Shandyla's VirtualTourist Home Page

Before I went to university, my desire to "see the world" was very indifferent.

But after my first year away from home, I had made three best friends all of different nationalities from me - English, American and Canadian.

After out first holiday away together, I began to seize every opportunity to travel and take advantage of having international friends!

In 2005, I spent 6 months in France as part of my Modern Languages degree and travelled as far and wide as I could in the region.

The first step (ie. my first flight alone) was the hardest... but now I am hooked, and will hop on a train to nowhere at a moment's notice!

My next destination is China for my 21st birthday in July.

The two places that I want to visit the most (that I haven't already been) are Japan and New Zealand.

I have lived in Scotland all my life, and no matter where in the world I go I am always happy to return home to it. After a long journey, I love sitting back in the departures lounge and letting the regional accents wash over me - it always brings a smile to my face. I will always find beauty in every country I go to, but nothing can ever be quite the same for me as Scotland.

I'm quite shy at heart. Sometimes I think travelling is my way of compensating for other things that are missing from my life.

Whether it is or no, I'm very happy at the moment, and even I can see that travelling has helped me grow stronger as a person.

- Basking in the wonder that is Mont St Michel and its surroundings after backpacking there from Rouen.
- Paddling in an Oasis with my family, aunts, uncles and cousins in Qatar.
- Watching the sunset in the desert, Qatar.
- Collapsing in the sunshine with my friend in Strawberry Fields, New York.
- Wandering through Old Montreal in the evening... quiet, beautiful.
- Dinner of "moules et frites" with a real Breton family, Plozévet.
- Marvelling at the Rouen cathedrale.
- Glittering Neptune's Grotto caves in Alghero.
- Breakfast in Central Park, New York.
- Getting dazzled by the lights in Montmartre in Paris in the evening.
- Seeing Urquhart castle from a boat on Loch Ness.