bisous333's VirtualTourist Home Page

Hi there I'm a 25 year old originally from London, who loves to explore foreign cultures and speak foreign languages. I want to see as much as of the world as is humanly possible! I'm now living my dream in Paris. I also spent a year living in Lille as part of my university studies- what a great year that was! If you want to know the insider guide on London or Paris I'm here to help! Feel free to ask me about my other destinations too!

Happy travelling!

When people think that travelling is just about finding a hot destination to collapse on the beach and read a book for a fortnight, I say no. It's not just about relaxing. I mean you can relax anywhere, at home for free. I don't go half the way across the world just to catch up on a good girly mag. I like to explore.

Hence why, I hate going anywhere that ressembles home, because for me going somewhere new, different and exotic is just about that. It serves as an extension to geography class way back when I was in secondary school, learning all about these foreign lands and desperately wishing I could be out of the classroom and actually there, riding a camel's back through the Sahara.

For me travel is about using one's imagination, abandoning procrastination and reaching that destination.

On my recent trip to Zurich, I took a trip to the cinema (when the sun went down and it started to get very cold!) The film I ended up seeing was a complete last minute decision, but it surely was a good one.

The film was called the Bucket List and starred Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, 2 old guys who come from very different backgrounds and different views on life. Their lives come together when they are both put in the same room in the hospital, as cancer patients and a friendship forms as their illnesses bring them together.

The film then takes on a turn that sees the two patients support each other in achieving their dreams and ticking off the items on their 'bucket list' (what they want to accomplish before they 'kick the bucket'). This film is very inspiring, emotional and best of all it shows a lot of the great wonders of the earth. I found it interesting that when people know they have limited time left on earth, they don't just sit down and wait for the inevitable to happen... they TRAVEL!!!

If you had a year to live, what would be on your bucket list???

(If you are interested in knowing more about this film, go to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/ )

I'm passionate about people, culture and education. I try to assimilate all of these things in my chosen career path. I currently teach English as a foreign language in Paris, mostly because I love the idea of passing on knowledge to another person and also because I throughly enjoy learning languages myself. To date I have been taught French, German, Italian and Spanish; however they aren't all to the level of my French. My ultimate aim is to use my languages to be able to work cross-culturally.

I also work for 2 NGOs: Secours Catholique and Habitat for Humanity. Humanitarian work is a calling for me, I think I always knew that this was the path I was going to take, but it became more apparent during my university years. My current activities include working at the delegation (regional HQ for Secours Catholique in my area of Ile de France) helping to raise awareness of our work in people's neighbourhoods and lobbying local government. Secours Catholique is the French member of the Caritas Internationalis group. The UK member is Cafod.

Simulataneously, I'm working on a project with Habitat for Humanity, to build homes in Macedonia in August 2008. I'll keep you updated with these projects.

In the mean time, for more info on my Habitat for Humanity mission and to sponsor our mission please check out :

http://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=62376872