Hi everyone, so it’s been a really busy 2 weeks launching Framework Travel. I’ve had to launch a brand new Instagram, a business page on Facebook, a new blog and I’ve even attempted Pinterest which is still under development as far as I’m aware. Doing this feels right but there’s obviously apprehension every step along the way. Will people care about a small local business offering advice and tips on travel? And the bigger question is, do the channels of social media allow enough time on people’s news feeds for posts anymore?

What seems to happen is the same posts keep being shunted to the top of news feeds and then you lose posts in the hustle/bustle. Some days on Instagram I end up doing between 5 and 8 posts a day because you need to keep up that momentum. You can’t rely on the people that follow you because Instagram is such a huge unknown, it relies on who can see what on their news feed and how much time they have etc. But the beauty of Instagram is the hashtags, they promote your post so much wider than you could imagine. So I can be talking about an Australian rainforest and can tag Australian sites into it but then I can also tag Essex and UK travel companies in and also a tagging that includes touring or walking tours or guided explorations. The idea is that you’re putting so many different bookmarks on your post so people that have those interests have got easy access to it. The trick is that those people who like your posts etc will then make their way to your profile and hopefully follow you and you gain attention that way.

The unfortunate thing on Instagram is there are millions of people trying to do the same thing they will follow you hoping you follow them etc. The main issue with that one is I’m a firm believer in following what I like not what I should have to do in order to gain and retain followers. Integrity sucks!

There are some lovely people out there who say keep going and I’m going to be easier on myself at this stage because I am only entering my third week. I believe the content I used to go out with was too information filled and Instagram is purely a photo site so you wanna be quick, you wanna be snappy and you want to just inspire. Which is ultimately what I’m here to do, I want to inspire people to travel, and it’s a common enough dream, but not a lot of people think it’s achievable.

There are people I know that would go to Benidorm every year or summer in the UK and, please do not get me wrong, Spain is a gorgeous country and the UK has so much to offer but people often fall into the trap of going back to comfort zones because they do think that their dream destinations are unachievable.

What’s happened since I’ve launched Framework travel is I’ve had to go through old photos of my various travels throughout the world and really identify what travel means to me. I’ve been to some really spectacular places and I’ve seen nature at its best. I’ve seen tiny little penguins run up the beach on Phillip Island just below Melbourne, I’ve swam the Great barrier reef, I’ve been in the freezing cold winter’s of Paris in the rain and it’s been beautiful, my lips turn blue and I didn’t care. Travel takes who you are and puts it in the foreground, when you’re working or looking after kids or looking after a household you often become this masked person. You are mummy/daddy, you are a worker and you are a person that has a role to play. When you go anywhere, even a day trip in the UK those roles fall away and that’s why I travel because you get to be the person you are just in your head and you become the real you.

The other reason I travel is to share places I’ve been with others. When looking through photos to share on Framework Travel I’ve been particularly conscious that I don’t want to share photos with my family or my friends in, that is private to me and of course to them. But it also isn’t about me sharing my life with other people on my business pages it’s about sharing the places I’ve been to and the feelings that you get when you’re there.

I found one particular photo of a trip to New York 10 years ago and it’s of my brother in Central Park and he’s sitting on a bench and to the right of him is the expansive Mall , one of the most iconic locations in the park in my opinion. You can see the huge elm trees, which are famous in their own right, and my brothers not looking at the camera he’s just sitting there and it’s one of my favourite photos. He looks in thought and relaxed. As I started looking back, I realised I’ve never really sat with anyone I’ve travelled with and asked what did you think?  I always just let them come to me if they had any impressions or things to discuss but since doing this, family (especially) have told me how much travelling meant to them and the places I went to them with really meant to them.

And ultimately that’s what I hope to achieve I don’t want to go on holiday with you all, as lovely as you are, a girl needs time to do the everyday stuff. I’m not saying I won’t take up an offer now and again, but the point is, if I can help someone achieve their travel dreams or open their eyes to new experiences in places they’ve been before or suggest tips that make their travels just that bit better, then I’ve already succeeded at what I set out to do. And that is to help people be the people they actually are.

