travelher stories
Thank you for visiting! Here you will find a collection of travel stories from women around the world. Each one is as unique and varied as the next. Enjoy!
There we women were dressed in black abaya from head to toe, a hot and uncomfortable novelty, but we were generously allowed into the glittering, mirror-mosaic interiors of the mosques where rich carpets from wall to wall provided seating for thousands of pilgrims, all of them happy to see us, non-Muslims, in their holiest of places.
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Riding camelback through the desert at night with only the Milky Way and shooting stars to light the way, we eventually stopped at a row of Bedouin tents in the middle of nowhere. There are many benefits to solo travel. For me, topping this list has to be making and following your own schedule. Being the worrier I am, I was more on the half-glass-empty kind of side, but getting out of the cold and having a change of scenery won the bid, and there we were. I returned home and sold my store and planned to move to Australia for a year. This was one of the biggest decisions of my life so far. But even though I felt nervous, I felt very alive. I spent so much time convincing friends and family it would be fine that I had almost convinced myself… right up until the moment I stepped off the plane in Delhi. When I was growing up, my grandfather told me that I was an Irish princess and that I descended from a line of brilliant Irish kings. I believed in this fairy tale until I was old enough to know better, much to my grandfather’s amusement and delight. Home is my love, but New Zealand is my mistress, or maybe more—I’m still deciding if I prefer her long term. I stand here, appreciating lush landscapes as I gracefully brush my fingertips against the grains of rice fields and watch in wonder as the sun begins to set beyond the horizon. At that exact moment I knew it was time for me to return to the person that I, my friends and my family loved me for. And I needed a challenge, a big one. Each evening we sat down with iPads, tea, maps and guidebooks, and figured out the route for the next day. In those ten days, we saw so many incredible things that I never ever expected when first setting off. Until you have explored this vast planet, how do you know you’re not meant for something or somewhere else? I fell way behind my pack, limping like the runt of the litter. As my boyfriend fell behind to help me up the millionth step, I felt instant shame, looking around at the faces of my patient pals as they held on for me to catch up. Each day we went from stages of absolute misery in the mornings as we pulled ourselves up on our aching legs to euphoria as we passed through an ancient ruin site or reached a new peak. You know the light you see in someone’s eyes when they talk about something they really love? That is what Travelher is about. By the end of the week, the walls are jam-packed with love notes to lost ones and forgiveness notes to themselves. I was moved to tears by it. Iceland is such a beautiful place. Being from New Zealand, I was of the biased opinion that no country could come close to rivalling my home in beauty. But I must say that Iceland is that country. It’s a very soul-affirming feeling to travel and rely completely on oneself. For the first time in a long time I was responsible for me and had only me to answer to. The entire six months were filled with feelings of incredulous awe and appreciation—both of the unparalleled scenes of nature, and a humble appreciation for the daily realities and routines of the people around us. We all wake much later than expected following our evening at Craggy Range. I blame the exhausting bike-ride. The others blame the three bottles of wine we had at dinner. I was so nervous before the hike. Would my shoes be okay? Would the pack be uncomfortable? Would my body be up for the task? What would the weather be like? I’d given it my best shot, but nothing was working out. Every attempt to stay failed and I finally had to accept that I needed a new plan and a new destination, and that’s when I booked my flight to Australia. I didn’t feel brave at all. I was scared. But not of moving overseas alone and not of what would happen once I got there. I was terrified of the alternative. It’s a jaw-dropping place, with colourful villages clinging to a steep green coast above the crystal-clear Ligurian Sea, but that’s not what made it so special. On our first night I was so tired from the 33hr door to door travel but I just wanted to cram it all in. Times Square, yellow cabs, hot-dog stands and sky-scrapers that made Auckland buildings look like match-sticks. |
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