Beat the Beast - Adult Snow Day

Turns out the weather man was right after all...

After making it halfway to work yesterday to be told to turn back due to the oncoming snow, I stupidly thought it wouldn't come to anything, but waking up to THIS was somewhat of a shock!

Our road has completely disappeared under a blanket of fluffy white snow. 

Our cars are buried to the bonnets, keeking out from beneath their marshmallow toppings. 

And I swear we had garden furniture yesterday... 

10 Reasons to Travel in your 20s

Travelling; Pros v Cons.

Those lists- I've made 'em!

Having now travelled far and wide myself during my twenties, there were times I wasn't sure I was making the right decisions or felt I was missing out on too much back home. 
And you can weigh up these pros and cons all you want, but at the end of the day, if you really want to do something or go somewhere, make like Nike and JUST DO IT!!

Here are some of the reasons to add to your Pro list...



1) There's no time like the present
Ask yourself is there anything holding you back? Job? Partner? Kids? Chances are in your 20's you're still trying to figure out what you want or "finding yourself". Why not go find yourself on a beach in Bali or swinging on a zipline on the Philippines? 


2) You'll regret it if you don't
I'm not one to live my life by regrets, so when an opportunity presents itself to explore even a little bit more of the World, I'll take it! Screw the staff meetings or your dad's birthday- there will always be more of those to come. 
Experiences matter. Never miss out on the chance to have an adventure!


3) Money doesn't really matter
Travelling on a budget IS possible. Skip the 3-star-hotels for £3-a-night shared dorm in a decent hostel. You meet the best people and save those extra dolla's for activities!


4) You'll make friends for life
This one is especially true for me. Chances are, you're going to meet like-minded people who share your passion for globetrotting and exploring new cultures. 

5) You will experience personal growth
Learning from new cultures and the people you meet while travelling may teach you a lot that you didn't know about yourself. 


6) Work will always be there when (or if) you come back
Even if you have to leave your current job to go travelling, work will come by again when you're ready, trust me. We have all of our lives to work, but take advantage of your twenties to explore the World.


7) Think of the stories you can tell
As a child I was always asking my grandparents to tell me stories of their past, and having grown up during the War, majority of them were so varied and interesting. Although, when it came to my Parents or Aunts/Uncles, their stories seemed to revolve around work, buying homes, getting married and having babies. Which, most of my friendship group are going through right now and as much as that's so exciting for them, I want to be able to recount my global adventures to my children and grandchildren... with some censorship!

8) You'll experience new cultures, religion and food
I always find each of these so interesting and intriguing. 
Swap St Paddy's day for Yi Peng or a Burn's Supper for Vietnamese Pho. 
Tell yourself to try at least one new dish or experience a religious ceremony or building in each place you go. Take your senses on an adventure as well as yourself. 


9) Taking time out to discover what you do and don't want
This may be harder for some people than others, but often taking time out of everyday life can help us to understand the things we absolutely do and do not want in life, from the personalities of people we meet, to countries we visit or even the accommodation we stay in. 


10) JUST GO!
Chances are, if you're making a list in the first place, then you really want to go.
There's never going to be a "perfect" time, whether you're saving for a mortgage or just started a new job or relationship. 
Take a step back, breathe and trust that everything will fall into place. 

Stace x

Do things really happen for a reason?

Do they though?

I'm a big believer in the old age saying, "Everything happens for a reason" and my wee Granny's favourite, "What and who's for you, won't go by you". 

I also believe that every single person we meet or encounter, serves us a purpose of some kind.
Whether it's to teach us something, to remind us of something or to make us see things with a clearer perspective.

I can't tell you how many times I've felt lost in life with nowhere to go or anyone to turn to for advice or to be uplifted and in some way, the Universe seems to provide me with the right person or situation at the right time.

So, yes I think "everything happens for a reason", and sometimes, I never know what that reason is and I frustrate myself trying to find the reason but it's taught me to be open to whoever or whatever comes into my life from that moment on.

More recently, I broke my ankle.
Exactly one week before the busiest working schedule of my career and yes, it sucked. Proper sucked. 
I constantly tried to find ways of getting into work but as it so happens, with health and safety and insurance, etc, I wasn't able to carry out my duties as I would have done with the ability to walk on two legs. 
It really affected my mood and mental health. I'm fiercely independent so when it came to doing the smallest of things around the house, like making myself a cuppa, or doing the dishes; I just couldn't.
Yes, I could make a cuppa, but carrying it from the kitchen to the living room proved a challenge balancing on one leg and managing to lean on two crutches at the same time. 
I was so frustrated and impatient. I hated feeling so helpless and useless. 

