Iceland On A Budget - Four Day Itinerary, Costs, Packing & More!

Hello, 

It's been a year since I visited Iceland, and I must say I'm missing this trip now more than ever. It's number one on my list of the most beautiful places i've been so far, because it really is just stunning, and unlike anywhere i've ever been before. It's also one of the friendliest countries i've been to, you can ask anyone in the street for help and ninety percent of the time, they'll make your day! If you're travelling on your own, no matter what age or gender you are, you'll feel very safe here.
As it's coming closer to winter, and most people seem to book flights to go around this time, I thought it was the perfect timing to share my experience with you, and give a little advice if you're planning your trip, or simply to inspire you to go and explore for yourself!

Flights & Accommodation 

First things first, you'll need to book your flights. If you're only in Iceland for a few days, I'd recommend getting the earliest possible so you can get the most out of the day. We got some cheap flights with WOW Air, from Gatwick to Keflavik airport, which is the closest airport to fly into from Reykjavik (the city, where the party's at) arriving at around 2pm. If, like me, you've never heard of this airline before and you're a tiny bit nervous flying with one you're not familiar with, then Easyjet also offer cheap flights to Iceland. (and if you've somehow never heard of Easyjet... mate, can't help you there) The flight is around two to three hours (perfect for a nap, which is what I live for) so not long at all if you're a nervous flyer!
Also...a little tip if you're ever travelling to America, WOW Air, actually have stop over flights that give you enough time to hop to the Blue Lagoon on your way for a very cheap price!


Onto accommodation... We stayed at the Loft Hostel which you can book here on Hostel World. It wasn't the cheapest hostel we could've booked but the location is perfect! It's based in the city centre and about a ten minutes walk from the harbour. They have mixed or same-sex dorms available as well as private rooms which are half the price of a hotel in the city. Overall a great stay! (10/10 would recommend)

Itinerary & Bookings

Day One. 

Bookings & Exploring Reykjavik 

Once you've arrived and are ready to leave the airport, right by the exit (it's a very small airport, trust me there's probably only one way out) there's a Flybys stand which is a shuttle bus, leaving every hour, that will take you from Keflavik to Reykjavik. The city is about an hour away, however the bus actually takes you directly to your hostel (or hotel) so depending on how many drop off's there are, it may take longer. Another amazing thing about the shuttle bus is that they give you a free brochure which tells you all the information on the popular tourist attractions that are open this season, so you can decide what you're going to book while on your way! (or you can take the opportunity for another power nap, like I would.. did)

After you've settled into your accommodation, you can head into the town and visit the tourist centre's to book all of your excursions and trips! (If you click HERE, i've linked a similar brochure)

If you're staying at the Loft Hostel, If you come outside and turn right, across the street there is a great little tourist centre with hundreds of brochures, where you can book everything in one go!

**TIP - Booking the Blue Lagoon**

I have a few tips here for you actually.....

1. I know that's the main reason you're going to Iceland, so to avoid disappointment, book online in advance! We made the mistake of not booking online, but luckily got the last remaining spots for the day. At the tourist centre, make sure you remember to book a taxi or bus to the Lagoon though!

2. Get the earliest available spot! I think it opens at 8am, so you'll have to be up at five or six in the morning to get your bus ride there. (I know you're thinking i'm mad, 5am is still valuable sleeping time but, stay with me) The reason for getting the earliest is because theres no time limit to how long you can be there. You can make a day of it, and pay the same price as everyone else arriving later. (you won't come out a raisin at the end of it as theres plenty more to do there which doesn't involve shrivelling up in the Lagoon) Also, its great for photos when its empty. 

3. Book the Lagoon for the day you arrive or the day you leave for the airport!

The reason for this is because it'a closer to Keflavik airport than it is to the city, saving you a lot of time and money. Theres an option when you book your bus to go back to the city or to the airport which makes it very easy! Don't worry about your luggage, they've got lockers for you.

                                                             **TIP - Booking the Northern Lights trip**

My advice is to book your trip to see the Northern Lights for the first evening you're there as most companies will take you again for free if you don't see them the first time. 

You might end up going every night you're there but it is so worth it. 

