VirtualTourist Member kentishgirl
| Page Views: 21,343 | Searching for VT time...... by kentishgirl - last update: Mar 30, 2008 |
Study, study, study!! | Ali Kayaking on Milford Sound - New Zealand |
'And this is what the traveller discovers: in this great and endlessly fascinating world of ours, everywhere can be home' -Meredith Moraine
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I really don't get much time for VT anymore; since I arrived home in the UK in September all I seem to have done is study ! LOL....It will all be worth it in the end. Occasionally, if I get the time I will upload the odd tip or piccie on some of my pages, but I am not promising anything. I am more than happy to answer emails regarding destinations that I have visited. But due to time constraints on my part, please ask specific questions and please bear in mind that my travels are purely "budget" and "backpacker" style.
Happy travelling 08 to everyone, and when my studies are over for the holidays I will be researching and planning another trip of my own.
I rarely log onto VT, so if you are a friend of mine on here, it's probably easier for you to log onto facebook and add me as a friend on there (email me if you don't know my full name!)
I am looking for VT time honest, that along with friends and family time! Wow life is so busy right now; my exams are approaching, I am working part tiime and trying hard to fit a trip into the summer - maybe Russia or maybe Europe with some friends.....Anyhow, please keep in touch guys, I am sorry that I've not been in touch more often.....XX...........................
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I am originally from Canterbury, Kent in the UK. I lived there for most of my life,with the exception of a few years in Wales as a child, a couple of years in Ireland as an adult and the past 2 years travelling the world.
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| Sunset at Uluru - Australia |
|  | It's not a dream anymore! This is my life.........
'How long the road is. But for the time the journey has already taken, how you have needed every second of it in order to learn what the road passes by' - Dag Hammarskjold
I got sick of being one of those people who are always saying I wanna do this, I wanna do that. I got tired of planning and still sitting on my butt a year later. So one day I decided that I will just do it. I made plans, I booked flights, I went and I have never looked back.
If I had known years ago what I know now I would not have sat still for so long. I am living my dreams - I am having the time of my life and I am learning each and every day.
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Discovering myself, new lands and new people......
'People travel because it teaches them things they could learn no other way' - Lance Morrow
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I left a British summer far away back in July 2005. I travelled to Turkey with my wonderful partner Matt who is so enthusiastic and loves life just like me. We travelled through Turkey to Syria then Jordan to Egypt.
We flew to Uganda and took an overland truck to DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbababwe, Botswana and Namibia.
We drove ourselves all around South Africa and then flew home for 2 weeks to sort visas out.
Upon leaving the UK we ventured across the Atlantic to Toronto, Niagara Falls and Montreal in Canada. A bus took us across the border into the USA where I revisited Boston and New York - our visas were approved, we flew home to say goodbye to our loved ones once again and then we were off again.
Backpacks on backs we travelled in India and Sri Lanka, enjoyed a brief stop in Singapore and flew up to Hong Kong, 24 hours on a train took us into China where we explored for a month, into Vietnam for another month and then across into Cambodia. We explored Thailand and Laos and then went to the Thai Islands before meeting Matts parents in Malaysia.
We once again spent some time in Singapore, then drove a campervan 14,000 kilometres around Australia before arriving here - in New Zealand in November 2006.
| | | Ali at Angkor Wat - Siem Reap - Cambodia |
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| About to jump in Zimbabwe!!! |
| | Overcoming fears.........
'We must travel in the direction of our fear' - John Berryman
Oh how I hate heights!
I remember a time when I got 3/4 of the way up the Belfry in Brugge and had to come back down shaking and crying! I remember the time I stood underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris in the pouring rain because I was too afraid to climb.
Travelling has changed me in that way. I am still not very fond of heights, but I have learned to push myself, to try harder, to have hope!!
Since I starting thinking that way I have done the following high things which to me are such a huge achievement!
- Paraglided from Baba Dag in Olu Deniz and landed on the beach - Turkey.
- Jumped 120metres into the gorge with a rope around my waist - Victoria Falls -Zimbabwe
- Taken a microlight flight over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
- Skydived over the desert in Namibia
- Taken a tram up to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
- Taken a chairlift to the Great Wall of China - Near Beijing
- Riden a Gondola in Langkawi - Malaysia
- Taken a helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef - Australia
- Climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge - Australia
- Bungy Jumped from the Kawarau Bridge - Queenstown New Zealand.
