Croatia

After a 10 hour flight from Singapore to Istanbul it is a huge relief to get off the plane and walk around again. Luckily enough I managed to get around 5 hours sleep on the plane and the other 5 were well entertained with flight food, movies and a series of the big bang theory. 

After descending the plane I make my way down the excessivley long hall to where I think I can see stores in the distance. I seem to collect a vast amount of stares from men who look like bin laden and their harems of wives. I thought I was very conservative in my jeans, boots and singlet top -perhaps I should have brought my burka with me? I pass three stands of turkish ice cream ( Im not sure how it differs from our ice cream), a store full of at least a 100 different kinds of turkish delight - who would have thought that it is actually such a popular food here? and a store full of beautifully designed lamps, crockery and jewelry I manage to locate the area to purchase wifi. The clerk is very helpful and after about 10 minutes decides to make it his duty to find me an adaptor so I can charge my computer - loving the customer service! And so once again the wait in transit begins, 2 and a half hours to entertain myself. A chai latte and a brownie should help pass the time.

The flight to Zagreb only takes 1 hour and 45 minutes so in comparison to the other flights it literally flew by (sorry bad joke lol). In my wallet I have 250 Kunas - which to me sounded like more than enough for the week. But after purchasing an hour of wifi for 50 kuna, I begin to realise it wont! I find a small cafe / bar to relax and unwind. The only alcoholic beverage that I can understand is a bottle of Stella Artois beer - which to me tastes like nail polish remover- and the best looking food is a toasted sandwhich. So after another purchase of 50 kuna I sit back to catchup on facebook - my lifeline to my world back home. After 45 minute my computer dies and they dont seem to sell adaptors. So I decide to clear customs and engage in some duty free. After getting through to the other side I realise - there is no duty free!!!! I go to the only form of hope which is a small vending machine - which apparently is not working. So now I am left with 2.5 hours to wait and nothing to eat or drink. Oh well, all part of the fun! So I ake a pillow out of my bags and lie down to catch up on some reading until my flight arrives.

Finally I arrive in Split! After a long process of getting through the passport check I anxiously wait at the baggae claim. Fingers crossed that my bags managed to make it the entire way from Brisbane to Split with no trouble. Success - mine is the 5th bagh off the trolley, thank God for that. So after a refreshing baby wipe shower in the nearest bathroom and a quick wardrobe change I of course find the nearest bar and relax with a wine to wait for my friends flight to arrive. After about half an hour of bordem it occurs to me to check the adaptor I bought back in Australia for Europe. it turns out to be the correct fitting!! So greatful for the way things have a way of working out. The wondefully helpful waiter helps me plug in my computer, brings me a sandwhich and another wine and engages in conversation. They seem to speak great english here which is very beneficial.

After 3 hours my friend finally arrives, we get a taxi and drive through the gorgeous old country side. Now the challenge is to find our hostel. After walking the cobble stoned pavements we finally find it and check in. The other friends who are joining us for yacht week are here to greet us. t is so good to finally be here. I would reccomend this hostel to anyone who is looking into going to split. It is clean, the people are friendly, there is free wi fi and it is very reasonably priced if you are on a budget. 

http://gollybossy.com/ or you can book through http://www.booking.com/

Hostel life is much different to what I had thought. My room is small and narrow and shared with 5 other girls. The beds are small rectangular shaped holes on the wall with matresses and beddoing and are suprisingly comfortbale. Everything is coded and locked and you need your indicidual pin to get in. We each have our own lockers too which is fantastic. After 5 minutes of manuvering I manage to fit my bag in the locker - clearly it is designed for backpackers and not insane people like myself whos definition of backpacking is a 17 kg wheelie bag, a lap top, high heels and my handbag. After a relaxing shower I head back down stairs to meet everyone for dinner and drinks!! 

We find a cute little cafe and order some food - I am starving! We then explore the streets and nightlife in split. There is a man doing a puppet show, weird and wonderful nick nacks to buy, beer stands and a concert going on. It is so much fun wandering these new surroundings equipped with a vodka and red bull in hand, I could get used to this. 

We head back to the hostel to google charlies bar which is supposed to be a lot of fun, and then it hits me, the wall that I had been trying to avoid for the past few hours -smack!! I guess 5 hours sleep of 35 hours is just not enough. As much as I dont want to miss out - I say my goodnights and head to bed to get a decent sleep for the massive week ahead. 

