Author: bristolianbackpacker

Travelling in the USA: What I’ve Learnt So Far

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Mitch and I have been in the USA for just under a month now. While, at first, travelling from Asia to North America took some adjusting, we’ve gotten into the swing of it and are enjoying the American lifestyle. Before visiting any country you have pre-conceptions about things, but the best thing about travelling is learning that these are not true, or, perhaps, that they are truer than you first imagined. Here’s a round-up of some things I’ve learnt so far from travelling in the USA. Halloween is a Month Long Celebration I always knew that Halloween is a bigger deal here than …

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From Asia to North America

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A lot of people have asked me how the USA is – “Great!” I reply. I’m having an awesome time, with a backlog of blogs to write when I eventually get time. Still, as great a time as I’m having, it’s certainly a bit different after spending so long on the other side of the world.     Living and travelling in Asia for over a year means you get use to certain things. Culture, language and food are three of the main things which I can safely say were the biggest shock coming over to North America. “Asia” is a …

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Climbing Grouse Mountain in Vancouver

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Mitch and I are what I like to call occasional hikers. So far on our travels, our hike in Laos was probably the most challenging. That is until we were told to climb Grouse Mountain! Grouse Mountain is approximately 3,700 ft above sea level and walking up it’s just under 3km. It’s often referred to as “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.” “Climb Grouse Mountain,” they said ‘Epic views over Vancouver,” they said. Unfortunately, the day we went, it was a tad cloudy.   As we set off in the morning, there was a slight drizzle in the air and it was cloudy. We knew …

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5 Things I Already Love About Seoul

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We landed at 5am Korean time, which was 3am Vietnam time (where we flew from). I didn’t sleep well on the flight due to a nasty travel bug we’d picked up a few days earlier (more in that in a later blog post). I was tired and disorientated, but we made it through immigration, got our bags, and headed on the bus towards our guesthouse. We arrived, slept for 4 hours, and then caught up with some work. By the time the evening came, we were so tired and had no bearings in this massive city. We hopped on the …

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Dong Hoi & Phong Nha: Two Years of Development

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As mentioned previously, this is my second time in Vietnam. As well as visiting new places, I am heading to some of the same places. Naturally, these places are new to Mitch, and I get a totally different experience travelling with him, rather than travelling solo. Two of the places I’ve visited for a second time on this trip are Dong Hoi and Phong Nha. The former is a small town on the coast, the latter is a National Park famous for it’s recently discovered caves. I loved both of these places last time. And, seeing as we passed them on …

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My Hangzhou Travel Guide

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I lived in Hangzhou for ten months. While many people have lived here much longer than I have, I’d like to think I got to know the city quite well. So much so that I’ve put together this Hangzhou travel guide. I hope you enjoy visiting as much as I enjoyed living there. While I can’t offer lots of history about places, nor suggest places to stay, I can recommend places to see, where to eat/drink, and how to get around the city. Hopefully, all these things will help if you’re planning on travelling to Hangzhou. Why should I travel …

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