Taking the Long Way Home – Europe

With my working holiday visa rushing towards its expiry and family and friends urging me to come home, it was time to call time on London. Putting it mildly, I was devastated to be leaving my new home but the one thing making me feel better was the opportunity to travel and tick a few things off the old bucket list as I journeyed back to Perth. There’s the old adage that with travel, you either have time or money - for the first time in my life, I had a little of both so I reluctantly packed and shipped my coats and scarves, said goodbye to friends and colleagues and headed to St Pancras station armed with a couple of bikinis and a bottle of sunscreen. Read on to see some of my favourite snaps from my trip through Europe, India and South East Asia.

London Markets

This is happening in the @schoolyardmkt today. @dumplingshack. #dumplings #food #foodie #foodporn #instafood #londonfood #londonfoodie #foodpic #foodiepic #broadwaymarket #schoolyardmarket #londonfields #LF #E8 #hackney #london

A post shared by Broadway Market (@broadwaymarket) on Apr 16, 2016 at 3:51am PDT

Broadway Market

Okay, so it’s faff to get to unless you live in Hackney already. But it also has some of the most delicious food in London so it more than makes up for it. Go around 11ish and make yourself a little hodge podge brunch of sorts while you wander. Start off at Schoolyard Market - nice and early - to snag some fat little pockets of perfection from Dumpling Shack before they sell out. Pick up some pastel coloured treats at the Meringue Girls stall. Then meander over to Netil St Market at go to the original BAO to have a fluffy steamed bun full of delicious pork or, better yet, try their fried chicken. Also near Netil St Market is the fantastic Yeast Bakery, hidden under a railway arch. They do perfect little kougin amann pastries in a multitude of flavours. Then go home and rub your tummy while crying tears of happiness.

Eat, Pray, Panic - or How I quit my job and moved to London

Here's the thing - I liked my life. I had a good job, great friends, a loving family and yet I felt restless. My cushy lifestyle just wasn't challenging me in the ways that I wanted it to. I could have easily continued my life as it was for the next 5 years and would have been content - but where's the fun in that?!  I grew up in a small mining town in the North West corner of Western Australia and then moved to Perth, ie. the most isolated city on Earth, so my experience with the world at large was pretty limited. I'd done some travel but have always wanted to live in a major city and to travel solo - only I never had the funds, nor the lady balls to do so. So here I was, 26 years old and at a crossroads - do I stay or do I go? Decision made... I moved to London. Read on for the rollercoaster of emotions that was my first few weeks.