After we got everything booked and picked up our tickets, we explored the city, and walked down to the harbour, where the beautiful Harpa, concert hall is. There's a lot of lovely shops and places to eat around the harbour, as well as museums. After getting some chips, we headed back to the hostel as we had an early rise the next morning! 

Day Two.                  

Icelandic horse riding & exploring Reykjavik

As we were on a budget, we decided to go with a fairly cheap horse riding excursion, which took up a lot of the day. Now if you've got a bigger budget you could swap this with a glacier walk, or using the snow-mobiles which both look incredible! There's plenty to choose from.

In the afternoon of our second day, we took into town to explore new places. There's a great chip shop on the way to the cathedral (great for a budget! This and a few cereal bars is actually all we ate on the entire trip, we were very poor). 

Now, we did have the Northern Lights trip booked, however, due to the weather conditions it was postponed to day three, so we carried on towards the cathedral, which is a hidden gem! (it's not hidden, we just weren't familiar with it) For a very small price, you can go to the top and look at the incredible views of Reykjavik! 

(apologies for my awful photos of the cathedral, It's just too big to fit it in one photo....  plus my hands were cold because i'm a twat who didn't pack any gloves)

Day Three.

The Golden Circle & The Northern Lights

So, day three we got up nice and early to go on a tour of the Golden Circle, famous in Iceland for the sights and geysir's (they are like natural mini volcanos... to be honest i'm not sure what it is, but it looks incredible). One day you have to do this trip as it doesn't cost a lot, and it will take up your whole day as theres so many incredible sights along the way, including the Gulfoss Waterfall. This is once of Iceland's most popular attractions, and you'll know exactly why when you go! However, if you're more into quiet places, and like finding hidden gems like me, there's another waterfall near the Golden Circle that you can stop off at (i'm sure if you ask your bus driver to stop off he/she will) It's called the Faxi Waterfall and I'm so glad we came across it! 

If you're a fan of Game Of Thrones, then you'll know that some scenes are filmed in Iceland, and you can actually book a separate tour for these, or you can see a lot of them around the Golden Circle. (i personally don't watch it.. to gory for me, so I couldn't tell you which points are in the series, sorry)

So after 8 hours of climbing, taking photos and napping every time we got back into the van, we were exhausted, so we headed back to our hostel for a rest, and a snack, before we were off to spot the Northern Lights. (oh by the way, if you're wondering why i'm not telling you about any restaurants or cafés in Iceland, it's because as I mentioned before, it's all very expensive, and on a budget, food can take up a lot of money that you could spend on experiences).

Our Northern Lights tour started at around 7pm, at the Harpa, where we were met with the friendliest tour guides. Because of the time we went, there was a sixty percent chance of seeing the lights,  so we tried not to get too hyped up to see them, however we'd been lucky with the weather, having clear skies all day, so very, very luckily, we got to see them! (yassss, crossed that off my bucket list)

Sitting on a little hill with a hot chocolate, not being able to feel my toes (or hands without any gloves) while watching the sky literally dance above me like something out of a fairy tale, was one of the best moments of my life so far!

**TIP- Download the Northern Lights Apps!**

Theres a few apps you can get for the Northern Lights. If you just search it in the app store, a predictor will come up, which is so helpful and tells you the strength of the lights each night, as well as what time they will be the strongest!

Another amazing app is the 'Northern Lights Photo Taker'. If you're using your iPhone camera then without a doubt you need this! I was trying to take photos before getting it, but you couldn't see a thing! Even other people with their professional cameras weren't able to capture it. (You should've seen their faces when they realised they'd paid all of this money for an amazing camera to get shots of the lights, while I was there all smug with my £1.99 app, looking like a miracle worker, coming out with all these 10/10 Instagram worthy pics) 

Here's a few pictures from day three...

These two (above and below) photos are from the Faxi waterfall! Beaaauutiful!

(also at the Faxi waterfall!)

Day Four.

The Blue Lagoon

Getting up on this morning was rather difficult I must say. I was shattered from watching the Northern Lights until one in the morning, however we needed to pack up, check out, and get our buts into that magical puddle.

