Transport:

Www.seat61.com – for all train travel info for around the world

Www.couchsurfing.org – heaps of car share rides available in the rideshare group

Accommodation:

Www.couchsurfing.com – surfing strangers couches and getting to know their culture and sharing some of mine.

Www.hospitalityclub.com – similar to couchsurfing but shows hosts phone numbers so you can call the day you arrive and ask to surf with them

Www.workaway.info – this site is for volunteering and working for accommodation and food in return. They have multiple options in nearly every country! From camel trekking and speaking English for tourist in north India to working at a hostel in the carribean.

Jobs:

Www.aupairworld.net – this is a site I used on my first ever journey overseas to find cheap homestay nanny jobs where the family provide you with accommodation, food and pocket money each week!! There’s heaps of nanny sites but this one is free and resourceful

Www.europlacements.it – now this is a more serious nanny job site. Especially based in Italy and Switzerland. It’s a real job with real salaries and contracts from 1 year. I have had friends use this site and they think it’s great. One day when I can stay in one spot for a year I will use it.

Www.TEFL.com – is a great site that you can sign up to and they send you an email EVERYDAY of all the new English teacher jobs around the world. It reminds me everyday that I have to hurry up an get back to the world!

Www.seasonworkers.com – this is a great site if you are looking for season jobs like ski resort work, summer resort work etc. If you sign up they will send you an email regularly with updated jobs and contact emails to send your CV’s too.

Www.friendsofelshadai.com – this is a beautiful NGO non-profit children’s home in Uganda, africa. I have spoke with them via email and would advise you to volunteer here if you are in Uganda.

Www.hostelhoff.com/volunteering – yes I know haha it’s called hostel Hoff!! This rapidly growing hostel in tanzania, Africa had begun a volunteer community from between the hotel walls. How it works is you spend very little to stay but gain so much from helping the community around you. I have spoke with the lady who runs it and she informs anyone who comes must bring a book, a poster of the Hoff or something else to contribute to the hostel community. She is from Ireland and after seeing the rip off volunteer agencies that take thousands of dollars off you that never get back to the community she decided to make a real volunteer opportunity. One day I will go there so please go and tell me what it’s like!!

Inspiration

Www.bootsnall.com – this site is full of stories and articles about travel. There is a huge range from ’5 things a backpacker brings travelling that doesn’t need’ to ‘the top 10 different international alcoholic drinks you must try’. Definitely worth a read for some inspiration!

My favourite book – Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It’s about his journey through the slums of Mumbai in India. His rise into the armed goods dealing and his journey to Afghanistan to fight along with his Indian brothers.

Another great book – Vagaboning: An uncommon guide to the art of long term worl travel. It says it in the title! A must read for anyone embarking on a round the world trip.

I have so many more links and contacts in my little book of mine that would take too long to put up here but these are the select view I have used or will use one day. I hope it helps you plan your journey or inspire it

And remember you can’t see everything so spend enough time in one place to get to know it. No point skimming through and not soaking anything in!

Have fun!

There’s a story that comes from the tradition of the Desert Fathers, an order of Christian monks who lived in the wastelands of Egypt about seventeen hundred years ago. In the tale, a couple of monks named Theodore and Lucius shared the acute desire to go out and see the world.
Since they’d made vows of contemplation, however, this was not something they were allowed to do.
So, to satiate their wanderlust, Theodore and Lucius learned to “mock their temptations” by relegating their travels to the future. When the summertime came, they said to each other, “we will leave in the winter.” When the wintertime came, they said, “we will leave in the summer.” They went on like this for over fifty years, never once leaving the monastery or breaking their vows.
Most or us have never taken such vows but we choose to live like monks anyways!! We root ourselves to a home or career and use the future as a kind of phony ritual that justifies the present. In this way, we end up spending (as Thoreau put it) “the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it.”
We’d love to drop all and explore the world outside, we tell ourselves, but the time never seems right. Thus, given an unlimited amount of choices, we make none. Settling into our lives, we get so obsessed with holding on to our domestic certainties that we forget why we desired them in the first place.

