A few notes for the negative nomads!!

I’ve travelled quite a lot over the last 6 years. Admittedly, I was pretty terrified when I first left England for an extensive amount of time at the age of 26 to dive head first into teaching English in South Korea. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but I did have an incredible time. However, I’m a true believer in “life is what you make of it”. I have also coined a new phrase whilst on my current round the world trip: “not all experiences have to be good”. I feel this is not only true for myself but for people of the world alike and especially backpackers/travellers.
I’m always astonished at how many people who travel are genuinely miserable doing it. I can’t help but feel sorry for them, with their grumpy faces and venomous tongues which ooze negativity at any given opportunity. “Why are you here?” I always want to ask them, but I fear that kind of question would tip them over the edge into a ball of frustration of which I would never hear the end of, therefore, normally, I just smile and nod and share my positive experiences with them to try and ease the mood. This doesn’t always work, as some people are just having THE worst time………

Ha! The worst time!? This for me is incomprehensible. All too often the phrase “first world problems” is passed around by people so fortunate in life that they might as well get it printed on a t-shirt or tattooed across their shiny botoxed forehead. However, at least these people realise that their problems are relatively trivial in the grand scheme of things. The “worst time backpacker” on the other hand seems to be so consumed with pessimism that they can’t even laugh at themselves. I think it has a lot to do with expectations. Your mates have travelled and they loved it, they tell you that you should go, as they had the most AMAZING time. What they probably missed out is that they drank so much alcohol and fornicated with so many people that they actually didn’t really travel much as they were either hung over in bed or going for sti tests in a dodgy Asian hospital! For some people, this is all they need to have life changing experiences and good for them. At least they’re having fun, doing what they want to do and no-one can take that away from them.
So, you’ve listened to your mates and bought a backpack. They had a mean time in Australia (or wherever) because the weather and the money over there is great. You head off into the sunset eagerly anticipating this filling the void of whatever your life was lacking, which made you want to travel in the first place. Boom! There it is right there! Going to a different country isn’t going to solve your problems, in fact, it’s probably going to make you feel more isolated, have less people to talk to, worry more about money and ultimately make you pretty hard to be around, isolating you more and the cycle continues.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I’ve complained about being a buffet for mosquitoes a few times and the price of things in some countries being much higher than I anticipated, meaning I’ve had to skip a couple of meals in order to visit a sight I really wanted to see. Although, to me every day on the road is a massive Christmas present. It’s like opening a nicely wrapped box of adventure, only it came from a secret Santa so you never quite know how much you’re going to love it or possibly even hate it, but not all experiences have to be good remember! How would you quantify having an awesome time if you’d never had a crap one!? Sure, that tap water you drank or bad street food you ate made you best friends with unsanitary public toilets for a couple of days, but you’re still alive. Maybe you’d planned on snorkeling with manta rays only to arrive in Fiji and find manta season has ended, at least you’re still in Fiji with some of the clearest oceans on the word! You’d booked a private room with air con but when you check in there’s only a fan, at least you’ve got the luxury of a four walls, a roof and a relatively comfortable bed. Do you see where I’m going with this!? Don’t you realise how lucky you are to be able to complain about not having air con, or anything remotely the same!? You didn’t choose to be born into a wealthy enough country with good enough international relations that allow you to travel freely. That was luck but by God that’s some incredible fortune. You did however, choose to use your fortune and travel only to maybe find, it wasn’t/isn’t for you. That’s ok. It’s not for everyone, but if after 2 months/ 6 months/ a year you’re still not having fun, you’re still not making friends, you still think everywhere you’ve been is rubbish, maybe, just maybe it’s time to go home. I’m not saying give up at the first hurdle or even the tenth, but if nothing is making you stop and say “WOW” so loudly that people think you’re on the spectrum, travel just maybe isn’t your thing. People who are having an awesome time on their trip/ adventure don’t want to be dragged down by someone who they see being unappreciative of something they have worked so hard for or a place they love. Sure, lots of people have good hearts and will listen to an extent but like most clever people they know negativity is infectious and they won’t hang around the poison for long. Then you’re alone again, you might have made a couple of new Facebook friends, but they’ll never message you!

My advice to all you negative travellers out there is:

Don’t spend your time away glued to social media. Your travel experiences shouldn’t be dictated by how many likes you get on a Facebook/instagram photo. Realistically, no one really cares that much what’s posted in virtual reality so neither should you. Sure, post your pictures and use it as a tool to keep in touch with friends back home and people you meet along the way but don’t spend every time you’re in a free WiFi zone on your phone. Look around you, speak to people, you’ll easily have way more fun!

Wake up every day and think about how lucky you are that you’re not sat on a bus in the pouring rain on your way to a job you hate.