When you arrive at the Lagoon, theres a locker room near the bus terminal where they can hold all of your luggage for free so theres no need to worry about what you're going to do with it before the airport. Then as you walk into the spa, you'll see the front desk where you pick up a wristband, with different colours, depending on which package you got. I believe theres four different ones to choose from, but we opted for the least expensive which came with towels, free conditioner and a free natural, mud mask to put on whilst you're taking a dip.  

**TIP- Use the Conditioner**

Make sure to take advantage of the conditioner they offer you in the changing rooms as the natural chemicals in the lagoon are very damaging to your hair, and without using it, your hair will feel dry and limp. Trust me, one nice picture in the lagoon isn't worth damaging your hair. Whip your hair up, slap on that conditioner and away you go. 

After taking endless amounts of photos (literally freezing our tits off, standing outside in a bikini attempting to get those pics) we got ready to leave and sat in the café for a while. But if you're just not ready to leave the most beautiful spa on earth then you can also make a day of it and visit the restaurant near the gift shop. You'll have to book in advance for this one. (The restaurant is definitely for those with more spending money, and so is the gift shop! Who knew a pot of Icelandic mud could be so expensive?).

We then headed back to the airport, feeling super soft and super sleepy, and that was the end of our little trip! 

Make sure you don't get too distracted in the Blue lagoon though because the busses to the airport leave every hour, sometimes later, so try not to miss your flight! (to be honest i'd happily miss my fight and live in Iceland forever).

Itinerary summary

Costs

Iceland in general is expensive and it really depends on your normal spending habits, what budget you've got etc... Here i've done my best to cut down what I spent to give you an insight, and keep in mind I did my best to do it as in-expensive as I could!

What to pack:

Clothing-

3 x thermal vests,  3 x jumpers,  2 x jeans (I took one pair of dungarees for extra warmth)

2 x thermal leggings

1 x wooly hat, 1 x scarf, 1 x GLOVES (I forgot mine, but thanks Mary for giving me one of yours, luv u)

2 x thick socks, underwear, pyjamas

1 x good pair of trainers (you may need hiking boots for some activities)

Other-

Passport!

CEREAL BARS - You'll thank me!

Go Pro / any other travel camera. 

Toiletries (travel size, make sure they are under 100 ml for the plane)

So, I think that's about it! I hope I've persuaded you to go and covered anything you wanted to know about Iceland. If you have any other questions feel free to message or email me!

Happy travels!

Lots of Love, 

Kate xx

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Tea & Cake at Sketch, London

Hello!



For this weeks adventure, I took to Sketch, London for afternoon tea.
If you haven't heard of sketch already, it's a themed (trying to think what theme it is right now, but I have no idea what you'd call it) dining venue. I say dining venue because there's many different rooms that have different menu's (one's a cafe, one a restaurant if you get me).
It's likely you've seen photos of sketch before though without knowing ... A white room full of egg shaped toilets, with a multi-coloured ceiling of lights, that everyone seems to be posting on Instagram. (ring any bells?... Scroll down, you'll know what I mean!) 

I'm a very big fan of afternoon tea, and I must say Sketch is up there in my top 5 places for afternoon tea in London!




What's on the menu?

The standard menu consists of four courses, but I believe the menu does change sometimes so make sure you check the website before you go. (I've linked it for you at the bottom x)

The first course consists of a small plate of caviar with 'egg and soldiers' (the little wooden spoon is just for decoration, there's real cutlery you can use.. I found this out the hard way)

The second, they will bring out a plate of scones with a selection of delicious jams and cream. Definitely my fave part!

The third is a three-tiered cake stand filled with freshly prepared sandwiches, (most are afternoon tea classics, but with a twist. For example, the standard cheese sandwich is on a rye bread witch chutney and all things fancy) (I've never seen such a posh take on a cheese sandwich in my life) pastries - both savoury & sweet, and desserts.

And the fourth course, if you're not already stuffed, they bring round a selection of cakes on a copper cart, which you can choose from. You can ask for a bag to take them away if you can't manage to finish it all.

To top it all off, you can choose from a separate menu of loose leaf tea to sip on whilst you fill yourself with cake!




How much does it cost?

