The Longest Day

Today, 21 June, is the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere: the longest day of the year (hi friends back in Australia! You're halfway there!)

I've heard it's also a super moon this weekend (although between you and me, most moons are super, right?)

On the road again...

I am travelling back up to dear Iceland to celebrate, and will have 24 hours of sunlight! Unfortunately I'm not sure the super moon will make an appearance. I wonder what solstice partying we'll get up to...

Things to look forward to

I adore my life. I am so very grateful to be able to enjoy these adventures.

But it is hard to blog while roaming the world. I have so many ideas running around my head, but neither the wifi connection nor the patience in blogging from an iPad to execute them all. Please excuse my on and off absences.


Things I am looking forward to:

I am seeing my parents tomorrow! I haven't been with them since November, where we spent a crazy rushed couple of days in Bordeaux and Barcelona together.

On Friday we are heading back up to Iceland (again, I know) on the summer equinox! It'll be surreal, gloaming sunlight all day and night!

I get to sleep on a bed for the next two weeks! I am so thankful to all my delightful couch-surfing hosts, but it'll be so nice to spread out in a real bed.

Not having to look after myself for a while. Travelling with my parents for two weeks means they have booked all the accommodation, taken care of travel arrangements and even planned exciting activities (Harry Potter train! Alain de Botton Institute lecture! Rock concerts! Fancy dinners!) I will be so relieved to not have to continually watch my back (it gets tiring after this much solo travel).

Tour de France! I hope to watch from seaside St. Malo with some lovely friends.

Visiting my old host family! They've moved (from Burgundy, to Paris, and now to the Belgian border) and it will be so lovely to catch up and speak French again.

Catching up with friends in Paris! I keep being drawn back to the French capital, and European summer means a lot more friends to play with!

These are only my short-term thrills; I did another spate of flight booking today, and have been feeling inspired by people I've met here in Germany... we shall see where my travels take me!

Plans change.

I was supposed to fly home today.

Back when I left Adelaide for France at the end of September, it was with the understanding that this was temporary, and I'd be back for the second half of the 2013 school year.

Then again, I was supposed to be living la vie française with my boyfriend.

I was supposed to be starting work again at my physics teaching job in Australia on Monday. Instead, I'll be in Berlin, catching up with old friends, drinking beer, and making the most of daylight savings.

As a child, I never was very good with change. I guess it's something I'm learning as I travel the world.

So, plans change. And that's okay.

Everywhere you go...

Always take the weather with you.

I'm that person. Always checking the forecast on my phone. Weaving meteorological chitchat in to conversations. Smiling when it's sunny; gloomy when it's grey. Weather has a big influence on my life.

Adding some new destinations to the weather app on my phone, I had to delete some old cities that I'd been keeping tabs on: places I'd lived, travelled and loved. And it wasn't easy! I like to keep an eye on what's happening around the world.

London. A true global city; mostly I just like to look at the appalling weather and feel smug that I don't live there (although it's apparently the done-thing by fellow Aussies)

Oh Paris. Remember when I lived there? I pop in every now and again to say "Bonjour".

Bordeaux: my home for seven months, and home of grey, drizzly skies.

Roma! A quick weekend getaway two months ago.

Reykjavik and Akureyri, Iceland. I was there nine weeks ago (and will be back in Reykjavik next week, hurray!)

Ah, Avignon. I spent a lovely Easter weekend there.

My Japanese odyssey was six weeks ago now!

Visited the city of mustard about a month ago.

Rode a bike in the sunshine round Montpellier three weeks ago.

A little over two weeks ago I visited Copenhagen for the first time.

Budapest was only two weeks ago! Caving and ruin bars!

Didn't get Stockholm syndrome when I was there last week (also for their National Day!)

Krakow, last week. Great city. Hope to see you again, Poland.

Almost at the present (I'm writing to you from Bremen. But I've also been in Cologne. It gets confusing.) Why Dortmund? Many people did indeed ask me this question. First of all, why not? And second of all: low cost roulette - my new favourite way to travel.

Given the crazy business of the last few months, I'm hoping you can throw some travel destinations at me. Where should I visit next? I have plans brewing for France, Vienna and Prague (and Istanbul, depending on the situation) and then further into the future why not Montréal, Quebec, and the US?

A day in the life (on the go)

Last week I gave you a brief look at what a day's travel might (sometimes) look like.

 I thought I might also do a photographic version (not easy when working off an iPad but I do it all for you).

Delicious German breakfast at my couchsurfing host's house. Great way to start the day!

Look at my handsome green bus.

I bought some cashews from "the best nut shop in Dortmund" before my bus ride. Yum!

