Airports

I think I might have addressed this once or twice before but let me make a long clear point.

I LOVE AIRPORTS!

Why? I've got a whole list of reaons. But mind you this love for airports is a bit tainted at the moment. It's 6 am here I in Reykjavik. I've been at the airport since  2:15 yesterday afternoon... and my flight boards at 4:30 this afternoon.

Am I crazy? Quite possibly yes.

That's beside the point. I promise.

So what's the deal with this long stay? Well I was couchsurfing in Reykjavik and my host was awesome (more on this later obviously). But his cousin was coming to visit and I was welcome to stay but I didn't want to ruin family time. I respect family time. So I was like no problem I'll come up with something.

Now Reykjavik was done on $50 and $27 of that went to my bus transfer. My parents were happy to wire me money. But I backed down at the last minute.  How many people can say they did Reykjavik on fifty bucks. It's an expensive fucking city. I still got a hot dog, ice cream, coffee, post cards, and a Christmas present for my little brother. So I'd say I swung it nicely.

That being said I obviously had no money for a hostel. The cheapest one was $26. Nope. Nope. Nope. So I indulged my guilty pleasure of skulking around an airport for an excessively long time!

The busses here run according to departing flights. So the last one out yesterday was at 2:30 in the afternoon. I left the flat to do some site seeing. The weather was nice so I spent my supposed last 500 LSK on a coffee. I ended up finding 1000 LSK stashed with my return ticket,  I'm a clever girl. After my coffee at Mokka I started walking toward city hall and the weather got really nasty. But I pushed on. Some hail and snow later it cleared. I went to the harbour to get some bangin pictures. Then BAM more nasty weather. It really couldn't make up it's mind. So I was like fuck this my face hurts and 2 pairs of pants isn't enough so I'm going to the bus station. I hopped on the 1:30 bus and away I went.

By this point I've had a 3 hour nap. Edited a good 80 pages. And watched Arthur's Christmas.

I've also had dinner and snacks. I set a 500 LSK budget at the grocery store here for foods. I got a 200g pack of crackers as well as a small packet of butter and cheese. Ghetto? Not even the worst yet. I made coffee.... I always travel with instant coffee because you never know when you'll need it. And the water in this one bathroom sink is scalding. So thanks to my trusty water bottle I have black coffee. There that's as ghetto as I'll get.

But I'm enjoying the airport so who cares?! I'm listening to Christmas tunes and just living it up.

I love the energy of airports. Not the omg I'm late or fuck this line. I love the core energy of it all. Because at one point when they booked tickets these people were happy. I love the energy of going places. The anticipation of that moment in take off where you feel the earth try to keep you down but up you go anyway and it tugs in your stomach. It's exquisite!

That's why I love airports. And I sleep in them as often as I can because well I just love it. The lack of sleep combined with people watching and other adventures (like finding cheap dinner or a plug) makes for good stories. It's very hard to put into words my love for airports. Mainly because so many people have a stigma against airports and will never understand me. They'll just state at me like what the hell.

I even love going through security. I've got it to a science. It's always funny when I get pulled aside for a bag check because they think I've left liquids in. This happened 3 times this trip. And every time they tried to nail me for 2 things. My toothpaste and deodorant. And once for my baby powder. And I'm just like none of these are liquids,  they check and they're like oh my bad. It shows up as organic material and that usually means liquids. It never bugs me because I'm always early. I find it funny to be honest.

Then there's the queue for the plane. And the funny people in zone 6 that stand up and queue in the way when they're only boarding zone 1. Too funny!

Oh but the part that I love the most comes after the flight. Yes sleeping here and chilling here is great fun but the best part is at broader control!

The stamps!!! I love getting my passport checked. I love the ka-chink of the sramps! And the new ink.... it's the best.

So you see the best things in life happen at an airport. You go places. You have adventures. You get stamps. I'd live in an airport if I could.

I've got 10 hours till boarding. I suppose I should edit a bit more.... well off I go to work. I'll be home soon and I'm excited.  This trip was long and tough at some points but worth it. So stay tuned for the rest of my Westward adventures and then 7 weeks of adventure! It'll be tons of posts! After all I had 12 flights, saw 13 cities in 7 countries. So stay tuned every one! Have a good day. I know I will!

