My Firsts

Whilst travelling I experienced and did lots of amazing things that I've not done before which I made notes of in my journal to remember. (However, not all of these can be mentioned... haha)

I now have a bucket list of things and places I want to do and see and will hopefully continue to to add to my list of firsts;

• First time being so up close and personal with Elephants, hands down this was one of the best things about the whole trip;

• Teaching English to children in a Thai School

• Jumping into the Sea at night to see the glow in the dark plankton 

• Staying in a Bamboo Hut on the Beach

• Staying on a Boat over night in Halong Bay, Vietnam

• Kayaking 

• Getting up to sing Karaoke in a room full of strangers

• First time in a Cable Car (Up to Big Buddah in Hong Kong & The Great Wall of China in Beijing)

• Uploading make-up free selfies and not caring

• Gone hiking and enjoyed it

• Going out with hairy legs and not caring
• Actually being able to use Chop Sticks
• Danced in the Sea whilst it was raining
• Gone to a restaurant alone
• Confidence to travel around alone in a foreign country and not feeling scared
• Feeling of true inner peace - not feeling mad, or sad or bad about things you can't change. 

Travel Beauty Must-Have.

Coconut Oil. My new beauty must have regardless of whether your travelling or not, but especially handy if you are as it has so many uses. 

I suffer terribly with insect bites at home (I often end up on anti-biotics if I've had a particular bad reaction) so have been spraying deet like it's going out of fashion but unfortunately that doesn't seem to deter the gnats and Mosquitos hungry for a piece of me. It's not the bite itself, but the itching I can't handle. Thankfully now I'm staying near the coast they're not as bad but I was bitten badly whilst in the tiny mountain villages - but just a dab of pure coconut oil soon relieved that. 

Another top tip to stop itching is toothpaste. Trust me it works, it's something to do with the mint in it that cools the bite and worked a lot better than the over the counter creams I packed for insect bites. 

I purchased the Organic Coconut Oil at the Baan San-Fan children's orphanage. The product is handmade with help from the kids and all proceeds go towards caring for the children there. 

Other uses I've found for the coconut oil is aftersun, it's great for applying to sunburn. Scars, just like bio-oil coconut oil is also good for minimising scars (especially where I've been scratching my bites). As well as a great moisturiser (I'm a sucker for an oil massage) you can also use it for cooking too. Hopefully I will have some left to cook with when I return home!