This morning I wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. Its 2 hours before we have all planned to meet so I take the time to do 30 minutes of pilates followed by some much need yoga stretches and meditation. I shower, re-pack my bag and head downstairs to meet the crew. We are off to get food, alcohol and head to the harbour to meet our skipper and board our yacht . . . to be contiued :)

Singapore Airport

The first transit stop is at Singapore airport. I have heard so many wonderful things about this place - and they are all true! The shopping is amazing!! Travelling on a tight budget, I don't have the luxury of going and splurging in Gucci, or Chanel - or the amazingly sparkly Swarovski crystal store! So after finding an Singapore adaptor I get myself a Chai latte and head to the fish day spa, which just so happens to be right near my particular boarding gate - how perfect! 

There is an hour to wait so the lovely little asian man plugs in my computer for me and sets me up on a comfortable recliner chair where I can relax and update my blog! I am so happy to be travelling in this day in age, where the click of a button and the right password instantly connects us with loved ones back home. 

After 45 minutes my little masseuse comes to collect me and show me to my room. After a 7.5 hour flight a full body massage is the perfect way to pass the time. She spends the next hour beating me up - which is wonderful because my body is one huge mess of knots right now. She leaves the room and allows me to shower - another amazing luxury after flying. For some reason no matter how long the flight I always feel so gross! 

After getting changed, and a long winded conversation of hand gestures and laughs (due to the communication barrier) she takes me to a little pool where I can relax and soak my feet. It is full of the little fish that are very excited to nibble the skin on my feet! How exciting! Something Iv always wanted to try, I guess this explains why the spa is called Fish day spa. So what a fun experience this airport stop over has been - the things you can get up to in the space of 4 hours! I would recommend anyone travelling long distances to locate the nearest day spa in the airport - if this is a facility the have. Singapore airport has three different lounges in which you can relax, I have no idea where they are in this enormous airport but I am sure someone who is less direction challenged than myself would have no problem. 

So now after my relaxing massage, tickly fish eating my skin and a refreshing shower I have managed to locate my boarding gate and now the wait for the next flight begins. Next stop - Istanbul airport for another transit stop, I wonder what I can entertain myself with there - this place will be hard to top :)

The Journey Begins . . .

So June 21st 2012 is finally here. After a hectic three months of planning, working insane hours and sacrificing buying anything pretty, sparkly or impractical - the day is finally here!!! After an emotional few days of goodbye parties, dinners and finally saying goodbye to my sobbing mother at the terminal I am now sitting, with a nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc in hand, waiting to board the plane for my international adventures. What will be in store for me when I arrive? I have a million wild ideas , dreams and goals that I hope to make a reality. 

The last few weeks I have been blown away with gratitude by the amazing people who have been brought into my life. It is just amazing the people who you will encounter along your path. I am so grateful for the love, support, and learning experiences I have been given by all of these amazing people. It excites me to think who I could meet in the weeks and months to come. There is undoubtably another bunch of amazing individuals who will cross my path and the learning and growth I will experience will be worth the emotional roller coaster of the past few months. There is a vast array of emotion that has continued to grow as the date looms closer. There is the absolute excitement and joy of reaching my long awaited goal of travel. I know in my heart that it is the right decision and the experiences I will have will so be worth it. But there is such a deep sadness leaving the amazing people whom I have spent the last few years getting to know and who have become like family to me. I am extremely blessed to have so many people who I love and consider to be very close with. It is a huge blessing - but also a curse as it breaks my heart to leave them. But as my previous post states - get out of your comfort zone!! So I am going to suck it up and force myself on the plane ( failing that, the wine is extremely soothing and a great travel companion)

An amazing piece of advice was given to me by one of my amazing friends over coffee tow nights before I left. She told me to move forward in life with blind faith. What an amazing piece of advice, as the times in my life where all I have had is the opportunity to exercise my blind faith is where I have achieved the most in the fastest amount of time. It was the reminder I needed that everything will be alright and that when you are in the natural flow of the universe everything will fall into place. Why expend much needed energy in worry and fear when you could use this energy to solve the obsticals in your path and create a life of your dreams? With blind faith I managed to save the goal amount in mind for my travels. The money came to me in many weird and unimaginable ways and I am so grateful for the confirmation of this practice. With blind faith the resources, people and circumstances will all align and come to you at the precise time when you need them.

So in conclusion, the state of mind that I begin this new journey of my life is to move forward in blind faith, knowing that I can handle any obstical that may cross my path. This eliminates fear and leaves room for creative energies to flow. It opens me up to enjoy every single moment and enjoy each new situation. Whether it be a delayed flight in which I get to enjoy a great conversation with a stranger, or if it is taking the time to enjoy a new city - faith is the corner stone for my amazing trip!

Live, Love and Laugh - ALWAYS xx