backpacking Archives • The Bliss Movement

6 Things To Do In Mission Beach, Australia

I have been searching for a place that connects with my soul recently.I've felt the need for some sort of retreat, a deeper connection with something or somewhere, and when I stumbled upon a little place along the tropical coast of Queensland called Mission Beach, I knew that I had found it.Mission Beach is an often overlooked bit of the typical traveler route up the east coast of Australia but it has snuck up and nestled in tightly to a little piece of my heart. I have been here only five days and most of the people that have been passing through st[...]

Australia, Travel

Exploring the Hippie Town of Byron Bay, Australia

A beach town with a chilled out, hippie vibe right next to the sea seemed like a good place for the first stop in my trip up Australia's east coast. Deemed everything from a gypsy's paradise to a town of lost souls, Byron Bay is one of those places where you plan to stay for a couple of days and find yourself still there weeks later.With only five days to experience the town, I booked my stay as close to the beach as I could possibly get - a hostel called Backpackers Inn on the Beach - which was just a two minute stroll down a sandy trail to the beac[...]

Australia, Travel

A Beach Day in Sydney: Watson’s Bay and Queen’s Beach

Located on the northern tip of Sydney's Eastern suburbs sits Watson's Bay, a suburb nestled in a harbour that looks out to the skyline of Sydney's CBD in the distance. Considered one of the best spots in Sydney to catch a glowing sunset, it is well worth an afternoon of your time. I had plans to visit as many beaches in Sydney as I could - just as I had in Perth. But this didn't really end up happening. Having a car to use in Perth made it a lot faster to venture to all of the beaches along the sunset coast. Unfortunately in Sydney I didn't have that luxury and[...]

Australia, Guides + Itineraries, Travel

How To Spend a Week in Sydney

As Australia's most populated city, Sydney is also one of it's most iconic. Locals are passionately proud of what Sydney has to offer and people from all over the world come here to tick it off their list or fall in love with the city so much that they move here permanently - eager for the trademark, laid-back Aussie lifestyle. But Sydney is more than just the hustle and bustle of the squishy city life. It has the cruisey vibes of the beach suburbs to the wild nature of the Blue Mountains, fancy cocktail bars to trendy hole-in-the-wall spots.Of all t[...]

Australia, Travel

A Day Trip to The Blue Mountains

If you think that most of my time in Australia is spent scouting out the best beaches and warm weather, you're right. But good ol' Sydney has a little bit of everything for everyone - including the mountains. Two and a half hours away from central Sydney and you can find yourself in the Blue Mountains, a region entirely different from the city life and the beachy suburbs.The Blue Mountains are a vast landscape filled with waterfalls, cliffs, gorgeous views and eucalyptus forests. You can spend your day swimming in pools beneath the falls, going on be[...]

Australia, Guides + Itineraries, Travel

The Quick Guide to Australia’s Great Ocean Road

Recently, a friend and I embarked on a month long roadtrip that took us from Western Australia through to South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. While it was an epic adventure on its own, one of the highlights of the trip was driving down one of Australia's most iconic coastal routes: The Great Ocean Road. 243 kilometers of some of the most beautiful views I'd ever seen - winding roads that took us through farmland, along the sea side and into the rainforest.You could easily take your time doing the great ocean road - we had met some people w[...]

Australia, Guides + Itineraries, Travel

Western Australia Road Trip: Perth to Coral Bay

After three months in Perth the time had finally come to do what all great backpackers who come to Australia tend to do: pack up our belongings, toss a mattress in the back of a car and head off on a great Australian road trip. This one through Western Australia.Road trips in Australia are serious business and a Western Australia road trip is even more so – you don’t just hop in a car and off you go. The distances between some places are so great and remote that you have to make sure your car will have enough fuel to make it the entire way. You m[...]

Australia, Guides + Itineraries, Travel

The Sunset Coast: Your Guide to The Best Beaches in Perth

My decision to begin my year in Australia in Perth, WA was completely spur of the moment. I didn't know much about Western Australia in general and nothing about Perth other than it being the most isolated city in the country. One thing I had heard from people who had made the effort to see WA was that they believed it to be one of the most beautiful parts of Australia and that I wouldn't regret it. So, off I went, once again, to a place I never thought I would see.Turns out, Perth has some of the most stunning natural beaches in Australia and I hav[...]

Australia, Guides + Itineraries, Travel

Margaret River: 2 Days In Western Australia’s Wine Region

If you've ever come to Perth you'll have heard of Margaret River, Western Australia's wine region - a popular place for locals and tourists to visit for a getaway when in need of a break from city life. With vineyards around every corner, quaint small towns and beautiful scenery of everything from rolling farmland to forests to the sea, Margaret River has a little something for everyone.If you have a weekend to spare, I'd recommend staying one night in Margaret River and one night in Dunsborough. Margaret River itself is a great place if your main f[...]

Peru, South America, Travel

Sandboarding in Huacachina, Peru

After a month lazing away my days on the beaches of Ecuador, the change of scenery of Huacachina's desert oasis was a breath of fresh air. Surrounded by the sandy dunes of the desert, this is the only desert oasis in South America and is lined with restaurants, hostels and hotels. With very little else to it, visitors to are often eager to book up with one of the many tour companies to go sandboarding in Huacachina. So, that's what we did: hopping in a dune buggy with a few new friends, putting our lives in the hands of the driver that's about to rip around the d[...]

Ecuador, South America, Travel

Banos: The Ecuadorian Adventure Town

The journey crossing the border from Colombia to Ecuador by bus - despite making me really nervous to do alone - ended up being a breeze. After spending a night in a hotel on the border of Colombia, I hailed a taxi to the border and before I knew it, I was walking across a bridge; out of one country and into another in under two minutes. A little chit chat with immigration officials, passport stamped and it was sorted. Soon enough, I was on a bus out of there. Sometimes I wind up in countries or cities without really knowing why I want to go there in the first p[...]

Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, Travel

7 Steps To Get Over Travel Burnout

We've had a conversation about post-travel depression here in the past, but what about when you're actually on the road and feeling a bit.. bleh? Have you ever had the realization that the things you used to love about traveling were only weighing you down? Have you stopped feeling inspired and excited about the places you were going and instead, don't feel much of anything? Or you're feeling constantly exhausted and couldn't really care less if you were in that beautiful destination or at home? If so, you might have been experiencing something called travel burn[...]