had never been before and acted as his tour guide. In return, he happens to be a pretty good photographer and it was nice to have someone to take pictures of me! We did the usual touristy things – Rockerfeller centre, Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the World Trade Centre. It was nice because I didn’t do all of these the first time round.

 

May – Stockholm

It’s become a bit of a tradition for me and my mum to go somewhere every year. Previously we’ve been to Vienna and Edinburgh, this year we went to Stockholm. Sweden was my only new country this year and Stockholm has become one of my favourite cities. It helped that it was really hot at the time we visited.

July – Dublin

My friend and I decided we wanted to go away for a super short break and after looking at various places in the UK, it worked out a lot cheaper to fly to Dublin than getting the train to London or Newcastle (or just about anywhere!). We got an early morning flight and returned the following evening. We stayed in a hostel right next to Temple Bar. It was amazing! I absolutely loved it! We had THE BEST time!

 

August – Northumberland

My final trip of the year was a holiday with my family up in Northumberland. It’s such a beautiful part of the UK and isn’t as busy or overcrowded as places like Cornwall and the Lake District. We spent a week in Seahouses and visited many of the nearby attractions such as Bamburgh castle, Cragside and Holy Island.

 

Plans for 2019

At present, I have no trips booked, however, I am planning a big solo trip this summer plus a couple of short city breaks. As usual, there will probably be one with my mum and possibly a family holiday. I’m going to try and visit 3 new countries in 2019 if I want to stay on target for 40 before 40!

Braving the overnight train in Vietnam

We arrived back in Hanoi with a few hours to kill before out 10pm train to Hue. I’m not going to lie, it was nice to have wifi again!

After freshening up and sorting our bags out, a few of us went for dinner at a restaurant called The Blue Butterfly before heading to the train station. It was lovely! Love Vietnamese food!

The sleeper train left Hanoi at 10pm and took around 13 hours to reach Hue. I’d never been on a sleeper train before and had heard horror stories about them. However, it’s also part of the travelling in Vietnam experience so I was keen to give it a go.

In my opinion, it wasn’t too bad. It was a bit rickety but that’s to be expected. Luckily, our carriages were the first class ones. Don’t expect anything too fancy by this! We had 4 people in our sleeper room (?) and there was a toilet for our carriage. This did get progressively worse as the journey wore on and it would be a good idea to have some toilet roll or tissues of your own towards the end of the journey!

It was relatively clean. We got a bottle of water and a bottle of coke. I actually managed to get a bit of sleep as well which was good. I was on the bottom bunk but apparently the top bunk can be either really hot or really cold. Just FYI!

Overall it wasn’t a terrible experience and I would do it again if travelling Vietnam. I’d have to have first class again though!

Hanging out in Halong Bay

August 4th 2017 will go down in history as ‘The Day I visited Halong Bay’. I was so excited for this part of the trip. Of all the places I wanted to see in Vietnam, Halong Bay was IT!

The day started early… 6.30am, after a rubbish night’s sleep. We had to pack a smaller backpack with what we would need for our overnight stay at Halong Bay and we left our main backpacks at the hotel to pick up the next day.

The journey from Hanoi to Halong Bay took around 3 or 4 hours. We stopped on the way to visit a craft place. It was such a tourist trap. There were just coach loads of people from all over the world visiting the place on their way to or from Halong Bay. The place employed disabled workers who made beautiful silk tapestries, which were very impressive. The manager person seemed all nice and chatty and the workers all seemed happy enough but there was something about the place that didn’t sit right with me. Either the workers were shipped out to the craft place as they were unwanted and people came to stare at them or there was something dodgy. It could also have been a genuine place. Who knows!?

When we arrived at Halong Bay, I was blown away by how busy the place was. There were billions of boats (it felt like) dotted all around the place. It’s definitely gorgeous and very picturesque, but you never see just how many boats and tourists there are in any pictures!

