ONE WEEK!

If you’ve been following me you’ll know I’m on countdown mode till my road trip in America. As of today we’re ONE WEEK out.

Time is flying past now.

This time next week I’ll be at the airport waiting to board my first flight. I’ll be with my 3 best friends both nervous and excited about what our month in America holds.

I can’t wait to go on this adventure with my best friends. I also can’t wait to share my experiences with all of you! Remember if you have instagram and want to see something from our trip (probably 10 posts a day let’s be honest) follow our group instagram.

Did I mention it was one week away?

The next week is going to be pretty full on for me. I’m working everyday, 10-13 hour shifts. Luckily I’ve already packed my case, I just need to double check I do have everything. I’m scared I’m going to forget a lot of things. I’ll need to write a check list for myself, although what do I need to make sure I take? My head is all over the place at the moment so god knows what will end up on my list.

Feel free to leave a comment below. I’ll hopefully be posting as much as I can while I’m away, so I look forward to sharing my adventures with you all.

Road trip via Instagam

As most of you will already know, I’m off on a road trip across America with 3 of my best friends in just a few weeks time. (If you don’t know about it basically the 4 of us are heading off to America at the end of May for a month. We’re driving from Boston to San Francisco and we’re all incredibly excited!).

4 travelling Scots take on America. The east coast, the west coast and everything in between.

This post is basically me just letting you all know that if you want to follow our journey, not just through my eyes but through my friends as well then feel free to follow our group instagram here.

If you don’t want to follow along, that’s all fine and dandy but I will have you know you’re going to miss some epic car videos of us pretending we’re various celebrities in music videos, loads of Scottish banter, plus many tourist pictures and some not so tourist pics.. Plus a lot more of course.

Don’t worry though if you decide not to give us a little follow, I will be trying my best to update here with new posts about how our trip is getting on as regularly as I can. Which should be easily enough done as a) I’m a complete night owl and b) when I’m in the car and not driving I won’t have much else to do.

If you’re going to decide to follow us on our instagram (@roadtrippin16x), I guess I better make a quick introduction for the other 3 girls!

From left to right we have; Clare, Shona, myself and Ellé.

You can also follow our personal Instagram accounts if you like.

My Instagram

Ellé’s Instagram

Shona’s Instagram

Clare’s Instagram

Like I said, if you fancy seeing about our American adventure, then give our Instagram a follow.

We leave for our trip in 23 days, so look out for all our posts to come.

Thank you if you follow. Like I said, if you don’t I’ll try update here as much as I can so give me a follow here.

Leave me a comment if you’re going on or have been on a similar trip!

49 days from now.

It honestly seems like just yesterday my friends and I walked into STA Travel ready to discuss our trip and book our flights. But it wasn’t yesterday, it was the 27th of July last year. Almost 9 months later, we now have 7 weeks exactly until we board our plane.

I’ve pretty much since then been counting down. Every now and again I would pop onto the STA Travel app and see the days counting their way down.

In 300 days. 300 300 300.
And now, well it’s certainly not 300 days now, in fact no where near

To think how close it has gotten and how quickly. It’s mad. I want to have been on our flights, arrived in America, spent our first few days there and picked up our car ready to hit the open road (albeit nervous as fuck as we’ll be driving on the opposite side of the road, in the opposite side of the car).

I’m not going to lie, my posts from now on will pretty much be similar until I go as I’ll just be counting down the days. But come and join the excitement with me.

Are you planning any trips anytime soon? Has your countdown started? Leave me a comment and let me know, or just message me linking to your blog for me to have a look at.

Paris, in pictures.

All photos by me.

Merely a small compilation of the photographs I took throughout my day in Paris. I had such an incredibly wonderful time. Paris is such a beautiful and picturesque place. It has completely stolen my heart.

My main reasoning for wanting to go to Paris was to go to the Louvre. My expectations didn’t even remotely live up to the reality of what a magnificent place it is. The artwork inside is incredible, and the architecture.. wow. The detailing that has gone into some of the rooms is something in itself. I could spend a day just admiring the beauty of that alone.

Visiting the Louvre has completely re-opened my love for art and architecture. Knowing I’m not on the career path I thought I would be for over 10 years of my life is hard as it’s something I was so set upon and I think that is why I gave up on art and architecture. That’s about to change.

Paris, you were amazing and beautiful. I can’t wait to come back and discover more of you.

