2023-08-18 09:00
Day 6 – Thursday 27 July
The ice reminded us who is boss this morning. After an early breakfast we hit the water fairly promptly having packed up camp.
A large glacier calving… Read More
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My name is Holli and I am travelling the world. For a while.
2023-08-15 09:00
Another good night’s sleep all snuggled in my fleecy PJ bottoms, silk liner and sleeping bag. It was nice to have plenty of time to rest. My wrist is now making a grim crackling noise… Read More
2023-08-13 09:00
We had a relaxed start, the pace of the trip is really great, I never felt we were rushing and was able to enjoy every second of the experience. My tendonitis was really sore but hopefully m… Read More
2023-08-11 09:00
I woke up nice and early feeling pretty refreshed. My breakfast in the teepee was mostly German bread with ham, cheese and coffee.
Julia and I were both ready quickly and weren’t ce… Read More
2023-08-09 09:20
And that’s that! We had breakfast in the hotel, put on our dry suits, loaded our gear into a trailer and then made our way to the port.
Our 30 minute boat ride turned into a three h… Read More
2023-08-06 09:40
I’m super excited to blog about this next adventure – it’s a week-long 100km kayaking and hiking expedition in the fjords of Southern Greenland! I booked this Much Better A… Read More
2023-07-31 10:30
I was picked up at 9am by the Glaciers and Waterfalls guide, Kalman and we set off to the Reykjanes Peninsula to hike to the erupting volcano. En route we stopped off at a traditional fish d… Read More
2023-07-25 10:15
And now for the main event!
Tuesday 18 July
The pick up was really smooth – Iceland really has nailed touristing. The sad thing was that cafés don’t open until 8am a… Read More
2023-07-21 10:30
Saturday 15 July
Landed at Keflavik airport a little early and was greeted by a perpetual sunset with gorgeous colours. And to top it off, I got a view of the erupting volcano out of the… Read More
2023-06-29 09:00
The journey to the Costa Rican border from Ometepe Island was uneventful after the early morning ferry. The weather at the border was dark and brooding. We paid $4 to exit Nicaragua and I ch… Read More
2023-05-01 09:00
We took a ferry to cross from the port at San Jorge to Ometepe Island. This place is pretty phenomenal; it’s an island made of two volcanoes, Conception, an active volcano, and Maderas… Read More
2023-04-23 08:00
As planned, we left our hotel in El Salvador in the middle of the night under the light of a full moon and starry sky. We made the 4 hour journey to La Union.We had to be quick boarding the… Read More
2023-03-10 10:00
The drive from Honduras to El Salvador goes via Guatemala due to road and border limitations. That made it a fairly big drive day to get from Copán Ruinas to Suchitoto next to Lake Su… Read More
2023-03-03 11:00
It’s been a while since I travelled somewhere new and exotic, which makes this month even more special in some ways. Over the next month I am travelling through Guatemala, Honduras, El… Read More
2022-02-28 11:00
It’s going to be difficult to describe the experience on the Cairngorms traverse but to sum it up in a word… Brutal.
I didn’t make it to the end of the traverse, having… Read More
2022-02-12 17:58
Yesterday was a lovely chill day in Inverness where I ate loads of nice food and spent some time with Katie and Sarah. I’ve not seen Katie since 2016 when we met on a trip in Uzbekista… Read More
2022-02-11 13:00
As I sit in Inverness, taking a break from my final preparations for the expedition, which I embark upon tonight, I thought I had better post the latest update on my astronaut journey.
Sa… Read More
2022-02-06 10:00
I’m really getting into this now. Late January is off to a flying start!
On the 16th I headed to Brecon Beacons solo to hike the horseshoe with an expedition backpack. I didn’… Read More
2022-01-20 15:30
January is off to a flying start.
My swim buddy Lance is raising money for St Mungo’s charity by swimming the distance of the channel crossing (22 miles) in January. Despite needing… Read More
2022-01-08 10:30
Now things really get going!! I’m launching into phase 2 of my training and it’s all about steps, hills and weight.
I hit the stair master for a 10 minute blitz wearing a back… Read More
2021-12-26 10:30
I don’t know about you, but watching other people “climb their own mountains” is one of the biggest sources of inspiration and motivation for me. Usually I am referring to… Read More
2021-12-14 11:30
I started “late November” with pretty epic DOMS after checking whether I was fit enough to climb and then swim, in that order. Turns out that I can, but that doesn’t mean I… Read More
2021-12-11 18:00
Firstly, a huge shout out to Lauren and the team at Alpkit Bristol – I am so grateful for their help today – what a great place and great team! I thought was going to have to dri… Read More
2021-12-03 10:30
Smooth sailing and slowly building up my fitness and endurance.
I had a few days off work and completed Week 4 on the Couch to 5k (C25K) mainly during daylight hours.
Walking to warm d… Read More
2021-11-26 15:30
I had an absolutely lovely day out on horseback with my friend Regan at a gorgeous stable called Cotswolds Riding at Jill Carenza Equestrian near the village of Stanton at the northern end o… Read More
2021-11-19 14:30
When I heard that Aerospace Bristol would be holding a Family Space Day on Monday 25th October, with Helen Sharman, the UK’s first astronaut, giving a talk under the wings of concorde… Read More
2021-11-17 15:30
First stop for my preparations for the icy Cairngorms expedition was to see my physiotherapist, Gemma, who had helped me with some ankle rehab in 2020. I hadn’t mentioned, but I sprain… Read More
2021-11-15 12:00
I’ve decided to use my training and trek across the Cairngorms to raise money for The Ocean Cleanup.