The standard afternoon tea costs £58, per person, for two people (plus £10 service charge each.. I think). 
There are other's you can buy aswell, for example, they serve an afternoon tea that comes with prosecco, which of course is more expensive, (way out of my budget at the moment! gotta' get saving I 'av) but they pour the prossecco in a really fancy way, from up high. (The idea of them hiring me went out the window as soon as I saw them pouring the drinks. What a mess that would be if I attempted, ha) Or if you've got children, they offer a kids menu.
If you have any dietary needs (for example, i'm a veggie) they can cater for you, although i'm unsure if they offer a vegan menu.




Why go to Sketch?

Apart from the amazing (Instagram worthy) interior, the food is honestly delicious and is on par with the great service from staff. Although it's a little on the pricey side, sketch is a wonderful experience that would make for a great day out, whether you're on a date, a mate date or with family. I'm considering taking my mum here for mothers day as it's the perfect place!




How do I get there?

It's located just off of regent street, about a 5 minute walk from Liberty London or 10 minutes from Oxford Circus station. Very easy to get to, just walk toward the up-side down dog on the side of the building and you're there.

Spot the annoying child....

If I've persuaded you to go,
happy tea-ing!




Lots of love,
Kate

xx

Visit Sketch London here!





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TWENTY.

Hello! 

It's my twentieth birthday today bitchezz!
A day filled with cake and alcohol, what more could you want?
You wouldn't believe how excited I am to finally be turning twenty. I've got a new outfit, new lipstick, god knows how many layers of fake tan on, (bondi sands, from the heavens) and hair so curly I look like I'm from the 90's.
I'm sure a lot of people don't think anything of their twentieth, it's all about the year after, but for me these last few teenage years have been tough to say the least, (someone up there has been a lil bitch, or maybe karma caught up with me which is more likely lol) and turning twenty feels like a fresh start! I'm finally looking forward to what the future has to offer, and i'm excited to see what's going to happen in what's meant to be the best years of my life. (I hope it's filled with friends, cake, fitties, dogs and adventures)... (in other words, if there are any fit lads out there who can bake, owns a dog and is up for travelling the world with my pals, @ me okay x)


I've given this a little thought, and in order to make these next ten years as amazing as I hope they are, here are twenty different things that I'm planning to do, or am doing in my twenties:

1. Travel.

Right so, I've already started this one but theres so much more to come in this decade! It's the one thing I'm in love with (apart from my dog, shoutout to Brodie) I've always loved travelling and I always will. When i'm away is when I feel most like myself, Its when I'm most confident, and when i'm most happy. There's literally no place I don't want to visit, and I'm really hoping that by the time I turn thirty I would've crossed a lot off my list.
I'm currently saving for a 9, maybe 12 (maybe forever) month backpacking trip with one of my fave gal pals, and we couldn't be more excited. The aim is to start from Hawaii and then wing it and see where it takes us. Just enjoy our lives, make as many memories as possible, meet as many people as possible and be as happy as possible. I can't think of a better way to live my life to be honest than with a little backpack, an anklet, a camera, a map, a beer and maybe a nose ring so I can be the ultimate traveller.

2. Make a youtube channel.

My life is full of good content and maybe if I start filming a lot of it I can maybe catch something that I can send off to you've been framed and bag myself £250.

3. Stop comparing myself to others.

I'm so bad at this. I have my moments when I'm really confident in who I am, but most of the time I'm  far from it. I'm always stalking everyones instagram's, comparing my life to theirs even though we're so different. I always look at what everyone else has achieved, like getting their degree, or getting an amazing job opportunity, but I'm realising that everyones going at a different pace in life.  Who's to say that I won't get a degree in my lifetime? Not at the same time most of my friends have, but that doesn't matter.

4. Skydive

Yaaaas. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No no, it's just me attached to a giant parachute.

5. Find myself a career that doesn't feel like work

I've got a lot of career ideas in my head, but to be honest at the moment I'm not feeling any of them. I might study to be a midwife, maybe a veterinary nurse, maybe I'll get a marketing job, or maybe I'll open up my own hostel one day (now wouldn't that be amazing! I've planned my own hostel out in my head in so much detail its become bit of an obsession ha, watch this space) I'll be giving them all a try though because you never know! I'm really not the sort of person who can sit and do a really boring job that I don't enjoy. I don't think thats living. After all, you spend the most amount of your adult hood in your work place, so you've got to love it, or you're wasting your life.