Everyday I questioned why this had happened at such a shitty time to, (who I believe) to be a decent person like myself. Was karma punishing me? Had I done something awful to deserve this?
Maybe. 
Maybe not.
Maybe those weren't the right questions to be asking...?

Maybe it was the Universe telling me to take a break from something, or maybe I wasn't meant to be at my work at that time. Which made me seriously think about whether I was in the right career. Which then led on to my Dad asking me the same questions.
I recently came to the conclusion that maybe the reason was to take a step back from my 100mph life and evaluate what is important to me. What drives me? What am I passionate about? What do I want to do with my life?
All very serious questions that I realise I need to take the time to think about. 

Sometimes it's the person who gives you a little push in the right direction, even if you don't see it at the time. 
Having travelled across the World and back has taught me this too. I don't believe there are such things as "chance meetings". Life is a magical mystery and the people we encounter on this journey are made to teach, uplift our help us rediscover things about ourselves we have unintentionally hidden. 

I'll never forget each and every person I have met on my various adventures who have each taught me something different or provided the most wonderful memories I have in each place. 
I met my Scottish best friend at Camp America in Philadelphia only 5 years ago, and ever since we've travelled different parts of the World together and (as much as she'll make fun of me for saying this), I can't imagine my life without her. 

However, not all of these encounters are meant to last forever. Such meetings were perhaps just a moment in time; to delay us from something bad or keep us there long enough so we could bump into somebody else. Someone more worthwhile that could potentially blossom into something more permanent. Somewhere you least expect it... like a tropical island just off Bali, but that's another story...

Sometimes there is a sense of familiarity or recognition that this person is meant to be in your life from the minute you meet. Not quite "where have you been all my life?", but more, "Oh. It's you". 

When I was younger, (much like everyone else), I had a vague idea of what I wanted and where my life was going to go. 
Lets all laugh, shall we?
Someone I met in Laos (one of those short encounters but such a lovely human being) told me "No plan is the best plan", and I think I really needed to hear it then, and I replay it to myself every so often now, because it's true. 

Life is what happens when you're busy making plans, and yes, even though it's nice to have some rough sort-of plan but allow for some wiggle room, just-in-case!

Stace x

How not to break an ankle

It started off like any other night out...


Edinburgh-bound for our friend, Kirsty's hen weekend, Siobhan and I cracked open a bottle of £1.62 cider from Aldi on the train, full of hopes and dreams for the night ahead. 
We were last minute additions due to previous work commitments, but super excited non-the-less to give our pal a decent send off into married life!
As you can probably already tell to the story, I'd been working non-stop quite a bit and this was my first night out in God knows how long, so I was determined to make the most of it with my best gals. 

Siobhan and I booked a hostel in the City Centre, halfway up Fleshmarket Close, which if you haven't been to the 'Burgh before, is like a "fuck-off" big hill wi stairs.
But for £20 for the night booked last minute, it was an absolute steal. Besides, we were hardly going to be in the room anyway..
The rest of the squad had an apartment booked further out of town from the previous year, during the time which Siobhan and I weren't sure we could make it. 

During the day was chilled. Perfect, even.
Cocktails were sipped, light shopping was purchased, conversation flowed and a nice dinner was consumed. 

The group parted ways to commence the ever important "getting-ready" stages of the girly night out. 
Siobhan and I put the "out out" playlist on and started beautifying ourselves. It was a small x2 bed dorm with bunkbeds which we managed to litter with our expandable cases containing everything we needed from buffing brushes, and hair wands to heel and outfit choices. 

                  


After a few insta shots and boomerangs, we were ready to hit the town.
We started off in Candy Bar for more cocktails before meeting the girls in the Opal Lounge for the dancin'. 
Here, I feel is where it all went downhill...

Free drinks packages and being on a hen night in general assists in the encouragement to just get completely and utterly (as we Scots say), aff yer face // oot yer tree // mwi. 
Especially being one of the remaining single ones, where no matter how hard you try to hide it, it does get emotional in the riptide between being happy for your friend getting married and knowing that you're not even close to getting married. 

It did not help that the hottie Canadian boys at the next booth supplied us with their bottle of Ciroq when tearfully telling them that ours was finished. 
Their generosity was beautiful and I believe in making international relations, as did Siobhan, but the remainder of the hen party had decided they'd had enough and left around 1am.
We (stupidly) decided against leaving and as an act of valour, we also decided to (stupidly) play the dangerous game of minesweeper and consume the remainder of everyone's drinks. In a way, I guess we thought we were saving ourselves money by doing this. 

