Top 10 Travel Moments

We’ve now been home for a month and are already back into our normal routines so needed to write this post before I forget all about our incredible trip. We did so many things that I could never have dreamt of but here is our top 10 (not in any particular order as it’s too difficult!):

Fresh Tracks on a Powder Day in Whistler
Picture this – it’s 5.30am, you’ve just woken up & checked the snow report and you see 50 whole cm has fallen overnight. You’ll soon be in the queue to be one of the first people up the mountain for the day to enjoy a big buffet breakfast. You’re full from bacon, sausages, hash browns etc (and have filled the tupperware you brought) then at 8 a bell rings, you and your friends rush out to be literally the first to experience fresh runs in 50cm of powder! And if you know the mountain you can keep getting fresh tracks all day long!

Seeing the Glaciers Melt in Patagonia
This was never something we planned but was absolutely incredible. From buenos aires down to El Calafate, Patagonia was a 48 hour bus ride but believe me it was worth every minute. The views of the glacier were stunning but the sounds were just as impressive. We were on a boat ride for literally 5 minutes before we witnessed a huge piece of ice fall off and explode into the water.

Visiting the Amazon Rainforest
Thanks to England getting drawn in Manaus for their World Cup group, we were in the perfect place for a trip into the amazon. We did a three day tour of the jungle which included – alligator spotting, trekking through the jungle, canoeing down the river, piranha fishing and watching an amazing sunrise. Something we will never forget!

Before

Seeing Machu Picchu
Who doesn’t want to visit one of the greatest wonders of the world?! We opted to do a 4 day/3 night jungle tour as our way to get to Machu Picchu – highly recommended. Despite not being able to walk on the day we got there, it didn’t put us off and the views from the top were like nothing else.

Salt Flats Tour
For miles and miles all you can see is well, salt. I’ll admit it doesn’t sound the best but it was one of the best 3 days we had in South America. We drove around the desert stopping at incredible places and eating surprisingly good food that our driver made on the road. We even got a stint at driving the jeep through the desert!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Whilst in Manaus, Brazil we couldn’t miss the chance to visit the Amazon Rainforest. We have just got back from a 3 day and 2 night tour and it was absolutely incredible. What I write and the pictures I will show will not do it justice, you have to visit yourself to really appreciate it.

We had received an itinerary before we left and were very excited by it. Though the schedule didn’t run to plan (don’t expect anything to in Brazil), everything we did was a completely new and amazing experience.

Day 1
After a bus, boat, bus and another boat we arrived at our little village in the Amazon rainforest with lunch ready waiting for us. After a buffet lunch of rice, beans, fish, chicken, salad and lots of fruit (one of many to come!) we were given our rooms. Basic accommodation but surprisingly insect free and the mosquito net kept the damn mossies out.

Meeting of the waters

The afternoons activity was Piranha fishing and pink river dolphin spotting. We unfortunately didn’t see any river dolphins so carried on to do some fishing! Within 5 minutes of setting off a thunderstorm started and I have literally never seen rain like it, let alone sit through it. We thought it might be time to head back but we carried on and I’m so glad we did. It never actually stopped raining for the few hours we were on the boat. After a while a guy in our boat caught a Piranha and then not too much longer I caught one too! Mine was just a little one so we let it back in. The competitive side in Kyle obviously came out then and he caught one too. A much bigger one that we would later eat for tea! Up close GoPro videos to come, once I’ve figured how to upload them!

Before

After

Despite being p*ss wet through and very cold it was such a good experience. Catching Piranha in the Amazon river – tick!

Goodbye USA, Hello Brazil!

After another dreaded 20+ hour bus journey from Denver, in which the guy next to us got arrested, we arrived in Chicago for a big McDonald reunion! It had been 5 months since last seeing my mum, dad and brother at Christmas in Whistler and 5 years since seeing my family who live in the states! It was great to be reunited with everyone and even better in an amazing city.

After Chicago and some emotional goodbyes it was time to head to New York via all over the place on the Greyhound bus. We were staying in the Bronx so it took us a while to get to the main site seeing places. We just had two days there so we had to pack a lot in so we could see all the main things we wanted to. We took the free (yes, free!) ferry to Staten Island which gives you a good view of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline – which didn’t disappoint.

In the two days we spent time at Times Square, walked around Central Park, saw the Friends building (disappointed Central Perk has now shut down), went to Grand Central Station, saw the Empire State (didn’t go up) and went to the 9/11 memorial – which was a very humbling and surreal experience.

The Planning Starts Now

I’ve been a little distracted from starting to plan our trip recently due to football. I’m a Bradford City fan and have just had the most amazing season which has been a huge distraction to anything else. For anyone interested in reading about this, check out my other blog here

Now the football season has officially finished, we can really start to plan our trip. If you’re new to my blog we’re planning on going to Whistler to do a working season there from November – April ish. Then onto America for 3-4 weeks to do a road trip then we’re planning on popping down to Brazil to the World Cup. It’s a dream trip that I still can’t believe we’re doing, especially since we’ve been talking about going to Canada for years. However…. we still have it pretty much all to plan and we seem to keep adding more and more to our to do list.

So far, we’ve signed up to The Working Holiday Club to get our jobs in Whistler sorted before we go. We know these job programs are a little bit of a con as you’re paying someone to get you an interview for job, however with neither having us worked a season before and are not able to go out until just before the season started, we didn’t want to risk not being able to find a job. We decided we’d rather pay to have the peace of mind, especially with two of us needing to find work. If I was going on my own I don’t think I’d have signed up to a program but at least this way we know we’re both guaranteed a job before we fly out. I’ve got my initial phone interview with a guy at the Working Holiday Club next week, then they arrange an interview with the Whistler mountain team in London in July. So in July we should know what jobs we’ll be doing and when we’ll be starting.

Visa – Check

Job – Check-ish (as long as I don’t attack anyone in my interview, I should be okay…)

Accomodation in Whistler – Check (going to live in the staff housing, but will see how that goes!)

Still to sort:

– Insurance

– Flights to Canada (probably going to go to Vancouver first)

– Accommodation in Vancouver

– Canadian Bank Account

– USA Road Trip Itinerary

– Flights from USA to Brazil

– World Cup Tickets

– Winter Clothes – Not sure whether to buy in Canada or here in the UK before hand