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Make the most of this laid-back locale!

This. Is. Paradise.

If you're looking for stunning beaches, fresh seafood and endless sunshine, Koh Rong is the place for you. The island has a maximum of 3 ferries per day from Sihanoukville which limits the number of tourists on the island at any one time. This ensures the atmosphere remains relaxed and the beaches relatively quiet.

However, in 2008, Royal Group was granted a 99-year lease from the government to develop the 78-square-kilometre island, so there are potential plans to install an international airport and build-up the island. Some feel this will spoil Koh Rong's certain “je ne sais quoi”. Therefore, now is the time to visit!

March boasts minimal rainfall and high temperatures so is ideal for those looking to soak up the sun. Limited electricity and wifi means you can really switch off and take in your surroundings.

Where to stay:

If you want a rustic digs directly on the beach the these treehouses are a dream: http://treehouse-bungalows.com/ $35—low season or $45—high season (and that is pushing the boat out for Koh Rong accommodation!)

Get there now:

Fly internationally to Phnom Penh, transfer to Sihnoukville via bus or plane and get an open return ferry transfer for $25USD.  

Fellow travellers recommended Koh Rong to me and I am sooo glad I went! It was stunning, serene and if I had more time I would have spent weeks here!

Bus to Sigiriya, Sri Lanka!

So, just in case you were wondering, this is what the slowest bus in the world looks like!!!

We sat on this rickety, old bus in 30+ degrees (at 8am, by the way!) waiting to head to the fascinating UNESCO site, Sigiriya! As you can imagine, it did not have air-con and travelling at around 5 miles an hour does not offer any form of respite!

We could, of course, have hired a driver (as most sensible tourists do)... But where's the fun in that?!

It was outrageously cheap, we enjoyed travelling like the locals and seeing Sigiriya was definitely worth it!

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So, what do I have in store for 2015????

As you well know, I, unlike Meghan Trainor, am all about that TRAVEL and not bass... so of course, I have some travel plans lined up this year!

I currently have two trips on the agenda for 2015 to get me through this gloomy January: Budapest, Hungary and conservation in Zimbabwe.

Although I have been to Budapest before, in June 2012, this time, I am going for a long weekend in February. I think this will let me explore the city in a whole new light and hopefully be a completely different experience :-) My boyfriend and I will be eating our way around Budapest from fine dining to little local cafés and visiting the castles, citadels and baths of the beautiful city!

Second up is 2 weeks Rhino and Elephant Conservation in March, and this, I CANNOT wait for!!! This is going to be a fascinating insight into the important conservation going on in Africa for these amazing species'. I will be taking copious photographs so watch this space if you want to see the above little cutie at around 4 months old!

I will then be making plans to head off somewhere in June for my birthday... 

I am hoping 2015 will be another fab year of travel and I hope you can inspire me some more too!

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New Year, New Adventures, New Countries...?!

So I have been pretty slack on the blog posts the last couple of months - what with moving house, lack of internet and hectic Christmas-present-buying etc. - so my first New Year's resolution of 2015 is to blog more!

I thought I might as well start the year with a wrap-up of the last one.. Here goes:

So, 2014 was a pretty good one for me! I was lucky enough to see new countries and also explore more of some of my favourite countries and meet new people along the way :-)

My first trip of 2014 was visiting one of my favourite cities, Paris, with my boyfriend Ant. It was his first time visiting and having lived just outside the city for 7 months myself I was eager to show him around! Ever since my boyfriend and I met (in New Zealand - but that's another story) I have wanted to show him around the beautiful city of Paris as I was shocked when I heard he had never visited, seeing as it is just a quick flight or Eurostar from London! We took a long weekend in February and luckily for us the weather held out so that we could walk round the city on crisp, but clear, winter days. We did all the tourist spots - Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Montmartre - but also just enjoyed wandering the back streets, drinking chocolat-chaud and eating our way round the gastronomic city!