Cheers,
Taylor

Sometimes the Universe has a Different Plan

I've learned a few things about divine timing over the years. Taking the plan of the universe into account is always a tough thing. So I've tried to stick with the philosophy of the plan is to have no plan.

A lot of crazy things have happened on my trip. Lots of divine intervention and all that good stuff. I tried to fight the 'take it slow' vibe. Bam I got sick in Fez and had to take it slow. Since being sick I have done my best to slow down.

I had had grand plans of jamming my trip full of shit. You know see all the sites eat all the food. But after being sick I literally couldn't. I was sick for a week in Fez then it took me a further week to get better and not be winded after 5 stairs. So I took it slow. And continued to take it slow.

A safe statement would be that I've seen more of my manuscript then some of the cities I've visited. But you know what that's just how the universe swung it. And damn have I done some amazing writing! Like no joke I'm looking over some of it today and I'm so proud of myself because it reads so well and I'm a bit like did I really write this?

Today is another of those curve balls the universe loves throwing me. I'm in Reykjavik, Iceland and there is a hardcore snow storm outside today. How hardcore? Wel it's -3'C (26.6'F) but it feels like -12'C (10.4'F) because of the 38 kmh (23.6 mpg) winds.

Yeah I'm not leaving the house. What's a girl to do? Well I was editing. Then I was like I should blog. But after this it's back to editing. The universe has been forcing me to edit and work on adding new chapters this whole trip now. I've whipped out this manuscript in fantastic places and just worked.

Even though I had planned on trying to site see and drink some famous coffee today that plan was shelved in favour of editing and staying warm. I really should be thanking the universe for making me work because otherwise I'd have a half edited manuscript with a shoddy ending. Instead due to all the time I've had to work on it I'd venture to say it's borderline perfect! It'll be editor ready by the new year's eve and I'll be contacting agents in January. Fingers crossed I'll be published by this time next year!

But I'm not planning on it. The universe might have something better planned....

Any how here are some pictures of where this bad ass manuscript has been worked on!

London Stansted Airport

Kasbah Mohayut,  Merzouga,  Morocco

My tent in the Sahara before bed time

the actual Sahara.  I'll be honest I only got through 3 or so pages before I was like fuck it's hot. I'll take pictures before going back.

Getafe,  Spain at Ana's flat

Barcelona,  Spain at Lenka's flat

Little Bucharest Hostel, Bucharest,  Romania

And today in snowy Iceland! 

Home again in 2 days! I'll see you the other side of the Atlantic! 

Cheers, 

Taylor

Bucharest Has Stolen My Heart

I've been in Bucharest since Monday. I had planned on going to Transylvania for a day or two. That plan went out the window when my atm card got eaten and I had to stick with a budget. But I'm so very glad it turned out this way. I've walked around this city. Seen the parks and cemeteries.  Gotten lost and had some drinks. I had 300 lei to get me through.  And it will that even includes my hostel. This hostel will get a post all of it's own when I get home. I've made some friends here and been offered a job. Too bad it's so close to Christmas otherwise I'd be staying in Bucharest. But I'll be back I can just feel it. There's something about this city that has captured my heart in the best way. I love the communist architecture juxtaposed with the old buildings. There's something so functionaly beautiful about communist architecture. There's also abandoned house next to ones people still live in. I fell irrationaly in love with one such house. I like the weather and the Christmas market. I can't quite put my finger on what made me fall for this city but I have and on the eve of my departure I'm a bit sad to be leaving. I'm off to London tomorrow. I'm happy because it's one step closer to being home but I feel like I'll be leaving a bit of me behind. More so then normal. I'll just have to come back and collect it one day soon.

this is the view from my hostel dorm

my abandoned house I love

the house of parliament

the ever lovely Christmas market

Cheers, 

Taylor

Finally pictures!!

It's only taken me 6 and a half weeks to figure out how to post pictures!  Here's a pictorial look at my travels....

Me on obviously getting ready to jet off!

Trafalgar.... my not so secret obsession

Stonehenge! 

Salisbury Cathedral at night looking grand!

A view of Bath from the hill that I thought I was going to die walking up with my pack

The Tower of London with the poppy installation still up

Marrakech time!!