Do the things that YOU want to do. Not what your guide book tells you, not what the people in the hostel are doing, what you feel like. If that’s staying in bed and watching Netflix, so be it. It’s your adventure and everyone is allowed downtime.

Try something that’s completely out of your comfort zone. You might just love it. I’ve eaten live octopus in Korea, bungee jumped in New Zealand and learnt to scuba dive in Thailand. All of which I would never have guessed I would ever do, but no matter how terrifying at first, they were actually all incredibly satisfying experiences.

BE POSITIVE! Like negativity can spread, so can positivity. It might be difficult if you’re having a hard time to try and gain the energy to be upbeat, but trust me, people are drawn to good vibes. Wherever I go I smile when I walk in, to whoever might be looking, someone, somewhere will see it and we’ll more often than not have a conversation. Not all conversations are incredibly riveting stories of paths less wandered but if you put in the time you’ll meet some incredible people with their own tales to tell.

Finally, and this is my favourite. I use a quote from an American author called Kurt Vonnegut.

“One of the things Uncle Alex found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy. He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” So I hope that you will do the same for the rest of your lives. When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, what is?””

And if all of those things fail you, well, at least you’ve tried the whole travelling thing and there’s no shame at all in going home, wherever home may be!

Flaming Galah!

I have wanted to go to Australia since I was 17 when my best friend threw caution to the wind and went travelling by herself. She asked me to go with her, but life just kind of got in the way. In fact it’s been getting in the way for the past 10 years, but finally, this year I made it.

I managed to get cheap tickets through China Eastern, as even though everyone thinks, oh you live in Korea, that’s really close to Australia, if you actually took time to look at a map, you’d realize, they’re in completely different hemispheres and around 5000 miles away from each other. Having thought, what does it matter flying budget, I’m going to Oz, I soon swallowed my words when I boarded the overcrowded basic plane, with very little leg room, no entertainment whatsoever and food that would make every bowel movement fit through the eye of a needle! Needless to say, sleeping tablets and white wine made the journey “fly” by and before I knew it, 10 hours had passed and we were embarking our descent into Sydney.

After the announcement of what the time was local time, and how damn hot it was outside, I looked out of my window, only to be taken aback by the sight of the Sydney Opera house, Harbor Bridge and the lack of skyscrapers. “Space” I thought to myself, finally, I’ll be able to do a cartwheel in a park, without the fear of kicking several people in the face on my way up and down! I was honestly gob-smacked with how flat everything was, and how small all of the buildings were. Fair enough, there were plenty of high-rises to be seen, but surrounding them, were small buildings and parks and ocean. That first sight of Sydney was certainly the most memorable for me and something, I won’t forget in a hurry.

Once into Kingsford Smith airport, everything ran pretty smoothly. I must have the look of innocence, as my bags weren’t searched and I strolled right through into the arrivals area with no problems at all. Obviously, being a smoker, the first thing on the agenda was to go outside and have a cigarette. Having had my lighter confiscated before boarding the plane, I had to ask to borrow one, from what I assumed was an inhabitant of Australia. This is where the culture shock hit home, as I took the lighter with two hands and began to bow when he handed me it! “BLAAARH, I’m not in Korea anymore, I don’t have to be overly polite”, but being in Asia for a year, it has become ingrained into me!  The girls arrived to pick me up shortly after, this slightly awkward feeling on my behalf, I’m sure the guy didn’t even really notice.

When I say girls, I don’t mean just any girls, I mean THE girls. These fine specimens have been my best friends since the beginning of secondary school an even though, they both now reside in Sydney, nothing has changed between us since we were 12 or so.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I have wanted to go to Australia for a decade, but the actual reason I finally got around to it, was not for the sightseeing, cuisine or the weather. No, it was for the girls. We’ve been split up as a group for quite a few years now, with Emma living in Darwin, Rebekka and Rach in Sydney, Abi and Han globe trotting, Rachie F in Sheffield and myself in Korea, but finally after 4 years of us all being unable to be together in one place, we did it. Well, six of us made it. Sadly, the only current resident of the UK couldn’t make the trip, but she was replaced by a more than reasonable candidate, in Hannah’s younger sister Victoria.

As soon as I dropped my bags of at Rach’s house, we were straight to the beach. I certainly wasn’t complaining about this, having left Korea and it being -1°C and arriving in Sydney to a glorious 28°C, we trotted along to a quiet little bay called La Perouse. Not the most glamorous beach in Sydney, but I didn’t care. Beers, girls and sunshine, I had everything I wanted on my first day in Sydney.

