Happy Birthday to me and my blog! My year away has ended and I have seen so much I didn’t even know where to start with this blog post but then I thought, why bother, life and especially life on the road is so fickle, so ever-changing and full of twists and turns and so I decided to make this blog post a huge summary of all the amazing things my crammed brain needs to chew on and sort out at some point.

I guess I am still shoeboxing it – not a good idea! So let’s get it out for me to digest and all the world to see how a year abroad can look like. And maybe, just maybe, it can inspire you to chase your own shenanigans in whatever form, make little changes to spice up your daily life or just provide a little entertainment. In any case, don’t forget to smile, it releases endorphins and you deserve to feel happy, too! Here goes.

Quick Overview

Numbers Game: Travel

Flights: 18

Countries: 6

Cities: 74

Distances (in OZ): 12.446,76 km

Distances in (JP): 3,384.4 km

Distances (flights): 100,447 km

Numbers Game: Blogging

Number of Blog posts: 315

Amount of photos: 2,666

Followers: +8,000

Klout score (how active you, my web friends, are): 68 (world average is 40)

Water: Wanaka, Cape Town, Mijayima, Esperance | Mountains: Blue Mountains, Wineglass Bay, near Esperance

Travel Highlights

Seeing the sun rise over Uluru (Ayers Rock) and walking around its base was just pure magic.

Retracing the steps of my favourite TV characters in Wellington took me back to my fangirl teeny days.

Hiking along the most untouched and empty beaches of Esperance after watching kangaroos on the beach must be my kind of paradise.

Seeing the night come to life on an endless horizon filled with neon lights and skyscrapers in Hong Kong is my favourite city view.

Strolling through a sea of pink petals made me understand the Japanese obsession with cherry blossoms.

Bad Luck Streak Lowlights

I was robbed in my hostel room while I was sleeping (scary!)

I was hired, fired and put on the street in the same day because I didn’t want to sign an unexpected and unfair contract. I was the offered help by a new friend who never called back after telling me not to book a hostel but to stay with her. Nearly stayed out on the street because of that.

My travel agent whom I had told explicitly to book open dated, had booked the trip solid without telling me. I found out the day before, miles away and stuck in a temp job.

I had food poisoning in the outback and it was bad. But it was terrible for the others as well because that wasn’t the only thing that went wrong in Kings Canyon.

Every time I prepared for my intercontinental flight for the next day, my computer caught epic viruses from official bookings sites.

Feeties: #FeetFollowHeart | Hairmania: Call me crazy, but never boring.