The view from the terrace at my hotel in Merzouga

Was I on a camel? No. It was a dromadary

Sunrise in the Sahara

The tanneries of Fes

London.... again

Shameless Colosseum selfie

Edinburgh Christmas Market

La Escorial outside of Madrid

Sol decked out for Christmas

Getafe Cathedral

Atocha train station because I love trains

the view from Lenka's terrace

I had a stroll on the beach in Barcelona (ignore my finger I don't know how to switch the picture)

I traded this view in Barcelona

For this one of old city Bucharest

And there we are. You're current on pictures. This has been my life for the last six and a galf weeks and I've loved every moment,  even the shitty ones.I'm looking forward to these last few days of travel fun!

Cheers,

Taylor

Vampire Hunting

And now for something completely different.

I'm off to search for Vampires!

Okay that's a lie. I'm just in Romania. Bucharest to be precise. What am I doing?  My normal blundering about without a plan. I've got a map and that's all the matters.

I'm staying at Little Bucharest Hostel. It's a. Insanely clean kitschy hostel. And the Christmas market ia a 5 minute walk away! How could my life get any better? 

This truth is I'm doing some personal recon for my vampire book. I'd started it ages ago but put it aside because EVERYONE was publishing YA vampire crap. But being here is the perfect touch to make it even more epic. I'll need a book distraction soon when I send my precious baby out to agents.

But my trip is winding down. Only 9 days to go. Thank goodness! My debit card is dead. It was eaten by an atm in Barcelona. So I have limited cash and credit cards are always hit or miss abroad. So I am being frugal and ingenious! Like a champ. Since I still have 2 cities after this. Then it's time to head home for Christmas!

I was on Skype with my mum this weekend and she was like we're not doing a big Christmas. Just homemade and shabby chic gifts.  I rolles my eyes as hard as I could because my budget has been consumed by presents and thw agony of repackaging get tougher each city. So a warning to my family you had better be excited as fuck for these epic presents! Sweat and tears have gone into bringing them home!

On a fun note it's rainy here and anow is on the ground. So I am glad I hit the charity shops in Edinburgh and got my heacy jacket!

Well I'm off to do some writing I just thought I'd let you know I've left the lovely Spanish weather for Romania.... and Christmas markets!!!!!

And don't think I forgot about my time in Spain. It's just a bit to amazing for an on the road blog post. I mean I made thanksgiving dinner. Had a winter barbecue. Wrote on a terrace overlooking Sangrada Famelia. And all the ham... it deserves an indepth post. I promise to make it worth the wait!

Cheers,
Taylor

So I'm in Spain....

If you've been following me for a while you'll know Spain has a fond place in my heart and you can skip the next paragraph wherein I explain my love for the country.

You see the only reason I ever decided to explore Spain was because one of my housemates from Ireland was Spanish.  When I lived in France our house decided to meet up for a reunion in southern Spain. Ana convinced me that Spain was a wonderful place to visit and I should do a tour of the country and visit her again at the end. So I did. And slowly fell in love with Spain during my solo backpacking of 4 cities in 12 days. And I've fallen more in love with the country as Ana has become one of my best friends and I visit the every time I'm in Europe.

Basically Spain will forever be one of my favourite places. And I'm so excited to be spending 11 days here. I'm staying with Ana in Madrid at the moment.  She's taking her master's here. It's been rainy, but it wouldn't be a proper trip to Madrid for me without the rain. Because it always rains when I visit Madrid. Thursday I'll be off to Barcelona to visit Lenka and meet up with Damien. And coincidentally Kelly will be there too!

Kelly and I just spent a week together. We met in London then saw Rome and I stayed with her in Edinburgh. 

A bit about that all. I got really sick in Morocco. I was happy I'd gone to Fez 3 days early because I had a temperature the first 2 days there and slept till it broke the afternoon of the third day. I couldn't go far from the bathroom because I couldn't keep food down and well food poisoning.... so I saw nothing of Fez. Then I was supposed to couchsurf. I waited 2 hours at the bus station for my host. Then it turned out his sister and brother were at his house so there wasn't room for me and I had to stay with a friend. More on this eventually but for now take my word for it... it was disgusting. It was too late to find a hostel so I stayed but the next day I said fuck off I'm going to a hostel. Plus I was still sick as hell. I slept more. Over all I only walked around Fez for 4 hours total. 2 of those were me being sick and trying to find my way to my hostel because I felt like my insides were dying.

