[UPDATED 15TH MARCH 2020]It feels like there has been nothing else in the news aside from Coronavirus in the last few weeks and, in all honesty, that's really because there hasn't. Each day we have seen more and more articles about rising numbers of confirmed cases and even news about entire travel bans and countries on lockdown.There have been many questions about what to do during the outbreak and whether you should still travel during the outbreak and which countries you should avoid entirely. Some people are in the 'don't stop travelling' boat while others say that everyone should stop travelling until the virus is contained. So, which is it? Should we still travel? Should we cancel all plans? How are we affected if we do?We are here to try and answer some of the questions surrounding Coronavirus as well as travelling during the outbreak.Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional myself. This article was written utilising many reputable sources including the WHO, CDC, NHS and studies in medical journals.
If you've been following me on Instagram, then you've likely noticed that I'm spending a lot of time in Gibraltar. If you aren't (maybe you came here from Google or Pinterest), then you've been missing out on all the awesome things to do in Gibraltar that I've been posting about on my feed and showing on my stories. It's currently half true that I live in Gibraltar now - I spent the entirety of the last month there as well as a week in November and a week in December 2019.Spending so much time in Gibraltar has really enabled me to properly explore the territory, as well as venture further afield into Spain. Before I started dating my boyfriend (the reason I sorta/kinda live in Gibraltar now), I didn't know much about this British Overseas Territory at all - I'd never visited before and I didn't really know what the main sights were other than that big ass Rock everyone talks about.In this article, I'm going to cover the top ten most awesome things you can do in Gibraltar. It's a mix of sightseeing, cool things you can only do in Gibraltar and some food and drink recommendations. Keep an eye out for more articles on things to do in Gibraltar as well as Gibraltar itineraries in the near future!
I want to discuss something that I was prompted to think more deeply into thanks to something that happened on Instagram. I posted a story about how two fellow travellers and content creators (Eva Zu Beck and Against the Compass) had inspired me to add some 'random' and 'off the beaten path' destinations to my bucket list. The ones I mentioned were specifically due to content I had seen recently that had inspired me - Iraqi Kurdistan, Pakistan, Iran, Oman, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.This was then picked up by an account who shared my stories with their followers. They also told me they were 'concerned with [my] language' and that I was 'reinforcing marginalisation and notions of cultural superiority'. After their sharing of my stories, I started to get a LOT of messages. Many of these were rather abusive and hateful (including one person calling me a 'racist pig' and saying my 'language is disgusting').However, it did also encourage some civil discussion with some people, who were polite enough to explain why they thought my use of the phrases 'random' and 'off the beaten path' was damaging. I can understand why people found my phrasing offensive when I called their countries 'random' - to be honest, I would find it a tiny bit insulting if someone said my country/city was a 'random' place to go (although I live in a very small town in Hampshire which has no reason for people to visit... so maybe calling it a random place to visit wouldn't be particularly incorrect).Since much of the 'discussion' was a lot of people shouting their opinions and not taking the time to actually listen to WHY people hold the opinions they do, I wanted to research it more in depth and try to understand the reasoning behind all of this and whether calling places 'off the beaten path' is actually harmful, as well as to how it impacts both locals and tourists alike.
On the 23rd January 2019, CMA (Competition & Markets Authority) here in the UK published new regulations and guidance in regards to social media influencers. Under the heading of 'influencers', the CMA includes bloggers, vloggers, celebrities and social media influencers.The new UK regulations for influencers have been a source of confusion for quite a few people looking for clarification, so I hope to clear some things up in this post. I have also reached out to the CMA for further explanation on certain points, so if/when I get a response to my questions I will update this post with all relevant information!I have also shared my personal thoughts and opinions on the new guidelines and would definitely love to discuss it more with you in the comments!
I'm soon to start packing for my flight to Vancouver and then onwards to Denver and remembered one question I get asked a lot on Instagram - what do I pack? What are my hand luggage essentials, particularly for long-haul flights? As a regular traveller (33 flights so far in 2018 - madness!), packing my hand luggage has become second nature to me. Half the time I don't even bother to unpack it when I'm home and instead keep most of my travel essentials with me anyway - hey, you never know!So, without further ado, here are my hand luggage essentials for long-haul flights:
The resounding question that I've been asked when I said I had just got back from Sweden was, "oh, did you go to Stockholm?"No! (Although I have been to Stockholm before.) There is more to Sweden than just Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city, is definitely a place that deserves more visitors!Gothenburg, or Göteborg (yur-te-borry) in Swedish, is a city of delicious food, buzzing café culture and a love of microbreweries and craft beer. While not as "glamorous" as it's big sister Stockholm, the industrial port city of Gothenburg is definitely a place that a visitor to Sweden shouldn't miss.
What comes to mind when you think of Colombia? There are so many stereotypes surrounding the country and its people - that it's dangerous, that you'll get kidnapped or shot by drug traffickers (mostly perpetuated by Hollywood's portrayal). Colombia has always been on my list of places to go, but I haven't made it there yet (it's a very long list).So, Brendan happily agreed to write a guest post for The Flyaway Girl telling you exactly why you should visit Colombia.
This post has been a long time coming, but it wasn't until today that I actually built up the courage to write about it. Why today? I have absolutely no idea. I was actually planning on writing an entirely different blog post (which I have planned out already) but then I thought, why not write about this instead.There are a few main reasons for this post. One is that I need to write it. My friends and my parents are aware of the incident, but I have never truly written about what happened. Writing about bad experiences can be truly healing, and I hope that this helps me on my journey. The second reason is that I want everyone else out there who has experienced something similar to know that they are not alone.The events in question actually happened quite a while ago.After travelling from Glasgow to Paris, I would have a few hours to explore the city before heading to the airport to catch my flight to the Seychelles.None of this went to plan.