Unseen Cities that you Must See

I kicked off month 31 in Playa del Carmen, disappointed from the second I arrived but determined to find a way to fall in love with it. It sort-of worked, as I developed a hatred of the touristy parts but a love of the quieter, more local neighbourhoods. A highlight of this month was renting a car for the day and driving to the Mayan ruins of Coba. I didn’t know much about Coba before arriving and ended up pleasantly surprised. The views over the jungle from Nohoch Mul, the main pyramid, were incredible and made the whole trip worth it. Climbing to the top of the 42 metre-high pyramid with only a rope to hold onto was a little daunting (though not as much as my nervous shuffle back down!), especially when I heard that people had died falling off it in the past. The views were worth the terror. Views over the jungle at Coba We had much of the park to ourselves when we arrived but leaving was another story. As we finished up several hours later, the crowds of marching people conf...

After a crazy three months in Australia and New Zealand, this month was all about slowing down, taking it easy and catching up on work. And yet, having said that, the start of the month included one of my most stressful travel moments… Oh, you know, that time when I realised I’d forgotten to apply for an Australian visa 12 hours before I was due to fly to Melbourne? When I hadn’t bothered to do any research because the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that I’d possibly even need to apply for a new visa? When I suddenly went into a panic 12 hours before the flight when I checked on the Australian immigration website and realised that I’d need to apply for a new one and that the site was about to go into scheduled maintenance? Yep. An Australian visa is valid for six months so I’d assumed I’d be fine — I’d spent a month in Australia before coming to New Zealand and my New Zealand trip was for two months. There would be plenty o...