Take from this story what you wish

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them!!”
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I packed a little bit of my bag… I bought a new bag by the way! Green and it has a combo of wheels and back straps. I’m not getting stuck in London underground again without something with wheels!

In my bag so far:
Travel adapter
Alarm clock and flashlight combo ( from KORJO) definitely going to be handy on those early morning buses!
Universal sink plug
Elastic travel clothesline
Blow up neck pillow for those long bus rides and the 6 day transiberian train ride!
Hard drive (a must since I’m not bringing a laptop this time)
Mini first aid kit
Ear plugs and eye mask for when I wana sleep but no one else does!
And last but certainly not least my new travel diary equipped with coffs harbour post cards for people I stay with and and lots of mini (sexy deer caught in headlights) passport photos for those border crossing visas.
My last travel diary is in tatters but definitely a good read.
I attached a photo of it.

I have given away most of my belongings because last time I came home all my clothes were infested with moths and silverfish. So the least the better. Plus who knows if I’ll ever come back this time.

I have been reading a book by Rolf Potts called ‘Vagabonding – an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel’
It is fantastic! So much good advice and inspiration. You must read it before embarking on a round the world trip. Also bootsnall is my favorite travel website with so many good blogs and articles on different topics like the top ten best alcoholic drinks you must try around the world. I will be slowly ticking these off as I go. There’s one in Vietnam that’s basically a whole snake sitting in white wine made from rice (I think). It’s called snake venom or something. Sounds disgusting but can’t wait to try it

I’ve been making an extremely rough plan with my best friend Kathryn who is going on this journey with me. It’s going to be nice to share it with someone this time! Last year was nice but lonely!
Our rough plan shows us landing in Malaysia on 29th feb. Traveling s.e asia for 2 an a half months then heading to India around 10th may and hanging around those parts before heading up into Nepal, tibet and china. From bejing we get the transsiberian railway across Mongolia and Russia to Moscow. Fly to Athens and explore Greece an turkey, ferry to Italy and the rest is random at the moment. My dad is going to meet me for Christmas in Ireland then we are flying to Israel to spend Chrissy with baby Jesus in jerusalem.
Me and kat are thinking about going straight to south America from Israel as connecting flights London-tel aviv-buenos aires is like 1000. And new yrs in a warm country and on a beach would be off the hook! Then the rest is un known. Pretty exciting!

I will probably leave my job towards the end of February. Tell them a couple of weeks in advance. I can’t wait to not work for at least 6 months!

Well that is all for now, I have decided that I will be blogging videos on my travels to make it more fun and less time consuming than writing all the time. I will be using my iPhone for the videos so it should be ok quality.

Hope everyone has a fantastic new year!! Sending out lots of good vibes for 2012.
You’ll be hearing from me soon!
Less than 2 months now!! Woo hoo!

Well I have been lazy and havent wrote in awhile. Since last time I made it back to Sweden and spent the Christmas and New year there. It was fantastic!! Snowboarding and cross country skiing. Sleding and having snow ball fights….. Going ice skating in the city in -25 temp!!! Speed skating on a football field was pretty cool too

I left on the 13th of Jan after the family had come back and we had said our goodbyes, it was very sad Ryanair completly screwed me on my flight home!! I was wearing a few layers of my clothes so my bag would be lighter… but for some reason they checked my hand luggage weight?!!? Well of course it was over having my laptop inside….. So i had to check it in as an extra bag for 800 SEK more which is like 80 euro. Got both my bags back broken!! My laptop wont work, the wheels are all broken off and the bags had security checked written on them….. Not ryanair bcos you do get what you pay for!

Here in London town. Met up with my dear little cousins coco and nesa and we celebrated my birthday in Camden with a nice Thai dinner and lots of drinks! Spent my days in London hopping from Cocos bed to Vanessa couch and to Liam’s floor in his university halls. Had a good night out with Dizi once more and we said out good byes Got to spend a few days with her though in Andover (a town a few hours from London by bus) and we just mucked around riding horses, watching movies and talking to ghosts haha.