6. Clear the toxic people

I'm very picky with my people trust me. I'm all or nothing. (If you're one of my faves then theres no getting rid of me, sorry. You're stuck with me)
 I've been cracking down on who the important people are in my life and staying away from the ones who aren't really there for me. Life's too short to be around people who put you down, and don't want the best for you. If you can't be yourself around someone then find someone who you can be yourself around, plenty of different (nice) people to meet!

7. Get a nice bum

Gotta be getting those squats in now don't I ay.

8. Save money

Save, save, save! For the future, for when I buy a house, or get married or have children or for travelling. I think it's great to save a little bit of money and future me is going to thank me so much!

9. Go to a festival

 (or two, or three, or ten)

10. Blog

I've clearly already started this one but I genuinely love writing on my blog in my spare time and i've got so many ideas for blog posts that I can't wait to write! I want to make my blog every personal still, but focus mainly on making it a travel blog, sharing my experiences and tips!

11. Spend some time volunteering

Volunteering is so rewarding I love it so much, Ive got plans to volunteer here in London, maybe on christmas day and also to volunteer in Bali!

12. Be selfish

 I'm going to do a lot more for myself from now on.

13. Run a marathon

14. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

By the time i've trained for this marathon I should be running up this mountain.
(I'll be starting with Snowdon I think)

15. Have my own little family

 Whether it be a family of dogs, cats, a husband and children, who knows. I'd just love to have my own people (or pets) to go home to everyday.
(alright, cheesy I know)

16. Stop being so hard on myself

17. Go diving and overcome my fears

So, one of my biggest fears are sharks. I think this ones stemmed from watching 'Open Water' when I was about 7.  I vividly remember watching from behind the sofa, a man getting his leg bitten off. Not age appropriate that.
I'm really interested in going diving though, maybe in Thailand as they've got the cheapest diving courses in the world. It's just the sharks stopping me here so hopefully I can overcome this fear! (you'll never catch me shark cage diving anytime soon though, no time for that)

18. Stop moaning so much

I've only recently realised how much I actually moan about stupid things, so i'm really going to try and stop myself from now on and just get on with everything and look at the positives.

19. Eat healthily

 (can't get a good bum with no greens)

20. Keep on not taking life too seriously!

The most important one.




There's my twenty things that I'm going to keep working on and make happen.

In all seriousness, I'm so grateful that I've turned twenty, as this years been extremely tough learning how to deal with my depression. It's really opened my eyes to a lot though, I'm feeling so positive about the future.
I'm also so grateful that I've got so many amazing people by my side (I've picked you all well) to celebrate with! Love you all lots xx

Cheers to the twenties my favourites!





Lots of love,
 kate
x

10 Tips I Learnt From Travelling Thailand

Hello!

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that i've been travelling Thailand for the past few weeks (sorry for the amount of posts if you do follow me, just had to be done x) and I had the most amazing time! Beauty wise, it's definitely up there, on the same level as Iceland (same same, but different) there's such beautiful views, I found it a little overwhelming at times. Travelling Thailand has been on my list for such a long time and when I dropped out of uni, I had a little 'fuck it' moment and booked my flights with the last of my student loan. (I'd advise telling your parents before you book a flight to Asia with whats left of your money. Didn't go down too well when I told them one afternoon, ha. Wait until I tell them I got another tattoo out there.. just kidding, not this time x) 

I used this three week trip as a taster for when I go travelling for a long time, which I plan to do in the near future, and i'm so glad I did it because even though i've been before, it's been completely different circumstances and now I've learnt so much I'm so excited to put my backpack on again! (not literally, they're a pain in the bum)


So here are my top 10 tips:

 1. DON'T OVERPACK!

I'm awful when it comes to packing, I always find myself thinking: 'but what if I need this?', 'maybe I will just incase', 'what if I regret not brining it?', 'this will definitely come in handy' (I know, I have a problem).
The night before my flight to Bangkok, I was just chucking things into my backpack and not thinking about it, so my bag was so heavy, it was a struggle to even get to the airport, let alone walking with it in thirty degree heat for half an hour! When we arrived at our first hostel, I tried to sort through my things but I couldn't part ways with a lot, as to me, it was just like throwing money away. I did leave my hair dryer and straighteners behind as soon as we got there though (I know what your all thinking, why on earth did you pack those?! Well, they were travel ones okay, and I'd seen someone else pack them so I was like, yeah i'll take mine too, just trying to justify it now lol).
You definitely don't need them! Most of the time hostels will have hairdryers if you ask, and as for straighteners, just give ya hair a break. (It will thank you I promise) and honestly, no one really cares about hygiene when you're out there, let alone caring about your hair looking flat.