Have you been to Paris?  Maybe you’ve written a post on your time there, leave a comment and link me. I can’t wait to read about your times in Paris.

Travel, travel and travel some more.

Whenever I mention a trip away I’m always usually met with the same reply, “travel, while you can.”

My auntie for example has said it to me numerous times over the years. She’s always said she regrets not travelling when she had the chance as she now has my little cousin to look after, a mortgage etc. Things that make the idea of travelling more difficult, albeit not impossible.

I’m very much someone who loves to travel whether it be a short journey or on a plane to the other side of the world. I will always suggest for people to travel. It broadens your mind, your outlook on life and I do believe it can and does change you as a person. You will discover new cultures, new ways of life and meet hundreds of new people.
People need to stop going on holidays, separate yourself from the ‘tourist’ views of everywhere. Go somewhere different and submerge yourself into the culture of the people surrounding you. Learn about them and their ways of life.

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin

I struggle to understand why people wouldn’t want to travel? Why not? We live in an incredibly amazing world, full of so many amazing places and things. Travel, travel and see them all. Travel to share your experiences with future friends, family, your kids. Anyway all I’m saying is: no matter what age you are, whether you think you can’t do it, feel something is holding you back. Forget it all and Travel. Think of the memories you’ll make.

Travel starts at home

Travel.

When you think of travel, what comes to mind? Jetting off on a plane to some far away land is how most people would answer this, but not me.

Travel, to me, starts in your own town/city/country. There’s so much around about you to do and see, most of which you’ll probably have heard of or maybe been to once before and never had a second thought about going to again. There’s also so much you’ll never have discovered before, and all on your own doorstep. I don’t know about you but I can’t always afford to jump on a plane, train or anything else to somewhere at every opportunity. Sometimes you just need to take a break and discover where you’re from.

Get out there.
Take a walk, maybe it’s somewhere you’ve walked a thousand times before so switch it up. Take a right down one Street you’ve never been down before instead of taking the left to your usual destination.
Every place no matter how small has something for you to explore or discover, whether it be a church, a museum, a book shop. Explore these places.
Find a book on where you’re from or Google it. I always search through tags on here, mostly just the travel one, and I 100% always read ones associated with Scotland. What I’ve noticed is that other people discover things I never knew were there. I read posts on Glasgow and it amazes me at the things I didn’t know were right around the corner from me.

Maybe you want to venture out slightly further a field? Get a bus or train to the next town or city and start exploring there.

Over the next few weeks I have a lot of spare time as I’m on holiday from work so I’m definitely making it my mission to see more of Glasgow. I may venture out further, leaving Glasgow and seeing somewhere else but that won’t be my main priority.

Have you discovered things in your own place you didn’t know were there? Maybe you’re from or have visited Glasgow and have ideas of where I should go? Leave me a comment and let me know.

They say when you road trip

They say when you road trip that there are certain things you should or should not do. 90% of the time we have listened maybe just the first one we haven’t, that’s what happens when you’re friend is slightly obsessed with knowing every detail of everything though.

Do plan, but don’t over plan.

Well.. I’m not particularly one to over plan I’m more of a ‘I’ll see what happens when I get there’ type of person. One of my best friends however, weeeellllllllll she’s very much a plan every small detail type of person. She’s in her final year at uni and had finished her dissertation for the first week in January. She’s very much a think ahead kind of person. Needless to say every small detail of our trip has been pretty much planned out but that’s who she is. We’re all used to it and for us it will work.

Don’t choose driving partners on a whim.

Even choosing on a whim to go with these 3 gals on a road trip it definitely wouldn’t be a poor choice. For the past 18 years we’ve been friends and I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of lads. The longest we’ve been around each other before is 2 weeks and now we’re doubling that time which shouldn’t be a problem. Although every holiday we usually seem to lose a friend and not in the they’ll find they’re way back more of a, “they done my head in why was I friends with them?” kind of thing.

Don’t wait until the last minute to do research.

Well if you’ve paid any attention you’ll have realised my friend would not let that happen. This road trip has been in the planning for 2+ years, we have well and truly researched the shit out of it.

Do decide beforehand how you will divide costs.

This has well and truly been discussed and we have already divided some costs. All motels have been split 4 ways and we will be doing the same with gas etc.

Do consider alternatives to pricey hotels.

Well we’re definitely not staying in pricey hotels (apart from in Las Vegas), it will be all motels along the way apart from that so we’ve definitely saved a whole bunch of money doing that.

