West Coast Here We Come!!

The next big trip is in the pipeline! We are going for a West Coast USA Roadtrip in October/November.

For now a very brief overview of our itinerary;

  1. Fly to Seattle
  2. Drive to Randle via Mount Beljica
  3. Portland
  4. Newport via Otter Rock (Potential 60 mile detour to see Cannon Beach (is it worth it? if you have been let me know in the comments))
  5. Gold Beach (Via Cape Perpetua and other awesome looking Oregon coast locations!)
  6. Eureka!
  7. Fort Bragg, CA not Fort Bragg, NC (Very important that the Sat-Nav gets this correct)
  8. San Francisco (Via Bodega Bay)
  9. Monterey
  10. Pismo Beach (Via BIG SUR! & Morro Bay)
  11. Los Angeles (Via Malibu)
  12. Disneyland (I realise this isn’t a destination like the rest but… if I don’t included this I will be killed by my girlfriend)
  13. Vegas Baby!
  14. Grand Canyon
  15. Bishop (Via Death Valley – Badwater Basin, Zabrinski Point, etc)
  16. Yosemite and all its awesomness!
  17. Oakland
  18. Fly Home 😦

In total, the trip is 23 days and features a few days in LA, San Francisco and Yosemite, overnight stops in most other places.

Total Mileage approx 2,690 miles.

Will publish some more detailed breakdowns over the next couple of weeks/months but some things we want to do include; some NBA games (LA Lakers, Portland, Golden State Warriors), Disneyland, LA Zoo, Mt Rainier, Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, possibly an NFL game.

We also need to work on our hiking skills (which are pretty much non-existent) as we plan on hiking up Mt Beljica, the Hollywood Hills and Yosemite.

Have you done the West Coast, what are your recommendations? Let us know in the comments.

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My Top 10 Travel Moments (So Far)

Today’s posts is a quick, simple and severely lacking-of-photos look back at the top 10 travel moments I can remember from my life so far.

10. Playing Basketball in the Meadowlands Arena – At the age of 14 I was lucky enough to go on a basketball trip to New York City, on the trip we got to play on the actual NBA Court of the then New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets), it was a great experience and one I will never forget.

9. The Gambia – Feeding monkeys, a boat trip down the the River Gambie, street markets (I think) in Serrekunda, eating Barracuda caught by the local fisher-men, the entire trip to the Gambia was definitely a different experience considering at the time (age 15) 99% of my holidays had been to France.

Exceptionally hot and humid, but for the young me a great experience to see some massively different culture that the world is home to.

8. Road Trip to Lake Garda – Driving from Southampton to Lake Garda and back was quite the experience, we of course stayed in Lake Garda for about 10 days, the San Bernardino Pass on the way home was breathtaking just a shame that back then I wasn’t really into Photography nor was Instagram a thing but here is a photo I stole from my sister.

Also we got to visit Venice… which despite being absolutely baking (mid-summer, thousands of people) was pretty stunning no matter where you looked.

7. Disneyland – Disneyland as an adult while it’s fairly empty due to all the kids being at school if far improved from when I was 9, very of little of which I remember. 2017 on the other hand I do remember and it was a great trip especially the Illuminations at the end of the day. Well worth the trip.

6. The Eiffel Tower – When you’re a kid and you’re scared of heights and you start going up in the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower and you start crying when you realise how high it is… when you get half way and your mum (the center of your universe at that age) says she will put you in the down lift you should believe her, I did!

However I was tricked! Up we went all the way to the top, I vaguely remember some fairly nice views while I crawled around on the floor trying to stay away from the edge and contain myself. Note to self: don’t always trust your parents.

5. Barcelona Basketball Trip – I was lucky at the age of 15 to go on yet another basketball trip, this time I went solo! Yes 15 year old me managed to get the correct flight, land in Barcelona Airport, find the camp organisers and then get home again all by myself at the age of 15! I class that as a fairly solid achievement for a child.

The actual trip was fairly awesome, again & unfortunately, it was before I really knew how to use a camera or Instagram was invented so sorry no photos.

I did however get to see the La Segrada Familia, Park Güell, La Rambla, etc. now I just need to go back so that I can photograph the shit out of it.