That evening, a chap who was friends with the girls had just bought an apartment, and from what I can gather, it was fairly central in terms of the city. He was having a house warming party and we were invited, so we bought some wine and headed on over, only to be amazed at the modern, rustic architecture, the high ceilings and the glorious rooftop terrace, complete with kitchen, bbq and what felt like tropical gardens. Who’d have though in the centre of a gigantic city, roofs had gardens on top of them! I know I certainly didn’t. We ate and drank until our hearts were content, then called it a night before midnight, not something I am used to doing on a weekend in Korea, but I was certainly glad for the rest.

The following day we rose early and embarked on a lovely stroll between two bays. We parked up at Bronte, (which I believe is named after a famous author or two, but I could be barking up the wrong tree!) and walked over the cliffs to Bondi, one of Sydney’s most well renowned beaches. The weather was glorious, the sea was turquoise and the company perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer way to spend a Sunday morning.

After lunch, we headed to the Botanical Gardens, waltzing past the Opera House on the way. I must say, up close, it’s not that spectacular. It was a lot smaller than I expected, and I guess, well, with it being one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, I’d seen it a million times already, so it didn’t feel like anything new! On the other hand, walking along the sea walls towards, what looked like a rainforest was just simply splendid. Having had millions of pictures of Aires Rock and the outback shoved in your face, I’m sure before anyone arrives in Australia, they expect Sydney to be a modern city surrounded by red sand and baron lands. Therefore, when entering the beautiful botanical gardens I was amazed at the sheer greenness of everything. Fruit bats hung from the trees, Ibis birds roamed freely everywhere, golden orb spiders made huge webs between branches and the air was fresh. “Fresh air, I’m actually breathing fresh air!” Everyone, always harps on about how polluted Seoul is and how difficult it is to breathe here, however, I just thought it was a load of codswallop, until I realised I could breathe with ease in Sydney.

The reason for our trip to the Botanical gardens was; a good Samoan friend of mine who lives in Sydney had informed me there was a short film festival on in the park, which he and his girlfriend were going to. So with very little persuasion needed, we decided to head there for the remainder of the afternoon. Seeing Magellan again was a real treat, we had spent a lot of time together while he was living in England, so it was nice to be reunited in Australia, rather than in a dreary pub in Leeds. We sat under a huge tree, drank ciders and laughed the time away for the rest of the day, until a huge storm hit the festival and everyone fled to the subway, like rats to a sewer.  Another day well spent in Oz and the excitement had only just begun.

Monday arrived. This was the day the rest of the girls turned up. Han and Tors were the first, getting in from New Zealand at 9am, with the arrival of Abi at 11am and Emma at 1pm. It was amazing to be reunited after all this time. Nothing had changed, we were still the same people with the same insecurities, tastes and personalities and we all still cared for each other as if we were separated at birth. The rest of the day was spent half naked on Rachael’s balcony, reminiscing, drinking, eating and catching up with what was new in our lives.

To be honest, the rest of the time spent in Oz, was fairly similar to this. Once we were all together, nothing else seemed to matter. I wasn’t too fussed about what Sydney had to offer now I had my girls, but a few memorable outings we had included a boat ride to Manly. We ate well that day and strolled along beaches, climbed a small hill and took in the beautiful scenery of a more secluded part of Sydney.

We had a wander round New Town one day, as I had heard it was a more “hip” area of Sydney, with street art and brick a brack shops. Although, sadly it was a bit of a let down on the art side; there were some cool murals and obscure little graffiti pieces, but nothing like I had expected it to be. Honestly, the coolest thing about the place was the art deco buildings that lined the main street and made me feel like I was in a modern day version of Boardwalk Empire.

On my final few days in Sydney we took an hours bus journey to Portuguese Beach, which is a private beach close to Palm beach (where Home and Away is filmed). We had our very own private beach party hosted by some crazy Brazilians, pirates and perverts.  We played volleyball, tried to use a stand board, drank A LOT and danced until our hearts were content. We also had the amazing company of Sir Thomas Dornford May that day. Yet another friend from Blighty, who recently decided to reside in Sydney. At that moment in time, on that beach with all my friends in a perfect setting, I honestly thought to myself, the clichéd old saying: “life doesn’t get much better than this.”

For what it’s worth, Sydney didn’t really wow me. It was pretty much everything I expected it to be and that was mainly a big city with good weather. It’s very cosmopolitan, full of short hairs, clean shirts and people who go for a jog before work in 28°C heat! However, there were a few things that will stand out in my mind when I look back on my very brief time there, besides the space and fresh air and amazing company. My accommodation being the main thing; I spent most of the time in my friend Rebekkas apartment in Redfern, which is a suburb very close to central Sydney. Her apartment is quaint and homely and I could certainly have called it my home for longer if she and work would have permitted it. Also, the architecture and the vibe around her area is lovely; French colonial buildings line the streets, with sweet little balconies and proper pubs on every corner. Certainly, a taste of the Western life I enjoyed immensely, after spending a year in Asia.