Next off to Sheffield for a week! Which was an insane week…. so much drinking and partying! Australia day was a big day too… not many aussies in Sheffield but i think i made up for that. All of Carmens friends are so nice and friendly!! Didnt end up going to Manchester or York on daytrips because Carmen was busy studying her Chinese and…. well we were all pretty hungover.

So now here we are, I just spent my last 50pence on a can of soup and going to Heathrow airport tomorrow to get my flight to Singapore! Jef (my Singapore couchsurfing friend) has organised everything for me! He is just amazing!!!

There’s someone picking me up from the airport when i arrive at 5:45pm (a sign with my name on it – how cute!!) and then taking me to the hostel which Jef’s friend owns. He is working that night at the Mexican restraunt but im going to get ready at the hostel then meet at his restraunt for dinner and then Chinatown!!! The next day Chinese New Year begins!!!! Oooohhhh Im so excited. We are going to be celebrating with his family and then of course going out. Wednesday is ladies night so free entry and free drinks in Singapore….. i dont think i will be getting much rest. When I get back to Australia I will just be dying. At least i can go to the beach.

Since Ive been away from home I really have realised and appreciate my home town! It is a small little town in the middle of no where with only 60,000 people BUT i really feel lucky to have grown up there. After seeing so much and such different cultures all over Europe I really feel like Coffs could be one of the best places in the world. Haha dont think many of my friends would agree though!

I really miss eating hot chips on the beach and jumping off the jetty.

Really going to miss eating lots of Hendersons sauce on EVERYTHING in Sheffield

Missing tortilla in Spain….. and of course the sangria

Wish i could go up the ski lift at Hammabybacken in Stockholm and look back over the city lights as i scream at bjorn because i think im going to fall….

Walking from Tribunal metro to Haley’s little apartment in Madrid staring at all the graffiti and art on the walls…

Feeling like I can glide across anything with cross country ski’s on…

Little red telephone boxes on the streets of London.

Eating so much mashed potatoes with caroline because she is just too irish

Seeing the beautiful lake outside my aunts house in Cavan

Having saunas everyday and jumping into ice cold lakes naked with Frieda….oh and making our bum prints in snow-filled chairs, as you do

Rolling naked in snow after a sauna (typical swedish tradition)

Eating loads of meat and sausages and meatloaf in Germany!!

Eating the huge chicken snitzel in Munich on my first night and then swearing to Monuir I would never eat another one again…. and i havent

Drinking the best german beer in the chinese gardens with Gerhard

Staring at the surfers in the English gardens in Munich thinking ‘shit if they are that desperate to surf a wave created by an engine in winter just move to australia!’

Going about everything that absoulute cheapest way… like getting a car ride to the border of Germany and then walking across the border to Czech to buy a train ticket to Prague because we were to cheap to scoff up extra euros to get the train from Munich haha

Horrible cruise ship rides with finnish gypsies that dance around me and cast spells on me…

Hitching a train and getting kicked off in Finland :/

Showing people cities i barely know anything about

Being a tour guide in Madrid – definate highlight

Running pub crawls and getting drunk with them after….then becoming best friends

Hitchhiking across a bridge in Lisbon, portugal with haley because we didnt have 1 euro left to catch the bus and you werent allowed to walk across….. It was the mission to see jesus and we got across and the guy who gave us the ride came with us to see the statue of Jesus!

Eating the portuguese Franchinesa (cant spell – basically heart attack wrapped in bread and dipped in curry sauce and cheese) in oporto with the best portuguese friends i will ever make

Jumping off the islands into the water in the middle of Stockholm city with filip while tourist boats were going past!

Going back to oporto for a Portuguese festival that involves hitting everyone with blow up hammers….

Not remembering being in valencia because of the sangria…..

