![It Could Only Happen To Me - Becoming a local celebrity in China](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/china-403x140.jpg)
As a journalist I’m used to being the one asking the questions and staying out of the limelight. So it came as a bit of…
![What If?](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ems-photos-059-470x140.jpg)
There are few times over the last year when I’ve questioned what I’m doing. Travelling has always been the big love in my life so,…
![30 reasons why 2012 was such an amazing year](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/30-470x140.jpg)
There are countless reasons why 2012 was such a great year for me. Here’s 30 of them: You can find out more about my 30b430…
![Happy New Year and all that jazz](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fireworks-284x140.jpg)
As the clock struck midnight last New Year’s Eve I was on a rooftop in Buenos Aires, surrounded by new friends I’d met at the…
![It Could Only Happen To Me - Being abandoned during an earthquake in my first week in Peru](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/earthquake-470x140.jpg)
When the table first started to shake at my hostel in Huacachina it took a second for me to process what was going on. At…
![If We Can Do It, So Can You - Interview with Susan Shain](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dsc_0496-470x140.jpg)
The great thing about a grown up gap ‘year’ is that it can be as long or as short as you want. I’ve always enjoyed…
![It Could Only Happen To Me - Inviting myself to stay at a stranger's house in Burma](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/kids-320x140.jpg)
I don’t know what is the most “it could only happen to me” moment of my visit to the village of Pan Kam in Burma….
![It Could Only Happen To Me - Getting thrown off a horse on my first riding trip in Bolivia](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wild-west-country-2-tupiza-300x225-300x140.jpg)
When I signed up for a horse riding trip in Tupiza I’d had a romantic vision of being carried leisurely through countryside which wouldn’t look…
![It Could Only Happen To Me - Getting caught up in a rock fight in Bolivia](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/traffic-queues-waiting-to-pass-the-blockade-2-470x140.jpg)
When you’re travelling long-term it’s inevitable that you’re going to have a few bumps and scrapes, along the way. Plans don’t always run smoothly, things…
![The pain of packing](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/dscf3830-470x140.jpg)
I’ve never been a fan of packing and I’m always a bit jealous when I meet those people on the road who are travelling with…