Monday 27 April 2015

TO TRAVEL.... US AUSSIES ARE LUCKY WE CAN #travelsafewithyourmates


A Photo from my diary.  A photo by Tara Reynolds

I turned on the television to the 6 o'clock news this evening and it was grim, again. The headline was the devastating earthquake in Nepal with thousands homeless, many travellers and Nepalese missing, buildings that stood for hundreds of years destroyed, thousands killed and being pulled from the rubble all day long while the dead count increases, the funeral pyres burn... base camp at Everest was engulfed by an avalanche killing many people, including one Australian... mother nature unleashes her fury once again, unpredictably.

The next item on the news was about the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran on Nusakambangan Island and followed by that was news about the clean up after Sydney's East Coast Low and Hail storms from the last week and the prediction of major storm later this week.

The news doesn't often seem good!

So I am going to share a nice story from my diary, a happy time I shared with Britt Lapthorne travelling overseas in Europe at the beginning of our time together. The news may be bleak right now as we speak but the world out there is still beautiful!

We had arrived in Warsaw. It was a lovely train ride from Prague and we managed to keep a private train compartment all to ourselves. This was not easy mind you! At a few major cities we had to pretend to be asleep and lay across both sides of the compartment with a magazine or something over our faces so when new passengers walked past our door and peered through the glass... they didn't bother coming in as we looked passed out. It was pure genius! We continued our method on many a train train ride, it kept us safe, it kept us together.... just us :)

On a train in Europe. Photo by Tara Reynolds.

Warsaw actually shocked us a little, it wasn't glamorous. It was a very basic concrete jungle. We later understood why after visiting the sites (Warsaw was pretty much flattened in world war two, many buildings were built by the government quickly and cheaply to get people housed as soon as possible). We left the train station and travelled on foot to our hostel, which we found very easily thanks to our Lonely Planet guide book, don't leave home without it! (Well, now it's all on line but it was a brick of a book just under 10 years ago but invaluable at the time).

We already noticed a comical side in their advertisement billboards and shop fronts. One shop was using a lady with massive boobs that Britt and I could only describe as "Stiflers mom" from the movie American Pie. The lady in the huge image on the side of a building made us double over (with our heavy backpacks) in laughter. We walked past her on route to our hostel, and again when we left Warsaw after a few days heading back to the train station. It was hilarious, she even seemed to be holding a stripper pole!

Photo from lostinrelocation.com
We found Stiflers mom! Photo by Britt Lapthorne

Our hostel was awesome, so much better than the one in Prague. It was clean, had 2 TV rooms and a nice communal area to cook, eat and socialise in. On our first night, when the closing ceremony for the Olympics in Beijing was on, we decided to cook up a storm so once we have checked in to our 6 bed dorm, we headed back out to the local store to buy supplies. Britt and myself decided on only sleeping in a 4 bed or 6 bed dorm and only for women. We had parted ways with our male friends in Prague and decided this was the safest and most comfortable way to travel. It also was cheaper than going for a twin room. Handy tip my ladies!

The local store was frustrating for me as they didn't have much fresh produce. I like to cook so this was annoying to me and we encountered this problem a lot in Eastern Europe. We are so blessed in Australia for fresh produce! Britt was going to be happy with whatever but I insisted we could cook something simple, cheap and easy, but also fresh and healthy and this continued throughout our time together.

We were able to buy a capsicum, an onion and garlic. We obtained some pasta, canned tomatoes, tomato paste from the store and raided the free hostel box (travellers leave their unwanted cooking goods behind when they fly) so we scored olive oil, salt, sugar, random herbs and some sherry to add to the mix. Everyone around us was green with envy! One guy was cooking just a potato for dinner... that's it! Someone else was cooking pot noodles. Everyone commented on how great our food smelt and they were drooling from the mouth. Britt and myself felt pretty proud of our pasta... we did very well for packers.

Two British ladies also admired our creation. We ended up sitting with them and eating our tasty meal and discussing travel plans. We learned they didn't have a Lonely Planet guide... Nooooooooo!

We decided to head out the next day together and see the sites. We also saw them again down the track at another city and we all became close travel friends.

I have remained in touch with those ladies who we spent some amazing times with Britt and myself whilst overseas. I am still in touch with them today.