OKTOBERFEST WITH SARAH, MARINA AND EDDY

Oktoberfest again in November at the Hofbrauhaus with Dizi, Elle, Viesha, Gerhard, 3 random americans we picked up, Dmitry (who is stalking me around Europe), Kulpreet and of course Ang the girl from my little home town i just happen to run into in Munich who i’ve never even met

Dmitry the stalker…..who just lives to follow me around europe. First met at couchsurfing football match in Barcelona, then in stockholm in the summer when he moved from finland to study there…. then randomly shows up at the bar im at in Munich for my friends farewell party (yay!) and then back in stockholm for winter, eating lots of meatballs while vegetarians watch in disgust hahaha

Hanns the german dinosaur

Eating so much kaesespaeztle till i burst….. and then washing it down with the best drink ever invented (of course germans invented it) APFELSCHORLE!!

Selling my bra for 10 euro and 10 jagerbomb shots

- Im going through the music I loved when i left Australia and Rise Against still gives me chills and makes me want to go crazy. Really wish I could play it on Guitar hero with chris right now…… Is guitar hero still alive? hahaha -

Being the Skippy of Sheffield…… and Leister…..

Wake boarding in the North of Sweden (in summer but!!!) and falling off and of course doing a face plant

Doing another face plant on Australia day 2011 in Sheffield off an electric surfboard

Making human pyramids in El parque retiro in madrid

Getting stranded in Mallorca and being rescued by Australians and Americans and had the best 4th of July celebration EVER

Taking my pants off on the subway for the No Pants Subway Ride in Stockholm 2011….

Riding horses in the woods in Andover

Drinking fresh orange juice in the crazyness of Marrakech

Bargaining with the Moroccans and being the mean bargain hunter while haley was the nice one

Waking up at 430am with andre for the Lucia concert in -15 weather in the middle of the city………cant believe i could wake up so early

Frieda stealing two bottles of Tequila and Vodka from behind the bar at a club….without them even noticing……………

Hiking to the Disney castle in Munich to find out we just missed the last tour and that 3hour journey was for nothing

Being a cat with elle (the crazy canadian) on halloween in germany

MOO MY LITTLE COW THAT CAME TRAVELLING WITH MY EVERYWHERE!! He got stolen at oktoberfest with my camera, and my wallet, and my phone!!!

Riding tractors in the middle of no where in Ireland

Singing spanish karoke with the girls in kapital xx

Makenna and the brazilian

…..Sorry makenna, Kiera and the brazilian

Whooops……………sorry Haley, HALEY AND THE BRAZILIAN

100 Mondatidos

Camels in the Sahara dessert, and how much my bum hurt afterwards……

Peeing in the middle of the Sahara dessert with Haley

Making human sand men in Barcelona

Dressing up as a mime in Madrid and playing on the metro to make people smile then making some extra euros with Cora face painting in the park — damn if i remember right we were a hit and didnt stop painting faces for hours…. i think we made like 50euro

Graztie Mille with Emi on wednesdays!!! Mmmmm free italian tapas and tinto de verano

When me and haley got dressed up by a moroccan man into moroccan wives and nearly sold for camels..

Eating moroccan snails ………………………. yum

Playing tag on ice skates in stockholm with Lara and Samir (german friends from Madrid), Mike (the american from cs) and a little fat kid from Lativia

Vomiting up my whole kebab in Turku, Finland’s shopping centre :/

Antoines pussy cat

Sitting in the middle of Sol

Studying spanish and german

Eating crazy things i thought I would never eat

Meeting lots of family members

Missing everyone from home

Getting jobs, leaving jobs, having too many jobs, being homeless, having NO jobs…..

Eating a chip buttie – aka chip sandwich but kat insists its called a chip buttie

Going to silly with claire in dublin

Randomly meeting my brothers good friend on the streets of dublin who works for bill gates yacht company or something :/

WHEN SPAIN WON THE WORLD CUP AND I WAS IN MADRID!

The gay people in madrid that wear pretty colours

- I miss chicken salt and it annoys me so much that no one in Europe knows what it is.-

Arctic monkeys concert in Madrid…..with my beautiful columbian friend Juli! Who knew that the arctic monkeys knew a little spanish?

