After 8 months of being away, I finally decided to upload some photos from my trip!! It was really bittersweet to look at all of the pictures and it brought back so many great memories. I can’t believe how long I’ve been away- I almost forgot how this trip started and how unbelievably amazing it all was! Anyways, looking back on pictures sparked an idea for a simple and easy blog post that I thought people might enjoy reading.
I figured I would list out the highlights of my trip so far and talk about my favorite places/days/ or memories.
So here it goes! My favorite places, memories, etc. in (mostly) chronological order.
1. Jumping into Devils Pool in Zambia, Africa. Unbelievable experience- scared shitless but was able to hang over the edge of the largest waterfall in the world.
2. Bungee jumping in between 2 countries, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sat on the bridge for about an hour before I finally mustered up the courage to jump. BEST DECISION EVER.
3. Carolyn and i’s crazy day in Cape Town where we managed to fit in Table Mountain and a spontaneous road trip around Cape Town, all the way to Cape Point (which is the southern most tip of Africa) in one day. Lots of laughs, pit stops at cute coastal towns, seeing wild penguins, and making it back in time for an amazing dinner that our hostel organized. Best day.
4. Safari… Watching lions mate, witnessing the sunrise and sunset, camping in the wild with no fences separating us and the animals. Enough said.
5. My first night being on my own in Vietnam and trying to find dinner and realizing that I would probably 100% be killed from a motorbike that night.
6. Ha long Bay- partying all weekend on a pretty much deserted island, cruising and kayaking around the bay, and seeing bio luminescent plankton for the first time!
7. Full on trekking in Sapa. Slipped and fell in cow shit and slept at my first home stay. Drank home made Vietnamese alcohol which was questionable at best.
8. Bad luck in Bangkok. Got ripped off in a taxi when I first arrived and lost both of my debit cards within the same week. Not my fondest memory but still worth mentioning.
9. Taking a mud bath with elephants!! Got to feed, pet, and bathe elephants that had been rescued from riding camps.
10. 2 day slow boat journey to Laos from Thailand. Getting to this random town in the middle of freakin no where in Laos and all of the power going out and having a mini anxiety attack.
11. Full moon party. Buckets and more buckets of God knows what kind of alcohol and dancing well into the morning hours on the beach.
12. Koh Tao. My favorite island in Thailand. Spending days snorkeling around the island, making friends at the beach, bar crawling every night, attempting to fire dance and getting ash all over my legs and body.
13. “Attempting” to learn how to drive a motorbike on Koh Samui and failing miserably. Crashing and breaking the side mirror all in front of many Thais.
14. Gili T, a tiny island off of Bali. Met the best group of Swedish people, road bikes around the island, ate amazing food with locals, lots of live music, and saw my first sea turtle while snorkeling!!
15. Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef even though I was petrified and dropped out of my diving certification.
16. Road tripping the great ocean road, camping out under the stars and seeing wild koalas close up!
17. The drive from Wanaka to Christchurch, New Zealand. Most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen.
18. Learning how to surf at Manly Beach, Sunday sessions in Manly… Actually pretty much everything about Manly.
19. Witnessing the fireworks go off for New Year’s Eve on a boat in Sydney harbor, and then being allowed to steer the boat underneath the harbor bridge afterwards.
20. Working right in Sydney harbor. Waking up and watching the sunrise on my way to work over the opera house and watching sunsets at the beach.
So there you have it! 20 memories that stick out in my brain from my travels. Thanks for reading!
