My Little Adventure!

Just a quick update..

If you’re one of the (very few) people who follow my blog, you’ll remember that a while back I had mentioned that I was going to spend over two weeks helping out at a farm in Castelnaudary, France.

I was going to have a relaxing time in the countryside – learning new things, meeting new people, catching up on music and reading, and just enjoying the sun and all things natural – and travel out farther during the weekends.

WELL.

I got kicked out of the farm on Day 3. With two hours’ notice to leave.

I might just add that this was through no fault of mine.. but anyway, I was upset and in shock at first. I started frantically looking for alternatives since I was determined not to return to London immediately. I explored all sorts of options with a big map in front of me and a German traveller/nomad friend kindly providing assistance.

In the end, I spent the first night in a pricey hotel in Carcassonne.

The following afternoon, on a whim, I boarded a train to Nice.
Thanks to work, I got hooked up with an amazing hostel where I was fortunate enough to have my own room and bathroom. I remained there for one week and had an amazing time.

Leaving Nice was difficult (what a beautiful place), but I then headed for Pisa, and then Florence as my last stop for three nights before my inevitable return to London.

Travelling alone was challenging at first (I hadn’t done it in a long long time), but it was enriching to say the least and I learned the art of enjoying my own company.

I met interesting people from all over the world, and also got used to asking, “where are you going next?”/”where were you last?”, as nearly everyone I encountered were on 2 – 6 month long holidays. I took in all their stories about their travels; about places I had never even heard of, about strange foods, hotel/hostel tips, and things I had missed out on in my previous visits to certain cities – such as the fact that you could go caving in Budapest (Damn, I’m so bummed I didn’t know about this earlier).

I also learnt a few other things:

1. Hostels really are okay if you choose carefully, and they provide the perfect setting for you to meet new people (I had never been to one before this trip, erm although in Nice I was cheating since I had a special room).

2. Never leave your toiletries unattended.

3. Australians are the friendliest travellers around.

4. A trolley bag definitely beats a huge backpack.

5. I prefer French trains to Italian trains.

6. The Statue of David really draws your attention to his penis.

Hope to share some photos of my little adventure on the blog which will include my brief but very interesting stay at the farm, 12-hour tour of Carcassonne, day trips to Eze Village and Monaco, scuba diving and canyoning in Nice, seeing the leaning tower of Pisa for the first time, watching the sunset in Florence, and visiting the little towns of Siena and San Gimignano!

Oh but don’t expect to see me wearing anything remotely fashionable.. re-wearing so many items of clothing was a pain since most of my bag was packed with ‘farm-wear’!!!

[Have updated my travel log]

xx