Travels of Shepp

On our road trip, we were driving along a road in the dark in the middle of nowhere. We hadn't seen another car in at least half an hour and kangaroos and hares kept jumping across the road. We pulled over to swap food in between the two cars and swap drivers. When I stepped out of the car, I looked up. The sky was filled was thousands of stars, more than I had ever seen before. I was so stunned, I immediately burst into tears. It was incredible. I had heard people talk about the sky where they live in the country having better visibility than the city because of light pollution, but I just had no idea how beautiful it really would be. It was my first time seeing something like that in real life, and not in a photo I thought was edited. I could look at that sky forever; hopefully I'll see many more of them! (this photo is from the same day but slightly unrelated cos there's no way I could take a photo of those stars- it would never do it justice) Shepp x

I really enjoyed my first week or so in Australia, and my first two weeks travelling. However, unfortunately on the Monday of the tour, I received some bad news; my Nan passed away. She had been ill so it wasn't unexpected, but it's still horrible news to receive. It's hard enough to deal with when you're at home, but even more difficult when you are travelling because you're away from your family. I felt guilt for not being at home, and just wanted to hug and see my family. Before I left, my Nan was so excited for me to go travelling. For me, she wanted nothing more than for me to have fun and make the most of it. So, even though I struggle at times, when it's hard to be away from home, or I'm stressing over getting a job and the logistics of moving country, I try to remember what my Nan wanted for me. She wanted me to have a wonderful life and seize every opportunity that came my way. And I know now that she is always looking out for me. Shepp x ...

My first week in Melbourne I booked onto a tour called Welcome to Travel. It was an absolutely fantastic week and so helpful for my start to my Australian adventure. I arrived at the hostel a few days early, so had some time to get my barings and get a bit used to the city. Over the next tour days, people from the tour trickled in, so by the time it began I knew some of them quite well. The day before the tour was also FOMO Fest, so this was a fantastic opportunity to get to know my new friends before the tour even began. Monday- City Tour The first day of the week, our group was finally whole and we had a meet and greet and intro talk. We all know how hard it can be to make group warm ups fun, but with the relaxed atmosphere and two truths and a lie, Clauds and Adam achieved it. That proved to me that we had a good group- everyone was excited to get the week going and have a laugh. We then jumped straight into it with the lovely Clauds giving us a walking tour of the city. It was a ba...

In November, I saw there was a festival on in Melbourne around the same time I would be there, with two of my favourite artists playing. I obviously HAD to book a ticket. I was so excited I barely even thought about who I would go with. I was going by myself; I'd find people there or something and it would be fine. This festival was right before my week-long group tour in Melbourne, which I was arriving early for. A few others arrived early too, and to my surprise, when I mentioned the festival, they booked tickets right away! Over the next couple of days as more people arrived, more wanted to come with me to this festival. Before I knew it, we had a group of 7! Somehow I was even more excited for the day. It had been a bit rainy and slightly chilly in Melbourne (yes this does sometimes happen in Australia, although when I say chilly I mean like 17°C) for the past few days. But on the day of the festival, the strong Australian sun shone down and it was at least 25°C- perfect festiv...

Besides my obsession with Italian food, the food in Singapore is some of the best I've ever had. Hawker centres These were a new experience for me, and they come with a whole new set of rules that would be worth researching before going to Singapore to save yourself looking a bit silly. Basically, Hawker centres are big covered food halls with lots of different stalls selling all kinds of food, with shared tables in the middle. Tourists and locals alike visit there regularly. As well as having incredible food, one of the best things about Hawker centres is how cheap they are. Average price I've paid for a full meal has been $5! That's like £2.80! Locals bag or "chope" a seat at a table by putting a packet of tissues or a card there while they go to their favourite stall to order. Most stalls are tiny and only do a small menu (sometimes just one specialty!) and the stall where you get your food often won't do drinks too. You can go to another stall where they o...

I knew Singapore would be great but it really surpassed my expectations. I anticipated it as just a layover and I was itching to get to Australia. However, Singapore is such a unique city packed with so much to do, stunning modern architecture and incredible food. The Jewel Shopping Mall attached to the airport, with a rainforest inside! The first thing that struck me about Singapore was how modern it is. It's like a city of the future; the huge glass skyscrapers and unique modern buildings were breathtaking. Along with this, the city is so clean (chewing gum and littering are illegal) and also very safe. The MRT (underground) is very easy to use, cool with aircon and not crowded like the London tubes. You're actually not allowed to run for the trains- which is fine because they actually arrive on time! Something about all this innovation mixed with the humidity reminded me of something... Oh yeah Epcot!! I will never shut up about Epcot; Singapore is just like ...