Lost in Wanderlust

California was absolutely amazing. It definitely helped me get in the swing of things but to be honest I couldn't bring myself to think too much about New Zealand for fear of freaking out. I have never been so far away from home, never taken such a long flight, and why did I think it would be a good idea to do this alone!? Better just not to think about it.. And then suddenly it was the night before I was supposed to fly across the world. It was strange going to bed thinking "tomorrow I am going to New Zealand". Even as I chatted with my uber driver on the way to the airport none of what I was telling him seemed real. It wasn't until I saw the Kia Ora sign at the Auckland airport that it started to sink in.  Despite all my nerves and reservations the flight wasn't that bad and I made it safely to New Zealand. This is going to be the adventure of a lifetime and I am SO excited for what's to come!

After almost two months of working like crazy I finally have set off on the next great adventure! I will be chasing  summer around the world via New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Singapore then London! A few months ago I decided to start in California for a few days to break up the trip a bit. I absolutely love San Diego so i spent a few days cruising in a convertible, making friends with sea lions and paddle surfing! I absolutely love California because in one day you can hike a desert national park and later in the day be back by the sea..so cool! This was the best start to my adventure around the world!

And then suddenly I was on my last inter European flight of the summer..where did the time go?! At the beginning of the summer I had TEN RyanAir flights lined up and somehow I was already on my last one. It was bittersweet..I felt happy sad and excited all at the same time. I was happy and grateful for the amazing summer and all the wonderful people I met along the way. I was sad that my trip was over but excited that in just a few days I was going to be back home for the first time in over 5 months. I allowed all of these emotions to wash over me and just took in the beautiful moment.  When we landed in Stockholm we asked at information for the best way to get to our hostel and found out that we were still a two hour bus ride away 😒 Luckily at this point in our trip, as long as there was a comfortable temperature to travel in, we were pretty go with the flow. I enjoyed the beautiful sunset out the bus window as we made our way to the city center. As soon as we arrived we ...

After my week in Athens volunteering, I headed to Chalkida for some much needed down time. This is the beach town where Jen had been living for the past two weeks.  After spending a few relaxing days by the beach we headed off to the airport to give Sofia another try 😆We only had about 30 hours to see the city and we were determined to make the most of it! On our ride from the airport, our taxi driver insisted on us getting out and taking our picture with the famous cathedral. 😅 We got to our hostel and they were SO welcoming, kind, and helpful. The girl at the front desk sat down with us and went over the map explaining the major sights and the best places to eat..guess she knows the way to our hearts 😍 We spent the first day just walking around, taking in the sights and checking out the local food scene. We were so happy to be back, and that it was so nice and cool compared to Greece! That night we did a free pub crawl with the hostel which was fun and the next...

When Jen and I planned our trip for this summer our main focus was volunteering with the Refugees in Greece. We wanted to travel a little before and after but this summer we wanted to do something different and give back. Unfortunately, since I was unable to get to the police station for a background check they could not offer me a position at the camp. I was definitely disappointed at first but I figured I could check out some islands or something while Jen did her thing. Now looking back I realize that fate had a grander plan. When I got to Athens (after sleeping on the bench like a homeless person for a couple of hours) I headed to my hotel. After what I had just been through, I decided I deserved to treat myself and booked a few days in a four star hotel. I spent the next few days relaxing, doing nothing but swimming on the rooftop terrace and living the life of luxury 😎 That lasted all of a few days because I am broke and had to get back to the hostel life but it was exactly w...

The thing about travel is; it is NOT always easy. Looking at my instagram account of course it looks like all rainbows and butterflies but in reality getting from one place to another can be hell sometimes. Like a train that actually feels like an inferno because there is no AC and you really don't know if you will survive to your destination. Let me back up a bit..So Jen and I loved Budapest so much that we decided to cut out Serbia, continue on to Sofia then fly off to Greece for our work with the refugees. Seemed like a great plan, had a blabla car to Sofia all set and everything..but then our Blabla car cancelled on us 😐So we were left scrambling, trying to figure out how the heck we were going to get to Sofia in time for our flight to Greece in a couple of days. We had heard that the public transport in Serbia was really unreliable (it's Eastern Europe after all) so we decided let's blabla car to Belgrade (the place we originally cut out of our plans) We'll get t...

After an amazing long weekend in Krakow it was time for me to take the long bus ride down to Budapest. Eight hours later they dropped us in a giant parking lot, no information center or anything..ummmm cool. I headed for the metro signs and by the grace of God found a worker who spoke English. He explained the two metros and the bus I would have to take before I finally got to my hostel..AKA another hour with my backpack in 90 degree heat. 😨 I managed the metro bit ..or so I thought, until some man approached me yelling at me in Hungarian. I just smiled and said "sorry I don't speak Hungarian" and continued walking. He stepped in front of me showed me his badge and pointed to my coworker. Through broken English he asked for my ticket then proceeded to tell me since I hadn't validated my ticket I would be receiving a fine of 60 Euro (which I never payed and am probably wanted in Budapest for) but ANYWAYS when I got to the hostel and reunited with Jen all troubles wer...