We had lunch, then chilled out then went on a smaller boat to a cave. There was the option of kayaking but as I can’t swim, I’m not a fan! Despite it being busy, the boat trip was really calm and peaceful. The sun decided to make an appearance around this time and it was the only time during my 24 hours in Halong Bay that I saw it. After the boat tour, we went to the only island that people are allowed on. This is where the lookout point is, where you get the famous postcard shots of Halong Bay and there is a beach. Now, the beach was ridiculous because every tourist visiting Halong Bay seemed to be there at the same time and it isn’t especially big. The sea was lovely though and I can now say I’ve swam in Halong Bay.

When we got back to our junk boat, we had more chilling out time before dinner and karaoke!

The next morning, we were up early to visit some caves with stalagmites or stalagcites (or both) in. Unfortunately, the heavens opened and there was some amazing thunder and lightning. We got a little bit soggy whilst queuing to get in the caves. Not many of us had brought appropriate clothing or footwear!

We then headed back to our boat, had brunch, packed up our day bags and made our way back to Hanoi ready for the next part of our trip!

I just want to end this post by saying how amazing Halong Bay is. It is truly stunning and can see why it is mega famous. Sometimes, touristy places don’t live up to the hype but this place does. The whole area is so photogenic and undoubtedly deserves it’s Outstanding Area of Natural Beauty accolade. The only thing that ruined it was the few pieces of rubbish in the water. It’s a shame some people don’t treat our planet with more respect. Having said that, it was possibly my favourite place we visited. Whilst we were at the lookout point, I was quite content to just sit and soak up the view. I spent a bit of time sitting by myself, taking in the view (not through a lens) and thought how lucky I was to be there.

 

Joining a group tour in Vietnam

After an emotional 24 hours solo on the other side of the world, it was nice to join a group for the remainder of my trip. The group was quite diverse. The ages ranged from early 20s to 70s and was a mix of solo, couples and friends.

After introductions, our first activity was to go for a Vietnamese meal. We braved the hustle and bustle of Old Town Hanoi to head to a restaurant named Yin & Yang. Our tour leader taught us that the trick to crossing the street safely is to walk slowly. Even though this goes against every natural instinct, it makes sense. If you’re walking slowly, the motorcyclists can judge where you will be and go around you easily!

I’m not going to lie. I was slightly nervous about eating traditional foods. I am a slightly (ok, very) fussy eater but I had a word with myself and told myself to embrace it and try new foods.

I tried morning glory, which I obviously found the name of hilarious and had to text all my friends to tell them! It’s basically spinach and it was very nice. I also tried some tofu and tomato dish, chicken and ginger and a pork and shrimp dish! I liked them all! Who knew! There were a few dishes that I didn’t try, namely a sour fish soup!

The meal was a nice way to break the ice and get to know my fellow travellers. I was sharing a room with another solo lady, who is also a teacher. There quite a few Australians in the group and British and a German couple.

After the meal, we headed back to the hotel. I stopped for snacks at the 7-11 and couldn’t get over how cheap it was! Then it was time for an early night before our journey to Halong Bay!

Good morning Vietnam

This was my first solo trip and to say I was shitting myself was a bit of an understatement. I’m in my 30s, been all over the world and LOVE to travel, but I had never gone a trip alone. Now, to be fair, I was joining a group tour when I reached Vietnam but I still class this as a solo adventure. Trust me to choose to go to Vietnam and Cambodia by myself. It would have been a lot easier to go somewhere in Europe or the USA by myself.

I’d been feeling nervous and excited ever since I booked the trip about 6 months before. I’d wanted to visit Vietnam for a few years and Angkor Wat was high on my bucket list. I think it was actually the Top Gear episode where they drive up Vietnam that first sparked my interest, so I technically have Jeremy Clarkson to thank for this trip!

I packed my backpack the morning I was leaving, was picked up by my parents and driven to Birmingham Airport. I held it together until my dad left to sort the car parking out. I just burst into tears. I couldn’t help it. I was terrified! But I was definitely going on my trip! My mum refused to leave me until I’d gone through security, no matter how expensive the car parking would be!