The saddest part of going somewhere new is leaving. Well, if you enjoyed it, that is. I more than took pleasure in being reunited with the glamourzons and seeing the way they live in Sydney. I was however, ready to come back to Korea, but I wasn’t prepared for the void that I would feel having to leave all of my oldest and closest friends behind one more time.

For myself on a personal note, Melbourne is the next stop in the vast country that is Australia, I hear it has more music and art and is as close as you can get to England without actually having to go to England. Sounds good to me! See you in a year or so Australia. WORD.

Je t’aime

A year in Korea continued –

So, yesterday I felt like I tore Korea apart at the seams a bit. It wasn’t my intention, but spending most of your time on facebook, at the end of a school year, when the majority of your friends are about to leave the country for good. Well, it seems to make for a melancholy type of mood.

However, today, I refuse to be brought down by negativity and I will share with you, my top 5 things I love about Korea.

1)    Food – Lord, it’s bloomin’ glorious. There are so many different types of food in Korea, including many Indian, Thai, Greek, Romanian, American, Japanese and Italian restaurants but the traditional Korean food is also full of tasty, spicy, meaty goodness. There’s meat on meat, meat in a pot, meat on a stick, barbequed meat, raw meat, fresh alive moving meat…. Basically, there’s a lot of meat and my word it tastes good. I try not to think of animal cruelty or how “organic” the meat actually is as I’m sure I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do now, but still, if you’re a meat eater, you’re not really going to go wrong in Korea. I have to point out here, that no, I haven’t tried dog, contrary to popular belief it isn’t rammed down your throat at any given opportunity, many Koreans don’t actually like it. From my understanding, it’s mainly only older men that actually consume most of the dog meat in Korea, as they believe it enhances stamina and vitality.

 

2)    Weather – Surprised as you may be at this, just because Korea is part of Asia does not mean it is hot all the time. No, this country actually has weather, and fairly extreme weather to say the least. It can get up to 40°C in the summer, which even though it makes for a disgustingly sweaty existence, it’s something I have never really experienced before. I’m sure I swore it was “too hot” throughout the months of July and August, but this year I am determined to embrace it, as Blighty will certainly never come up with those goods. Winter in Korea is pretty damn cold too, nowhere on a par with Canada or Greenland but the coldest day I have experienced so far, was -17°C. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really appreciate the feeling of my lungs becoming solidified or my hair freezing, however, it makes it possible for the likes of winter sports, such as snowboarding, ice skating and skiing. So there you have it, snowboarding in the winter and sunbathing in the summer, what more could a girl ask for….?

 

3)    The people – I have met some stupidly nice and accommodating Korean people in the past year. Not only have I made really good friends with the people that I work with, but I have met some amazingly open minded and free spirited Koreans, who I’m sure are and will be the leaders in future generations of the Korean population. It’s hard to think outside the box, when all of your educational and life experiences mainly only focus on your country and your culture and the way you should be in your society, but take it from me, the younger generations of Korea realize the boxes they have to tick, but they have a totally different view from the older conservative, more sheltered part of society. Most of the Korean people I have made acquaintances with, are kind, generous, thoughtful and very trusting. If you take the time to know them, they will respect and want to know you.

 

4)    Being a foreigner is easy – Some people may disagree with this statement, but hell, I’m saying it anyway. If you’re a foreigner in Korea, you have SUCH an easy time compared to the Korean population. Because you’re foreign, you don’t have any of the cultural expectation put on you that Koreans have, you’re paid probably double compared to what your co workers get and if you can’t be bothered to learn any of the language or the customs, you don’t have to, because you’re not Korean. There may be a lack of understanding towards you, because you’re not Korean, so you may be expected to go to the odd meal after work with your co workers, or stay later some days at last notice because there’s a special school assembly, but if they’re the worst things that happen in your employment, then life really isn’t that hard is it.

 

5)    Travel and Finance – If you’re wanting a place to live and earn money, while you skim over other Asian countries to see which ones take your fancy at a later date, then Korea is a pretty handy place to live. It’s not the cheapest place in Asia to travel in and out of, but you earn good enough money, to be able to save a couple of months wages and pop over to China, Japan, The Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand etc, without too much hassle or damage to your back account. I have personally been on a couple of long weekends to China and Japan and I’m going to Australia in a couple of days. I have also seen pretty much every place that I have wanted to see in Korea. The Korean transportation system is amazing compared to most of Europe. It’s super cheap and it runs very regularly to most places in the country with very little difficulty. So to recap, in a year I have travelled the whole of Korea, been to China, Japan and Australia and I’ve paid off some of my debts back home, whilst going out nearly every weekend for food and drinks without ever really worrying that much about money. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it!

Woop, there it is. The things I love most about Korea. Here’s to another year of eating well, going on holiday as much as possible and meeting new people.