Got The Itch for Travel? Scratch Away!

I come to you having just spotted something on TV that I want !  I spied it on the wall in the background of an episode of 'Wanted Down Under', I now yearn for one!  I have talked before about my habit of ticklisting the countries and places I have visited.  Well, I have now found a fun way of displaying my travel exploits.  Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you...**DRUM ROLL**...The Scratch Map:

http://www.scratchmap.co.uk/shop/scratch-map-personalised-world-map-poster/

http://www.scratchmap.co.uk/

Like a Lotto Scratchcard, but for travel! (Source - thegadgetstore.ie)

It is ingenious!  You simply scratch off (using a coin, I assume) the places you have visited and over time you get a changing picture of your personal travel history.  In addition to the classic world map, Scratch Map also offer a host of maps, from around the world, to fulfil all your cartographic scratching needs.

Thing is, I am now faced with a problem, as it is not Christmas for 10 months and my birthday falls at the end of December...*HINT HINT* :D

Happy travels, people!  Get scratching!

A Travel Highlight...

A humpback whale breaching (Source - llwproductions.files.wordpress.com)

On my first solo trip, a real highlight for me was the Australian coastal town of Byron Bay.  Byron was so much fun and is an absolutely beautiful place to be.  I hope to return there one day and experience the laid back Aussie lifestyle again.  My first day, after some (pretty poor) surfing by me was spent relaxing on the sand at Byron.  I was lying on my towel busily snoozing away when I heard a gasp from a Japanese lady, sitting on a towel, a few metres away.  She pointed out to sea and after rubbing my eyes, I was stunned at the sight of two humpback whales swimming parallel to the beach, breaching the water every few metres as they made their migration down the east coast of Australia.  It was a fantastic sight and when I looked back to the Japanese lady, I saw that she was in floods of tears; so touched by the moment.  Seeing these pictures of humpbacks in Sydney Harbour, on the BBC News website, brought back all those amazing unforgettable memories.  And, to think, I was almost too scared to make this trip...

Humpback Whales in Sydney Harbour

A tribute to...Ελλάς, Ελλάδα, Greece!

Kefalonia - One of my favourite places in Greece (photo - GreekCarHire)

 

 

One of my favourite countries to travel to is Greece.  Being a quarter Greek, I feel the need to promote the home of my Grandma; a woman who would tell me with great pride that, "everything comes from Greece!".  I've been lucky enough to visit several of the islands and intend one day to visit the amazing cluster of islands in the Cyclades that includes Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Santorini.  Until that day, I thought I would share these beautiful photos of Greece from the BBC website (click the link below).  Enjoy!

Photos of Greece!