Walking on a lake frozen over

Drinking a pint of guinness in the gravity bar

Looking over barcelona from a roof top at night

Sun baking naked in Spain

Sailing in the stockholm archpeligo

Eating rotten fish from a can……

Eating alot of brie cheese and salt and vinegar chips with Haley Collins

Drinking alot….

My first tequila shot with Juli

My yellow one eyed pyramid….

Meeting amazing people

and more amazing people

and more more more more amazing people

To name all the people that touched me in the last year and a half would take up my whole blog!!!

There are so so so many more things to name but those are the highlights I can think about now.

Seriously… to all the people that are bothered to read my blog and all the people who arent bothered..
I love you! Te quiero! Ich liebe dich!!

You have all touched my heart and helped me grow. I made so many friendships that i will keep forever and hold in a very special place in my heart. You all taught me so much about myself that I never thought I would be such a strong person as I am today. Madrid is definately a second home for me.

I went through lots of ups but LOTS of downs…… and realised that, THAT is life. And i wouldnt change anything. I dont regret a single thing because everything happened for a reason, que sera sera..

Im not afraid of really anything anymore….. and put all my faith in God.

- OH i remember another, church in Sweden with my swedish host family… completely in Swedish, except for the songs which i danced along too haha

If it wasnt for meeting so many different kinds of people and experiencing different cultures and ways of living my eyes might be shut but now they are open

Keep your eyes peeled, Im saving for Asia now……. already 1500 AUD in the bank yew yew!

Oscar Wilde

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. – Oscar Wilde

Sitting here in Dublin at the moment staring out the window at the after math of the blizzard we had earlier this week! Unbelievable…. most snow Ireland has had in centuries…. and this early? The world is going crazy!

I was meant to be in Sweden already, my flight was for the 1st but I got the worst cold and really sick so I decided instead of getting colder in Sweden I wait till 7th instead Plus free health care is nice!

There is so much snow its unbelievable……. Check out this photo from outside in my little village of Clondalkin

It’s like Narnia… a big winter wonderland

Today I searched Dublin for Wellies……They are sold out EVERYWHERE! Eventually found a pair that really isnt my colour but had to do…. Shoveled the snow of the driveway today for the first time in my life… It doesnt look so hard in movies but ahh my back was aching by the end. I resulted in just putting lines for the car tyres instead haha!

Just booked my ticket from Stockholm to London!! Last stop on this crazy journey of Europe…. dont worry there is more fun to be had in South East Asia….and then I will be back! Decided I am going to study in Europe… why not? Learn another language and experience the brilliant culture.. Planning on doing Bachelor of Pyschcology and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Studies… if this is possible! At some universities it is…. so who knows! Looking at universities right now in Stockholm, Berlin, Munich and Madrid.

Ohhh….. update on my time in Germany. Last post was just about when I landed I think. Well! The whole experience was unreal. So much good food and good beer. Favourite has to be kaesespaetzle and favourite beer definately Augustiner Helles! The German lifestyle is really relaxed and sterotypes aside, German people are really friendly Plus the language is lovely! A friend from home came to visit, she’s living in London right now and it had to be one of the best weekends I had in Germany! Here’s a link to her blog that tells all about our adventures – http://wedontridekangaroos.tumblr.com/post/1545268385

Now Im on my way back to Sweden to stay for about 2months and mind the house for the family while they are away travelling. Going to ski and snowboard heaps.. the snow in Stockholm is already heavy!

Christmas is so close… I can really feel it this year even though Ill be spending it alone this year but Im looking forward to it a little… some time for myself. If i get lonely I always have Lovisa down the road anyways I missed out on the Christmas markets in Germany (saw them put up though and so pretty!) but the Chrissy markets in Sweden are just as nice! In Germany they drink Glühwein, its basically hot mulled wine.. and in Sweden they have something similar called Glögg – cant wait to try it!

Here’s a pic of the Chrissy markets on Gamla Stan island in Stockholm… Its the old town island.

Heaven!

All my love to everyone back home xxx

These crazy beer wreches can party harder than me but still carry 10 plus beers …..

