Well it had to happen some day right?

After the USA, university, teaching in Thailand, adventures in SE Asia and working in Australia’s Outback, here I am. Back in London, currently living a few streets down from where I was born. Talk about a full circle.

But (here comes the cheesy lines…) this is just another chapter of an adventure right? Thanks goodness I work for a travel company. I’d say I’m not done racking up the air miles just yet.

So one thing came in handy – while I was off exploring the lands Down Under, my parents moved back to London to a flat with an extra bedroom. Success.

What has six months living back with mum and dad been like? Well, to be honest…not as bad as I thought it would be. Might be something to do with the fact that I still spend half the week staying elsewhere… But I give them their space, and I get my space so it works out right?

People always think heading back to the parents home as an adult is a bad thing, but hey – turns out it’s not so bad after all. For now.

I was asked to reminisce about all the ways I’ve used them over the years.

I first used the STA offices in 2007 when I took a backpacking trip around Europe. I went to their offices where I bought my Euro Rail pass and my Euro Tunnel tickets along with my travel insurance. I got a pretty good deal, plus having the Rail pass was a huge weight off my shoulders – it was nice to be able to travel around without having to continually hand over cash every few days. On top of all that, I was able to talk to someone about what was actually a realistic trip for me – where I could go, how long would I need, how would I get there. Just like any traveling trip, nothing went exactly as planned, but it calmed a lot of my worries being able to talk to someone who actually knew what they were talking about!

After that I used them again when my three good friends and I took a trip to Barcelona, Marrakech and Madrid. They figured out the cheapest route for us (turned out it was actually cheaper to go to Madrid, then down to Marrakech and back into Spain to hit Barcelona) which helped us out a ton.

After that I finished off university and headed to Asia on my own wind (sorry STA…) but it wouldn’t be long before I came crawling back! If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you’ll know already that I am one of the very lucky £10 Poms now enjoying the sunshine in Australia. When I got that ticket, I found out about STA Travel Buzz and the wonderful Cam who set me up as one of her STA Explorers. Before I headed to Australia I managed to sort out an Australian bank account and tax number, again, all through STA. What legends.

They’ve got a lot of great staff there and they’re out to help the young and restless on their travels…where ever that may be!

Day One: A trip to The Photographers’ Gallery in London with Tom before heading to the Apple Store. I love the Apple Store – so many pretty things. So many things I can’t afford. But I still got seen by a lovely Genius who fixed all the little bugs on my Mac and bought a World Traveller Kit which is AWESOME. Okay, a tiny overreaction, but it lets me charge my iPod (and my laptop if I switch the plug) anywhere in the WORLD! So basically it’s a box that comes with all the little plug ins to switch in the white block thing. But I was excited. After dealing with plugging in adapters on top of adapters to find the right combination, it’s pretty thrilling. Then we headed to Bizarros for a really nice Italian dinner near home. We were going to the new Moroccan place for it’s opening, but overcrowded buffet and eating while standing up wasn’t our idea of a good meal. Day One: check.

Day Two: Sunday lunch with Johanna and Tamsin at Pearl Liang. My very late discovery and probably one of my favourite restaurants these days. Yummy Dim Sum and super cheap. Perfect.

Three: My last English Fish ‘n Chips!! Ok, it ended up not being QUITE my last, but certainly my last one from a greasy take away soaked in vinegar and tartare sauce. Sooo good. I can’t resist a good English chippie!

Day Four, November 17th – Dinner at Las Iguanas and rather expensive cocktails with the lovely Nims. I’ll miss that girl. Can always be trusted to come out for a good drink and a chinwag.

Wednesday, the 18th – Off to La Porte Des Indes with my godparents who are nowadays in possession of all my worldly belongings that didn’t fit in my backpack.

Day Six – My last day at Black Tomato! Although they’ll be using my talents while I’m Down Under. Good company, good internship, and good people. Then I headed into East London to another late find and another favourite restaurant – Lahore. REALLY good food (try the pork chops: simply mouthwatering).