Unsure if this is Canadian Boy, but if so, cheers for sharin' yer bevvy!

Fast forward to the end of the night where for some reason, drunk Stacey and Siobhan decided to have a romantic meal in an Italian Restaurant at 4am (thanks to the subtle facebook check-in reminder), instead of doing as normal Scots do, and taking the pizza and chips home and forgetting about them till the next day. 

I remember the uber back. 
I remember the careful walk down the steep steps of the lane and making it to the front door, pizza box still in hand. 
I remember falling down the little ramp INTO the front porch, arse over tit. The ramp the lady warned us about during  check-in. 
I remember a sharp pain in my ankle, as if I'd whacked it off of something solid. 
I remember Siobhan laughing hysterically at me and snapchatting me in all my drunken hilarious glory. 

Shaking it off, I hobbled up the stairs to our room, trying to shrug and laugh off the pain. I somehow managed to make it into the top bunk, and crashed out, forgetting about my pizza until that 6am roll over and it was like MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS TO ME!!! 

Never has a photo truly represented me as a person

The next day my foot was in agony. 
It had swollen into a Granny kankle it deserved it's own Granny name, which we had dubbed Bertha 2.0 (in memory of my opposite ankle being bitten and swollen in Asia last year).
As we walked into town to meet up with the girls, I had to develop a weird quick-step-push system with my foot in order for me to even move anywhere. I was going at a snails pace, which really annoyed me as my 6'2 strides seemed like days of the past. 

One of the girls was a nurse, and she recommended I go to A&E either asap or as soon as we got back home. I (stupidly) waved her off. I'm one of these (stupid) people who avoid going to the Doctor if they can help it. 
But alas, after the swelling continued and taking about an hour to walk a path that would have usually taken me about 15 mins, I decided she was right and took her up on the offer to take me to the Hospital where she worked when we got back. 

A&E is a rather unsettling place, but it wasn't long before I was seen and x-rayed by the Nurse.
As soon as he said the words, "It's broken", my face fell. 
My mind went blank. I couldn't process what he had said until he left the room. Thank God I had my Nurse friend with me to repeat what he had just said, but in English or words I could understand. 

I was taken to a room where my leg was to be placed in a temporary cast until the Fracture Specialist could see me on Tuesday (today). 
"I'll need to cut your jeans, Miss", the Doctor said.
ABSOLUTELY-FUCKING-NOT, my face said.
I'm over 6 foot. It's a rare miracle I find jeans that actually fit me, so you're not cutting my favourite acid wash pair, sunshine! Hell to the NOPE!
Thankfully, Chelsi (Nurse friend) ran to the car to retrieve my case where I had my PJ shorts in there from the previous night. What an Angel. I couldn't even speak to say thank you, my mind was still in shock.

 

The Nurse made the cast up to my knee (which I thought was a bit drastic- it's my ankle I broke, you know? All the way at the bottom). 
He also gave me a short lesson in "How-to-use-crutches", where it all hit me and I got tearful. I silently mouthed to Chelsi, "I can't do this", which she replied "YES YOU CAN".
And I'm grateful for that. 
It's a mantra which has slowly helped me get through the past few days in realising I won't be able to go to work for the next 4 weeks, I won't be able to walk, or get out much or do anything physical around the house. 

The fracture specialist put me in a harder cast today, which is bright neon pink.
Hey, if I'm gonna be in this thing for a month, I'm damn well gonna go for a bold-ass colour and at least try to look good when I'm healing. 

I can do this.

x4 weeks and counting...

Stace x

Hangin' in Hanoi

We arrived in downtown Hanoi a few days ago around 10pm, to our hostel/nightclub, the Downtown Backpackers. 

Let me set the scene...

Overtired, hungover and fresh off a plane, our uber dropped us off at the building where people were spilling out into the street, drinking, dancing with the music BLARING into the night (basically, we heard it before we seen it).

Roisin and I looked at each other silently, thinking the same thing and hoping this was the wrong address, but alas, it was not.

We checked in and navigated our way through the bustling crowd with our huge backpacks and airplane pillows still nestled comfortably around our necks, praying that we would fall asleep as soon as we lay our heads down. Fortunately, and surprisingly we managed to sleep as, on the 7th floor, not a sound from downstairs was heard, not even the bassline of the music that somehow creeps into a locked dorm in a party hostel.

The other girls in our x8 bed room informed us that the music stops at 12 anyway, out of respect for the neighbourhood, and the hostel takes all party goers on a nearby pub crawl, which we partook in the following night, obv...

The Hostel is great for organising walking tours and day trips and the free breakfast is always a plus! 