So i’ve been here in München for about a month i guess… Oktoberfest blurred the memory a little.

Its quite a beautiful city and I love being in the middle of Marienplatz… it feels like the city is standing still in such a busy world. The old buildings… the pretty fountains and the leberkäse is just so god damn good.

So I’m living with a new family, really cool Mexican-German family with two little gorgeous kids. Ciara and Isiaia

I started German school about three weeks ago and my German is coming along slowly…I understand little things and greetings but want to know it all! I just love German music…. plus the kids dont speak English or Spanish so i have to learn German fast.

I am loving German beer… German food…. German weather (until now where the sky has turned a dark grey and the snow is on its way…) and of course German men haha Haley…..

I have made a new group of friends and they are all very nice from all different parts of the world but mostly from Germany. I went and saw the best band live the other day. The band is a mix of Barcelona and Berlin members and called Bonaparte. The show was one of the most craziest and best shows I have ever seen!!

This is one of their songs ^^^but they got heaps more, check it out!

So… I’ve started learning the guitar too…teaching myself but its impossible so i went on couchsurfing and found a group that wants to learn too and now we meet on Monday nights for guitar lessons and beer…. good mix yeh? Im coming along and I will pick up a cheapy acoustic guitar on my way back through thailand so i can continue practising at home.

I wish my Aussie accent was as strong as it was when i left.. I have lost my spark and people now dont believe im Australian and mistake me as British.. or the worst American!! But it sparks back up when I talk to an Aussie… Im kind of excited to go home and see everyone. I have made a plan and will spend around 7 months max back at home saving and then goodbye again.

I dont know how to open a beer bottle !! I dont know where the bottle opener is and I really want to open this beer….. why did school never teach me how to get these stupid lids off with a knife or something… Another lesson to be learnt…I miss the Australian twist off tops……!!

I made some really awesome Australian friends and a German chick who learnt English in Aust so now she has the best W.A accent, love it. Made some really nice aupair friends too from German class. Going for a sushi date tomorrow with one of the girls. 10 euro all you can eat sushi…. on a revolving table! I dont even have to move, i can just eat until i burst. I miss sushi so much, especially cheap 2 dollar Aussie sushi. When i ask for chicken sushi here they give me the weirdest look like Im crazy…. they just dont know how good it really tastes!

This weekend is halloween, so pumped for it. So many plans but just got to see with work and stuff then who knows. Love the work though, the kids just make is so much fun. Me and Isaia were playing football all day today… and the snow is on its way. One morning the grass was completely frost and specks of snow around. I got the gloves on, the beanie on, the scarf, the layers, the thermals and the rosy, frozen cheeks…. eskimo Kiera is back from last winter and she hasnt changed! Favourite part of the snow is when its so sunny and beautiful, take that over a day at a hot beach anyday. But then when the snow starts to melt…..things get ugly.

-Beer is open now. Thank god for people that are multi-talented.

Miss my family at home alot these days, everyone has their own thing going on and i wish i was there to give support….. only 5 months left till i can hug you all again!

I have always loved this song -

Please…. let the snow fall soon I want to get out on the skis and snowboards!! And drink lots of the famous hot red wine served here in Germany….

Excited for the snow, bring it! I got my trackies ready…!

XXXXX

So much life in the air and the city yet so calm at the same time. I love that the city is surrounded by water and you can go for a dip anytime of the day hahaha There has been so many adventures over the last month!

I explored Höga Kusten with Lotta, Melina, Joanna and Mya! Us girls went on a road trip last weekend up to stay with Lotta’s parents. They live in the most beautiful place in Höga Kusten because it is right on the water and its the best place to view the brdige from your toilet window! ha!

In Höga Kusten we got the boat out and did some skurfing on the water with a wind surfing board and I tried some Swedish foods… Surströmming was awful! It is basically rotten fish in a can…. We had a crayfish party which is very common for Swedish people to do in the Summer. Crayfish isnt that bad and it was nice to try all these different foods!

