WANDERLUST TRAVEL TAG
// KOH PHI PHI ISLAND, THAILAND
HOW MANY COUNTRIES HAVE YOU VISITED?
Let's see...
U.S, Jamaica, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany,
England, Denmark, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand.
What is that? 15. I think I got them all.
WHAT WAS THE LAST COUNTRY YOU VISITED?
// SOUTH BEACH, MIAMI.
I went to Florida in both November and December because, why not? One trip was clearly not enough. In a nutshell I frolicked the beaches of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, and of course got my drink on in South Beach.
YOU'RE LEAVING TOMORROW AND MONEY IS NO OPTION. WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Dubai. Hands down, Dubai.
It's the luxury and class that appeals most to me. AND THE HEAT. I LOVE HEAT. I've always mixed up the two words desert and dessert, but who the hell cares because both are great. Shopping in a luxurious desert doesn't sound too bad to me (coming from a Canadian). Besides, I have a bucket list goal of sky diving in Dubai.
Who's coming with me?
WHAT'S YOUR CUP OF TEA - TROPICAL ISLAND GETAWAY, SNOWY SKI BREAK, OR CITY EXPLORING TRIPS?
Ouu, good question. Although a tropical island getaway does sound nice, and I just got a taste of the backpacker's edition in Southern Thailand a few months ago, I'd have to say a city exploring trip is my cup of tea. There is something about cities that excites me. In most countries I travel to, I make sure I visit the capital city and any other surrounding areas that interest me. I think it is the mixture of people, fashion and modernity that most intrigues me.
// CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
One of my favourite city exploring trips was Chicago 2015. My friends and I travelled 12 hours by bus from Toronto to Chicago for our university reading week. My favourite part of the trip was our visit to Skydeck Chicago, which is great for a bird's eye view of the city's infrastructure and skyline. I've noticed that I spend so much time and effort in finding the perfect spot for a city skyline shot. I don't know.. I just like cities.
PREFERRED METHOD OF TRAVEL: PLANES, TRAINS OR AUTOMOBILES?
Another good question. Due to my good travel experiences in Europe, I'd probably have to say I prefer trains. They are fast and most likely less expensive than a plane ticket. I've travelled between Netherlands, France and Belgium by train. All of my trips were relatively quick, comfortable and, more importantly cheap. Don't get me wrong, I do love travelling by car. It's so quick and convenient!
WHICH THREE PLACES ARE AT THE TIP OF YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET LIST?
So, you already know the U.A.E has my eye. South Africa, Hong Kong and California are the next three places on my travel bucket list. If you asked young Chels this question back in the day, my answer would've been different. Since high school and Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl days, I had this crazy travel obsession with Tokyo. It was always #1 bae on my travel bucket list. This past July, I finally went and had the time of my life! It's probably one of my best trips to date.
WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE DESTINATION YOU HAVE BEEN TO?
Omg, I don't know how to answer this. I think my favourite spot was ALL of Southern Thailand. I was most impressed with Railay Beach and the Ko Phi Phi Islands. I went island hopping on a casual Sunday, NO BIG. And I did something I've never done before - snorkelling. It was such a fun and thrilling experience. We took a boat from Koh Phi Phi Island to Maya's Bay and snorkelled in the middle of the ocean. I saw some cool fishies and corral. Thailand was a DREAM, to say the least.
Underwater discoveries
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 TRAVEL ITEMS?
Number one would definitely be my camera. My Sony a5000 is a compact mirrorless camera which serves as a perfect travel and vlogging camera. Paired with my 64 GB memory card, I'm good to go. I bought this camera from E-Mart in Busan, South Korea for about 450,000 won
Number two would have to be my journal(s). I ALWAYS have it in my bag and jot down notes or ideas while I'm on the go. Shoot, that's how most of these blog posts start. I also like to use my journal for budgeting, as I write down expenses and recent purchases.
HATS ARE SO NECESSARY. Most of the time, my travelling consists of hikes, heat and the unexpected moments to get pretty. So, hats save my life. They're so versatile and can cover up any bad hair day.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT ABROAD?
Promise I can't even begin to explain how embarrassing this moment was. So, I won't. Let's just say it involved lots of beer and a not so fast subway in the middle of NYC. The ride from Manhattan back to Queens is kind of long...you do the math :| .
// BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE AND LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT TRAVEL BLOGGING?
My favorite thing about travel blogging is having unique photos and videos as documentation of my trips. Because taking pictures becomes a priority when travelling, I'll always have them. But at the same time, that's the worst thing about travel blogging. I hate feeling obligated to pull out my camera and record. I need to live more in the moment and not worry about the perfect photo opt or boomerang video. For example, my friend Brandon and I found ourselves hiking in the dark and scaling a large cliff between Tonsai and Railay Beach in Krabi, Thailand. Long story short, there was flooding so the tides were high and water was about waist deep. Luckily, I brought a flashlight in my bag and promise this SAVED US. I told my friend we should just camp out on Tonsai Beach and hike back to Railay in the morning when it's light out and safe. But noppppeeee, we just had to go back to our nice villa in Railay. Point of this whole story is..the whole time I was bordering death with every rocky move and climb, I was fighting my urge to pull out my camera and vlog. So no, I have no documentation of this ...but that's life. IT WAS LIT.
WHICH 3 PEOPLE WOULD YOU LIKE TO INFLICT THIS TAG ON?
Star at 87 pages
Sam at Expat And The City
Sheneice at The Ebony Traveller