I got to London having not eaten for 6 days. It was the first time in my life I've had cheekbones. Not to mention my jeans were too big and I had way too many ribs. It sucked. But I had my first meal since Azrou that I didn't promptly vomit back up. It was a BLT from Costa. And god did it taste amazing (it took me an hour and a half to eat it but I ate it all)!  I met Kelly and proceded to eat my way around London then Rome. I met a friend of my cousin in Rome and the three of us ate the fuck out of pasta and pizza. It was the perfect stop after being so damn sick!

And now my pants still don't fit and my bras are a smidge too big but I'm in Spain and still eating tons. I'm trying to get back to normal so my jeans fit me again because I don't feel like buying a belt. In my head it's easier to eat more then to buy a belt.

Besides it's Christmas Market season!! Sweets and mulled wine and all things Christmas!

I've found my travel swagger again. Yesterday marked a month since take off and holy shit it's really flown. I've enjoyed it so far. More enjoyment these past few days but I've got another 17 days to stretch myself and push my comfort zone. Because the best thing about traveling is the fact that your comfort zone expands. The more I travel the more I find I become comfortable with the craziest things. Fewer and fewer things scare me. And I like it. I'm constantly stepping out of my shell and having adventures of all shapes and sizes!

So here's to 17 more days of adventure!

Cheers,
Taylor

Morocco Shock

This trip I've decided to adopt an "open book" policy on my experience. Normally when I travel I internalize my shitty days and homesickness. I would only ever tell my friends about the good times I was having. Which is great and maybe inspires people to travel as well but might not help them once they get there.

I'm not going to try to sound cool about my first few days in Morocco. They were tough.  Like really fucking tough. And I don't think I read any other blog about what a shock it is.

Granted I'm a solo female and did fly into Marrakech and that city is just overwhelming. I learned to see it as a good overwhelming. But none the less it was hard.

I think my first "crisis" was brought on by the fact that I was sleep deprived. At times of almost tears in a sleep deprived state I remember my first day in Limerick and how I cried over my busted converter. Why do I recall this? To remind myself that a little sleep solves all the problems.

My "crisis" was thus. People stared at me more then I had prepared mentally for. Everyone tried to compliment my hair. My host wasn't as good with English as I thought, so my fast talking slang wasn't doing me any favours. His family didn't speak English so I felt rude and inconvenient to them,  I hate that out of place feeling. I also walked around the city that first day. Trust me tired and Marrakech don't work.

I ended up messaging my mum. I was whiny and upset and strangely homesick even though I'd been away only 5 days. She nicely put me in my place and reminded me why I had gone in the first place.

The next day I walked around with new eyes. I was trying to pick out places and settings from my favorite book series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  That helped quell my wacky feelings. This series is essentially why I came to Morocco. Side note it's by Laini Taylor and it's amazing so go read it!

I felt accomplished when I found my hostel in Marrakech my last night.  I did have help but I still felt good. I got on the bus at 9h00 to Merzouga and arrived at 21h00. It was a long day.

My near break down there was iver stress of not knowing how to get to my next city if Azrou. I ended up deciding I didn't give a fuck where I went next and BAM I made it to Azrou.

So lesson learned stop giving so many fucks about every little thing. I know plans change when you travel and they have in the past. This time it was just tough for me to take the different environment and plan mix ups in stride. But I'm on my last leg of Morocco! I can do this!

Cheers,
Taylor

Where in the world...

Hi all. So yes my westward blogs still need finishing. I have to tell about Yellowstone and San Francisco and Vegas and climbing a mountain. But thse won't be up till December. Why?

I'm in Morocco right now. I booked myself 7 weeks of adventure! So I'm on the road with only my phone as internet and contact point. Blogs might be non existent or I might post lots. Who knows what the next 6 weeks have in store. I've already done London,  Salisbury, Bath and Marrakech.

Still to do:
Azrou
Fez
London
Rome
Edinburgh
Madrid
Barcelona
Bucharest
And Reykjavik!

I'm in Merzouga right now. I slept in the desert last night and climbed a huge dune to watch the sun rise.

