Lava, lingo, literature and light – “experiences before I die” progress

experiences before I die - reading Hemingway on the Florida Keys

The first few months of 2015 have been pretty eventful. I spent two months travelling in Nicaragua, lapping up its spirit and diversity. I negotiated countless chicken buses, and fended off several questions about my solo travel status. I found new contract and freelance work back in the UK. And I met someone I thought I’d […]

Is Spanish language school worth it?

outdoor classes at La Mariposa Spanish language school Nicaragua

To try and communicate better with local people when travelling, I enrolled in two weeks of Spanish language school in Nicaragua. Was it worth the effort? Seven years after first mastering enough Spanish to be able to order food, work out which bus I needed to be on, and make small talk about how cold it was in my […]

Hopes and fears for long-term travel: Miami, Nicaragua and Colombia

Hopes and fears for long-term travel: Miami, Nicaragua and Colombia

“I must be more nervous about this trip than I thought.” That’s what’s going through my mind at 3am this morning. I’m wide awake, random thoughts churning through my head. I only do this when I’m worried about something. Normally me and sleep are very happy bedtime buddies. Tomorrow I travel to Miami, the start […]

Top 3 tips for language learning, without going to class

career break aims and objectives - tips for learning a new language

How do you go about learning a new language, when you have the kind of job that doesn’t allow you to get to night school every Tuesday at 6pm? That’s the question I asked myself when preparing for my first ever career break trip to South America. Here I share my top three tips for language learning: how I’ve gathered […]

The A to Z of gap year planning, Part 1: A to H

plan my gap year budget - gear

“How do I even start to plan my gap year?” “What about a gap year budget?” You aren’t alone in asking these questions – there can seem like zillions of things to think about when planning a gap year. Do I want to travel, volunteer, learning a new language? How can I save up? What about my […]