Weird model dinosaurs in a dust bowl out my bus window.

Arrived safe in Cologne, schlepped up a hill with my pack, and found the right tram to get me into town.

Pretty metro stop!

Unpacking in the hostel. I discovered just how much red (and polka dots) I'm carrying with me.

Time to do some laundry! Green tiles.

Found some late lunch/early dinner at a vegetarian restaurant in Cologne.

Popped in to the Oxfam shop, checked out the secondhand books and tried on this pretty dress. Pulled muscles getting it on; didn't purchase it...

Australia shop!

Sad bike :(

One thing I like about Germany is the BIKE LANES!

"Chick lit" in German bookstore = awesome.

Grocery shopping. Forgot how much cheaper Germany is than France.

Withdrew some money/geld!

Not feeling very well today so stocked up on vitamins; fresh radishes for dinner - and yes, I finished my book (bought the night before. Oops)

Back up to my hostel room.

My washing still wasn't dry. Needed some rest though...


So there we have it! Photos taken during the course of Tuesday, 11 June 2013.

Fading Heart

I've been wearing a red, plastic heart ring on my left hand for... at least two years now. A daily reminder to love myself, and those around me.

But the other day I noticed something.

My heart, it's fading. I guess exposure to the elements will do that (and perhaps if we had more sunshine in Europe over winter and spring this would've happened sooner).

It's doing this on-trend ombre thing.

Got me thinking about colour perception though, when a dorm mate commented that my ring looked more pink than red. I wear so much red (even more so when travelling, perhaps, so that everything in my pack matches). What if my red, the colour of love, doesn't appear as intense to others? What if it appears as something else entirely.... as orange?!

I'm alive!

Just been loving my life in Krakow, Poland.

On to Germany tomorrow; not sure how much time I'll have..

Doctor's orders

I was told by the airport doctor at 5am yesterday to rest my legs following my nasty spill on the streets of Budapest.

That means walk all over Stockholm the next day, head to a theme park and scramble your way through the fun house, then walk home uphill via cobbled streets, all while wearing high heels, right?

Wouldn't want to disobey a doctor's orders...

24(ish) hours in the life of this traveller

It's getting harder for me to keep track of where I am right now (particularly upon waking) so I thought I'd scramble together a post on what a day/some days are like on the road and in the air.


I write this to you at midnight in Stockholm, Sweden, a country I'd never visited before (not counting the flight out of Malmo/Copenhagen last Friday).

21:00 Monday, 3 June:  I had just finished an exhausting and exhilarating three hours spelunking under Budapest and raced for the bus back to the city.

22:00: Walked with new caving friends to a fancy restaurant for my last night in Hungary.

23:00: Ran back to the restaurant to collect my swimsuit bag, still wet from the Turkish baths that morning.

24:00: Met my couchsurfing host on the last metro home.

1:00: Looked up the bus timetable and decided to stay up all night.

2:00: Forced myself to stay awake by sending overdue emails.

3:00: Wrote my hosts a thank you card and walked through the dark streets to catch a night bus into the city centre.

4:00: Tripped on my pack walking to the airport shuttle and came down hard on my knees. Ouch.

5:00: Checked in, and was attended to by airport first aid. They couldn't even give me an ice pack...

6:00: Flight Budapest --> Stockholm.

7:00: Definitely ugly sleeping inflight.

8:00: Arrived in Sweden and picked up a sandwich at the airport. Rude reminder of how expensive Scandinavia is.

9:00: Enjoyed the sunshine while waiting for the airport shuttle bus. Loved the green scenery.

10:00: Fell asleep on board.

11:00: In Stockholm centre, finally got through to my couchsurfing host.

12:00: Metro to his apartment, and realised that my stay there wasn't going to work out..... lifestyle differences....

13:00: Metro to hastily booked hostel in old town. Much happier.

14:00: Freshly showered, and decided to rest my knee for a little bit...

15:00: zzzzzz

16:00: zzzzz

17:00: Definitely ugly sleeping again.

18:00: zzzzz

19:00: Finally woke up and obligatory am/pm confusion.

20:00: Found a vegetarian restaurant! Piled my plate high.

21:00: Walked around the historic harbour area in the beautiful long evening light.

22:00: Wasn't able to find a supermarket, so headed back to the hostel for a cup of tea.

23:00: Chatted with fellow travelers. I LOVE hearing other people's stories!

24:00: And here we are! Time for a good night's rest.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into what my travel days can be like. This was definitely a long one!

It's June

and I've been cold for over a year now. I deserve two summers this year.

I always found it strange how seasons aren't proper nouns.