With all the sadness in the news, which always will remain... there is happiness and there is beauty. These times with Britt only brings me smiles. Keep your travel friends close and #travelsafewithyourmates

Thursday 23 April 2015

MATESHIP #travelsafewithyourmates

The Boy in the striped pajamas. Photo from Youtube

I have been off work ill today, The movie THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS was on TV.

I found myself bawling at the end. Correct that... howling with tears streaming down my face and my body in a contorted state! Yes... I had a cold already and my mood and overall feel was extremely low... but as my intern had said to me in a text whilst I was mid movie and she was at my workplace... this movie will "fit the mood".

I have long had this "connection" (as best to describe it) with war time, mostly the second world war. When I travel I often visit war memorials and museums and points of interest in relation to that in each town/city that I visit. I collect antiques and am interested in war stories from people older than me, like my grandparents. I visited Auschwitz & Birkenau with Britt Lapthorne. We experienced an amazing time together and going there was my idea... she happily came (the awesome chick that she was!). It wasn't a happy place at all.. this wasn't Disney World. We did go... it's hard to describe why... but all I can say is... "I needed to see this".


 Pictures of Auschwitz from Tara Reynolds.

Britt came with me on many a journey. There are many tales to tell. We were both intrigued together about the history of mankind. We made the journey to Auschwitz together and it wasn't a "fun" day at all. It was so confusing in how we felt,  it was emotional, we both cried throughout the day. I will share my thoughts on that day down the track, in later blogs.

I cried again today watching the movie about THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS.

This weekend is ANZAC day. I have always felt this a special day to honor not only those who served and fought in Turkey in the horrible circumstances, when our Aussie & Kiwi boys were "dropped off" at the wrong spot to attack the Turks to help with the fight to protect the Dardanelles shipping channel. Now it represents so more more,  it's Australian and Kiwi Spirit.


Pictures from Gallipoli from Tara Reynolds 

I went to Gallipoli in April 2009. I made the pilgrimage like so many Aussies & Kiwi's do.  It was a full on event from start to finish, it was tiring staying up all night and the organisers of the tour company I went with weren't that great. But that didn't matter in the end... I got there... I paid my respects. I owe it to the boys... to the ladies.... to them all for all they did back then. They set up our way of life and what we have today and I firmly believe that.




Pictures from Gallipoli from Tara Reynolds 

It was a draining experience altogether. It was staying up all night in the freezing cold with multiple layers on, leggings, beanie, jumper, sleeping bag and eating warming soups in a cup and sipping on crap coffee and tea......

Why do I write this? It's because I feel guilty for thinking those thoughts in the first place.

Why do I whinge? Well... Whilst there, freezing cold as we were we all realized, our soldiers at the time did endure far worse, we all know that. Rotting feet, freezing torsos... numb all over in body and mind, missing home. Mud, cold, wind, rain, snow... and then the enemy. The people you must kill otherwise life as we know it won't survive. Because your country told you to, for the survival of the country and the continuation of the infrastucture that survives and faith in your leader to keep it all going.

No, I couldn't imagine it, they were amazing people, it was an amazing time. They did what they had to do to fight for their way of life and their country.

We have just had some amazing storms in Sydney, the worst in a decade. I have fallen sick at this same time and I feel so bad because so many people are having so many troubles... still, at this moment, there are some flood waters still effecting areas north of Sydney and people are still without power. The rivers are slowly dropping and the clean up begins. the amazing SES and other services are out there helping to restore power, cut trees that have fallen on homes and ferry people in small boats, bascially doing all they can. There are people selflessly helping others just like they have done for many decades past, just like in war time.

This is the Australian and New Zealander spirit. This is MATESHIP. It lives on... we stand together and battle on.

I hope to think that this kind of mentality continues in the future.

Take this with you when you travel.