I truly believe people are at their best when they encounter something new as it’s like they’re a child again and the old phrase is, wouldn’t it be great to see the world through a child’s eyes?

The early bird catches the worm. The night is always darkest before the dawn. Well, unless I’m mistaken, I’m not of the feathered variety but I was up at 4am last week, much earlier than the dawn and in my stupor decided that yes it was true, it is darkest before the dawn. I’d just rather not know about it, rather be rolled up in my duvet, face smashed into the pillow, dreaming of far off lands… even a land as close as France, as long as I’m away exploring. Doesn’t have to be far; near, far, where ever it be, as long as I’m there. Viva la France! Viva L’Espagna! Viva… Le Cornwall!

Viva anywhere! Exploring takes you out of yourself and into someone else’s shoes. Ooo it’s glamorous stepping into the unknown. Where am I going? No idea. Why am I going? Because it’s just so gorgeous. Yes but… really… why? Isn’t that the point? Why do we travel? Why explore?

For want of a better explanation I continue to turn each new corner and gaze at new sights. Shred the map and spin in a circle like a compass going haywire around magnets and flee off with my eyes closed.

4am, heading into London. What was I thinking? And to a skyscraper nonetheless. Let’s ascend 40 floors above dawnbreaking London shall we? A toast to the sun. Lying low under the clouds. Another toast to the pinks and purple hues that lazily lie across the lands. An actual piece of toast in my mouth as my eyes adjust to the overwhelming beautiful site before me as I chow down on breakfast in one of London’s 24hr restaurants.

Follow with one rich, dark cappuccino and the hazel in my eyes flares to life. London secrets await! Down at street level. I walk… wondering… wandering. It’s cold. Where’s the sun now? Hidden from me by the huge buildings of Fenchurch Street. The Scalpel, theWalkie-talkie, the formerly known Heron Tower, the list goes on…

The sun is hidden from me and me it. Brrr. Hello Gherkin. My conically shaped friend. Onwards explorer, to Leadenhall, it holds such a historic look for me, it’s charming and reminiscent of London in the late 1800’s, witnessed in movies, of course… one is not immortal.

Backtracking, I made my way to Spitalfields, a completely new piece of the city for me. It’s 7:30. It’s eerily quiet. Empty stalls. Chairs awaiting bums. Restaurants still. This area has masses of history under its new layers of paint and glamour, most of which I barely scraped the surface. The market itself, although closed, was fantastically quirky and vibrant. Maybe the early hour deceived me into thinking the roads are always clear, the pavements are easy to negotiate and the sun always twinkles. Wait, what happened? This bed dweller, this night owl has been… something has… what’s… what’s become of me? When did this owl become a lark? Where’s the brooding for bedroom comforts? Where’s the moodiness gone?

Exploration my dear Watson, the owl has come out of its tree and flown into the sunshine, easy does it mind, there be buses and skyscrapers around. A transformation has taken place, it’s quite… odd. The early morning sun has shone new light onto the once sleepy owl and she’s wanting more.

The next journey will begin just as this one did, early and with purpose. Push through the clouds, the pink and purple hues, find your feet and explore the unknown. Travel wakes us up to what has always been there, whether it’s 27, 500 or 7000 miles away, we are the best of us when we turn a new corner and peek into the unknown.

When you travel, do you often want to see so much of the place you are visiting that you end up needing more than 24 hours in a single day?

I spent 192 glorious hours in Manhattan with my dad over a decade ago. It was Summer, the days were swimming in sunlight, the evenings were mild and time passed so steadily, it felt natural to wander in Central Park and take time to sit on a bench and watch the world go by. There was no city rush, no queuing for sightseeing and certainly no huddling in busy restaurants and bars.