I have been camera-less for 2 months now and my mum is sending a package with her camera, vegemite and some Australian presents for the children. I cant wait to have my own camera again and go photo crazy!!

During my time in Sweden I learnt so much ! I learnt a bit of Swedish too and it is such an amaying place to live. The city is so alive but i wonder if it will be the same in December when I return. Lotta asked me to house sit their house while they travel in Asia for one month. I get to play with the cats and snowboard all month wooo! Im so excited to go back and see the family again and see all that snow!! Last year Lotta said the house was halfway covered nearly!

Right now I am in Munich, Germany attending the Oktoberfest and living with a different family here. The house is about 20mins from the centre and there is a great thai food take away next door! Mmmmm!

I went to Oktoberfest on Saturday with my lovely Marina, a german friend i met in Madrid, and her sister! It was unreal…SO over crowded and everything was so expensive. I saw the parade which was nice and returned on Sunday with my Australian friend Sarah for round two and jesus it was crazy. We went to two tents… the first one not that great and smelt like FISH! It was called fisher vroni…the people were pretty old there so we moved to a bigger tent! It was called Hofbräu and that was INSANE. It was full of Australians, New Zealands, British, crazy Swedish and every other nationality! People were dancing on tables and swinging their mugs like they were playing golf. I got up to 4 mugs and after that I couldnt take anymore ha ha. My last mug was shattered by a really strong ‘PROST!!’ then i was covered in beer…. Silly germans. The night took us everywhere but the after party ended up in Holiday Inn’s bar which went on till early morning. Next day started with a rocking hangover that was soon fixed with Vegemite on toast (thanks mum!) and a wrecked dirndl, only to be continued with a move to my new home! Marina and Mounir AKA PABLOOO (soy pablo, pablo no hablo espanol!) drove me to my new place which is ont he far east of Munich and they live on the far west…thanks so much guys! The whole family is really nice, the father is Mexican and the kids only speak German so Im working hard on that German! I start class next week..its so cheap here to study German. 130 euro for two months! There are two kids, one girl Ciara and on boy Isaia. They are 3 and 5. Beautiful children and so so friendly.

I have such a good feeling about Germany but still I think my most favourite place in the world will be the streets of Marrakech…and the 30c fresh orange juice…. mmmm

So many new doors have been opening for me and it is such a relief to know for the next few months I know where and what Im doing. I have started learning the guitar too. Henrik my host father in Sweden started teaching me some basic chords and now at my new placei n Germany I have a guitar in my room to practise on! Perfect! I hope this teaching myself thing works out…. it worked out for everything else i guess ha ha.

I will update another post with photos soon… Im computer-less now too so I have been using other people’s computers but soon soon. There are lots on my facebook for family and friends if you want to see.

Sarah is coming back to Munich this weekend for another round at Oktoberfest and Lara is hopefully coming down to Munich from Dusseldorf and then on the 24th the Brazilians arrive from Dublin! This is going to be a great weekend….bring it on!

As most of my close friends know I am in love with German music and for all that dont know well.. now you know, so enjoy this song by Philipp Poisel that I’m currently listining too.

Love love love to all, Im always thinking of you.

And see you soon Sweden! Xxxxx

Well who would of knew it but Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen…. It is so old and it is where the Vikings lived! Sweden is where Pippy long stockings came from… the glass on the top of the Sydney Opera House back home in Australia was made here by the famous glass makers in the north, so many IKEAS haha AND Absoult Vodka is made here ! Could I have found my new city of love??

City view up close – you can see City Hall in the back where they used 10kg of gold to make it!

First day here was great, the family I am living with live in Tyresö and it is in the south of Stockholm city. It is so nice to be out of the city and surrounded by lakes and forest. But the metro and bus here is just as good as Madrid and it takes maybe 20mins or less to the city! Plus there are night buses running every hour, every day of the week! Also the trees here look like Christmas trees! There is a beautiful lake next to the house which is one of the biggest here in Stockholm. We are going to hire canoes before I leave and go down it

Colourful houses in Stockholm centre

The house is beautiful, so nice inside and out, pool, sauna, basketball hoop and my own little room which the family decorated with Australian things which they had bought when they lived in Australia. They are so so helpful and I feel like part of the family! They have also asked me to house sit in December for them while they travel in Asia..and I definatly wouldn’t mind coming back here !

