5 Years as a Gypsy Girl

No child ever dreams of growing up to be a gypsy... In fact, personally I wanted to be a pirate... or a mermaid... or a, hmmmm, I forget ... PLANS CHANGE!

In fact, by the end of university I planned to start an empire and retire by 30 with 7 children and a white picked fence, a few llamas, and a husband who puts the Hoff to shame. 

Back in 2007 I agreed to explore deepest darkest Africa with a few friends - head out into the abyss and see what happened... 3 - 6 months MAXIMUM and then...

You experience all these weird and interesting cultures...

Bahar Darar, Ethiopia

You find ancient castle ruins

Gondor, Ethiopia

You  see snow for the first time in your life...

Mt Kenya, Kenya

Summit of Mt Kenya

You meet masses of incredible people...

Lake Malawi

 You sit for hours staring into beautifulnesses...

Malawi

 And although it happens every day, you're always breath taken by yet another perfect sunrise or sunset...

Sunrise over Lake Malawi

You learn how best to appreciate ancient relics...

Lallibella, Ethiopia (There's amazing rock-hewn churches too)

 And go to places most people only read about...

Lake Nakuru, Knya

Next thing you know, you've been contaminated by the innumerable wonders of the world, you've got a lethal case of the travel bug and you end up a gypsy.

I ENDED UP A GYPSY. 

As a gypsy, I followed my routes back to the start of gypsism, in Europe...

Paris, France

Venice, Italy

Stone henge, England

And then my baby brother was concerned that I'd acquired an Australian accent and talked me into a long drive. So we bought a car and started driving.

and we drove into Asia...

And we drove through Canyons....

Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan 

 And we drove through snow...

Mongolia

 And we accidently camped in animal graveyards...

And visited places that were illegal for tourists....

The door to Hell, Turkmenistan

 And every now and then we broke down...

3 flat tyres at once, Mongolia

 But we raced through 17 500 + KM of awesomeness....

And finally we made it to Ulaanbataar

And a flick of the coin dictated I visit China next...

The Night food market in Beijing

And an expiring visa led me to South East Asia...

Cambodia, 2009

 And I got a semi-addiction to hitch hiking....

And I hitched across Southern Africa and Australia

Lickng the Sydney opera house, Australia

And I aquired my longest standing travel buddy yet

The deterioration of a giant Teddy over 6 months of good life 

And I motorbiked across Vietnam

And cycled across South East Asia

And got lured into all sorts of wild adventures...

Buiding a raft, Malaysia

Sinking a raft

Shipwrecking on a deserted island

I've seen things most will never see, licked things most will never lick and had the best years of my life. But I never planned to be a gypsy...

At 27 I find myself homeless, unemployed, and single; and a lot of it's been tough, but I wouldn't change a thing. I have no idea what the next 5 years - or even the rest of the week - hold; But whatever happens, I plan to make the most of it... I hope you'll be doing likewise!