#travelsafewithyourmates






Monday 20 April 2015

THAT TIME I GOT MORTAL - THE BIG MISTAKE


I have been watching the reality show GEORDIE SHORE recently. It's pretty mindless TV so it's good background entertainment whilst plodding around at home. The only thing is, each episode seems eerily the same. They:

1) Get dressed up to go out
2) The pre-drink at home...
3) They go out
4) They get smashed
5) People start "necking" on..
6) Someone does something they shouldn't
7) Someone cries
8) They go home all stumbling around fall over... a lot!
9) They do more things that they shouldn't
10) They all sleep with each other

That's my GS review in a nutshell. Still... I watch it...lol

It triggered a memory in me of something I shouldn't have done, a memory I tried to bury deep for it conjures up feelings of shame and embarrassment. Yup... SHAME.... we have all felt that at one point or another and we have all made mistakes. I think you know what I may be referring to. We have all been there. I feel brave enough to share my mistake with you all now because it may help someone to stop and think about what they doing and getting themselves in to a potentially dangerous situation.

"Dangerous? Did she just say dangerous? I thought she was going to tell us about that one time (at band camp) she did the walk of shame?".

Well... I am, so hear me out!

I was travelling in Europe and without giving away where I was or who I was with... I woke up one morning in a hostel dorm room, as you do. There was 8-10 beds in there, all bunks and it smelt like travellers and dirty laundry. The problem is... This was not my dorm room. I have committed a cardinal sin of backpacking travelling and woke up along side someone in a dorm that wasn't mine, thankfully we were on the bottom bunk with a sheet shield around us but as people woke in their beds gradually I noticed one thing familiar about all of these people.... they were all men.

So I am sure many of you have travelled and stayed in hostels. You always come across a time where someone is getting a little funky freaky action going on and the metal bed is creaking, swaying and groaning (and people are groaning and moaning) and it's so uncomfortable and you just can't sleep a wink while it's going on. You would even go sleep out in the hall if that was quieter and your earplugs have gone missing, of course! That couch at reception is seeming mighty fine right now! It's so uncomfortable when you see them in the morning, it's sometimes a blessing that your train leaves early and you are out of there before they emerge from under the covers.

Here I was, as the bodies rustled and turned and then gradually woke up. The European summer sun already well up and peaking in past the dodgy floral curtains. My bright blue bra in clear sight, the sheet slowly falling away from it's tucked position in the top bunk to reveal a semi naked me.... oh dear lord! How do I get dressed?! How do I get out!!!???

The problem with this situation is actually more serious and dangerous than I thought at the time. Yes, I got clothed somehow, yes I was travelling with this guy for a couple of days so i somewhat new him, yes I did the walk of shame and yes the dickhead never spoke to me again after we parted ways... apart from feeling like complete shit after it all isn't the worst of it.

I woke up IN A ROOM FULL OF STRANGE MEN, and I was the only woman.

In this world anything could have happened. The guy I was travelling with may not have been the person he appeared to be and we were under the influence of alcohol. He could have been a real bastard (actually, he is a bastard but that's beside the point!)... and taken advantage of me and invited his friends, if they were his friends. Who knows who those men were, where they were from, what they were like. All of them against me and being drunk, I would have had no protection. Anything could have happened, things could have been a lot worse. I think they were all passed out of heavy drinking... I was lucky, this time.

So my lesson is simple. You can have fun travelling and meeting knew people and "hooking up" as the young people in Geordie Shore do. Many people are still in that "free love" mentality and sex is part of being young and free and all of that. I don't want you to stop having sex.... no, no, no, no, no, no! I just just think it's not wise to shag in a hostel room full of people you don't know, especially for a woman. My travelling friend didn't know where I was, I had no phone with me, the hostel has no reception on late at night or security... I was drunk. I could have been taken advantage of. I was also in a foreign country where English was a second language and who knew where the nearest police station was (there was no travel safe app invented yet).

It's times like that we should have both chucked in for a hotel room of our own, or better yet...I should have called it a night and gone back to my own dorm bed to pass out.

Lesson learned. I never did that again.

.....I wonder what the Geordie Shore gang are up to tonight....Mmmmmm

#travelsafewithyourmates

Friday 17 April 2015

THAT SINKING SAD FEELING

Myself & Britt in Krakow on our travels

I was going to write about something really really stupid I did while travelling that no woman on this planet should ever do and how lucky I was that I wasn't seriously injured or hurt in any way.

Instead, I want to post about how I feel today about the Victorian Investigation into Britt's death that is now officially closed. The former post can wait.

These are my opinions and feelings, nothing more. Like the rest of the world I do not know how she died and perhaps we will never know. I still live in hope someone will open up in the future as time passes by. I just feel like a bit of a vent.