I don't look at things anymore and say they are too high - the skys the limit!
I have seen some amazing sights and experienced some wonderful things on the my world trip so far, from sleeping under the stars in the desert in Jordan, to glimsping the pyramids of Giza to wandering aimlessly around a busy big hot city in Syria for hours on end, to having Rhino, Lions, Elephants and Hippo just an arms length away.
From snorkelling with nemos in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia to kayaking in a Fiord and climbing a glacier - I have loved every second of it so far.......
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Africa and Me..................
'When the eyes see what they have never seen before, the heart feels what it has never felt' - Gracian
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The one place in the world that truly touched my heart was Africa.
I LOVED Africa. It is the most amazing place in the entire world, Africa made me laugh and Africa made me cry.
It will stay in my memory forever. To think that I was so afraid before we visited Africa - now I cant think what I was afraid of!
The people are so amazing and so beautiful. How can people smile and be so happy when they have nothing, when they could be dying.
Why?
The answer is simple once you have been there and seen. They are happy to be alive, to be a part of the world, they dont need the latest computer or car, they are just happy to be here, and without even knowing that they made me happy too, they made me think that way, they shine like candles in a mirror - reflecting their happiness everywhere they go.
I will go back to Africa in the next few years, I want to do some voluntary work and give back something for what they gave me. I want to travel the west coast and revisit some of the other countries I visited there.
Picture this - In a jeep, 6 white holidaymakers - a rare sight in DR Congo, driving along muddy potholed roads, children waving and smiling and calling out to us, shacks line the roads, a man walks home barefeet to his family with a chicken in his hand, children run behind our jeep, screaming for a pen. Five minutes later the same little boy, with ripped clothes and barefeet is running behind us smiling asking for a pen. You could be in another world- I never knew that places like this existed, he only wants a pen for school - things we take for granted and he is running like I have never seen anyone run before.
Do you understand why Africa changed me? Do you understand why I will never take anything for granted ever again?
| | | Locals along the River Nile - Jinja - Uganda |
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| Chrysler Building - New York City - USA |
| | Loving things I never imagined possible..........
'The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes' - Marcel Proust
There are no words in the world to describe my trip - AMAZING doesn't even come close.
Since travelling and embracing all things new there are a few things I left home not liking very much and now I love them!
Here's a few:
Indian Food Cheap Beer The UK! Camping Overnight bus/train rides 2 sets of clothes cold showers short walks and trekking mountain biking
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What will this year bring????
'Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in an eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake' - Marie Beyon Ray
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Well at the moment we are working hard and saving some cash so that we can get home for September.
We have explored much of the South Island, but we have yet to venture into the North Island! From Auckland we fly to San Francisco for a few days before heading down to Mexico . Overland through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama where we will pick up a flight to Ecuador.
Through to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and from sunny Brazil back to a British autumn.
Thats the plan this week anyway!
| | | Ali climbing the Great Wall of China |
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| Local Ladies in the sea - Palolem Goa - India |
| | Home - It's where the heart is........
'If you do not see what is around you everyday, what will you see when you go to Tangiers?' - Freeman Patterson
We are from such a beautiful country, a place that is definitley on the explore list when we get home! LOL....
Canterbury is a stunning city, and Kent is a beautiful county, plenty to see for all and plenty to do. There are so many atmospheric places and magical views.
There's nothing like looking at Canterbury Cathedral and listening to the crashing waves come onto the shore at Minnis Bay near Birchington.
I really can't wait to get home.......
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 Comments for kentishgirl | | | | |
nhcram Sun Mar 30, 2008 20:28 UTC
Hi Ali, Crap NO! Busy - probably! Give me a call and we can meet up soon x x | Michael_D Thu Mar 6, 2008 07:49 UTC
Hey Kentish...thanks for the kind words....Mikie | orhansuat Wed Jan 30, 2008 06:36 UTC
Hi,first Happy Travelling in 2008 than mwhy do you call yourself ALƯ?when you came to Turkey please visit Egean Coastline and Thrace,thanks. | suvanki Fri Jan 11, 2008 22:41 UTC
Happy Birthday Greetings from Sheffield, and Happy Travelling in 2008! Best Wishes, Sue x |
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