The walking tour departs from the hostel every morning from 10am and is led by a local. Our group had to stick really close together, as the traffic in Hanoi is, (for lack of a batter phrase) like Fast & The Furious on crack! The mount of motorbikes on the road at once driven by everyone and their Granny is INSANE!!

Horns beeping every second, crossing the road is like a game of chicken so I fear for my life everytime we turn a corner or change direction. Some are even on the pavements so it's kinda like, where are the pedestrians meant to go?!?

Roisin even collided head on with one on the tour which was kinda the funniest and scariest thing ever rolled into one, but the driver just said a casual "Sorry", and rolled on out like it was a natural occurrence. 

We visited Hanoi's oldest Temple and our guide advised us never to walk through the main entrance of a Temple, as this is reserved for Royalty and Monks. It's always interesting to hear little tit-bits and advice from locals to gain a better understanding of the place and culture.

Next we visited the Markets where there were tailors displaying an array of brightly coloured fabric and material, fishmongers selling live crab and turtles and butchers still plucking chickens for all to see. Poor little chicky's :(

We had the opportunity to sample a free egg coffee from a local cafe, which to my surprise, I really enjoyed! Even though egg coffee comes iced, I would recommend it being served warm. Much yummier! Another opportunity we stumbled across was attempting to carry a local street vendors' double ended pineapple baskets! Those things are HEAVY! 

Hanoi people also wear pollution masks about 99% of the time, due to the gasoline and smoke in the air from the many motorbikes on the road. Now having experienced the City, I can understand why, as I feel myself developing a small cough from being outside majority of our time here. 

Our tour guide also recommended we visit Hoa Lo Prison and the Women's Museum while we were here, which both cost 30,000VND entry (roughly £1). 

Hoa Lo Prison was a prison used by French Colonists in Vietnam for politcal prisoners then later by North Vietnam for US Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War. It's a very harrowing place and we came out wanting to do more research on the Vietnam War ourselves after learning so much that had happened through the museum inside. I'm slightly ashamed to say I didn't really know much about it before we visited, but I definitely do now. 

The Women's Museum was an interesting visit too. 

We learned a lot from Women's rights in Vietnam, to marriage traditions, folklore, dress and religion. 

We're excited to tie up our adventure in Hanoi and finally book a getaway to Ha Long Bay to celebrate our friend, Katja arriving from Norway to join us on our Asian Adventure for the next 2 months! There are loads of travel agents to choose from, so it's a case of going around and finding the best deal for what we want to do.

Wish us luck!

Stace x

Ain't no Sunset like a Laos Sunset

No words, right?

This photo was taken atop of Mount Phousi, which is a viewpoint in Luang Prabang where people gather to watch the sunrise or sunset over the Mekong River. 

I'd definitely advise to go around an hour or so before the sun rises or sets, as there are 355 steps zig-zagging 150 metres up to the top, and even for the fittest person, it gets a little tough! Especially as there are loads of tourists to weedle past or through. But with plenty of resting places along the way and the Wat Tham Phousi Shrine to admire at the halfway mark, it bodes well to take your time, drink plenty of water and don't forget to wear mossie repellent! 
There is also a small entry fee of 20,000 kip (roughly £2) and drinks and snacks are sold at the peak.

The Golden Wat Chomsi Temple is at the summit of Mount Phousi, where you can enjoy a full 360 degree panoramic view of Luang Prabang.

My photos and videos don't do the view justice, it's truly an impressive and beautiful sight to be seen in person. You can actually see the sun going down quite fast and creating these gorgeous colours in the sky reflecting in the river. 

Stace x

Chasing Waterfalls

In Luang Prabang, there are two beautiful Waterfalls on the outskirts of town that I highly recommend visiting should you get the chance;
Tad Sae and Kuang Si. 

Kuang Si

TAD SAE

The smaller of the two Falls, Tad Sae is located within a Forest, giving the impression the land is flooded by small rock pools of water, cascading over the limestones to the larger turquoise lagoon below. 

Visiting Tad Sae was part of a tailor made package from a local travel agent, where we cycled the rough dirt roads for roughly two hours through town to the Nam Khan River, which we then kayaked down towards the Falls. 

This activity as a whole cost us 400,000 kip each (which is roughly around £34), but the travel agencies offer various packages best suited to your tastes, plus you can always haggle for the best price. 

Ours included a personal tour guide, stop-off to Phannom village (which is famous for it's weaving and craft production), the kayak tour down the River to the falls, the entrance fee, lunch and kayak tour back to town. 

