A year of travel

It happens in every job.

Back when I worked in politics, I was surrounded by it. Day in, day out I would live and breathe politics and current affairs. It was part of my job to read three newspapers a day, listen to two morning radio programs and watch three TV news bulletins.

It got to the point where I would be surprised when someone I knew who didn’t work in politics wouldn’t be aware of something that I would see, hear or read every day. I was lucky though, in that I did have ‘normal’ friends, as we’d call them. Paul also worked in a completely different industry. It allowed me a much needed regular dose of reality that many others just didn’t get.

Paul often jokes that I’ve gotten that way again, but this time with travel. Most of my friends over here are fellow tour guides, and we think it’s completely normal to have our days off in Barcelona or Berlin, and fly a couple of hours to hang out with a friend.

My travel year has looked like this:

• Spent most of January in Melbourne with family, spending a week down the beach in Jan Juc;
• Travelled to York and Manchester for my cousin’s wedding in early March;
• Spent a week with my family around the Netherlands in late March, and then flew down to meet them in Venice for Easter;
• Made a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit my friend Joel in Salamanca in April;

Placa Mayor, Salamanca.

• Flew down to Madrid to begin work in late May, spending six weeks in southern Spain, Portugal and Morocco;
• Spent three weeks working in Italy and France, with days off in Rome, Florence and Paris;
• Went to London for a week and spent my birthday at the Olympics;

The first day of the athletics at London 2012.

• Spent another fortnight in Italy, France and Switzerland with days off in Nice and Lauterbrunnen;
• Spent another month in Spain, with days off in San Sebastian and Barcelona;
• Worked at the La Tomatina festival in Bunol in late August (photos coming when I develop – yes, develop – my pictures);
• Caught up with some friends in Munich and Gruenau, Austria in late October; and

The Treehouse in Gruenau.

• Spent a long weekend December in snowy Krakow.

Just reading this list is exhausting. I haven’t even mentioned all the little trips around the Netherlands, that Paul and I try and do every few weeks. Amongst all of this, I have been studying a Master’s full-time.

Is this normal? No, it’s not and I know this. That’s why I write a blog about it!

Every day, I’m grateful. When my lack of success in the job search starts getting me down, I think of all of these adventures. They’re not going to last at this rate forever, but I’m going to enjoy them, and write all about them, while they do.

Here’s to a similarly travelicious 2013!