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Monthly Archives: April 2012

I often hear friends ranting about equality and feminism and all those very important things that we ignore on a daily basis but Miss Travel reminded me of something I often think. It often seems to be perceived that sexual inequality is something created solely by these big powerful, sleazy men with no respect for women, who believe they are nothing more than objects and act like ‘Hey girl, wash my dishes’. But in reality I think that women are probably as big a hindrance to sexual equality as men are.

Some women seem to be little more than objects, they literally will do anything for the man knowing a shiny shone will be the reward. Of course none of the women I know are like this but the steeply inclined slope to equality is being littered with obstacles just as much by our own kind and this often gets looked over. Many feminists will comment on the shallowness of gossip magazines and the pressures on women to look perfect and the ‘ring of truth/ring of fat’ that circles nasty body parts in a trashy magazine. It is most definitely trashy and degrading but, unfortunately, is probably made by women and women LOVE to read it and go ‘look at the weight on her elbow’ because women love to gossip. And that is generally all women and not just the shallow diamond loving kind. Read More »

Before setting off on my travels I did lots of research into every little detail. Most of the information I found was pretty helpful, some was too paranoid and some was just ridiculous. When I started looking into shoes it was a bit of a minefield. There were so many specific recommendations about make, type etc. everyone insisted on specific hiking shoes or those weird strappy sandal things that Europeans seem to love to wear ( as well as bum bags, I have never yet found a time when I have wished I had a bum bag/ fanny pack as our American friends call them).

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Job hunting is a huge emotional rollercoaster for me, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone else. I know that it is meant to be depressing and hard work but my problem with it is quite specific. I always like to know exactly what the next month or year of my life has in store. Not in too much detail but I want to know the general shape of things to come.

Having a bit too much of an imagination means that with every job I apply for I imagine myself in the role and get quite excited. Even when it’s not a job I particularly want I still imagine it as being my future. So then when the inevitable rejection letter comes it feels like someone has ruined my plans and shaken up my entire future. I always have too much hope which means the blow puts me in a bad mood, even if it’s a job I didn’t particularly want, and sometimes those are the worst, you think ‘if I can’t get something I don’t want, how will I ever get something I do want’. And there you are at the beginning of the cycle again applying for four or five jobs a day before you wait for another flow of rejections.

It isn’t a very pleasant way to be living and I really hope this transitory period is nearly over, plus it would be really nice to spend a tenner without having to think long and hard about whether I can afford it.

Back in August I was feeling a little homesick and wrote a list of the five things I was missing most about England. Now I’m back and feeling a little travel sick. Seeing England again with fresh eyes has made me consider the things I enjoyed about being in a different society.

Television culture

I didn’t watch television for nine months and so it seems really weird to see people spending four or five hours a day glued to the screen. Often not particularly watching anything but it just being on as if there is a fear of silence within the house. Of course there are some pretty good shows on TV in the UK and the BBC is a world leader but as soon as the good show ends the TV should be switched off. Instead it is left to continue to the next and the next show. The amount of sitting down that happens is really quite worrying.

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In my nine months of travel returning home and reintegrating was the single hardest thing I’ve done. It’s not something you expect to be so tough, everyone says about a culture shock but I don’t really understand that because of course I know what England is like, I’ve lived there for 24 years so the culture doesn’t shock me it’s just the mentality and habits of a day to day basis, which I suppose could be considered culture but on the same ways I visited cities abroad I could see the charm in places here. England was, basically, exactly how I had left it. The only problem was that I wasn’t.

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With food poisoning still in our system and a general weariness, when it came to choosing our accommodation on Pulao Tioman we were easily persuaded when we were told ABC beach would be very busy and noisy.  We plumbed for the next ferry stop which was Panuba bay, a jetty with just the one resort and a nice little beach. We didn’t want any stress and with our last island experience being in Thailand we thought when somebody says an area is loud and busy then that would be to the extent of nightclubs running at all hours and you not being able to sleep until six in the morning. Read More »

International events are always enjoyable, whether they are music, sport or even gardening there is always a special atmosphere that everybody has gathered for something they’re excited about. After being a Formula one fan since about the age of ten, living in England there was no realistic way to get first-hand experience. Just for the Sunday ticket you will be paying roughly £150 to be in the field area. Secondly the track is in the middle of nowhere and I don’t own a car so would have to pay for extortionate public transport. Thirdly it will probably be cold and rainy. Read More »

There’s no two ways about it, food poisoning is really awful, much worse than flu and to get it on the road makes it five times worse. I’m not talking about an inconvenient bout of travellers’ diarrhoea but the sort of illness that knocks you off your feet and into bed for at least five days.

 With Malaysia as my final destination my time there was limited to 20 days, even shorter if I considered having to be back in KL for the Grand Prix. Our flight in from Kolkata arrived in the early hours and due to Air Asia charging for everything we grabbed a MacDonald’s as we waited for our shuttle bus to the city. We finally checked in at roughly 3 am. Read More »

Since being in India never again will I take the simple hostel for granted. The things I learnt to expect from a budget place flew out the window the second I checked into the guesthouse in Delhi to share my bathroom with Bob the Pigeon and his pile of poo.

 Comparatively, price wise to Thailand, or South East Asia in general the rooms and facilities are quite shocking. For £6 in Thailand you can have a clean double room with en-suite, including Wi-Fi and towels and hot shower. For the same price in India, which is a cheaper country you will have what looks like a prison cell, no towels. It will normally be en-suite but the bathroom facilities are quite something. The idea of a shower is quite rare and if it does exist it will almost definitely be cold only. If there is no shower then the washing facilities will be a tap on the wall and a bucket and a dirty/mouldy concrete floor. This is surprisingly something you can get quite used to, in warm weather that is. In cold weather such as the minus temperatures experienced in the north this can become so much of a disturbing ordeal that you toy with the longevity of possibility of going without shower. Wearing a hat and hiding your hair is really the commonplace over choosing to get a cold from washing it. Read More »

After being strictly on the tourist trail through Northern India we decided to take a detour into the lesser known and sample the Himalayas. We had intended all along to go to Darjeeling so had our train to NJP sorted well in advance but after reading up decided that from the station we should go a little deeper. Sikkim was a British protectorate state until 1975 and is the only Indian state to be majority Nepalese ethnicity. It is nestled right up in the north between Nepal, Tibet (China’s Autonomous state of Tibet), and Bhutan, and it is really beautiful.

Sikkim requires a permit to enter, but this is just a formality. It is possible to obtain the permit in big cities and Darjeeling but you can also get it on arrival if you cross the border at Rangpo (there probably are only two entry roads) and then it is free of charge. Of course an agent in the city will charge you up to $30. The people at the border are very helpful and friendly and speak exceptional English as many of them communicate together with it due to so many differing minority languages. Read More »

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