The Unprepared Traveller

14/02/2021

It's been a while, folks! 2020 was meant to be my big year for European travel with city breaks coming out the whazoo. Obvs that's not how it panned out - or should I say pandemicked out? - but I did have a few big things happen in the absence of jetting and setting off to new and wonderful places overseas. I managed to keep myself alive for a start - bloody nailing it 😋

One of the others was experiencing my housemate's terrifying driving in the snow to get to and from this bad boy (Hollingworth Lake) where we looked for yellow snow and launched snowballs at each other while trying not to slip over and die in the frozen watery wastes.

So from now on I endeavour to bring you some lockdown fun and local areas in Manchester, and probably some more stories of my housemate scaring the s**t out of me 👌🏼❄

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14/05/2019

There are some beautiful fountains in the UK... and then there are some that look like a child's head has been chiselled open and had a tube stuck in it while their mouth is a yawning cavern of terror. Like this one.

13/05/2019

"He had an owl on his hand. I remember kissing it the first night I met him in the flesh, our first bonds formed through the flames of Tinder. The first words he wrote to me lamented that I was moving overseas; he casually used my nickname in the sentence."

http://theunpreparedtraveller.com/the-wisdom-of-the-owl/

11/05/2019

Wandering through the UK towards the end of winter and at the start of spring you see a lot of daffodils. I hate daffodils. So when I found some GIANT SUNFLOWERS (no matter how painted on a wall they are), I had to get a photo with them to shoe my solidarity with oft ignored other yellow flowers of this world 🌻
📷 Mark Levy

02/05/2019

"He lived by the sea but wasn't bothered about sitting and enjoying the view. I didn't understand that about him."

He lived by the sea but wasn’t bothered about sitting and enjoying the view. I didn’t understand that about him. I can always see something new and exciting on the shore, in the shallows, thrashing…

02/04/2019

It's been a long time between posts. I've honestly not felt the need to post anything because I think I was being motivated by the wrong things: trying to achieve the whole travel influencer/digital nomad lifestyle while bragging about my adventures in some sort of need for validation. (My own motivation, not all influencers'.) But now I'm back and I'll be posting. Not to achieve validation, but to share pride in myself and my growth as a person. To share the sacrifices and gains. To just be me. New blog up with more about those sacrifices: www.theunpreparedtraveller.com/the-big-sacrifice-of-travel

16/02/2019

Those misty, green woods in Winter 🌲🍃

I love love LOVE the English woods. Not pictured: one food-crazy dog that I'm pet-sitting 🐶

12/02/2019

When I was heading to London two years ago, a colleague at the time gave me a list of things to do. I didn't manage to tick off all the things on the list, but this time around I made sure I did one of her highly recommended activities: walking along the canal from Camden Markets to Regents Park. My goodness. It's now on my highly recommended list! It's beautiful, peaceful and goes past the zoo! Sure I saw some hyenas ripping another animal apart but that was all part of the experience... Thanks Merran 💕

07/02/2019

I've started a new blog series on my website called 'Behind the photo'. A picture tells a thousand words, but it leaves a lot of the story out... my blog is where you can find out what else happened before and after this picture! Hint: it involves me making stupid decisions (of course!). Read it now on the blog.

As posted on Instagram: Today I walked through the woods. Words fail me, even now. It is like the landscape is from my dreams; from my imagination. I remember growing up wishing we had beautiful wo…

06/02/2019

Today I walked through the woods. Words fail me, even now. It is like the landscape is from my dreams; from my imagination. I remember growing up wishing that we had beautiful woods like this near us. The Australian bush is beautiful, don't get me wrong. But English woods are so full of life in a totally different way. They are full of deep greens, vines, moisture! The birds sang around me as I walked. I felt my breath being taken away by the beauty. And I will see it again in my dreams tonight 🍃

05/02/2019

Welcome to Steyning - a wonderful old village. While this won't show you much of the village, you will see the ordinarily scenic walk that I'm taking Lucky the dog on. There might be a fair bit of fog, but there's still a lot of beauty.

04/02/2019

Another view of Canterbury Cathedral. Seriously, this architecture is so stunning. I know the locals walk past it every day and don't take it in because it's the norm, so it takes me an extra 20 minutes to walk anywhere because I just want to stop and stare!