Hello lovely readers of Ria’s amazing blog! Anjali here, from over at From L&P toEnglish Tea, and today I’m taking over Ria’s blog! When she asked me if I’d like to guest post, I wasn’t quite sure what I would post on. I thought I could write about something fashion related…but then I remembered I don’t have much fashion sense at all. So I was off to a bad start. My next option was something book related…but I wasn’t feeling it when I started writing it. Strike two. (Side bar: You can always read books reviews on Blogger’s Bookshelf! Check it out!) So pretty much my only other option was travel. So I’m going with that. Today I have decided to share four things, or tips, that I have learnt from travelling this year. But first! Back story. I’m a New Zealander, and last year I moved over here to England, where I’ve been working and also travelling. I’m blessed with a great job, and part of my contract is that I get all school holidays off. Fantastic! It’s meant that I’ve been able to travel around Europe a bit, and see more of this side of the world. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to four countries this year (not including England and Wales…), and I’ve learnt a lot from travelling. Sharing time!
Story: My family and I went on holiday in the south of Portugal for a week back in March/April. Travelling with my family meant I didn’t really have to deal with anything. I just had to pack, and then follow my dad to the right places. Easy peasy.
Tip: Don’t travel with Ryanair, if you can help it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cheap and the people are super friendly. But it was a bit stressful, to be honest, because they don’t assign you a seat. Once you get in the aircraft, it’s every man for himself (or every woman for herself…). There’s no guarantee that you’ll be sitting with the people you are travelling with, and although it’s mostly clean and you end up getting to your destination…it’s not as fun.
Story: My dad had to go to Sweden for a work thing (he’s a University lecturer), and so I tagged along. We spent a few days in Orebro, and then a day in Stockholm, which is a great city, by the way.
Tip: Most people in Europe, I’m discovering, speak at least a little English, so you can get away with not knowing any Swedish. But we found it was helpful to have friends around who knew the language and could do all the communicating for us. It was faster and easier. However, if you don’t know people where you’re going, knowing a few words is always helpful, and I think it’s polite and a good thing to do. The word I most used overseas is ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’, so I reckon try to learn at least those two.
Story: Again, my dad had to go for a conference, in The Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam, so I went too. This time was just a super short trip; we only stayed one night, but had two full days.
Tip: If you’re travelling on a budget, check out the Youth Hostels. We stayed in a Christian youth Hostel and it was really great. It was right in the heart of Amsterdam, so it was easy to get everywhere. You by no means have to be a youth to stay there, nor do you have to be a Christian to stay there, it’s just run by Christians and has things like optional Bible studies etc in the mornings. If you’re not a Christian, please don’t let that put you off. The people were super friendly and the food was great. Breakfast was included, and I also had the opportunity to go on a city walking tour with some of the other people staying in the hostel. Hostels are great because they draw in people from all over the world. I talked to people from Canada, from Cyprus, from Malaysia, to name a few, but I was one from the furthest away (surprise surprise). Hostels are cheap, but clean and friendly, and I recommend them.
Story: My friend is over at the moment from New Zealand for a few months, and ever since we were 16 and took Classics at school we have wanted to go to Greece. This seemed like the perfect time, so we went to Athens for 5 nights.
Tip: Take a friend. This trip was the first time I had really gone overseas by myself, without a member of my family who knew what they were dong. It was also the first country my friend had been too, other than NZ and the UK. Because I was a bit nervous about the travelling and going to the right places etc, I had planned everything and knew exactly where we should be and when. But I can’t stress enough how awesome it was to have Roz with me the whole way. Yes, I could have done it myself, but it wouldn’t have been as calm and smooth. Having someone with you when you’re travelling is not only great company, but it’s someone to talk things through if something goes wrong, to have your back in busy streets, and to know that if you really get stuck, you’ll be stuck together.
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So there we have it. Four things I have learnt from travelling around Europe. Most of them probably seem obvious, but I guess I didn’t really think about them until afterwards. If you have travelled around Europe before (or anywhere, really) I’m sure you’ll have tips of your own…and I know that there are so many more. But if you haven’t, I hope that maybe my travel experiences have a) taught you something, b) made you want to travel and c) made you realise it’s not that hard.
Thank you, Ria, for having me! If you guys think I’m cool enough to hang out with (ha!), then you can find me all around the internet. Come and introduce yourself; let’s be friends.
R.xoxo
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