If you want to keep up with me follow my instagram: TayVang

You'll find Geronimo my good luck cat who is traveling with me. He was a present from my pseudo sister so he had to come along.

If you're looking for another good blog to pass the travel time with check out Kelly's Crossing. Kelly is one of my best friends. She's taking a semester in Edinburgh Scotland so obviously it's a grand blog. And I'll be seeing Kelly in 10 days to show her around my 2 of my favourite cities London and Rome!

I have had a huge plan change today and don't exactly know where I'm staying tonight. So wish me luck!

Cheers,
Taylor

Westward 2014: Of Craters and Potaters

Craters of the Moon is a national park in Idaho. And it was supposed to be the end all be all of our weekend. A little conversation in the car changed that. Tommy (one of the guys with us) was like so if we’re driving 4 hours to Craters that means we’re really close to Yellowstone right? Why not go? And thus the weekend turned epic!

But first I got to see Idaho! Everyone in the car was laughing at me because I was ecstatic to be in Idaho. I mean hey I’d never been. So naturally the first thing we had to do was see the Idaho Potato Museum!

It was adorable and old school…

And I did learn a few things about potatoes. Like did you know that potatoes are sorted into 2 types? The Number 1 potatoes are the pretty ones you buy at the super market. While the Number 2 potatoes are the ugly ones that get cut into French fries and potato chips.

These are Number 2's:

And these are Number 1's::

And did you know the earliest known potatoes were found in the mountains of South America as early as 400 BCE? Or that in 1536 Spanish Conquistadors discovered the potatoes in Peru and brought them back to Europe?

Or that there were so many tater mashers!?

After a walk about in the museum it was back to the car and off the Craters of the Moon!

In short I spent hours walking on lava!

In the long version as paraphrased from the National Park Site…Craters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles (1600 square km.). Over the past 30 million years, this region has experienced extensive stretching. In the 1983 Mount Borah earthquake, Mount Borah, got a foot (.3m) higher when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred across the base of the Lost River Range and the Lost River Valley dropped about 8 feet (2.4 m.). The stretching of the crust releases pressure on the hot rocks below causing them to melt. The magma can then travel to the surface along planes of weakness like the Great Rift. As long as these forces continue to act, more eruptions will eventually occur. The time between eruptive periods in the Craters of the Moon Lava Field averages 2,000 years and it has been more than 2,000 years since the last eruption. The volume of past eruptions suggests that slightly over one cubic mile (4.2 cubic km.) of lava will be erupted during the next event.

And Craters of the Moon is a HUGE national park! It is over 1,100 square miles (over 750,000 acres) which is roughly the size of Rhode Island. The young lava flows that make up the bulk of the Monument and Preserve can clearly be seen from space.

Something really cool that I did learn was that the plates shift over the core and the hot spot that now presides under Yellowstone, that formed Yellowstone, is the same hot spot that created Craters of the Moon. So the weekend was really cool for me to think that I stood on the past and the present of the ‘Yellowstone Hot Spot’. They were formed thousands of years apart and I walked through both of them on the same weekend.

First stop… The North Creator Flow Trail

Then The Devil’s Orchard…

And the I hiked 0.2 miles (0.3km) up Inferno Cone which was 164 feet (50 m). It was a bit tough…

But so worth it!

See that parking area in the middle of the picture... that's where we're hiking back too.

After the climbing it was time to go spelunking!

The walk out to the caves was a little over a mile.

This is a Lava Tube! Lava rivers become lava tubes when the exterior of a flow cools. the lava can continue to flow until the source of lava gets cut off leaving being a "cave". We were standing on the Blue Dragon lava flow and hiking in the cakes it left behind.

And we weren’t exactly prepared for cave exploration so we used out cell phone flashlights. I enjoyed the reprieve from the scorching heat since the caves were nice and cold.

First the Boy scout Cave which has ice year round. We got to see "lavacicles" and icicles. I'm not sure why it's called the Boy Scout Cave.

It's hard to see the entrance but it's off to the left

A little more hiking.

Then The Beauty Cave…

A mini detour to the Dewdrop Cave

Me being cute...

and hitting my head.. there were rocks there. haha

A long hike back to the car...

 and it was off to Yellowstone! And it was my turn to drive! I like the speed limits out here the freeways are 80mph and gosh is it fun!

Cheers,