Itchy feet: a traveller’s ambitions to explore South Africa

2010 shot by like a shooting star and before I knew it an entire year had passed. I had not travelled anywhere new, unique or special as December was coming to its half way point. That was almost a full year of, well, nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I had some plans for a great January holiday, but that was not the point. I loved travelling; I loved new destinations, new people and interesting foods, yet for some reason I had spent an entire year doing none of it. I remember sitting at my desk and thinking: that it is an entire year gone, with very little to show for it and even fewer experiences.
To try and put this in perspective for you, I went overseas, as so many South Africans do, straight after school. I spent months on end travelling through Eastern Europe, Western Europe and South East Asia, hundreds of hours on busses, trains and planes and took even more photographs. My time abroad came to an end, not because my visa or work permits had expired or because I had become an illegal “alien”, but because I desperately wanted to return to Southern Africa, to start seeing and experiencing as much of my country and continent as I had so many others. I assured myself that my passion for travelling and experiencing new things would not only continue but would flourish. The first few years went well, with some amazing trips to Namibia, Tanzania (mostly Zanzibar), Mozambique, Egypt and especially around South Africa itself. Travel had become a part of me. It was no longer the travel bug but rather a travel virus.
Then came 2010, my worst year, as far as travel goes since I had finished school. I knew something had to change; I knew I had to start exploring again; I knew I had to start experiencing again. Then the perfect opportunity arose: Getaway were looking for people to blog for their website. Now what better opportunity, excuse or motivation to get travelling than a commitment to blog for arguably the best outdoor adventure and travel magazine in the country? I had found the motivation to get back on the road, so to speak.
So here I am, with a fresh new year ahead, a commitment to getting back to the things I love and steering my life in the direction I want it to go. I leave shortly for my first trip, in far too long, where I will be stopping in as many National Parks and small towns as time affords. I will take as many alternative routes as I am able to find headed in the direction I need to go and I will continue to plan my next trip, all whilst keeping you updated on what, where, when, sometimes why and often how.
And once the trip is over and things return to normal, I now know I have something to motivate me and at time force me to get up, get out and explore. So here’s to 2011 and exploring every corner of the Western Cape the weekends will allow, exploring new recipes, new gadgets and anything that interests me that I feel may be of some interest to others.