Do take a cooler.

Top of the list of what to buy when we get to America. I’m part of the walmart family (asda) so as sad as it is I’m really excited to use my discount card in America.

Do relax and have fun.

This, I believe we can follow this one.

Our road trip is fast approaching and we are all more than excited. I just keep reading posts from people’s experiences and get so excited when they are about somewhere we are going check my previous post on where we plan or road tripping and leave me a comment and link me to your road trip posts.

Yasmin x

Cities in a hat!

Each year my friends and I pick a different city to visit for the weekend. So far we’ve found ourselves in:

• Dublin (twice).
• Newcastle.
• Amsterdam.

The question of course, was where do we go next? We decided to make it a little more fun and each picked a different place we wanted to visit.
So, Monday night sat in a pub in a pretty much drunken state for us all, we decided this was the perfect time and place (obviously) for us to make our final decisions and pick where we would be going. 

The 6 of us (well 5, as one of my friends didn’t make it). Needless to say she got a mail like, “where are you picking, we’re choosing now?!” So with her option chosen, it was down to the 5 of us to whittle down where we want to go. After much debating, we all chose:

• Stockholm, Sweden. 
• Oslo, Norway. 
• Prague, Czech Republic. 
• Dubrovnik, Croatia. 
• Budapest, Hungary.
• Kraków, Poland. 

It’s pretty much since we got back from Amsterdam in November we’ve been discussing doing this. Although anywhere I picked my friends didn’t seem to want to go, so as a last minute decision I picked Kraków, Poland.

Now it was down to someone picking where we went, the obvious choice was ask the bar staff to choose. And guess whose choice got picked.. mine.

Kraków here we come.
It won’t be until nearer the end of the year but even still, it’s exciting just planning these things.

Have you been to Kraków before? Or maybe you’ve been to one of the other places we were choosing between? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Yasmin x

The Bonnie Banks ‘o Loch Lomand

  
“By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes, where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomand.” – lyrics from The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomand. 

Throwback post to one of my favourite weekends of 2015.

Scotland, what a truly beautiful country. There’s nothing I love more than seeing as much of Scotland as I can, pair that with a laughter and booze filled weekend camping with friends and what more can I ask for? 

Pitching our tents off the shores of Loch Lomand at Inverbeg, where we had been up a few nights previous making a fire pit and leaving some wood to get our fire started we were looking forward to our weekend.

 

Squad Goals

 
With 14 of us, 5 tents, 1 fire pit, 1 guitar and enough drink to fill a swimming pool (I wish I was kidding but when 3 of you have loads of drink plus share 12 litres worth of venom; vodka, southern comfort, blue wkd and orange juice) we were definitely set for our weekend.

With head chef Clare on the case we had a belter of a BBQ for dinner and then the real drinking began. There’s something so peaceful about being by the Loch at night. The water was still, the sky was clear, the fire roaring away and the banter flowing which quickly led to the guitar being brought out and drunken sing-a-longs.

But true to form, typical Scotland gave us a weekend of not so great weather in the end; lots of wind, a little sunshine and plenty of rain.

With that many only lasted the first night and found themselves driving home late into our second day with just the best of us left (we were down to 5). 

  
  
This just meant more marshmallows over the fire for us, well it would have if the rain stayed off for more than 2 seconds. We ended up confined to our tent playing card and drinking games, much to our delight.
As much as the weekend ended up a fail, it was still a great weekend and even the weather couldn’t put a dampener on (the 5 of us that we’re lefts) spirits.

Scotland, no matter what you throw at me I love you, I love you, I love you.

Until our next camping trip..
Yasmin x

Travel quotes

January blues are in full force for me, I want nothing more than to jump on the next plane to anywhere! 
I’m guessing many of us are in the same boat currently, and I know for me I’ve got my planning underway for me to get out of Glasgow as soon as possible. What’s making me want to go more are these, a small list of my most favourite travel quotes.

• “For the born traveller, travelling is a besetting vice. Like other vices, it is imperious, demanding its victims time, money, energy and the sacrifice of comfort.” – Aldous Huxley.
• “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien.
• “Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St Aubin de Terán.
• “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain.
• “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine. 

Travel is an incredibly life changing experience and one that everyone should experience. If you don’t you will undoubtedly lead a limited view on the world.

Wanderlust, act on it. Don’t delay, not for a moment. 

What are your favourite quotes? Leave a comment and let me know.

Yasmin x