Day Seven – The Big One. Leaving drinks. I randomly chose Thai Square in Trafalgar Square as the meeting point. It ended up being pretty successful although we were just about the only non-Asian’s in the place, but that was no reason to not enjoy ourselves and we certainly did. Lots of people made it out including my lovely ex-housemate Hannah, my original London friends (two of whom have headed off to Thailand, so you can read about their trip here plus if you’re looking to get some good, cheap Thai shirts and accessories imported, or want some bespoke artwork and furniture designed by two great people, Sophie and Claudia are the girls to talk to!) along with Tom and Miguel (the suave one).

Day Seven/Eight – My leaving drinks and the following day all kind of blend into one since my head never hit a pillow in between. After (thankfully) grabbing a night bus home from Thai Square, Tom and I were home for….ten minutes? Then it was off to Liverpool Street Station where we accidentally bought First Class tickets on the Stansted Express. Oops. We traveled in style to the airport and grabbed the VERY early flight to Berlin!

Four days until I leave. To be continued.

It’s hard to really get my head around it all. The fact that I haven’t started packing at all probably helps with that.

Last weekend I managed to head up to Glasgow to see my lovely family one more time before I leave the hemisphere. I realised that having spent the last 12 years of my life in a different continent, whether it was North America, Asia or Australasia, my family have gotten older (and wiser?) and I haven’t been as close and in touch with them as I would like. My ‘baby’ cousin Lucy is 12 years old which seems impossible, my older cousin Martin is married (I was lucky enough to make it to the wedding), and Raymond is in his last year of uni and getting ready to go around the world with his girlfriend.

As excited as I am to head Down Under, it’s definitely going to be hard being so far away yet again. On top of that, I’ll be leaving an amazing home, with the best neighbours I could have asked for, and a job that is the closest to perfect I’ve come so far (I basically get to do this – travel writing – all day, what could be better?).

So here it goes. A week of manic running around and seeing all the faces I’ll miss before I walk through the gate at Heathrow.

That’s my sentimental post of the week. The next one will be more upbeat as I’ll be recounting what is sure to be a fantastic week of celebration and farewell. First stop – a nice little dinner with the one and only Nims at Las Iguanas. As long as I figure out how to get there in the next two hours…

Last week I managed to hit two note-worthy performances: one old and one new.

A couple of years ago, I saw a movie that I loved, written specifically for the fantastic actress, Jane Horrocks, who played the title role. So as you may have guessed, I hit up the new stage version of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Starring Diana Vickers, an ex X Factor finalist who was, I have to say, brilliant. I’ll admit, I don’t know her music although have since clicked on a few old X Factor clips and have yet to think any less of her. It takes a pretty good singer to sound believable while impersonating several other iconic belters (I’m talking the likes of Marilyn Monroe, and Edith Piaf) and creating your own original voice at the same time.

The movie is great and the stage play was no less, although the focus on characters was a little different, but since when did any book/movie/play exactly follow the original story line, right?

I’m not usually one for plays, I’m a musical girl. If that sounds like you too, then Little Voice is still for you. Yes, it’s a play, there’s lots of talking and no synchronized dancing, but the great story and cast are more than enjoyable to watch, and Diana’s vocal performance fills that little musical-loving hole in my heart.

Next, I couldn’t help but get my music fix at what has become a modern-classic. Avenue Q. It took me four years to get around to it, but I finally go to see the adult version of Sesame Street. I learnt the alphabet from Sesame Street, and if I was still four years old I would have learnt all about the birds and the bees from Avenue Q. So to speak. More like… how everyone is a little bit racist, sex is on everyone’s mind (all the time) and we all watch porn on the internet. Even if you don’t admit it. You know you’ve been a little bit curious at least once before. Don’t lie. I know you did it.

There’s something that just makes me warm inside about watching puppets and humans interact like it’s no big deal and then breaking out into intricate dance routines as they sing about how much life sucks. Perfect.

I love the West End.

Last Wednesday, I planned to meet up with four friends: two of my London pals and two girls who came into my life during my travels in Asia: Laura, was only involved for a single night on Koh Pha Ngan, but is one of the few who I’ve managed to stay in touch with, the other is Claudia, who, if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog will be a familiar name to you. But I couldn’t resist when what could have been a small, quiet night began rolling downhill and picking up more and more people as it went. It started with Sophie (one of the London pals) messaging our ‘usual’ Wednesday night drinks group on Facebook:

Sophie 12 October at 18:17 Reply

Hello this wednesday we are headed to cha cha moon just off carnaby street for some gorgeous food! We will meet outside at 6.30pm, then head to the john snow pub for 7.30pm!