I could have told anyone Britt didn't kill herself. She was the most intelligent, bubbly, outgoing, smiley and generally all warm and fuzzy all over that it wouldn't be possible for her to do so. She had such a positive view on life and such an epic future ahead of her.

We instantly clicked at that Prague train station in 2008 ahead of our time together. She has the same sunny outlook as me. We shared so many laughs in our time and not once was she grumpy or upset.... NOT ONCE! I can't wait to share some of those moments with you in my blog... over time.

I feel like the outcome of the inquest is stating the obvious and if anyone is getting grumpy and upset (and frustrated) it's me. I cannot fathom how her family is feeling right now, nothing compares. Torture is one good word to explain it :( I admire the Lapthornes so much... they are so strong.

Foul play, hands down. Someone (or some people... wait... people may be too good a word for them! more like animals?) did something horrible to her. It irritates me that these people walk free and can do this again to someone else.

I don't think I can write any more today, I think I will wallow in this sinking feeling. Take away with you what you can about this all but it still brings forward my new mantra...

#travelsafewithyourmates

The weekend is here, if you're heading out on the town tonight... have your mates back. Don't let them wander off alone or accept a drink from a stranger. Have safe fun together! Taxi home together!

Thursday 16 April 2015

BLONDS IN A BOX AT A TRAIN STATION


"I'm going away to be alone
I'm coming back with answers... 
Don't try to call
My telephone, it's disconnected...
And I don't know where I'm going
But can you guide me..."
Source: Faker - This Heart Attack Lyrics | MetroLyrics 




How did I come to be alighting a European train from Berlin to Prague in August 2008 at the age of 31? Stepping off that platform, the weight of my small full-to-the-brim backpack already causing me to strain (perhaps I shouldn't have bought those extra clothes in Copenhagen?) the summer sun baring down, instantly warming compared to the trains air-conditioning. Wow! I am here... I am in Prague! I followed the throng of multitudes making their way to the trams to take them to their next destination, or in my case, my hostel.

That was an awesome feeling, excited, nervous... "Will I find my hostel ok? Is it far from the tram stop? Which tram stop?... oh my gosh... which tram?! Eeek!". I had no one to ask so I just followed the column of eager travellers.

That's what I saved for, for all those months. That's what I dreamed of all those years! That exciting nervous feeling of the unknown, the adventures that lay ahead, to new stories to be written.

I was a little older than the usual backpacker...ok... A LOT older than the usual backpacker but the people I had already come across in Denmark and Germany thus far were of all ages and the older "packers" seemed very young at heart, full of spirit and joy... just like me.

I was living in Cairns in 2007 when my mother lost her battle with Cancer in Sydney. Already I had flown down to Sydney last minute thinking it may be the last time I would see her and had done so already a few times before. One time when visiting in early February that year when things weren't coming along so well, she left us.

After the initial shock wore off and life resumed in Cairns I had a "light bulb moment". Oh my god... life is so short! I have no idea what may happen tomorrow, I need to make my life as full as possible! It was then I decided I just had to visit Europe and spread my wings!

I wanted to live in London, I looked in to getting the 2year working visa and low and behold.... it cut's off at the age of 31!!! I was about to turn 31 in July, thankfully I had a couple months to get the visa and in a very rapid few months to follow I committed to heading overseas, got the working visa for the UK (I cried at the airport when it arrived) packed up a whole house worth of Cairns life, had garage sales, quit my job and prepared for massive change. It was November 2007 when I went on a driving holiday to make my way south of the border to Sydney, a car full of gear and a tearful few goodbyes to my friends.

The next 7 months my visa started to tick. I had no money to go at that point, that's why I relocated. I lived with my father and worked up to 60 hours a week in hospitality to get the money to go. After a year since the ideas conception... I was off on a Jet plane not knowing when I'll be back again!

I also had another reason to visit overseas. I had some family in London and also an exchange student friend in Denmark I hadn't seen since 1994, so my first stop was Denmark to see her. After roaming around Denmark I caught a ferry to Germany where I visited a town tied in to my families history. Afterwards, I found myself in Berlin and as a bit of a history buff, was so intrigued by East Germany and the wall, Allied Museum, Jewish Museum and other war related memorials. I also had my first taste of hanging out with other travellers and went out with them to a bar or two. I had travelled pretty solo up until then.