Anyway, I went through security, whilst still randomly bursting into tears the entire time I was sat in departures. I even gave up trying to hide it! To say I was openly sobbing in  public, only one person asked me if I was ok and that was a lady on security. I think she was checking I wasn’t travelling against my will! Whilst I was sat in the departure lounge, I facetimed my friends and promptly made her cry as well. I also received loads of supportive texts and Facebook comments, which were a massive boost.

Now I’m a big believer in fate, and fate had me sat next to another girl around my age who was also travelling solo. She was a seasoned solo traveller and was heading to Thailand for the summer but she was so nice and made me feel so much better. I was massively grateful to her!

I flew with Qatar Airways and this was one of my favourite flights to date. The plane was quite new, it had USB ports, you could change the tint on the windows and had a very fancy entertainment system (compared to my usual economy experience). As with other Middle Eastern airlines I have used, the service and comfort were fab.

For some reason there was a slight delay so we arrived at Doha a little bit later than planned. I had 45 minutes to make my connecting flight without the delay so things were cut really fine. I think there was something like 20 minutes until take off by the time I got off the plane and that included queuing again at security. I showed an airport worker my flight ticket and he rushed me through. I literally had to run across the airport to make the flight to Hanoi as it was on final call. I’m gutted because I really wanted to get a picture of the giant teddy in Doha airport. Also, I was worried that I was on the wrong plane as this one stopped in Bangkok, which I wasn’t aware of. Luckily, I made the flight and it seems quite a few people on my original flight were also getting the connecting flight.

After asking at least 3 different flight attendants if I was on the correct flight, I settled in for the remainder of my journey. It was 6 hours to Bangkok, an hour or so wait at Bangkok then a further hour and a half to reach Hanoi.

Once I’d reached Hanoi, I’d relaxed a little. I got through customs easily and quickly and was pleased to get a new stamp in  my passport. After I found my backpack off the carousel, my first task was finding some money. I’d managed to travel half way across the world with absolutely no currency whatsoever. Luckily, ATMs were plentiful so I withdrew cash (having no idea what the exchange rate was) and got a taxi into the city.

I loved the ride into Hanoi but nothing had prepared me for the craziness that is the Old Town. My hotel was in this area. I can only describe the Old Town as a rabbit warren of the busiest, most mental traffic and stalls. I loved it! It is an assault on the senses but felt like what I’d expect traditional Vietnam to be.

One thing you learn in Vietnam is that EVERYONE drives mopeds. I have never seen so many in one place. The traffic is crazy. Not only does everyone drive a moped but they also use them like cars or vans, in that they cram as many people and/or objects as possible on the. I frequently saw entire families on one moped, I’m talking 6+ people and also saw someone transporting a fridge!

By the time I reached my hotel it was 7pm. Given that I’d left my house around midday the day before, I was well and truly tired. I literally checked in my hotel, found some food, had a quick shower, then slept.

The next morning, I woke up early and had breakfast. I went for a little wander around the block as I was too scared to try and cross a road! Then I went back to my hotel room and slept again until about 3pm! I then had another wander down to Hoan Kiem Lake. This is where the Old Town ended and Hanoi became more modern. I crossed the famous red bridge and visited the temple in the lake. It was so humid!

On my way back, I bought a large bottle of water and crisps and they cost 50p. God bless South East Asian prices! By this time, it was time to join my group tour and meet my travel buddies for the next 17 days!

 

Cambodia in photos

It was sad to say goodbye to some of the group after a few nights in Ho Chi Minh City but we got some new people to join us into Cambodia. After a relatively easy border crossing, we were in a new country. We spent 2 nights in Phnom Penh and 3 nights in Siem Reap.

New York in photos

Here are some photos from this iconic city. I got a new camera just before I went and I’ve been playing around with editing. Let me know your thoughts!

Ho Chi Minh City in photos

Ho Chi Minh city was our final stop in Vietnam. It is the most westernised city in Vietnam I think and I enjoyed my time there. We did a few day trips, mainly to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. Here are some photographic highlights of my few days in HCMC.