So... Where to next?

Here's my dilemma. When I came out to Australia my family were pretty adamant that I would need to buy a return ticket, just in-case of emergency. So I did. Here comes the dilemma... You can only use your return ticket in your first year of travel. CRAP. I came here in November last year, and this means I only have around 8 weeks left in Australia. A truly frightening prospect.

So... what do I do? I have given myself 3 options...

1 - New Zealand.

When I got to Australia I never thought I would want to travel NZ. I knew I'd like to visit, maybe for a week or so, but I never thought of it as a place to spend a prolonged period of time in. That was, until I saw pictures. So many people I have met whilst travelling have showed me the most incredible pictures of New Zealand and oh my god I want to go. I have just stolen some pictures off a friends facebook page to show you what I am talking about. Swoooon.

I should point out these pictures are not taken by a professional which just goes to show how incredible this place looks. Absolutely.... insane. It hurts my head a bit. & the finale -

Ohhhh yeah baby!! Hobbit-land! Amazing! Going to New Zealand obviously has it's perks but it would mean another year or two away from family and friends, going it totally alone and losing out on my plane ticket home as the bloody company will not give me even a partial refund. Swines.

2. Asia.

It may or may not come as a surprise to you that I have an English degree. A Bachelor of the Arts, if you will. Not putting this to use makes me sad, sometimes. In comes the allure of teaching English as a foreign language. New challenges, fantastic scenery and something that will look pretty frickin good on my CV in a few years.

Again, this would mean giving up my plane ticket and spending more time away from home, not to mention the fact my Mother is almost sure that me going to Asia alone is basically asking murderers to turn me into some form of gourmet kebab. I'm thinking Thailand or Vietnam. My friend did it and she got paid well and had the experience of a lifetime but... she was with her boyfriend. Am I brave enough to do this alone? Here, have some pictures...

3. Home/Manchester

Ok, admittedly this does not fill me with as much excitement. The prospect of going home, to find a job to fund my next travels whilst I could just be moving straight onto them seems pretty silly. But oh my god, the lure of spending a Christmas with my family and friends is right up there with travelling to New Zealand! I miss home and my family SO much. The thought of going to lush, stocking up on bath bombs and having hot wine and cake with my Mum and Sisters sounds like heaven to my ears. Also, I have a ticket there already. Am I realistically going to be able to save enough money to get a flight to NZ and spends too before summer comes around? Or do I just go home and spend a few months there and try not to dip into the savings I'll have when I get there? I spent last Christmas away and it killed me. I got drunk on a beach in St Kilda and vowed I would never be away again. So... what do you think I should do? What would you do? This would also mean I can travel the UK a bit, visit my friend in Ireland over Christmas and my friend in Brighton who's visiting from Australia. Help anyone?

Admittedly, not nearly as beautiful but part of me feels like I am putting off real life by travelling and I am hitting 25 in a couple of months so maybe I should just go home and face 'reality'?

I hate being an adult and having to make my own bloody decisions sometimes.

I know, first world problems eh.

Love Sam

x

Skincare whilst Travelling (Backpacker beauty shall we call it?)

As a 'backpacker', it goes without saying that, sadly you have limited space for luxuries. Gone are the days where I'd have a cheeky stash of 10 lush bathbombs stored for a rainy day and lots of expensive products in glass jars. Travelling makes you re-evaluate what is important in life in EVERY sense of the word - including what goes in that 20-25kg portable method of storage of yours.

 I started out with about 6/7kgs worth of makeup and toiletries. At the time, I didn't know how I'd survive... with only 3 foundations, 2 concealers, 2 face powders, etc... and the other day I was looking through my makeup bag to discover that I'd unwittingly become THAT girl. Don't get me wrong, when I whack out my makeup bag it's still likely to be more than the average backpacker carries (which is not bloody hard, think moisturiser and SPF), however I now own only one of everything - apart from lipstick, a girl's gotta have a vice, right - How did it get this way? When I lived and worked at home, I had what can only be described as an excessive amount of makeup. To the extent, I could have never used it all without it going out of date. So when I made the decision to up sticks and travel, I gave it all away to my little sister, who is training to be a makeup artist. I figured she'd give it the love that I can't.

Having been here for 10 months, I have had no choice but to delve into the world of Australian cosmetics. Most things about Australian cosmetics make me sad, they are sometimes double the price of the UK, the quality is questionable and higher end products are only available in major cities, which is an absolute pain in the ass, how I miss good ole' Boots! Having said all of this, sometimes you unwittingly find a gem of a product and I am about to go barefaced to express my love for this discovery. Enter... Moisturiser.

Don't let the packaging fool you, it is not prescription only (ha, awful jokes ahoy over here). When I first tried this in a smaller tube, I initially bought it for my hands. I was washing a lot of dishes for work (glamorous life I lead, ya know) and they were sooo goddamn dry. I tried this, it worked, woop. Then, I ran out of my regular moisturiser and was forced to use this stuff. My skin was babysoft and I felt like it looked brighter and healthier, so I carried on using it. Without even noticing, every single one of my zits disappeared. Then I ran out of my little tube and went back and bought my normal neutrogina moisturiser without really thinking about it. Then came back the spots. So I went out last week and bought a big tube of this, in the hope it would sort my face situation out and it really bloody delivered. I don't have a 'before' picture of me with all of my spots, sadly, but i do have a picture 5 days after making the switch to this stuff...

If this picture was better quality (goddamn Iphone camera) you'd be able to see some red patches where the scars are healing from the previous spots but that's about it. A little goes a long long way with this stuff and you can get a huge tub for like $8 (about 5 pounds if it is available in the UK). I am astounded and will be stocking up whenever I head home because I don't even need to wear foundation anymore. A drop of this stuff, a dab of SPF, and concealer and I'm good to go. 

So yeah, the secrets out. It's cheap, readily available and it is a bloody miracle worker (for me at least). 

Have you got any secret miracle worker products?

Love, Sam