22/09/2022

The first step of our day was to hire a pair of scooters.

…

I finally plucked up the courage to ease my fingers off the brake, while tentatively revving the throttle. The bike jumped forwards and I walked with it a few steps, before sensing its balance and momentum, checking my mirrors, and lifting my feet off the floor. Once going, I felt a grin begin to spread across my face, and the wind lift my hair into the air.

I knew I was going to like this.

13/09/2022

It seems each building in Valladolid, Mexico, is painted a different bright, pastel hue. Dainty squares of apricot, periwinkle, and lavender line the paved streets; the horizon is speckled with biscotti, azure, vermillion. The dark blanket of clouds that rolled across the city upon our arrival promised cleansing rain, and appeared a dramatic counterpart to the fruit pastille houses dotting the streets.

28/08/2022

There is a rainbow on Amy’s back. Beyond that, a sheet of glass, through which the Mediterranean sun casts its slanted evening light. The sun is radiant at this time: over the relentless tantrum of the midday heat, it slips into an easy stupor, and inhabitants of the city tentatively withdraw from their hiding places, beetling about the streets languidly, as if steeped in the same honey-thick drowsiness as the evening glow.

30/07/2022

It’s part of the fun of backpacking to succumb to the ebb and flow of the current, letting your intuition guide you in carving your own path. But when it feels as though you may be swept away by the tide, and you long for the secure roots of home, it can be overwhelming.

24/07/2022

Planning the route, budget and packing list of my happy place – more specifically the azure beaches and sprawling rainforests of Central and South America.

07/07/2022

This time a year ago, the concept of embarking on a three-month trip of South America with a best friend I didn’t even know I had yet would have been enough to send me into a weeping mess on the floor of my dingy, DIGS-rented flat.