This. Wild. Life.

GREECE!

Croatia & Slovenia!

ITALY!

SWITZERLAND!

POLAND!

Here I am, basking in the hot summer air of the central Okanagan, settling back into my cozy little home after officially coming full circle around the world. Despite my best intentions of starting up my blog again, I found I could hardly keep up with a simple insta-post in each city, let along an entire blog post in each country! Having so much to discover and explore kept me wanting to be ever present in the moment. I quickly learned that I really had no control over the outcome of my plans, to take things as they come, and expect the unexpected. Above all, time is the most precious currency we have which has fuelled my desire to live intentionally and make my dreams come true! The world is an amazing place, constantly leaving me in awe of its raw beauty and intense vastness. When I confirmed the length of my trip, I had a few ideas of where I wanted to go, and no real reason not to bring those ideas to life. I figured 4 months would give me the opportunity to check out some cool places and wrangle friends into adventuring with me along the way.

HOLLAND!

I've miraculously found AirBNB’s in Greece where house numbers do not exist, went on a date with an 83 year old  Croatian man named Ivo in Split (we’re pen-pals now), left no alleyway undiscovered in Venice, didn’t get kidnapped sleeping in a train station in the middle-of-nowhere-Italy, hiked the Matterhorn with a trio of Mexican backpackers, ate Swiss chocolate with Swiss lumberjacks while hiking the Swiss Alps, laughed until I cried with my cousins in Holland, got a history lesson in Poland while indulging in all the polish treats and sweets (paczki!), discovered Mannekin Pis and met new relatives in Belgium,  had a delectable French picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, was terribly disappointed by the London Bridge, took in the bagpipers while eating black pudding in Edinbough, explored the rugged coastline of Wales with my sister’s-boyfriends-aunt, drove 2000 kms around Ireland (hiked Croagh Patrick, savoured every bit of 

FRANCE!

ENGLAND & SCOTLAND!

Murphy’s ice cream, kissed the Blarney Stone, drank a pint of Guinness from the original storehouse all while suffering one of the worst colds of all time), wrangled the girls from across Europe to join me for a weekend in Copenhagen (I was a hot mess, complete with cough, stuffy nose, fever and eye infections…), ate my weight in noodles in Thailand, reconnected with old friends in Sydney, experienced my first ‘Steamboat’ night with my Asian/Aussie fam, and ventured up craters with the most incredible views in O’ahu.

STATS:

Continents: 4

Europe, Asia, Australia, North America

IRELAND!

Countries: 18

Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, The Netehrlands, Poland, Belgium, France, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, America (Hawaii)

Days: 131

DENMARK!

March 27^th – July 18^th

Time Zones: 8

Flights: 16

Currencies: 10

Languages: 12

Beds Slept In: 53

THAILAND!

Most Expensive Accommodation: Paris, $51/night

Cheapest Accommodation: Phuket, $4/night

Most Expensive Coffee: Denmark, $7.85CAD

Best Yogurt: AUSTRALIA! Tamar Valley Greek Yogurt! 

AUSTRALIA!

Best Chocolate Milk: Thailand

Best Food Overall: THAILAND. No contest.

HAWAII!

“Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do rather than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

 Always find time for the things that make you happy to be alive.

Though my adventures abroad have concluded for now, research and hope for future trips always has me planning for the next one.

Keep your stick on the ice.

xx Silken