In the age of COVID-19, travel isn’t possible for the vast majority of people around the world. Whether that’s because you are physically restricted by border closures, or because you don’t feel safe to travel at the moment. Nonetheless, we travellers can still make the most of this strange and difficult time despite being stuck […]
twenty-seventeen in review + lessons learned
Right. Here it is: the post you’ve all been waiting for. It’s currently 2:25am on the final day of 2017, and I am ready to be brutally honest with every single one of you who’s taking the time to read this post right now – thank you, by the way, it really does mean a lot. […]
Starting University after a Gap Year
Over the course of many conversations with sixth form students, I realised that one of the things deterring them from taking a Gap Year was starting university a year late. For a lot of the people I spoke to, many were adamant that they were going to start the year with peers of their own […]
Inner Mongolia: Hulun Buir & Heishantou | Travel Diaries
INNER MONGOLIA Boy, oh boy, where do I even begin with our four-day trip to Inner Mongolia’s Hulun Buir grasslands? I thought I’d start off by posting two personal posts detailing what we got up to, in the style of a Travel Diary, and then I’ll type up an Inner Mongolia Travel Guide. Here goes… […]
What Being Away for 7 Months Taught Me
“You were on your Gap Year last year?! It feels like years ago now!” Those were the words of my sister a few days ago. It really doesn’t feel like it was last year and I’m going to keep saying this, but did it even happen? One thing that confirms that it did is what being […]
One Year Ago: Reflections | Gap Year Travel
On Wednesday, I woke up and opened the Facebook app on my phone. I was presented with a screen which said ‘One Year Ago’ and the following picture from my Gap Year: View this post on Instagram A post shared by V I O L A (@violahelen_) Wednesday marked exactly 365 days since I landed […]
Saving Money to Travel
I am frequently inundated with messages and emails from readers, subscribers, friends and students on how I managed to fund my Gap Year entirely by myself. As this is something I’m incredibly proud of, and something I’ve achieved on my own, I think that I can share with you some travel-saving money tips… 1. ‘Take care […]
My flight: London to Shanghai
The last time I was on a plane which was more than a couple of hours was my flight back from Beijing last June. I spent most of the flight sleeping and resenting the fact that I was flying back home after a seven-month trip. I really, really didn’t want to get off that plane […]
Our East Coast Australia Route | Gap Year Travel
I get numerous questions from many friends and YouTube subscribers alike about where exactly Alice and I went along Australia’s East Coast and which places we would recommend. Here’s the full breakdown of where we stopped off at and which places you can’t miss. Melbourne – Cairns 1. Melbourne We first flew into Melbourne which was by far […]
Why I love Ubud | Gap Year Travel
Out of all the places we happened to visit in Bali, Ubud was by far our favourite city. It’s rich in culture, arts, beautiful landscapes and incredible food. We planned to stay only four days but in the end extended it to a full week. Here are the reasons why I love Ubud… 1. FOOD […]