In New York...

Tomorrow is the day that I will be...

getting on a plane,

flying away

and landing in this concrete jungle.

We'll be sleeping (?) here...

riding bikes through there...

...and shopping up a storm like these ladies.

Hola!

How do you think my Spanish is coming along? Quite well I think. Barcelona helped with that one. 


After a fabulous trip and coming back to London, it made me realise how much I miss the sun. A hot hot hot 27degrees warmed up my bones and teased me making me want more!

Next trip countdown - 16 days! eek!

Enjoy the pictures amigos...

(Oh and listen to the music to feel the whole vibe)

First stop Sweden

A few months back we came across cheap flights in Europe. For only £70 both of us could fly return to city destinations. We thought, why not. And so here we are starting the summer adventures and heading to Gothenburg Sweden
. 
It may be a bit of a whirlwind and it may not exactly be a summer break (current temperatures at 9degrees...eek) however it is a trip to a new place with new people and amazing design.

The hardest part though is fitting everything in a tiny on board suitcase with liquids restrictions... I hate liquid restrictions!!

The Swedish edit...

Keep in touch!

The time has come to say farewell, as I am leaving for Australia in 2 days. 
I will most definitely be jumping on-line, sharing photos and posting as often as I can.

I want to be able to share with you my adventures in Oz so you too can see how amazing this country is.


So, to keep in touch follow me - 

here on www.blogger.com/wordofthetrip/

                                                            

                  or on Twitter @wordofthetrip

                                                   

           or on Facebook in the word of the trip group

or on instagram @karina_han

Miss you already!! xxx

Karina 

Packing up and skipping town

So, this is what I do. And I always do it quite in advance. I like to be prepared, I like to make sure I have everything - yes I like to be in control.

We are leaving in 3 days and heading to Oz. My week of course is extremely busy, filled with appointments, my last days of work which then means a leaving do and also my strict gym/cycle/pilates routine. But I must ensure all is packed and that I am super prepared for the next 2 weeks.

So my packing goes a little something like this -

- I start by teaming up outfits in my head, ultimately matching a skirt with a few different shirts making sure everything kind of works in together. Although I would love to take everything I own, I can't. 

- I think about relaxing clothes (laying around the house) I think about beach clothes (these are different to regular clothes), I think about going out clothes and of course my gym gear.

- I then categories and pile everything in skirts, shorts, dresses etc.

- I then start laying out my handbags, jewellery and make up in certain parts of my room, as most of the things I will be taking I am still using up until I leave.

- Shoes - shoes are always last. I pack in, then take out, then pack in again. I always take oto many, unpack and then decide again.

- Cabin luggage - The process is, I grab my Longchamp bag and throw everything in! What is in here?? Book, laptop, eye mask, socks, lip cream, eye drops, hand cream, mirror, passports and documents, notebook, pen, iPhone, iPod, camera, mints and of course my purse. 

So there you have, my packing process - now I'm ready to skip town!

Hoo-roo 

See, lots of little piles everywhere

Sydney on my mind

I have had Sydney on my mind recently and I think it could be the fact that I will be arriving home in 1 week. It could also be the fact that people keep posting amazing pictures of the city skyline or of them  laying out on the beach, which only tantalise me more and encourages my mind to loose focus on the now!

But what brings me back to Sydney for 2 weeks is the need to squeeze my nephews, hug all my friends and family, soak up some sun, have a relaxing time and celebrate our engagement!

Watch out Sydney!

 How could you not love this city!

Trips on my mind

I've got a New York state of mind at the moment and thoughts have turned to preparations for many trips away next year.

One of the main reasons we moved to the UK was to travel. We started off strong heading away most spare weekends but now we have slowed down quite a bit. I guess that is mainly due to saving, the daily grind and the cold weather, but really we shouldn't have that excuse.

A lot of people say that when they are here they start settling and the idea of travelling is taken over by everyday things.

So to ensure this doesn't happen to us I have started to plan next years adventures.

January - Heading home to Australia

February - Fingers crossed its Florence with Peppy & Mia

March - Jenni's visit and NY

April/May - F1 somewhere

June/July - Euro cup..Poland I think

August/September - Spain

October - UK weekend trip

November - Istanbul??

Oohh and still so more to think about...

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of..

It begins

The past few weeks have been dominated by the organisation of our trip back to Sydney and the long awaited engagement party. We are very close to sealing the deal and preparations are well on the way.

There is a lot to think about when having an engagement party -

The type of engagement party. A cocktail event? a sit down dinner? a picnic? I have opted for a cocktail party. This is a fun and relaxed way to celebrate and the formality of a sit down dinner doesn't really intrigue us - will keep that for the wedding.

The venue, which I have to say is hard to pick when your not in the country and email is the main communication. Many places did not even bothered to write back even after we were emailing a few times...I just find that plain rude!

The food, how much do you actually need? What is suitable? How much do we think people we actually eat? The worse thing would be if food ran out!

Music. I love having live music. I think it creates a great ambiance and gets people in the mood for dancing. I think however mixing an ipod in with customised play lists for later in the evening works perfectly.

Decorations, invitations and cake. I feel that these three work together as they should all carry the theme. The theme I am thinking is polka dots! I love polka dots, very classic, symetrical and they have a vintage feel to them. I am going to add these to the invitation and the cake. For the decoration I want the place to be filled with flowers (which I will pick up from the flower market - with Miss Jenni!) and lit up with candles and glass lanterns.

I have to say that although it is hard work preparing for the party, it is lots of fun. Its fun to be able to think and create and imagine how everything will look on the special day. I also have to thank my wonderful friends back home looking at venues and giving me advice...so Thanks!

Definitely more engagement stories to come....

In the meantime I have been getting lots of inspirations from the following sites...they are my saviour in getting my creative juices flowing.

Polka dot bride - An Aussie site dedicated to inspirational weddings

http://www.polkadotbride.com/

Once wed - My go to site

http://www.oncewed.com/

Love my dress - A UK site I found recently that I can't stop looking at

http://www.lovemydress.net/blog/

I thought to also add some photos from the evening Mario proposed

Bluey's Beach

He looks pretty chilled for almost proposing...

Hugo - the Bluey's Beach dog was there to share the occasion

The love log

Barbados re-cap

So I am back...back from Barbados. We had an amzaing time.
The holiday couldn't have come quicker. After bad news from back home I really needed this break - which in ways made me quite reflective and gave me a chance to relax and rejuvenate.

Flying into Barbados after the 8 hour trip greeted by 30 degree weather, I instantly adjusted to the Bajan way of life. The jeep's roof was off, the swimming costume was on and the food search started. You see holidays are all about eating, well all the holidays I go on. You must be prepared for a few extra kilos on the body when returning - if you don't it either means, a) you didn't enjoy your holiday and eat, b) you did sneaky exercise on your trip or c) it was so hot all the fat melted away after you ate.

Most days in Barbados were spent laying by the pool (not getting sun burnt), reading my book (The Help - a must read!), driving around the island, sailing on a catamaran and having full body massages. Ahh bliss!

I have to say the Bajan people are very welcoming and super friendly, always making very funny conversation and proving their love for their island.

I do recommend visiting Barbados and experiencing the Caribbean way of life. Just be prepared to save lots of money as it can disappear very quickly.

Barbados sunset - very amazing!


Just a dot in that big ocean

Even on a rainy day it is beautiful

The sailing adventure with Charlie and Blondie

Always a rum punch in ones hand

And to make it an even more memorable adventure - we were upgraded to Business class on the way home! Flat beds and real cutlery all round!

Thanks Mark