Tag: traveller

TO THE PLACE I CALLED HOME

Published on by oliviagaskillLeave a comment


First of all, I apologise for being inactive over the past month. A couple of days after New Year I became really homesick and got myself worked up over what to do or where to go next now that my reason for staying in Sydney for so long had passed. However everything is sorted now and I’ve got my motivation back!

If someone had said to me a few years ago that I’d be living in Sydney for 5 months after graduating university I would have called them crazy. However since arriving in Australia this city been my home away from home and I’ve gotten to know the place like the back of my hand. My initial plan was to stay until the start of January so I could celebrate Christmas and New Year here and tick it off my bucket list, but I ended up staying an extra month, not just because it’s become my security blanket but because of the people I’ve met who have made it what it is.

I stepped out of my comfort zone when I arrived as a solo traveller, but made a load of new friends when I moved into Wake Up. I met my best friend here who I’ll be travelling the east coast with and going to live with her and her family for a month in Vermont, US. I saw two of my favourite DJs, Paul van Dyk and Eric Prydz, live and experienced my first proper festival. I tried sushi for the first time and ate it so much that Sushi Hub gave me a discount card and already knew my order each time I walked up to the counter. Queuing for two hours to get Rush tickets for Aladdin the Musical was so worth it and I would 100% recommend it if you ever get the chance. I spent Christmas Day on a beach and brought in 2017 watching the Harbour fireworks.

Living in a hostel meant spontaneous plans were always popping up, like when Maya, Kim and I took a trip to Skyzone trampoline park after deciding to go only half an hour prior, or when Maya, Meg, George, Worm and I got bored so we went and bought Monopoly, and let’s not forget MOANA SING-ALONGS! Albeit we got some odd looks playing friendship-wrecking board games in reception or the kitchen but when the hostel is basically your home you’re going to start treating it as such. And at the end of January I celebrated Australia Day even though I’m not a citizen, but hey it was a nice day out with nothing but good vibes. 

There are so many more amazing things I’ve done in Sydney but I’m sure no one wants to read an endless list. But now it’s time for me to move on and start my regional work, and although it stressed me out to no end finding a place to go (already breaking my new year’s resolution to worry less) I found the loveliest family in Orange, NSW. I’ll still be posting my unpublished drafts about Sydney such as the best things to do there and how to live in the city on a budget etc. because I feel it would be a waste of writing not to, and I hope it will help other travellers alike find their place in the big city.

So for now Sydney I bid you farewell, but don’t worry I’ll be back to visit soon enough.

Liv

xo

Advertisement

BLOGMAS DAY 18: THE CHRISTMAS TAG PART 2

Published on by oliviagaskillLeave a comment


It’s Blogmas day 18 which means only one week until Christmas! Today I thought it would be a good idea to do the second part of the Christmas Tag. I found these questions on Milk Bubble Tea in a post from 2014, and because there were a few questions that were in the tag I did the other day I’ve taken some off and was left with these.

1. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
I don’t have one in particular, just every year when I spend it with my Mum.

2. Favourite Christmas gift ?
On the spot I don’t have a particular favourite but a few years ago my Mum asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said Harry Potter Studio Tour tickets, thinking she wouldn’t get them because they’re pricey and the trip to London was a trek. But on Christmas morning I opened a seemingly normal envelope and inside were two tickets, I actually started crying!
A present I remember getting as a child was Heeleys and I was in my element. I spent the whole day practising how to wheel about on them and I used them all the time for at least a year. Does anyone else remember Heeleys?

3. Favourite Christmas scent?
It’s got to be the smell of our fry-up breakfast on Christmas morning. Either that or the smell of freshly baked gingerbread cookies.

4. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
I don’t think I do actually. Christmas Eve isn’t really a thing in our house apart from doing last minute shopping or wrapping.

5. What tops your tree?
As we had a fibre optic tree we didn’t put anything on the top but before that tree we had an angel.

6. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?
A dog. Every year for my birthday and Christmas I’d ask for a Dalmatian puppy but never got one and now that I’m older I can see why. We didn’t have the time to look after a dog or the money as they can get very expensive, plus we’re not allowed pets in the house and I’m sure my Mum wouldn’t appreciate dirty paw prints on her cream carpets. I’ve decided once I settle somewhere with a full time job I’m buying one.

7. What’s the best part about Christmas for you?
The festive feeling I get the whole time throughout December. Christmas is my favourite time of year I love everything about it, from putting up the tree to shopping for presents, from snuggling into bed watching a Christmas film to spending the 25th with family.

I hope you all enjoyed the second part of the Christmas Tag. I really enjoy doing these kinds of posts so even once Blogmas has finished I’ll probably look for other kind of tags to fill in.
Until tomorrow,
Liv
xo

BLOGMAS DAY 2: DECORATING MY CAVE

Published on by oliviagaskill2 Comments


Day 2 of blogmas and I’m still going strong. Albeit I’ve got 23 days to go but it’s a hopeful start. The title of this post seems a bit strange, the words “decorating” and “cave” in the same sentence isn’t something you see every day. I’m going to assume that every traveller knows what I mean by this, but for those of you who don’t know or if it’s only something that people at Wake Up do, I’ll explain. If you have a bottom bunk in the hostel you can drape a sheet the whole way around it to give yourself some privacy and not get woken up by light in the morning. Another bonus is that if you clip two lanyards from the roof of the bunk you can make your own little cinema by placing your phone or iPad through the loops.


I was going to vlog decorating the bunk but my phone keeps running out of storage and I’m yet to buy the camera I want, so a blog post with low quality photos will have to do for now. Maya and I made a trip to Dollar King yesterday and I bought some fairy lights, tinsel, and snowflake decorations. Also, before I came to Australia I packed some old photos I had from my first and second year of uni, and at some point I’ll print a few third year photos to stick up too.


To decorate my little space I stuck the battery box of the fairy lights to my light box and twisted them around the ladder at the head of my bed. Where they left off I used tinsel decorate the opposite post and stretched it all along the top of my bed, so you can see it hanging down from outside the bed. Where the light box shines down the wall I stuck the pictures up, which I think adds a really nice touch along with the snowflakes along the walls. Watching a film with just the fairy lights on felt so cosy last night, all I needed was a packet of Tim Tams and it would’ve been perfect.



Being in a hostel for Christmas might not sound great, but spending it with my Wake Up family and having my own little decorated space will make it feel more homely and I’m sure it’s going to be great. Plus we’ll be sat on a beach to celebrate whilst everyone back home freezes their asses off. Sorry, not sorry.

Until tomorrow guys,

Liv

xo