Lots of love xx

Then I confirmed plans with my two traveling friends, Laura and Claudia; which grew to be Laura, Claudia, Claire, and eventually Emily.

Not exactly a Travel ARTICLE technically, but some helpful information about Oz, and a TAW is way overdue.

After five long days at work, it was straight to the local pub by my office with some of my equally ‘ready-for-the-weekend’ colleagues. After offloading all our typical work frustrations and a few pints I think we all felt a lot better.

After that, it was onto the tube and back to Paddington. Or was that Sheperd’s Bush? Apparently I was a little more exhausted than I thought… After waking up at Shepherd’s Bush, I quickly hopped off, grabbed the next eastbound train and retraced my steps to Paddington. I made sure to stay awake this time. Of course, my night couldn’t end there, so it was straight to The Cleveland Arms, my very own local, to meet up with the neighbours. After catching up with John, the landlord, and a few of the other regulars we headed back home. An ideal night of classic English locals. Not bad.

Next on the list? An English village! So when I eventually did get up, I hopped on a train to Leatherhead, where my good friend Nims hangs her hat. I met her and the lovely Marie-Anne (she goes by Mars, it makes the fact that we have the same name easier) at Mr. Nims’ (or Rich) tattoo shop where the man himself was giving Mars a nice little tattoo on her wrist. Then it was back to Nims’ to cook fish soup, roasted butternut squash with feta and vegetables, and homemade white chocolate rasberry cheesecake. Yum. Finished off by an episode of X Factor. Perfect.

Just to top off the weekend, how about a run in the park? Or how about I just go and support while others run in the park? What can I say, it was early, and well I’m not the one who signed up for a half-marathon anyway. But my neighbour Andy did (he was coerced really), and I am good enough to get up early to be the support team. So it was off to Hyde Park bright and early, where I curled up with a book for a couple of hours while Andy made his way through 13.1 miles of royal parks. Well done Andy. Top off the night with the second X Factor episode and my weekend was complete.

Monday and it’s back to work, but at least I got to enjoy another typical English activity that evening: an Indian. After joining my godparents at La Porte des Indes and eating WAY too much food, I dutifully collapsed into a food coma. Unfortunately, despite the good food, I could have done without the stomach pains.

My neighbour, the suave Portuguese Miguel, turned the big 2-4 on Friday which called for an all-you-can-eat buffet in Chinatown a drink or two in Leicester Square and a little shaking at On Anon in Piccadilly Circus. I love Chinatown in London, but I have to say, an all-you-can-eat buffet is not the way to get the best quality food. But certainly the most for your money. Despite the lack of decent cuisine, I managed to fill my plate twice. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a deal.

After that, we bumped into Tom who was enjoying a karaoke farewell night with his ex coworkers before joining us at the Wetherspoons in Leicester Square. Again – I love Leicester Square, but Wetherspoons is not the way to enjoy that place. Overpopulated with tourists who seem to think they are actually hanging out in a cool London bar, and not the overpriced poorly located place that The Moon Under Water is.

We shortly left and entered On Anon to dance to some cheesy pop music for a few hours before heading home on the night bus.

Saturday morning, I woke up to meet the Sellars family, then joined Andy and his father plus a few others for my first EVER British football game. Blackpool @ Crystal Palace. Andy’s family are Blackpool supporters so we were on the visiting (and unfortunately losing) side. Sadly I was beginning to feel a little under the weather, but despite that, I really enjoyed watching grown men resort to baring their teeth and holding their hands up at the opposing fans as if to say ‘come and say that over here.’

Back at home there wasn’t much time before I was getting changed and ready to head to Shunt. Shunt is must-go in London. But you have got to get there before November 14th when they will probably be closing down and (hopefully) moving location. But their current location at London Bridge is to die for. Think enormous underground brick arches, vast open spaces and any number of new corners to look around. There was an eccentric art exhibition in the eerily quiet halls as we first walked in, past the lone girl standing outside a room with a tray of popcorn bags for the film screening that was about to happen. Through the large iron gates at the end and I found myself walking past wooden benches set up stadium seat style, past a small door that led to a space with a billiard table, then through a room where a live band was about to begin, and into a cavernous back room with a DJ and a cornered off section with benches and tables separated by beams. The £10 cover is well worth it; if you’re in London reading this blog, get there now before it’s too late.

