I’m back!
And I can’t quite believe we are already in February, just where does the time go?!?!
For the last two weeks I have been travelling around the beautiful country of Myanmar. With just the one glitch at the end of my trip, the rest of the time was absolutely seamless. I travelled with 15 other companions as part of an Intrepid group and together with our guide, we explored all the wonderful sights this mysterious country has to offer.
I have been thinking about this post all day. Literally. It has been the only thing on my mind and I’ve been so excited to get home and tap away at my keyboard but now that I’ve come to sit down and fill you in, I just can’t think of the right words to describe my experience.
Before I jetted off, I had every intention of blogging and sharing my trip via social media as I journeyed from place to place. But a rushed start with no time to buy a local sim and being someone who possesses a serious case of fomo, meant I very rarely looked at my phone or the internet. I did attempt to keep up with my plan at the start, however when it took me 3 days to upload my post about our overnight train journey I decided not to bother attempting to create online content.
You know what? It was bliss.
Obviously as a blogger I love my social networks and I’m addicted to all things blog and informative on the inter-web, but two weeks of just immersing myself in a holiday, being part of a group where everything was organised for me, well my mind finally got the break it needed.
All my friends and family keep pestering me to see pictures, asking what it was like what did I get up to… and I find myself completely speechless. How on earth do you explain two weeks worth of intense adventure in a short conversation? How on earth do you explain that in fact the trip resulted in over 3000 photos?
Oh the beauty of a blog! I can’t wait to let it do all the talking for me 🙂
All those hours keeping a distance from my digital screens, well I’m certainly planning on making up for them now! Being back home, back into normal routine, means I am dying to write up my many, many notes and share all the wonderful memories I have collected – re-live my travels all over again! Imprint this journey onto my blog to look back on fondly in the future.
I’m kicking off all things Myanmar with my usual apres-holiday task: dedicating my Instagram feed to some of my favourite snaps. Now seeing as this was a pretty special trip, I’ll probably be posting a couple more than usual – I’ll do my best to keep it to a week though. So if you’re not already – click here to follow along.
I’ve got plenty of write ups in the pipeline too – stories, tips and reviews of all the things we got up to, all of which will be supported by photographic evidence (of which I have plenty).
One thing for sure, this trip will always be special to me, Apart from TEDx which was a planned gathering of inspirational and intellectual minds from all over the world, I’ve never coincidentally been amongst a group of individuals who have each taught me so much. People who even in such a short amount of time I can actually say have changed my life. In just two weeks, through the complex political situations of Myanmar and in fact the rest of the world, I learnt a lot about my own opinions and judgements and how maybe it’s my mind set that needs to change (more about that later 😉 )
Myanmar was a country of stark contrasts. On the outside, it was breathtaking. On returning I couldn’t choose a favourite place, a favourite moment, there were simply too many experiences to choose from. It had all the charm of the simple life with all the extravagance in the surrounding natural environment and in the many temples.
Although the people we met were all amazing: kind, generous, helpful… the inner workings of Myanmar aren’t quite as simple. A country still delicate for those that live there, any upset is shielded from those that need not know. The locals were keen to stress that they believed the hard times were now over and there was definitely hope for a brighter future.
With all the travel alerts and warnings I had read right up until my departure date, I must stress that not once did I feel unsafe when travelling in Myanmar. There were many frustrations – but at no point did I feel my safety was compromised, and I know this was of concern to a few travellers.
I’m really looking forward to sharing my journey with you, I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and travel to a place you never really dreamed you would visit, just like I did with Yangon. A fan of Kipling the romance of travelling the road to Mandalay always intrigued me and I feel so blessed that I was actually able to make that trip.
I know for sure I won’t be able to do this adventure the justice it deserves… but I’ll bloody well do my best to try!
What have you been up to over the last few weeks? Have you been to Myanmar?
