To Travel is to Live

It’s no secret that I love to travel: whether it’s a week lying in the sun or pounding the city pavements, I’m always up for exploring somewhere new. With a sudden expanse of empty time stretching out in front of me, I’ve been presented with an opportunity to see more of the world.

Initially, my plans were to jet off with one of my closest friends for between 2 weeks and a month but in the end, it was getting tricky to work out our timings. Then, on an internet browse one morning, I came across this tour on STA travel that looked pretty darn wonderful.

So, after thinking about it overnight – talking myself into it, then out of it again, over and over again – I tentatively ventured into the STA Travel office in Liverpool with the intention of finding out some more information. Instead, I walked out of there with my bank account significantly lighter and an 18 day solo trip to Europe booked.

I’ll be travelling in quite a large group – between 30 and 50 people – but even this gentler version of going at it alone is pretty scary! Having only ever travelled with people I know really well, I’m mostly excited to experience something new but with a sprinkle of being terrified that I’ll forget all social skills when I’m meeting everyone for the first time. I’ve never been the most confident person and it’s something that I know I need to work on so pushing myself to do this will hopefully really help with that – along with allowing me to travel to some amazing places!

Recently, I’ve been moaning a lot about how terrible my life is but while things have been really tough, I’ve also been conscious of how much worse things could be. While splitting up with someone I love so much has been heartbreaking, I’m grateful that it was in the nicest, most caring way possible and I have so much respect for him still. Being able to take my time out of work and use it to travel is also something that I’m so lucky to be able to do.

Things have got a lot more personal on here over the last few weeks but I’m excited about the direction that my blog is taking. I’ll be documenting the run up to the trip and every day during it so you’ll be able to experience everything along with me. If you have ever done a group tour like this, tell me about it in the comments too!