My favourite travel souvenir

For anyone with a love of travel like myself, I stumbled across in my opinion, the best way to commemorate your travel memories.

What am I talking about?

Belgian waffles > Waffles

When I think back to my trip to Brussels, the one thing that sticks out in my memories is the waffles. Oh my they’re amazing!

We did try to eat as many as we could

30 Before 30

Pretty much everyone has one of these these days don’t they?

Whether it’s a 30 before 30 or 20 before 20, maybe it’s 25 before 25.. The lists go on and on really but I thought I’d join in with everyone else and make my own.

Mini American Road Trip 2.0 – it’s almost here!

Mini road trip 2.0

• Nashville, Tennessee.
• Memphis, Tennessee.
• Dallas, Texas.
• Houston, Texas.
• New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

8 days today and I’ll be back in Nashville, Tennessee.

Planning our (mini) American road trip

After our 2016 American road trip from Boston to San Francisco we decided we just had to go back to the states. Only unlike last time we’re just visiting for 2 weeks and not going to anywhere near as many places as we did before. This time, we’re revisiting our favourites; Nashville and New Orleans (with a few new stops along the way).

My American road trip – Cost.

From the moment I got home from my road trip across America, I had people messaging me asking how we did it and how much it cost, asking advice etc.

Bucketlist – Win money in a Las Vegas casino.

Whether you’re an avid gambler or not, I personally feel you cannot go to Las Vegas and not gamble away money in a casino. You just can’t. It’s all part of the experience of Vegas.

Gifts for people with wanderlust.

I’m the type of person who really thinks about the gifts I buy someone, I go for personalisation mostly. As someone who loves to travel I constantly come across gifts that are travel related that I wish people would buy for me or that I had someone else in my life who loves travel to buy them for.

These are just a small selection of some of the things I love:

Give in to Wanderlust.

Wanderlust: an irresistably strong desire to travel or wander the world.

With that feeling of wanderlust embedded deep into you, why aren’t you acting upon it? Now is the time to go, the time to see those places that you once thought could only be reached in dreams.

Pack a bag.

Grab your passport.

Leave all your worries behind for just a few weeks, if not longer.
Travel.

Travel for travels sake. Think of all the things travelling brings to your life and give me one genuinely honest answer as to why you shouldn’t travel? You can’t. Of course you can’t. 

“To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Anderson. 

There are a ridiculous amount of reasons as to why you should jump on the next plane out of your hometown or get behind the wheel of your car and drive until the surroundings become that of somewhere your eyes have never seen. New sights, new people, new foods, so many things to discover and all you have to do is have the sense of adventure to discover it all.

Why should you give in to Wanderlust and travel?

– Travelling opens your eyes. If you dare to voyage out into the unknown you’ll discover so many wonderful things. You’ll see things from a new perspective. Once you have travelled, returning home will never be the same. You’ll have experienced a new way of living, seen things you’d never have imagined and returning home to the norm will be sorely disappointing.

– Ah the adventure! Do you remember when you were a child? You used to dream up a life of adventure. You’d make up games and pretend to be in a far away land discovering things for the first time. Well, just because you’re a bit older now doesn’t mean you have to give up on the adventurer you once sought to be. 

“I address you all tonight for who you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travellers, adventurers, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.” – Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

– You are 100% guaranteed to meet many new people and make many many friends along the way. And you’ll meet them everywhere. Travelling America we made so many new friends! 

From making friends in the workers at Taco bell in Ennis, Texas (as pictured above). To befriending a newly wed couple in the Honky Tonk bar in Nashville, Tennessee. To meeting a few not so far from home, a group of guys from Edinburgh on a similar trip at the 4 Corners monument. Making friends with a bunch of hens on a hen party in Cats Meow in New Orleans. (FYI the bride to be is now married and the wedding looked amazing!)

Sure, you could venture not so far from home and make new friends but why do that when you can have friends from all over the world?

– Think of all the incredible memories you’ll have and stories to tell. Not everyone will have experienced the things that you do when you travel, but I can guarantee everyone will love to hear the stories of your adventures. Not everything goes to plan, trust me I know, but sometimes that’s the best part. Who wants to look back on their life in 50 years time and say, “I wish I’d done that.”? I’d rather look back and say, “I’m glad I done that.” 

So go on. Stop putting it off. Get out there and see what the world has to offer, I promise you won’t regret it!

Leave a comment below telling me why you think people should travel! Maybe your words will inspire someone to do so. Thanks for reading!

What is it like driving in America?

From the moment we had decided we were going on a road trip across America one thing played on our minds; “what is it going to be like driving over there?” 

As 3 Scots who could drive here in the UK, the thought of not just driving in another country, but that country being America and us having to adapt to driving in the opposite side of the car, on the opposite side of the road! Well it was daunting to say the least.

So, we’re in Boston at the car rental dealing with paperwork and all we have to go on is the 2 or 3 taxis we’ve been in since we arrived. Who I might add, all drove like they were insane. So now we’re just about to be handed our keys to a car that was bigger than any of us had ever driven before and the woman starts to tell us, “now if the police pull you over, move over straight away, hands on the wheel. DO NOT get out the car unless asked, get this paperwork and show them that along with your license” we were stood there like shit this sounds scary.

As I mentioned in a previous post our journey with our car didn’t start off the best as 2 hours into having it we were crashed into. Hence wee Monique in the picture is our second car. So I mean apart from the crash (as it wasn’t my fault) we were doing not too bad, we got a system going and that helped us a lot.

One person driving, whoever was in the passenger seat was in charge of making sure the driver didn’t drift into other lanes and helped when merging was needed. 
The actual driving though? Well it was so much easier than we expected. I don’t know how people don’t like driving automatics, life was a breeze behind that wheel because of it. 

The one thing though that I will never get my head around? Being able to turn on a red light??! What the hell is this all about?

All in all, driving in America is nowhere near as bad as we thought it would be. 

We got lost once and that was because we weren’t paying proper attention to our Sat Nav.

We never got pulled over by the police, in fact the only time we dealt with police was in Salem, MA because of our crash and then in LA because my friends were crossing the road when they shouldn’t have been apparently. But that’s another story.
If you’re thinking of getting a car in America but are unsure of anything, feel free to ask. Honestly though, it’s super easy!