Travelling Belle

Tribute to Travel Friends

• By admin
• 3 February, 2013
• 1 Comment

Travelling alone is one of the most amazing experiences, however when you are getting ready to leave, the anxiety, uncertainty and fear is incredibly daunting, you don’t know where your going or if your going to meet people along the way, however once you get off that plane and start your journey you instantly start to make the most amazing friends and have the most wonderful experiences.  Having now travelled through India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda I have had the privilege of meeting the most amazing people from all over the world and every person that I have met has added an extra special element to my travels, inspired me and made me a better person.  I don’t have time to reflect on every person that I have met who has inspired me, but I wanted to devote a post to the key people who have truly influenced my life over the past 4 months.

Beth – Sri Lanka

I met Beth in my favourite Sri Lankan hangout, Funky De Bar and immediately we had an amazing connection, the first night we met we had a couple of beers and stayed up talking for hours about life, travel, relationships and our dreams and ambitions for hours, long after the bar had closed.  Once our connection had been established, we developed a daily routine that consisted of long walks along the beach at sunset, walks into town to grab fabulous street food and evening drinks and dancing.  Beth is one of the kindest souls I have ever met, incredibly down to earth, full of joy and genuinely passionate about giving and being there for others, from the bottom of my heart I wanted to thank Beth for being who she is and coming into my life when I needed her.

Sri Lanka – Natalie

When I first started researching the different places in the world I wanted to visit I started scouring a variety of female travel blogs and subscribed to my favourite travel blog, Girl and the World, whilst in Sri Lanka, my amazing friend Beth was telling me about this awesome chick she had met, Natalie.  I met Natalie on her last day in Sri Lanka and we instantly connected and after chatting for a few hours, I realised she looked familiar and asked if she blogged, she immediately said yes and told me that she was the ‘Girl and the World’!  It was so random to meet a travel blogger who I have been following for so long in such a random environment.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a great deal of time to spend with Natalie as she was leaving, but meeting her in the flesh, hearing her stories and all about her journey was so incredibly inspiring, perhaps my biggest regret about Sri Lanka was that I didn’t make contact with Natalie earlier in my trip and try and spend time with her.  Natalie is one of the most talented writers, independent women and inspiring travellers that I have ever met, at the time of our introduction, she was on her way home after 2.5 years travelling through amazing countries and having incredible experiences.  Whilst my time with Natalie was only brief, I know that I will definitely be catching up with her again in the future and no doubt in her favourite country, Sri Lanka.

Emily – India

After a long overnight bus ride from Hampi to Goa I arrived at Palolem Beach at 3 am in the morning, as nothing was open I proceeded to sit on the footpath and wait for the sun to rise, no sooner had I sat down when a group of revellers on their way home from a night of partying greeted me on the street., one of this crew was the beautiful English-Swedish girl Emily.  Emily and I immediately formed a bond and she took me under her wing and orientated me on everything Goa and I spent the rest of my time in India with her, learning about her and her story, relaxing by the beach and partying in the evenings.  Emily and I are without a doubt kindred spirits we have had similar experiences in our life and whilst we certainly have differences in our personality, we balanced each other out in a unique equilibrium.  Not only is Emily a beautiful person both inside and out, she is also an incredibly talented artist and singer and she was well on her way to making a name for herself as a singer on the Goan music circuit.

Beth, Natalie and Emily inspired me in so many ways possible and truly added the most unique touch to my Indian and Sri Lankan experiences, whilst sadly our time together had to come to an end prematurely, I know that we will not only continue to be in contact, but our paths will cross again.  These girls are so special and they really don’t know how much their presence meant to me, inspired me and made me a better person, they were their for the highs and the lows and their presence truly influenced my travel experiences.

In addition to these three girls their have been countless other men and women that have entered my life over the past 4 months and had such a profound impact on who I am, why I travel and what I want to do in my life.  All travellers are wonderful people and all have unique stories behind them that are so fascinating, perhaps one of the things I love the most about travel is how you can genuinely be yourself without fear of being judged and people accept you for who you are.  It is so much easier to meet new people when you travel and elements about their lives such as what they do for a living, where they work, how much money they have become so irrelevant because all that matters is that you share a unique passion for travel and living your life.

I have so much respect for people who choose to travel to remote and ‘off the beaten track’ destinations, especially those travelling alone and long term as they have taken a risk, left their comfort zone and put themselves out their in pursuit of finding some peace of magic.  Not one person I have met along the road has regretted their decision to travel long term, in fact their only regrets are when they run out of money and they have to return home.  Travel is a part of my core and my psyche and is not just a phase that i am going through, it will be a part of my life for the rest of my life, whilst I do aspire to one day settle down, I will always travel to new locations, explore new sites, meet new people and experience culture.