This was a time to pound the streets, see everything outside and alive. It was a time to let the city envelop you, kick your senses into gear and press you onwards to the next sight, smell sound and sun drenched statue.

One particular Statue, the Lady of Liberty herself, was the particular subject of our wanderings one blissfully beautiful day. We had risen reasonably rested and made our way downtown to Battery Park. Jumped onto the Circle Line; gazed back at the dock, the island, The Big Apple as we made our way out onto the Hudson River towards Liberty Island.

Having seen her some two years before, I returned as a friend does out of fondness and familiarity. But, as it so often does, Manhattan had much more to share, and my quick visit turned into more than 3 hours of walking and talking on that wonderful island. Gazing up at the green lady in all her splendour. Turning back towards the water and seeing the skyline of Manhattan stretched out before us and watching seagulls following ferries here and there. Ferries going to Ellis Island, to drop wanderers off and picking the newly educated up.

We took another ferry that day. From the tip of Battery Park, you can, for free, take the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan to its namesake 30 short minutes away. Tourists often do so to view New York’s harbour from a completely different angle and perspective. The angle is much different because you are able to see the much broader scope of the entrance to the Hudson River, and in the same view both Liberty Island (very small of course) and Manhattan and it’s harbour. You see, the Staten Island ferry is a commuter ferry, and it transports millions of workers each year to work on Manhattan island. The fact that it is free has it’s obvious merits with tourists too. Once on the Staten Island side you can go and explore, or as most do, wait until the ferry is ready to depart again and hop back on. And that is what we chose to do, a decade ago. It all seemed very cool and as if we were in a secret club.

Once back in Manhattan, we found it was already mid-afternoon. We strolled through the big city streets and found ourselves at the site of the fallen World Trade centre. At this point in time, it was a large square pit. Empty. Wire mesh fences surrounded everything. There were memorial pictures hung everywhere. It was, in truth, both humbling and devastating to behold. It will stay with me for many years to come.

Now, as we had found out early on in our New York escapades, time was not our friend. Our days were crammed with ‘we want to see this and we want to do thats’, our addiction to strong coffee based concoctions was by then as strong as the need for blood in our veins. With the walk to Chinatown and Little Italy still to make, a hit of the good stuff was needed, pronto!

We found a Starbucks, round the corner to one of my favourite stores in all of Manhattan (Century 21) and ordered the necessaries. I don’t remember what was said, drank or what but I remember the doors, they were the revolving kind, the table we were at was small and there weren’t many other tables or sitting patrons. People flooded in and out going about their day. Their routines. And all of a sudden something got us right in our bellies. A laughter, for a reason forgotten to me now, took us and shook and shook and shook us until with eyes streaming and faces red we found it difficult to breathe. Even upon stopping, we only had to look again at each other, and the laughter erupted once more. As people came through those doors the look of confusion at these two crazy people only spurred the laughter on more. Eventually, and I truly mean eventually (!) the laughter subsided and we went onto to explore the pockets of Chinese and Italian cultures.

We only realised later that exhaustion had found us in that vast city. It had hunted us down and although we clung to that beautiful caffeine for strength, it bore us down and claimed our sanity as its own.

And in all honesty, I didn’t care, and nor do I now. Wherever you go, whatever you want to see or do. Take the insanity. Shake shake shake every second out of the time you have when you have it. It’s yours. Yes we made it to Little Italy that day, our feet hurt, we were tired, the caffeine couldn’t help us anymore. But we did it. It was beautiful. Blossoming out onto the streets were families eating dinner together, it was early evening, the sun was low in the sky, gorgeous smells wafted from kitchens and laughter serenaded the breeze.

The next day my feet no longer hurt, I had slept, I was no longer tired, all I remembered were the good moments. Liberty. Laughter. Love.

Best believe me, the next chance, the very next chance we got, we were gulping down a coffee concoction and racing off to see more. Insanity or not. Time’s not to be wasted.