Tip of the day: get there EARLY. Doors close to new customers at midnight, and by 10pm the line goes all the way through the London Bridge tube station.

As I knew would happen, Sunday was spent shivering in my bed as my body rejected all the late nights and cold days I had exposed it to over the previous 48 hours. But on the plus side, I got to watch both episodes of X Factor. And yes, just like everyone else who isn’t Irish, I want to throw those twins out of a window every time I see them. I’m sorry. But I do.

After reuniting with Cam, Alice and AJ from my ‘Around the World’ tour of London, plus a couple more £10 Poms and other STA Explorers we ate, drank and were generally merry running around in our Australian hats – corks and all, until Saxon sat us down for a little Ozzy talk. Apparently Magnetic Island is the place to be. Less than two months until I head down for those keeping track. (!!!)

So Cam has been asking us to look back on traveling and how it has changed over the last 30 years (they’re really squeezing everything they can out of the STA 30th anniversary thing). I haven’t been alive for 30 years, but here are my few thoughts on how travel has changed that I’ve noticed.

Hmmm…..

I’ve had a quick look at some other responses, and music is a trend. I’ve just spent the last month and a half iPod-free and have certainly come to appreciate how dependent I am on that little machine. BUT I have to say, especially on long haul flights, my iPod is not my saviour. It’s that amazing IFE (In-flight entertainment). I do not go to the cinema as often as I’d like because 1 – it is way too expensive these days, and 2 – all my friends feel the same way: it’s rare that someone is around to convince us all to part with that money when we’d rather use it for dinner or a few pints down the pub. As a result, the films shown on long flights are pretty much my main source of newly released hits that I never got to see.

I need something to look at when I’m sat in the same seat for that long, since sleeping comfortably when you’re not dropping thousands on First Class (which obviously I do all the time…in my imaginary world where I’m a famous and insanely rich writer….) just doesn’t happen.

I’ve been on a lot of long flights in my life, and on most airlines (Virgin Atlantic is my current favourite) the entertainment systems have become pretty amazing. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t choose from all those on-demand movies, television shows and games.

I know some planes still start all the movies at the same time, and you can’t choose the film. And god-forbid I ever get on another plane that only has those screens in the aisles. When you are sitting just a little too far away, or directly below those things: literally a form of torture.

There are other obvious thoughts: the Internet makes researching destinations and booking tickets a piece of cake; the world is a much smaller place.

Thirty years ago, there were a lot of places that I wouldn’t have been able to visit. This past year I spent about eight months in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. 1979? Not so sure I would have been so comfortable heading over a mere four years after the Vietnam war.
Africa is still a continent with a lot of struggling countries, but it’s becoming more and more accessible as a destination. My friend Olly goes there quite regularly these days and recently returned from his newest tour.

No smoking on flights. I remember flying with my mum once and having no choice but to sit in the smoking section of the plane. I don’t think a confined metal tube is really the best place for smoking, so that’s a change I’m definitely okay with.

A change I’m not okay with? Back in the day, one of my favourite things to do was to go into the cockpit. Anyone else do this? The air stewards would take me up, and I’d get to sit in one of those extra seats behind the pilot and co-pilot and watch them as they played with all those buttons and dials that somehow managed to keep a massive chunk of metal airborne. These days that’s definitely not possible. Probably something to do with terrorism, but a damn shame if you ask me.

A few random thoughts about travel: check.

I’ve had a birthday, which means one year older and plenty to write about but I’ll try to keep it short. Plus this write up is more about my amazing night with STA Travel Buzz (follow them here, or read their blog here).

