Reflections: my travel journal

It has been a whole year since I set off on my RTW trip. Weird.

Anyone who has travelled long-term - heck, anyone who is vaguely aware of their lives trickling by gets creeped out by how quickly time moves on. It’s pretty scary, but should remind us to make the most of it.

This time last year I had just arrived in San Francisco, with a still-shiny backpack and clean hair. I had landed on my feet, heading straight to the three-day Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park with my lovely roomies Sarah and Lu. 48 hours after leaving the UK I was bopping along to The Shins, Arcade Fire and Muse under bright Californian sunshine, celeb-spotting (I managed to spot High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens) and acquiring a decently burnt nose. That’s a lot to pack into a couple of days. It was the kick start to an epic trip.

How do I know this? Well of course, I have a memory. But it’s not that accurate. I kept a journal throughout my trip, and as I reminisce about the time I spent abroad last year, it helps to pinpoint my exact whereabouts all those months ago. I’ve decided to open up my diary to my readers (well, I’ll paraphrase) and fill you in on what I got up to.

I haven’t covered much of my trip on Sparky Sees the World, merely reviewing the experience in my post ‘Eat, Pray, Love (but not necessarily in that order)’ - so now, a mind-blowing 12 months on, I’ll be covering a few of my favourite destinations, directly parallel to the events as they happened.

I’m looking forward to reliving my travels.