4. Blue Lagoon & Iceland – Iceland was a pretty unforgettable experience, a school trip where we managed to fit in quite a lot, including some of the amazing waterfalls such as Skógafoss and Gullfoss, standing where the North American Plate and Eurasian Plate meet, going to the small Island of Heimaey and climbing, what used to be the volcano which erupted in 1973.

That’s a small list considering how much we did but I would definitely recommend going, or going back if you have already been.

3. NYC 1st time – I still remember stepping out of the station into the middle of NYC and seeing the sky-risers tower over me. We were taking part in a basketball trip over to the Minuteman Invitational Tournament and we were staying in New Jersey (see moment number 10) so our first trip into the city was by train so we got to see a little of the city from a distance before we headed underground through tunnels, etc. then we arrived.

I wont ever forget my first trip into NYC and what is my favourite city in the entire world.

2. Bratislava – Bratislava from what I can remember was awesome, lots of drinking, looks of cool Insta-perfect buildings if you love a mixture of architect, old city buildings and at the time snow. Me and a few friends visited Bratislava for one of their birthdays and I am fairly sure its a trip which I will always remember.

I would highly recommend Bratislava if you are into a mixture of historic buildings and the occasional binge drinking 😉

1. Bar 65 in NYC – My third trip to NYC featured a bite to eat and a few cocktails in the Bar 65 at the Rainbow Room on level 65 of the Rockefeller Center, I am scared of heights but I am fairly sure that this was the best thing I have ever experienced, we didn’t get the picturesque sunset I had wished for but we got a perfect view out across NYC and if you take one thing from this post, its that you need to go and have a drink here!

What are your top 10 travel memories? Let me know below 🙂

2017 – Slightly Better

What an underwhelming title. I mentioned my inconsistencies in my first post of 2017 and how I have actually had this blog for a few years (originally set up as a WordPress blog in 2009!!), its interesting to go back through my page views over the last couple, 2014 and 15 had 21 and 23 views!.. in 2016, I tried and failed to blog more often and my page views reached the lofty heights of 85 page views for 9 posts.

2017 has actually pretty much smashed all of my years combined, despite the fact that I didn’t post as much as I wanted to back in January 2017. I posted 24 new blog posts and hit 605 views!

I realise 605 views isn’t anything massive but for me to think that people are actually reading my posts without posting as much as I wanted is a massive personal boost for me.

Considering I posted 20 of those posts between January & July if I had kept post regular and possibly used Social Media more efficiently I probably could have topped 1,000 views.

During my most consistent months (April, May & June) I was averaging 126 views per month, dropping down to just 36 from July to Dec (as of writing).

While my blog runs on my homepage its pretty difficult to get accurate numbers for individual posts but my Mental Heath post back in August was really well received and the feedback I got was great so thanks to those who read it and as an update things have been pretty good since finishing exams and passing my degree!

Another popular post was my run of NYC Photo posts which you can see here, here and here if you missed them.

Again, as always, I hope to post more in 2018, I have a big road trip planned so keep an eye out for that, plus Southampton Half-Marathon which will require some fundraising for charity so expect to see some stuff on that, and then whatever else 2018 brings.

I hope you have all had a great 2017 and have an even better 2018.

I’m a Big Kid

So my next holiday is booked! Boom!

And I am going to Disneyland Paris! Damn I’m such a grown-up.

Trying to find a holiday 2 weeks before you plan on going is fricken hard, we booked time off like 3 months ago with the plan of booking and paying for something in the near future… financial restrictions and lack of free time resulted in me and my girlfriend trying to book a week long all-inclusive trip to the Canary Islands 2 weeks before our departure date. Continue reading “I’m a Big Kid”

Throwback – Calas De Mallorca

Something a little different, and a destination a whole lot different from New York City!

Last year I had the pleasure of going all-inclusive at the Sol hotel in Calas De Mallorca, it was recently refurbished and offered stunning sea views across the Mediterranean. The hotel really was great & I would highly recommend it, the food was good, the views were un-real and the resort was great too.

And now, what you guys really wants, the photos!! Continue reading “Throwback – Calas De Mallorca”