To start things off, how about a reunion with some other all-star travelers from my days in SE Asia? Yes please. Calvin, our Canadian companion, flew all the way to the UK so what better excuse for a meet up with the rest of the English constituency? It all started on Thursday, September 10 when Calvin, Claudia and myself hit Embargo’s in London for some good old partying on New Kings Road. Then it was onto the train the following day, heading to Bristol to meet up with Patrick, Matt, Andy and Zoe. It was an EPIC evening that started out with what I can comfortably say was the best Thai meal I’ve had since, well, Thailand. We’re talking Pad Thai, Panang Curry, Green Curry, Pad Grapow, everything I love. After eating it in record time we realised that it had cost us about 7,000 Baht, and estimated that back in Bangkok the same meal would be less than 1,000. Depressing? Slightly. Still delicious? Obviously. After that we headed to Matt’s friend’s back garden where an enormous bonfire, a huge marquee and several dozen gallons of local (as in, literally from across the road) cider were ready and waiting. Amazing. Needless to say, the night went well, catching up, reliving the good times abroad and listening to Pat’s sweet sweet voice as he strummed his guitar the way only he can. Then it was a night sleeping in the marquee under blankets before a traditional English pub lunch and the train back to London town for more birthday celebrations with my neighbours.

That Monday I went to a fantastic gig at The Scala to see two of my old high school friends who now go by the name Wye Oak. I left it a bit last minute but luckily Andy and Jen (the rockers) got me and a couple of good friends on the guest list to enjoy their seriously good opening act before they were followed by Okkervil River. High school reunion, good music and a birthday all in one night? Not bad.

So, traveller reunion, good music…what could be next? How about going around the world without leaving London? Oh yes. Tuesday, September 15 I met Camilla, Sam and Michelle from STA Travel Buzz (who have been kind enough to plug my blog along with a few other travelers for an STA 30th anniversary celebration. It all started in ‘India’ on Brick Lane in one of the many many Indian restaurants that line that road. Once the whole gang was assembled, we headed to…the kitchen. I’m not sure how the other paying guests felt about some random kids walking into the back to play with food but hey, on Brick Lane, give a restaurant owner enough money and you can do anything it would seem. So learn how to cook onion bhajis we did, before jumping on to the private Route master bus hired for the evening to head to ‘America’ while enjoying our deep fried Indian cuisine. America turned out to be All Star Bowling Lanes, where a game of retro bowling and classic American cocktails were the order of the night. I tried to ignore the fact that our waitress was Irish. As the only member of the posse to have actually lived in the US, there was a lot of pressure on me, and while the girls did lose, I feel I scored well enough to walk out with my head held high.
Next? Off to ‘England’! Okay, so this one wasn’t so hard, but I wasn’t complaining when the piping hot fish ‘n chips turned up on the bus. After a few glasses of champagne on the Route master and it was out again in front of the London Irish Centre where a lovely Irishman named Aiden O’Neill taught us the fine art of Irish dancing. Okay, so we weren’t so fine, or graceful, or good… But I think Aiden appreciated the effort, and we all appreciated an excuse to skip about holding hands without getting weird looks from anyone else. After an embarrassing attempt at our own Riverdance, we headed to the Irish pub for a pint of Guinness. What else?

It was a great end to a great night before crawling home only to wake up a few hours later, back to the grind of a Wednesday morning. But at least I had a good story to tell this time.

For photos of Bristol, my neighbours and Wye Oak check out this link, for STA Around the World, go here.

London can be a seriously expensive city, but there are a lot of ways to save money, like the two I have just mentioned. Especially when it comes to eating, I only find out about deals by walking past restaurants and seeing their signs in the windows advertising happy hours and specials. For instance, there’s a pizza/pasta restaurant about 15 minutes walk up the hill from me on Archway Road that I’ve never been to before, but yesterday I noticed the huge signs in the windows telling me that from 9 – 11 p.m I can get pizza or pasta for £3! I’ll let you know how it is, no doubt I’ll go there in the next few days.

I also subscribe to what is sometimes an annoying amount of mailing lists, but they do occasionally help me find things to do for little or no money. Like the Transport for London e-mail that I get weekly about what’s happening this weekend. This Sunday is Opera Holland Park Open Day apparently, which is free. The 1234 Festival in Shoreditch looks like a great deal as well, with ticket prices including access to several after parties too. I may be attending this one myself.

I just found these two websites that may help too: http://www. londonisfree.com, http://www.londonforfree.net

Anyone else know of any good deals on food or evenings out, or any cheap/free events going on in the city?