My next adventure was over my 24th birthday (June 18th for all those than want to send me presents!). Since having been in Budapest for my 22nd, I have decided that it would be a good (if a little expensive) tradition to be out of the UK for each of my birthdays. Therefore, for my third birthday away I headed back to Croatia, this time with my friend Melissa. I had been to Croatia before, as part of my Interrailling trip but this time wanted to visit a few more islands, and what better way to do that than by sailing through them?! We took a Busabout Sailing Tour, booked through STA and had the most amazing time (despite the rain gods being against me for the first few days!). We had a fab group of Aussies and Kiwis to spend our time with, and again my birthday and travels fell during a football competition (sense a theme here?!). So not only did we explore the islands' culture and party to our heart's content, we also celebrated and commiserated the Croatian wins and losses!

If anyone is thinking of going to Croatia and likes a party, I would highly recommend this!

Next up, China and Hong Kong!!!! This was a work trip (Real Gap and i-to-i volunteering) but I had an amazing opportunity to travel from Hong Kong, through Yangshuo (best place!), Chengdu and Xi'an up to Beijing! I did some amazing activities, saw cute baby pandas and walked on The Great Wall of China - along with eating some amaaaaazing food - obvs, you know me! If you look at my Instagram you can see some cool pics of my time in China and I promise I will get round to another blog post about this soon!

Aaaaand, lastly, but by no means least I got to go back to Kos, Greece (my boyfriend's fatherland!). Four of us went for a week in October and, to be honest, just lapped up the sunshine! It was great not to do much at all! We ate, drank, read and sunbathed everyday and it couldn't have been better! As much as I LOVE exploring new places and backpacking around new countries, I will always have a soft spot for loafing on the beach and eating tzatziki and pitta by the harbour! Hopefully I'll get to do it again this year!

So I hope you like my wrap-up of 2014 - I had an AMAZING time! If you have any questions about any of these places, just let me know and I will help out any way I can! 

I have made a couple of plans already for 2015 so will let you know about these shortly but if you have any recommendations for my 25th Birthday Adventure I would love to know :-)

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!!!

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Wahooooo! It’s the weekend and, for me, that means the start of a holiday!!!

I am off to Greece tomorrow (Kos) for a relaxing break and I cannot wait! About a week ago I was thinking “ooh I’m going on holiday soon and I don’t even particularly feel stressed like I need one…” Then this week, my cold and sniffly nose kicked in and winter suddenly descended and I’ve been counting down the days (and hours!) until the weekend!

I went to Kos last year in August for a couple of weeks (my boyfriend’s dad’s side live over there) and the weather was glorious! This year, the forecast looks a little iffy and if that didn’t make packing hard enough I am only taking hand luggage on my strict Easyjet flight… What was I thinking?! I know I’m only going for a week but now I can’t predict wall-to-wall sunshine I am going to have to pack for every eventuality!

Somehow, I can manage to pack one 60L backpack for 4 months globetrotting but fitting a week’s worth of clothes into a 56 x 45 x 25cm seems like a mammoth task!

Let’s see how this goes…

My number one tip has to be ROLLING! Rolling is the way forward when packing clothes. It stops all those nasty creases right down the middle of dresses and tops and ensures you are able to squeeze in as much as poss!

Another thing I found which is an absolute GAMECHANGER is little sachets of shampoo/conditioner. These take up soooo much less space than bottles and are super cheap too! I found these L’Oréal ones in Poundland for 24x10ml sachets. I have ridiculously long hair and fingers crossed they will be fine – especially for just a week!

The main thing I find annoying about Easyjet (and other low cost airline) restrictions on Cabin Baggage is that you can’t take an extra handbag. Even just a little one! I want to have easy access to my phone, iPod, kindle, purse, magazines etc but have to unzip my suitcase and get things out with the fear that my underwear may fling out attached to something at any moment! My plan is to buy my magazines at the airport, get a large WH Smith's bag,fill it with all my handy possessions under the illusion that I have bought all these things in duty free and waltz right through.. Not sure how that will go down but we'll see..!

My packing actually seems to have gone OK but it's made all the more difficult by the fact that there is a raging storm outside and I'm supposed to be wishing for sunshine!

I'll post again when I get back and hopefully have some sunny snaps for you!

ta leme (τα λέμε) Until we speak again!

Take care.

  Backpack-Getback-Repack