I've had the privilege of travelling to the northern hemisphere (I am South African) five times over the past seven years. The travel bug bit me hard in August 2006, when I was fortunate enough to attend a summer school programme in Edinburgh, Scotland. I fell in love with the country and saved up for a working-holiday, which began on Boxing Day 2007 and ended in September the following year. During my time in the UK, I had the privilege of travelling extensively within the UK. I also embraced an opportunity to visit the Republic of Ireland with one of my best friends.
I had searched for every possible way to go back to the UK in 2009 and ended up working as an activity leader at a summer school for children in London for just over two months, before a pilgrimage north to my beloved Edinburgh, just in time for the Festival.
It would be four years before I had the opportunity to travel abroad again - this time to Abisko, Sweden with my sister to photograph aurora borealis. What an experience!
Recently, just four months after our trip to the Arctic, I attended the wedding of a dear friend in Bali, but not before exploring every aspect of the Balinese culture, every second I could.
Friends and family tell me that they love to hear the stories of my experiences. I do tend to experience travelling with all my senses - I love to hear about the people and their history; listen to, play and dance to local music; take photographs of historical sights, unique natural beauty and people; breathe deeply the aroma of local flowers, spices and fruit; sample and savour local cuisine. It can be quite the sensory overload, but a sensory feast none-the-less.
Also, as most people who travel would agree, I learn much about myself when I travel, through the people I meet and through unexpected situations (both good and bad).
I would now like to share these stories of my experiences and lessons learnt with you. I hope you enjoy reading about them, as much as I enjoy reminiscing and writing about them. Hopefully, I will be able to travel again soon (it takes time to save up to travel!), so that I can share more of my experiences from other places. For now, let's take a journey down memory lane to the other side of the world...
