If you’ve been following for a while, you may have noticed the absence of a certain series this year, #Take12Trips.

When I first started this blog, the intent was simple: Create a place as a space to share my tips for making travel both amazing and affordable.

I’m infatuated with many of the travel bloggers I follow online and on social, but often find myself frustrated with them- either their experiences are too luxe/unattainable, or they don’t share enough details about how they planned their trip/got to a destination/managed a situation for me to feel empowered and like I’ve learned something from spending time with their content.

Inspiration to visit a place is wonderful. Being helpful doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Over the past two years, I’ve focused on sharing destination guides, weekend getaways, can’t-miss-experiences in cities around the world, and most importantly, inspiration to explore the world we live in to help others plan trips, too.

No one sponsors my trips, and I’m pretty open online and in real life about the sacrifices I make to afford travel (looking at you Zero Days).

To help jumpstart blogging back in 2016, #Take12Trips was the only resolution I made that year- a promise to commit to doing something once a month.

Anything counts- it can be dinner at a new place, visiting a new museum or neighbourhood, or spending the weekend at a cute B&B in the country. It doesn’t need to be an epic trip to a foreign country, just the chance to discover something new.

At the time, I was living in New York City and travelling fairly often but no where as near as frequently as I’ve been blessed to travel in Europe with short weekend breaks. I was also feeling a bit stuck- I liked my job, loved to travel but felt too comfortable.

When the opportunity to move to London for work presented itself in late 2016, I was over the moon.

It’s been a fantastic almost two and a half years in London, but I’m excited to chase another dream of mine- working as a digital consultant and traveling SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

It’s my first week on the road- I’m travelling Andalusia with a good friend. All the photos in this post are from our trip, more specifics coming in the weeks ahead- it’s a holiday that’s exceeded every expectation I could have dreamed of.

After southern Spain, it’s off to Singapore for two days to acclimate to SE Asia.

Then, Kuala Lumpar for a cheeky weekend before onto Thailand. I’ll likely spend ~3 weeks in Thailand, and would like to make two 48-72 hour trips to Cambodia and Laos while I’m near those countries.

Then, it’s a question mark. So many places are on my list- more of Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Of course I’ll share my recos for places after I visit them, but I also intend to journal this time on the road in a different way- a monthly post to memoralize the peaks, pits, and share stories the places I visit. Cue, Trading Blazers for Beaches.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this afraid and simultaneously excited. Genuinely can not wait to see what the next few weeks hold.

If you’ve ever travelled SE Asia, Aus or NZ at length or backpacked anywhere, I’d love to hear your recommendations, favourite things and what you wish you’d known before your trip.