So there I was, shuffeling along with my luggage in the summer sun making my way to some tram that I hoped would take me to my hostel in central Prague. I heard a distinctive accent directly behind me, a female Australian accent. She asked her travel friends (I assumed they were friends by the way they addressed each other) where they should go to look for a hostel. I remember thinking... "Jeez, you guys just rock up at a strange city and THEN start looking for somewhere to stay?". My organised self couldn't handle that! I later learned that this was the way of it for many backpackers.
I booked each city that was next ahead of me from the city prior. 

Anyway, being the outgoing personality that I am I turned around to the Aussie female voice to see a younger blond spritely woman with 2 fellows all with backpacks just behind me and said... "I have a hostel booked already, it's right in town only a short tram away. You guys can join me if you want and see if they have beds available there?".  (This is a trait I think I picked up from my Nan. She would talk to anyone, anywhere at any time. She would be in the supermarket or newsagent and just start a conversation with a stranger! I do this also to this day. Most find the trait annoying but I found it useful whilst travelling!).

These people before me flashed me instant grins. They immediately agreed to follow me to my hostel. We all introduced ourselves to each other and spoke of where we were from.

Little did I know at the time that young lady with that familar Aussie accent would come to change my life. That young lady, was of course, Britt Lapthorne.



Wednesday 15 April 2015

TRIPS OF A LIFETIME!

#travelsafewithyourmates



Well, here it is... 7 years in the making. I am finally going to share with you my diary and thoughts about my travels/life in hope it helps at least one person to make "smart choices" while they enjoy the big wide world abroad and at home. My blog will contain entries from my diaries while travelling solo abroad, travelling with friends and also growing up in the big smoke of Sydney, living in Queensland and being a tour guide in Australia & New Zealand.

I have long kept hand written diaries. My travel documentation started when I went to the USA and Hawaii with my family when I was younger to progress to my own trip to the USA as a Camp Councillor in 2001 (I was on the West Coast when the Twin Towers came down) and onwards to my travels throughout Europe and tour guiding.

The First European edition was a diary meant for my mother in ICU to use when she was being treated for an aggressive cancer. It was never used... so I took it overseas and wrote about all my experiences abroad. Old Skool Style!


I have decided to start the #travelsafewithyourmates initiative so hopefully many of you will support me and spread the message.

I travelled with Britt Lapthorne... there it is, I finally actually said it. I have written about my travels before in a blog and have since deleted them. It felt odd and not the right time after such a traumatic experience. I did keep hand written diaries which I will share with you now instead.



It felt weird to blog before in the last few years, I am a child of the late 70's and I am very progressive with technology BUT.... baring my sole publicly has always been a bit weird up until now (when it is such the norm). I am at an age I feel more confident in sharing certain facts about me and don't care what people think of me as much as I did when I was younger. The fact that my experiences and stories may be of some help to people is more important.

I am going to share my secrets, and most importantly, share my mistakes and I have definitely made some I wish I had a time machine for to go back and make a different choice.... but that's life! That's how you learn! I can't tell my younger self what I know now but I can pass this information on to others... hence this blog.

Having lost a lovely friend whilst on a "Trip of a Lifetime" was earth shattering and changes your view completely on life. I have had the thought of... "What if I was there that night? Would things have played out differently? Would Britt still be here if I was there? What if I didn't go to another city and extended my holiday longer?".... WHAT IF? WHAT IF? WHAT IF? You can ask these questions but there is no point in the end, what happened has happened now, you can't change it.

HOWEVER.... I will do my damnned best effort to help new travellers with my knowledge so that they themselves can lesson the chance of getting in a sticky situation overseas or at home.

I am here to help YOU and to share the knowledge. Hopefully you will get a laugh from my blogs and find them interesting. Perhaps you have been in that situation before and can understand. Perhaps youre about to head off around the world for your first trip overseas. Hopefully the seed will be planted so firmly in your mind that when the time comes for you to make a certain decision whilst travelling... these blogs and information will come to you and HELP YOU MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE... THE SMART CHOICE.... THE SAFE CHOICE.

That's all I want.

Tuesday 14 April 2015