The markets in Thailand are also amazing, and it's gutting when you see the top of dreams but you don't have enough space in your bag for it, or you spent too much money on clothes at home and can't afford it. (both of which happened to me, every market stall I went too). So, don't bring too much with you, you honestly don't need hardly anything at all, and if you do need something, you can always buy it when you're there.

If you're struggling with what to pack, try looking at youtube videos of what people took with them. Kinging-it is a great travel channel that I love and really recommend. (although, this is where I found someone else taking straighteners, so just ignore that bit)



2. BOOK IN ADVANCE

Now I know a lot of people just travel without any plans, and that's great, and also what I intend to do  when I go, but If you can book anything in advance then my advice is to do it as a lot of the time it's cheaper. The further ahead you do it, the cheaper it can be.
We booked our flights and our boats to and from the Islands online, and when we got to the pier the price to pay on the door was 400 baht more than what we payed, which works out an extra £10. This may not seem like a lot, but it adds up! (That could be your food for the week, or that can get you like 3 vodka buckets. Worth it, if ya ask me!)
If you do book in advance though, find an internet café and print off you're tickets or receipt. Most of the time you can show your phone, or they'll print it for you, but you might come across some staff who won't accept it. It only costs around 10 baht to print in most places, so, very cheap!

Don't have a picture of the boats as I had my head tucked into my life jacket the whole time, trying to not to puke, so here's a lovely picture of our legs above the trees. 

3. BEWARE OF SCAMMERS

Or as I like to call them, dickheads. Not everyone will try to rip you off, but it will happen a lot so be careful.
When we first arrived in Bangkok airport, a friendly man who's lived in Thailand for a while told us to always ask to put the metre on when getting a taxi. So off we went and got in the first taxi we saw, not knowing how much a taxi to our hostel was supposed to cost. The driver offered us a price of 600baht but we were consistent with asking the driver to put the metre on, thinking we knew what we were doing. The journey was quite long and we'd just been on a plane for a day so we fell asleep in the taxi. I kept waking up and thinking 'oo that metres gone up a lot, ouch'. I could also hear the driver laughing, and now I know he was probably laughing at us (twat, karma will get you x). The fare ended up costing 900baht including the toll prices. We messed up massively here, turns out falling asleep in your taxi is the worst thing you can do. The owner of our hostel said that the fare should've cost us around 400-500baht and the driver rigged the metre when we weren't looking, which was the whole way because ya know, we were tired (btw Born Free hostel is a great place to stay in Bangkok, 10/10 would recommend).
Always check what the normal price to pay for everything is, a lot of the times its more expensive for tourists which is normal, only to some extent. You can always haggle a price too! If you're staying at a good hostel (or your posh enough for a hotel) then ask the staff there, they're usually so helpful.



4. KNOW HOW TO HAGGLE

This fits in with tip 3, comes in so handy when getting a taxi anywhere, or when buying pretty much anything. We are now pro's at this. We've got our technique down to a tee, (along with battering our eyelashes). Whoever you're buying anything from will most likely give you a very high price to begin with, after all, they want the highest sale possible, so there will always be room to haggle the price down a little bit.
Decide on how much you're willing to pay for the item/taxi and then say a much lower price. You can then meet in the middle, which is what you were going to pay anyway, and sorted. Don't push your luck though.
Look around at prices too (this is also similar to tip 3 but that one was getting a bit long, so i'll just talk about it here x) We were mostly good at doing this until we were in Koh Phi Phi, and our hostel (Blancos beach bar, don't stay here) persuaded us to go on their boat trip which did include all of the places we wanted to see, but other places were doing this same trip for half the price and we really wished we'd looked around first.
Still worth it though!

This moment made up for being ripped off! 

