Being Back Home in Bristol

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On Friday 25th November, Mitch and I touched down in the UK after being away for fifteen months. We lived in China for ten months and travelled for another five. We had the luxury of visiting Vietnam, Laos, South Korea, Canada (albeit briefly) and the USA.  However, now I’m back in my hometown of Bristol. To be honest, I was looking forward to coming home. That’s not to say I haven’t adored where we’ve been and what we’ve done. I’m so happy and am so grateful to been able to have our lifestyle. But fifteen months is a long time to …

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Visiting Texas: Not What I Expected

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Our route across the USA involved heading down the West Coast and then along the South to make our way to Miami. Texas seemed like a good route to take and we ended up staying there for quite a while, mainly because the state is so friggin’ big, but also because there’s lots to see. Prior to arriving, if someone had said Texas, I would have thought of BBQ, a Southern US accent, and cowboys. My experience, however, has been a lot different. Here are some things I’ve learnt about Texas. Texas is Huge Texas is bigger than the UK. …

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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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