In total, the tour was roughly around 4-5 hours with a well spent afternoon taking a dip in the refreshing falls and of course, partaking in an instagram-worthy photoshoot!

KUANG SI

Kuang Si is the larger and more popular of the falls amongst the tourists and backpackers. 

As we visited Tad Sae first, we had planned on enquiring at the same travel agents for a trip here, but were lucky enough to encounter a local tour guide with a bus-like tuk-tuk who was taxi'ing tourists to the falls and back for a price.

This may sound slightly bizarre and unsafe, but backpacking in Asia is all about the haggling for a cheaper price, and the various random ways you can bag a tour or an activity just by taking an innocent stroll down the street. 

As I was haggling with the gentleman, I (for reasons unknown to myself) offered him a deal that if I could fill up the tuk-tuk bus of 8 people, he would take us for 200,000 kip each (£18), wait for us and bring us back.

So, myself, Roisin and a girl we met at the hostel over breakfast scurried across the street to the market to find willing, like-minded participants and preferably backpackers like ourselves. 

Luckily, we found another solo traveller and a group of 4 girls. BINGO!

It was almost as if the driver couldn't believe we succeeded in our challenge but he was happy to take us and I joked that he should pay us commission! It's always advised to establish a good relationship with the tour guide/driver/fixer as they are super knowledgeable about the area and trustworthy people just trying to make a living themselves. 

True to his word, he drove us to and from the falls where we basked in the absolute glory of the turquoise blue waters for a few hours in the 30 degree heat, and hiked to the top of the Waterfall in our flip-flops (side note- PACK TRAINERS if this is something you want to do!)

Which, you definitely should do, as there's a beautiful lagoon at the top covered by a roof of forest trees with slivers of sunlight creeping in to create the most gorgeous reflections of light on the water. 

There's also a pretty cool swing in the middle of the pool where of course we enjoyed another photoshoot for the 'gram. 

Both are definitely experiences not to be missed if ever in Luang Prabang. Both Falls are an exotic jungle paradise in their own right.

Stace x

Luang Prabang: First Impressions

So after a horrific, yet hilarious experience travelling, Roisin and I finally made it to Kouansavan Guesthouse in Luang Prabang, Laos. 

After purchasing a bus ticket from a travel agent in Chiang Rai last night, who told us we'd be picked up this morning from our hostel at 6am to be driven to the border at Chiang Khong: Correct...

She then said we'd be processed through the border and get our visas sorted: Also correct...

She then said we'd be taken to their sister bus company in Laos who would take us to the bus station for the bus to Luang Prabang: Again correct.

But what she refused to disclose was that we were the only two people getting the bus, (as the more popular option was the 2 day slow boat journey), and that we would be waiting 5 HOURS for the bus at a rickety old bus station with holes in the ground for toilets, a newsagent selling only crisps and water and a small cafe with limited and rather dodgy looking food options. We obv weren't expecting luxury but overtired and hangry, it was a long time to wait in the sweltering hot sun with not much to do except try to plan ahead for our time in the Country. 

Eventually we boarded the bus where it had about 16 bunk beds and reminded me slightly of the Harry Potter Knight Bus. At first it was fine, watching the sunset over the mountain terrain was beautiful, until it got dark, the aircon was freezing, I couldn't get comfortable as my 38inch legs didn't fit on properly and I desperately needed to pee. 

A whole 14 hours later at 5am we arrived in Luang Prabang and luckily, I wasn't asleep as the driver announced our destination so quietly. 
Knackered and grumpy, we gathered our belongings and haggled with a tuktuk to take us and another couple to our separate hostels. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we witness the Monks Tak Bat Procession, which is the time in the morning where the Buddhist Monks collect food from offerings outside homes. They walk in single file (oldest first) carrying their "alms" bowl. 
People wait for them, often kneeling, and place food, flowers or incense sticks in the bowls. This is a morning tradition for Lay people, which we soon found out from people at the Hostel. In hindsight I wished I'd taken some photos or appreciated it more at the time, as we never got the chance to see it again, but I do have the blurry memory through tired eyes.

Our Hostel has small dorm rooms, a pool, one communal area inside and outside but a good price for the little town. 
We're sharing a room with 2 Irish girls who are on their last leg of Asia, so we've buddied up together and bless them- they've already made us a list of places to go, things to do or avoid. All that they've learned from their travels based on their experiences, which is good for us as we're fairly new to Asia. 
They're also AMAZING at bargaining with vendors at the markets, which is something I want them to definitely teach us before we part ways!

ACCOM: Kouansavan Guest House
ATTRACTIONS: Tak Bat Monks Morning Ritual
VENUES: Night Market

Stace x