30 of the Greatest Travel Experiences before I’m 30

Here we go. 9 months until I’m 30.

It’s a big number and while I could make some exciting plans to achieve before then, I’m excited to share with you my greatest travel experiences that I’ve had before I’m 30.

It’s going to be a bit of a reflection of some of the greatest memories, experiences, funny and sad moments that have transformed the person I now am, since I began travelling less than 10 years ago.

I grew up in a small town in New Zealand, in circumstances that didn’t allow for travel. My favourite (possibly only?) family holiday had been to Lake Taupo as a kid, staying in a camping ground. The most exciting thing I’d done until my travels was skydive over Lake Taupo soon after my 21st birthday. I treasured the post cards my older sister would send from her travels with working on cruise ships.

I was naive about travel.

I didn’t know anything. All I knew was high school history and classical studies of places far away. I knew very little about genocides and war, of pyramids and ancient cities, they were all just places in books.

I thought all of Europe was paved with brick roads. I thought Africa was dangerous – I’d never camp there, let alone volunteer with wild animals. Bosnia was just war torn and Eastern Europe was poor. The United States was too modern like home.

People from England had funny accents. Russia was just plain scary. Northern Lights were just pretty colours in pictures, did they actually exist? Wasn’t everyone in Scandinavia blond hair and blue eyed? I’d never go to a location where there had been war – that would be horrible wouldn’t it?

I had so much to learn.

Through these 30 Greatest Travel Experiences I hope you’ll see what I’ve learnt and how I’ve grown. They won’t necessarily be in any order as it’s difficult to pick out just one, they all meant different things to me.

So join me on this journey down memory lane, to celebrate my impending move into my 30s.

I’ll link each post to a page about my 30 Greatest Experiences before I’m 30, so if you ever miss out on one, just check out the link in the navigation at the top of this blog. I’ll be aiming for a post every 2 weeks (ish) to achieve all 30 before my birthday in November.

Don’t worry… There will still be a mix of these posts along with current travels, to keep you all up to date with where I’m heading these days!