Welcome to my Travel Blog

My email: gkirsty@hotmail.com 

You may have though about it yourself, or listened to friends dream about it, but I have actually done it…. at the age of 36 I decided to stop work and see more of this amazing world we live in, because…….. well…… life is just too short!                                                       

So back in August 2006 I resigned from my marketing job leaving behind a 12 year career and by December both me and my faithful but somewhat bemused spaniel were living in the spare room at my parent’s house with all my belongings stuffed floor to ceiling in the garage.                             

In January 2007 I visited the ‘Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel Show at Olympia‘ where I found invaluable information and met other travellers and tour operators.  I then set about planning a year of discovery:

• EGYPT: Cairo, Giza, Suez, Sinai, Red Sea, Abu Simbel, loads of temples, Valley of the Kings, Luxur, Aswan, Nile Cruise, Western Desert

• USA: New England roadtrip then a mammouth trip from New York to LA taking in Niagara Falls, Chicago, the Badlands, Devils’ Tower, South Dakota, Wyoming, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Yosemite, San Fransico, LA, The Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree NP, Death Valley, ‘cow-boying up’ in Montana and ending up sleepless in Seattle. 

• CANADA: Stampeding in Calgary, crossing the Rockies and icefields to Vancouver. 

• AUSTRALIA: Around the edge and down the middle… I did it all!

• NEW ZEALAND: North to South and everything in between… awesome!

• THAILAND: Bangkok, River Kwai, Golden Triangle & Northern Hill Tribes then down to the glorious islands and beaches of the south. 

I’m a living example of a ‘grown up gapper’  and you can read about my travels online. Click on each country page above then use the calendar opposite to read my blog entries. 

• Australia, from September 1st 2007
• New Zealand from November 7th 2007  
• For Egypt, USA and Canada you will need to visit my previous blog site: click here 

Enjoy my ramblings and I hope it inspires you to follow your own path of adventure!

Home again… is it Christmas?

Feb 9th 2008  

The journey back from Bangkok went quickly – boarding at midnight last Tuesday I found I had the entire plane row to myself and stretched out for some sleep (not as comfy as it sounds with seat belts and armrests digging into my back and sides). I gave up on sleep after a few hours and watched a movie starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale “3.10 to Yuma” – a very good modern western which passed the time before landing at Heathrow around 6.30am last Wednesday.  Dragging my luggage and a box of Siam orchids around the terminal to the bus station I boarded the National Express for Exeter (it’s been years since I used the coach) and wished I’d chosen the train instead as the coach staff had obviously failed to graduate from charm school. So I passed the time on the upper deck reacquainting myself with the english countryside in winter and trying to drown out some noisy toddlers by plugging into my ipod. By noon I was in Exeter and a reunion with my doggy and parents. Since then I’ve been doing very little aside from sleeping, walking my dog and more sleeping with some food imbetween (I have missed toast and marmite – and vegemite just isn’t the same!).  It feels odd to be suddenly into the depths of winter from the tropical warmth of Thailand, as though autumn has been bypassed and having been deprived of a British Christmas last year, I  feel I should be getting out the tree/tinsel/posting cards and buying presents, I’m feeling Christmassy!  So tomorrow night we are having a Grant Family Christmas dinner – luckily there is some mincemeat leftover so I’ll bake some mincepies and Mum is cooking a roast. Yum.   The joy is that in a matter of weeks it’s Easter and I can stuff myself with Choccie eggs!This temporary fun is a good delaying tactic before I face up to the reality of a depleted bank account and a complete lack of any desire to find a permanent job.  Instead I shall be spending the rest of the month making a plan to fund another trip later this year!  Winning on the premium bonds seems unlikely…. guess I better get a temp job instead.Any ideas?