The non-profit has demonstrated that it has a REALLY compelling solution to remo… Read More
2021-11-14 10:00
So. Home safe in England, but still buzzing from my first trip out of the UK in 2 years, I started to get itchy feet.
I reached out to one of the most adventurous people I know, Katie Com… Read More
2021-11-12 15:00
My Hamburg astronaut selection day arrived. I bumped into some of the candidates in the hotel lobby and we introduced ourselves and then walked the 10 minutes to the test centre, not knowing… Read More
2021-11-10 15:30
The journey to Hamburg went off without a hitch, though it was genuinely so strange to be in an airport again after so long. I had bought myself some kids mental maths workbooks to run throu… Read More
2021-11-05 16:00
In late August I received an invitation to a European Space Agency Astronaut selection day in Hamburg! I was so excited to be able to take part in the next round!
Due to covid restriction… Read More
2021-11-02 19:00
I’ve got some exciting news! I submitted an application to become an Astronaut with the European Space Agency and I made it through the initial application sift!
Back in around Febr… Read More
2021-10-30 17:15
Join me on this exciting new adventure as I take you along with me in my application to become an astronaut with the European Space Agency!! In preparation, and to make sure I put some real… Read More
2019-03-02 17:12
2019-01-18 12:05
Back to Mainland China! I’ve not been here since my incredible trip from Moscow to Beijing and the Great Wall back in…
I was applying for a visa-free visit or up to 144 hours an… Read More
2019-01-17 22:24
Macau is really amazing and it’s so different from Hong Kong and China. Kat and I spent three days here at the end of our travels together. Until next time Kat!
The place is small and… Read More
2019-01-13 14:31
Kat and I arrived in Hong Kong and found that the public transport is super easy. I paid 200$HK (£20) for an Octopus card, of which £15 was credit and the rest is a refundable de… Read More
2019-01-10 19:27
In the morning we drove in Zhanar’s 4×4 up to Big Almaty Lake. I’m not sure there’s anything scarier than a nervous driver so the ride over the pass was quite nerve-w… Read More
2019-01-09 10:49
I’m so excited to be in Kazakhstan! I arrived late last night, was met at the airport by Zhanar, my guide, and she drove me to the guesthouse and I went straight to bed as it was aroun… Read More
2019-01-08 12:42
After another delayed flight with Philippine Airlines (I think they misplaced a plane) I arrived in Legaspi and reached the transport terminal to find a UV Express van service to Donsol. We… Read More
2019-01-05 14:17
My trip to Moalboal went by in a flash and I seemed to spend most of it underwater.
I didn’t have any reservations but I headed to MoHo – Moalboal Hostel which was very highly ra… Read More
2019-01-03 13:43
I took a trike from Tagbilaran around sunset and had a great view the whole way! I arrived at Moon Fool’s Hostel without a reservation but they had space. A pod in a nicely air-conditi… Read More
2019-01-02 15:30
I don’t really think it’s fair to use a country’s driving as a measure of whether you like a culture or not but sometimes I really do struggle with the way Filipinos operat… Read More
2019-01-02 14:04
I took a motorbike taxi from Cebu North Bus Terminal to the port for 100 pesos, which gave me a great ab workout. At the port, a man waving some OceanJet paperwork came over to me and asked… Read More
2018-12-29 18:21
The journey here was long but it’s worth it already as I arrived at 8am in paradise.
I landed at Cebu Airport at 6:30pm and there were hundreds of people queuing for taxis. I was plann… Read More
2018-12-27 16:23
Andy and I booked a day trip island hopping around the Coron area. The trip cost 1,600 Pesos (£24), with snorkeling gear costing 150 Pesos extra.
It is my first proper touristy activit… Read More
2018-12-26 17:46
Woohoo! I’m now a PADI qualified Wreck Diver after my time diving in Coron Bay with the World War Two wrecks. They can be sombre places but they are really full of life and are also hi… Read More
2018-12-25 12:36
Travelling between places in the Philippines is hard. It’s much more time-consuming than I expected, so one month here is great, but it is nowhere near enough time to visit all the pla… Read More
2018-12-24 15:46
I loved diving at Sabang! Some of my favourite diving in the Philippines; a great mix of abundant life, colourful corals, wrecks and excellent visibility. It was also the cheapest per dive p… Read More
2018-12-21 18:11
There’s never a dull moment on my trip in the Philippines, especially when it comes to transportation. I was repeatedly told that to get from Tagaytay to Anilao I needed to get a bus t… Read More
2018-12-18 11:22
I got to ride in a Jeepney! I wanted to get a good view of the whole crater lake and was told that the Sky Ranch is the place for it. Once you get to the roundabout at Olivarez, all of the J… Read More
2018-12-17 10:30
I have been feeling pretty achy so I decided that I needed a day to relax. I found an amazing spa that was open until 11pm last night so at 10pm I went for an hour reflexology session for an… Read More
2018-12-15 05:44
My alarm went off at 5:35am but because of some inconsiderately loud alarms going off in the dorm at 5am, I was already awake!
I took a Grab to the Ferry Port at 6am and saw a beautiful dawn… Read More
2018-12-10 07:00
My flight to Manila landed nice and early but immigration involved standing in a slow queue for most of an hour. I collected my bag and got cash out from an ATM. I checked three different ba… Read More
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