5. EAT LOTS OF FRUIT AND VEG (or bring Dioralyte)

Yeah, your mum was right all along.
The change in food can affect you, (especially the amount of rice you're going to consume) so make sure you still try and eat a little healthy and get your fibre in, or you might find yourself trying to explain constipation to a Thai lady working at the pharmacy. The lady's face when I said "me... no.. poo?" was a picture, she just replied with "um, constipation then?". Why I didn't just say that in the first place I don't know. (not a great moment in my life). The markets sell amazing, cheap fruit so eating healthy is no problem, just make sure it's clean because you might end up with a travellers tummy (you might shit yourself in other words) which is also not pleasant, and it can have you running to the toilet at the worst times (like in the middle of checking in, or on an overnight train where there is no toilet, just a hole, a handle, and the whole cast of A Bugs Life, gd times x)
Remember that hand sanitiser and Dioralyte when you're packing!



6. DOWNLOAD MAPS.ME

Maps.Me is an app that lets you navigate without any internet. It will be your saviour. All you have to do is download the map for your area when you do have internet and your good to go! It tells you how to get everywhere, and you can pinpoint all of the spots you want to visit so you don't forget any, like you can have a look at the top temples to visit in the area and mark them all.  We used this a lot these past three weeks, honestly so worth it.

7. FACTOR 50 IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

As i'm writing this, i've got a t-shirt wrapped around my arm because it's bright red, and a burn on-top of a burn is not fun.
 I was so careful the whole time, and luckily this, and burning my face were the only times I got burnt. I'd used a spray suncream for my face that usually worked so well (La Roche Posay, factor 50) but I didn't realise it had run out so it left me a walking, blistered tomato.
I would advise taking suncream with you from home because most supermarkets in Thailand sell suncreams that have whitening in them (unless you want to stay pale, then by all means go for it). If you're pale like me, take a factor 50 with you, the sun is so strong in Thailand, it will save you having to bathe in aloe vera.




8. DON'T STROKE STRAY ANIMALS (when drunk)

Right so, there are a lot of cute stray animals in Thailand, cats and dogs wherever you look. I'm such a sucker for them, and couldn't help myself so i'm going to be a hypocrite here. I'd had the rabies jab and everything and i'd advise you to get one before you go away too. You can never be too careful with stray animals, the last thing you want is to catch an illness off of them.
When you're drunk leave the animals alone because they will bite you. Here's a lovely picture of me getting bitten by a cat on my way to Spicy (Chiangmai club, great after zoe's) a real kodak moment....enjoy. (I know it looks like i'm smoochin' a cat, but I promise i'm not, it jumped up at me at the perfect moment haha, too funny)

Please don't avoid me, I don't have rabies now xoxoxoxo

9. DON'T LISTEN TO THE WEATHER APP

If you're planning your trip around the weather, then don't. The whole time we were expecting rain (we were in monsoon season) and that's what the forecast was telling us, but we were so so lucky with the weather, most of the time it was opposite to what was forecast (and still, not much of a tan for me ffs). If there's an island you want to go to but the weather doesn't look good, my advice is to go anyway because more than likely it will be beautifully sunny! 

Only listen to the weather if you're just about to go on a hike up a mountain and it looks like theres a storm coming. Don't go up that mountain please, you'll get caught in a horrible storm like we did!

10. RESEARCH THE HOSTELS

If you haven't heard of Hostel World yet, get yo self on it! I've used it for a while now and it never lets me down. You can download the app so it makes it easier to book hostels from wherever you are around the world. Theres so many to choose from and you can read all of the reviews from previous guests to make sure its right for you. From the different ones we stayed at, hostel world was so accurate, the ratings were honestly spot on. You can book private rooms, mixed or female dorms (I'd always go for mixed, it's much more friendly from my experience)
When you go to book your hostel, only book one or two nights, that way if it's not for you, you can leave without wasting any money. And if you love it, you can book more nights at the reception.
(I'll be writing another post on where I stayed, and which were my favourite hostels soon!)


There's my top 10 tips that i've learnt from the past few weeks. I'm so glad I did this mini trip as I feel so much more prepared for my longer travels around Asia and the rest of the world in the future. It's making me so determined to save as much money as I can from now until then, so I can keep travelling forever! Found my happy place I av.



Lots of Love,
Kate
x










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