Been There
Before we met, both Ellie and I have done some travelling and below is a brief recount of our travels prior to getting together five years ago. These brief recounts will be followed by similar stories of our shared experiences travelling over the last five years in a list of ever rising destinations.
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My (Keegan) first overseas trip was in 2001 to England via Thailand and Rome. We also made stops in Scotland and Wales when visiting. I was 13 years old at the time and in year 8 at high school. It was a fantastic experience as a young person as it opened my eyes to a bigger world, one which went beyond my home country. We had a stopover in Bangkok which again was very eye opening: polution, flies and tuk tuks are strong memories along with amazing temples and buddist shrines. Rome was a beautiful old town with impressive ruins: the Colleseum being the major drawcard closely followed by the Italian pizza. In England we first came to London on a significant day in world history - September 11. We happened to be in the air when two planes crashed into the twin towers in 2001, our plane and many others circled Heathrow Airport for quite a while, all queueing to land. We had no clue as to why at the time and it wasn't until we checked into our hotel that we discovered every tv station replayed the horrible news. Despite this we continued with our holiday visiting the tourist sites like the London Eye and Buckingham Palace while also visiting my step mothers family in a few places. As a thirteen year old two of my favourite parts of the trip was attending two theme parks - Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. In Scotland we visited the Edinburough Castle and in Wales we visited some more friends. This trip was five weeks abroad and a great experience for me.
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In 2011, I travelled to America in a group of eight with some mates from back home and two of their partners. We headed from Brisbane to New York, on to Las Angeles then to San Francisco. We also visited Las Vegas for some gambling, some partying and a helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon. Our group being basketball players and fans went to three NBA games and seen some big games between the Heat and Knicks, Celtics and Lakers and, the Bucks and Clippers. In the big apple, the Empire State building was one of the tourist stops along with a walking tour and a trip to see the Statue of Liberty. San Fran was my favourite city with the cable cars and atmosphere around the place, we also visited Alcatraz which was pretty cool as well.​ In LA we went to two of the basketball games and saw my favourite team (Boston) play there rivals which was amazing, we also went to a theme park. The group was asked to shoot a comercial for their jump the que pass in exchange for an extra ride on the best ride in the park at the end of the day when the park was closing down. I would love to see that footage. I didn't mention earlier that our last stop was two days in Breckenridge, a village in Denver known for its slope access and were we spent a few days skiing and snowboarding. Without lessons I tried to teach my self how to board with many difficulties but I managed in a round about way, although, hindsight says, get lessons. This trip was my first overseas trip as an adult, although, not a mature one yet as I was still quite young. It was my first experience with snow and with the driver side of cars being on the left. Both proved a laugh with many snowfights and me freaking out our shuttle driver when I attempted to ride shotgun. I almost didn't go on this trip as I had little money whilst studying and working permant part time, but my family especially my brother allowed to go with their financial assistance, for that I was and am extremely grateful as it was one of my most memorable trips. I think my brother knew it would be and persuaded me to get there, thanks Red.
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These two trips were my only experiences of overseas travel whlst Ellie has a few more to share before we get into our joint ventures.
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Hi! I am Ellie and I have been asked by Keegs to recount my overseas travel when I was younger, before I met him. As you may be able to tell, he is the diary writer/travel recorder, whereas I more like to plan and organise the trips.
Before I met Keegan, I was lucky enough to travel to a few places with my parents and younger brother. The first trip being to Fiji when I was about 6. We went with another family and my most vivid memory of this beach holiday was going to Kids Club, which I absolutely hated! Fiji is such a beautiful place with the most friendly people, which is part of the reason why Keegan and I travelled here again in 2011.
When I was 12 we again travelled as a family to another beautiful island, New Caledonia. Here we spent the days trying to speak French and exploring not only the beautiful beaches but the inland mining areas. To which we got lost, almost ran out of fuel and much to the enjoyment of my family, I was sick. I have a lot of lovely memories from this family holiday.
In 2007, when I was 17 and in my last year of high school, my parents took me on my first ‘big trip’. This was to Paris. We spent 2 weeks in this beautiful city, which is still one of my most favourite cities to visit. People ask me if I could live in any city in the world and my answer is always Paris. While in Paris we also did a one day trip to London, to which much to the dismay of my parents I fell asleep on the bus while travelling past sights like Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park – to this day they still have not let me live this down!
I think these trips engrained my passion for travelling, exploring and experiencing different cultures. I thank my family very much for these opportunities!
In 2013 my friend Kate and I spent 5 weeks travelling through Europe. We wanted to see as much as possible, visiting 7 countries; my favourites being Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. We did not do this trip through a tour, it was all organised ourselves, which is definitely the way I like to travel.
Keegs and I are now living in London and aim to explore as many places as we can during our time based here. We have been fortunate enough to visit 12 countries and multiple cities over the past 6 months, while also making invaluable friends along the way.
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