Since finishing the end of the winter season its been a busy time for me. The majority of it has been spent travelling! As most of you I am sure are aware, as part of my Jack Wills Young Brits Award 2014 I was given a round the world flight ticket courtesy of STA Travel!
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| On the top of Burj Khalifa |
First destination was Dubai where I experienced heat on a completely new level. It was a crazy place to visit, with the heat and the over the top extravagance. Not usually my cup of tea, I quite enjoy visiting cities but I got no feeling that I was experiencing a culture hugely different to the western one I already know! Burj Khalifa at night was definitely a highlight! I also visited ski Dubai while I was there - bizarre the heat can be 50 degrees outside yet there are penguins and a ski slope inside a shopping mall. I didn't have a go - it was quite nice to take a break from the skiing!
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| Flower Dome Singapore |
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| Singapore: Gardens By The Bay |
My next stop was Singapore, such a cool city with amazing energy. Such a contrast to Dubai where nature, sustainability and the environmental considerations are almost non existent.. I was there during the opening ceremony of the South East Asia games, so there was a lot of excitement and the fireworks were awesome. Gardens by the Bay were definitely one of the favourite places I visited!
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| Surfing in Bali |
After Singapore I visited Bali. I think this was my favourite destination of all. The culture was so different to what I am used to, and there is so much to see and do! I wish I could have stayed for so much longer. I managed to go surfing in Kuta, climbed a volcano on my 20th birthday to see sunrise over Kintamani,
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| Monkeys in Bali |
trekked across rice terraces and swam with turtles on the Gili Islands. Despite travelling alone, I met so many back packers in Indonesia doing exactly the same thing as me and I made so many friends from countries all over the world!
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| Fraser Island |
I went to Australia after Bali, the weather was a bit of a contrast and on the whole I was pretty underwhelmed when I landed in Sydney for 3 days. Once I started to travel north, up the east coast I saw why people love Australia so much. Even though it wasn't summer the atmosphere and chilled vibes in Byron Bay were so cool especially with all of the surfing! I spent 3 days touring Fraser Island, camping and off roading in 4x4s. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! Everything is picture perfect, I saw humpback whales, sharks, dingoes, giant lizards and dolphins all in the space of 2 days! I only had 11 days in Australia which is no where near enough! Its a place I'd love to go back to!
The last country I visited was the US. I landed in Los Angeles, probably the worst place I visited on my travels. I'm not a huge fan of celebrity chasing, hollywood glitz and thousands of tourists! So when I joined my Trek America tour and made my way towards the Grand Canyon - campi
ng on the banks of the Colorado River on the way I felt much happier! The Grand Canyon was incredible, photos never do it justice! The sheer size of it just blows your mind! Next stop was Vegas, now considering I'm not a huge fan of fake, over the top tourist magnets I really enjoyed Vegas. It doesn't take itself seriously and despite not being 21 there are so many things to do and its so much fun! After another big city visiting Yosemite National Park was a well needed break, hiking 8 miles alongside waterfalls was amazing and it was such a good feeling to get back into mountains! After I finished the tour in San Francisco I spent a few extra days exploring the city - one of my favourite cities in the US, a cool atmosphere and so unique! I managed to squeeze in seeing a baseball game too - SF Giants vs NY Mets. New York was my last stop before flying home! One of the places I had been looking forward to seeing most on my trip! It didn't disappoint and despite being exhausted and broke I had an amazing time and it was a great place to end my trip!
Due to the fact I was taking almost two months of skiing and training some people questioned whether I was actually taking my skiing seriously. Less than a week after returning from my travels I am now preparing for summer glacier training with BSA in Les Deux Alpes and Zermatt and my motivation is as high as it's ever been! I can't wait to get back on skis! It will be a bit of a change this season. The coaching set up at BSA has been completely changed and although I was sad to see my old coach Ali Morton go after I have been coached by him for so many years I'm looking forward to working with someone new,
I have also made the decision to take up my place at University of Manchester in September. Although i've changed my course to Business and Management with French. After two years out from studying I realised I had a change of heart. My goal is to continue to compete during the winter as much as I can while balancing my studies.
Its been a busy couple of months with so much going on I'll try to update a little more often! I have to send out a massive thanks to Jack Wills and STA Travel for the amazing opportunity they gave me and I wish the best of luck to all Young Brits Applicants for 2015!
First destination was Dubai where I experienced heat on a completely new level. It was a crazy place to visit, with the heat and the over the top extravagance. Not usually my cup of tea, I quite enjoy visiting cities but I got no feeling that I was experiencing a culture hugely different to the western one I already know! Burj Khalifa at night was definitely a highlight! I also visited ski Dubai while I was there - bizarre the heat can be 50 degrees outside yet there are penguins and a ski slope inside a shopping mall. I didn't have a go - it was quite nice to take a break from the skiing!
ng on the banks of the Colorado River on the way I felt much happier! The Grand Canyon was incredible, photos never do it justice! The sheer size of it just blows your mind! Next stop was Vegas, now considering I'm not a huge fan of fake, over the top tourist magnets I really enjoyed Vegas. It doesn't take itself seriously and despite not being 21 there are so many things to do and its so much fun! After another big city visiting Yosemite National Park was a well needed break, hiking 8 miles alongside waterfalls was amazing and it was such a good feeling to get back into mountains! After I finished the tour in San Francisco I spent a few extra days exploring the city - one of my favourite cities in the US, a cool atmosphere and so unique! I managed to squeeze in seeing a baseball game too - SF Giants vs NY Mets. New York was my last stop before flying home! One of the places I had been looking forward to seeing most on my trip! It didn't disappoint and despite being exhausted and broke I had an amazing time and it was a great place to end my trip!