Today we drove 3 hours down south to Örebro which is in between two lakes in the middle of the county half way to Norway. It’s where one of the best waterparks are too! We were on our way to Skara another waterpark-themepark but the weather was getting worse so we stopped in Örebro. I felt like a child again going on all the slides with Melina and the other boys! It was nice and tonight I saw all the families photos from Australia when they went.

Tomorrow the city again, I went to the city the other day and went on the Globen (a massive globe where you can see the whole city from the top, inside is a concert venue) and got a great view of the city from the top. Tomorrow I’m going to South Island and city centre where I’m meeting some friends that live here that I met in Madrid! Stockholm city centre is islands…water everywhere, its amazing! So many bridges…and all the houses are so colourful. And jesus there’s alot of candy here…. I thought they were joking when they said Sweden is the capital for sweets but nearly every shop has about 40 different sweets you can mix and choose from.

The Globe – it changes colours at night to suit the event it hosts

Stockholm is also known as ‘Venice of the North’ because it has so much water surrounding it! And as I have been teaching English to Melina I have been picking up alot of Swedish and it really isn’t that different to German which is good! Also next week the kids go back to school so I can spend every day in Stockholm city!! And finally get to hit the town kiera style….I’m so glad its cheaper than Ireland!!

Tomorrow I leave to go sailing with the family for three days around the islands in between Sweden and Finland.. I’m not sure how far we will go but who knows! I never knew before that the waters up here have no sharks or deadly creatures in them! … so I will stay in all day! I’m so excited to see the beautiful islands around Sweden and also it will be my first time on a sail boat…

The family Sailboat

Big day tomorrow and the beginning of a big weekend out at sea! Aye aye sailor haaaaa! Hope you fall in love with these pictures as much as I have fallen in love with the place.

All my love to my Aussies back home & the best friends I have met on my travels, miss you more and more each day

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It’s time to move on tomorrow and hit Sweden! I still can’t believe I’m going to Sweden, it seriously had never crossed my mind before.. so I hope I like it! People have been telling me how beautiful it is…but cold.

Crazy Irish folk with the tat ‘Life’s a beer’

As usual I havent packed my bags and I’m going to probably put it off until it’s too late again ha ha. Leaving Australia I left my packing till hours before my flight after my farewell, in Spain I was throwing things out of my backpack to make room a hour before I had to leave and now… everything is dirty and I dont know what to pack for these three months away from my home away from home.

I’m going to miss Dublin so much toooo! It has been so much better this time around because its been sunny! Made lots of new friends aswell Went to the Guinness Storehouse with Brian and Kev when they were stopping here before leaving back to America too which I had been meaning to do for ages ….

Kev & I and my little travelling moo cow in the middle!

I also went to Navan in Co.Meath… Its the county just above Co.Dublin and I met my dad’s side of the family! Saw the famous Kells cross and went to a tractor festival with loads of knackers and tinkers!!! Rode on a tractor for the first time and saw where my family grew up.

Went on a day trip the other day to Bray… its so so pretty! A little town on the beach and instead of sand there’s just pebbles….

Oh! And I cant forget my first weekend here when me and Claire went to Dun Leary for the World Cultures Festival which was brill. Loved seeing some water! And it was a different experience unfortunatly Claire left that week for Spain but it was great to have a little catch up.

This might be the last update for awhile… I am not packing my laptop for this trip. Took me ages to decide but I figure I will be better off without it, plus i can concentrate on studying Spanish then! …I dont think I will attept Swedish, way too hard….

Big day tomorrow, leaving Dublin at 9am arriving in Stockholm at 1pm… The family I’m meeting there said they made signs for my arrival and will be waiting in the airport….How cute!!

Ciao xxxxxx ♥