Thinking of something to do, and then acting on it straight away has got to be one of the most exciting things. I have always had a fascination with the Nordic countries. I love the culture, the people, the languages and the scenery that all the countries have. After visiting Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, the last but not least country I have wanted to visit is Iceland. 

I have always been fascinated by Iceland. The scenery looks like another planet, with geysers spewing out water, massive waterfalls, and volcanoes that shutdown Europe and of course the Northern Lights. These are one of the things I am dying to see. I was in Norway earlier this year in the biggest solar event of the last 10 years, but every time they said there was going to be a sighting in the city I was in, it was cloudy. To this day, I still have not seen them.

When I finished work today, I was playing around with dates in a couple of weeks, not thinking it would be very reasonable to head there at late notice. Next thing I knew, I found cheap tickets, hovered over the ‘Purchase’ button for a few seconds, and then clicked it. Now I am off to Iceland in six weeks time, and cannot wait!  

To see some of the scenery in Iceland, watch these two videos. The country looks awesome!

A few years ago Mum brought home a movie called 'Into The Wild'. I had no idea what is was going to be about and did not realise this would become my favourite movie, my favourite book and be one of my biggest kick starts in travelling. The movie is  a true story about the life of Christopher McCandless. He was an average American who finished university and then decided to give up everything he owned, donate all his money to charity and leave on an adventure. He treks all across America, all the way down to Mexico and up to Alaska.   

Along the way, he comes across so many new people and has some crazy stories to tell. His big dream is to live in the wilderness of Alaska, away from today's society which is so focused on money, fame, and working the same 9-5 job everyday. He makes it to Alaska and if you want to know more, you might have to watch the movie or read the book. 

Since watching the movie and read the book a few times, I realised there is so much of the world to see out there and I don't want to just cruise along in life doing the same thing. I want to have adventures, have stories to tell and have an awesome time!

I soon discovered that there were a lot of people nowadays who were living these awesome, adventurous lives. I stumbled upon the blog of a guy called Earl, started reading over his stories and became very jealous. He has been constantly travelling the world since 1999. He travels wherever he wants, when he wants and makes money while on the road, so he can keep travelling. I only wish that I would be able to do this, and maybe who knows, it could become reality if I try hard enough. 

You can read all about what he was been doing here. Maybe you will catch the travel bug aswell!

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a documentary on TV about the Northern Lights in Norway. It followed a lady around as she travelled all around Norway in the middle of winter trying to find the elusive lights. I could not get over how amazing the country looked, and from that night I was hooked on Norway. I kept telling everyone how much I wanted to visit and how much it interested me but most people thought I was crazy, with most responses being ‘How do you know, you’ve never been there.’

I guess you could say that is a logical question, but I knew I would love Norway. I kept telling myself that I would go there one day in the future, but at work one day I had the realisation that I could go there in a matter of months if I put my head down and actually saved my money. So that is exactly what I did. I stuck to a strict budget, and a few weeks later I had booked tickets to Norway.

As soon as I got to Norway it was exactly how I imagined and even better. It was the middle of winter, everything was covered in snow which made everything look awesome. I loved hearing the language, seeing how people lived, and getting to see how amazing the scenery is in Norway. Catching trains from one city to another going through snowy mountains and past frozen rivers, flying over fjords and glaciers, I could not believe that I was actually there. It was such a different place to Australia and I think that is one of the reasons I loved it so much. 

 

I plan to go back and visit next year sometime, maybe in summer to see the contrast between winter and summer, although I would also like to go back in winter to try and catch the Northern Lights again as I missed them last time. All I can say is, Norway, You will definitely be seeing me again in the future.  

Most people often look at me like there is something wrong with me when I say that I am going away by myself. They wonder why I would want to go to the other side of the world not knowing anyone, and wonder if I would get lonely. I do not see it this way at all. Going travelling by yourself has got to be one of the best ways to travel, you are pushed right out of your comfort zone and forced to do things you would never do if you were travelling with someone else or a group or people. Going by yourself means you will meet so many more people, there is no other way about it. You will have to talk to people if you want to make friends and have people to talk to, otherwise you really would be alone the whole time. If you were travelling with someone from home, you would just stick with them and not find a need to speak to other people at your hostel, or local people around town. 

Another bonus of travelling alone is that you can do what you want, when you want and see what you want to see when you want to see it. There is no need to have to debate with another person on what you think you should spend your day doing, if you want to go see that musuem, you can go without having to worry that someone else may find it boring. There is no chance that you will miss out on something that you really want to see, because there is no one saying that you shouldn't go see it. 

It still has not properly sunk in that I am living in London. Even though I have been here for a while, and life is becoming pretty normal it is still very surreal. London is crazy, there is always something going on no matter what the time or the weather is like. At this time of year, especially this year, London is crammed full of tourists. So many people coming to enjoy the warm weather and of course the Olympics. I have been out to see all the usual things and now I have done that, it is starting to feel a bit like home. I am falling into a routine with work and free time, and it does not feel as much of a holiday any more. 

The job I have is pretty good, I work with a good bunch of people and the location is awesome. But with this comes long hours and a lot of tiredness, so I do not get much time to get out and see things. Plus side is that with all the hours, I will have more money for my trip at the end of the year, which means a longer trip!

I had been randomly looking up flights on the net for a few days, putting in random places that I could fly to as the start of the next trip around Eastern Europe. I knew I wanted to start somewhere either at the top, or bottom of Europe and make my way either north or south, but I couldn't decide where to start. After few searches of Istanbul, Bucharest and Riga, I thought why don't I try Tallinn, as it is pretty much where I left off from my last trip. Thinking it would be expensive, I didn't have high hopes.

Well what would you know, the flights to Tallinn turned out to be cheaper than everywhere else and after a few minutes of hovering over the 'Purchase' button, my flight was confirmed. Seeing the confirmation pop up made me so excited and now I cannot wait until November! I have a rough plan in my head of where I want to go after Tallinn, but I am not locking anything in. All I know is I want to head down to Istanbul, and see as many places as I can along the way.