The Gratitude List: 2013 you've been so good

I can barely begin to imagine that 2013 is almost over. This year has been so good to me. I've been on so many adventures and I feel so grateful for all of the experiences I've had this year. I have had massive, mind blowing highs and I've spent more time smiling and succeeding that I thought was possible.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the end of year madness but it's great to sit down and think about the things that you are grateful for from this year. Send out a THANK YOU to the universe and make the decision that next year is going to amazing.

2013 was especially good to me so I've decided to put together my final gratitude list for 2013 with the things I've been grateful for throughout the year.

1. The live music I've seen and the amazing artists I've witnessed



It's easy to be grateful when my list of artists I've seen looks like this

Maximo Park / The Hives / The Killers / Childish Gambino / Big Day Out Festival (multiple bands) / Bloc Party / British India / The Kooks / Kristin Chenoweth / Idina Menzel / Jay Z / Justin Timberlake / Beyoncé / Bastille / William Beckett / Foals / The Basics / Franz Ferdinand / Muse / Alicia Keys

2. Travelling the world



This year I've been lucky enough to travel to

London / Dubai / Cancun / New York / Toronto / Anaheim (Disneyland) / Los Angeles / Bali / Gold Coast

A lot of my travel adventures have been through work and I've visited some absolutely stunning places with the best people. I loved every trip I've been on and I know they wouldn't have been as great had it not been the people I travelled with.

3. My family



But seriously, if your nieces and nephews were this cute you'd be grateful too.

4. My Black Milk collection



I've spent this year in lycra as my Black Milk collection has grown to ridiculous proportions. I love that I can wear something crazy and ridiculous and feel so comfortable and happy. I am grateful for the confidence their clothing gives me.

5. A little bit of everything else.



It has been so hard trying to reduce the things I'm grateful for into 5 points. I have had so many great experiences this year. There have been ups and downs but this post is about finding the things that have made me smile this year. I have shared this year with so many great friends and family and I am happy to look back at 2013 and think this was a lucky, fun filled, adventurous year for me.

Have you taken a look at your 2013 yet? Share your links below if you've posted about it - I'd love to see what's been making you smile this year

Bring on 2014 and another outstanding year.

 - Brooke

Walter Mitty is making me want to travel

I'm not alone when I say this trailer makes me want to climb a mountain?? It gives me such a crazy case of wanderlust and makes me 100% certain that my decision to go to Thailand next year is the right decision.

This movie just came out in Australia and while I went and saw The Hobbit I cannot wait until I find the time to sit in a darkened cinema watching this movie. I don't even care if it's not great (but looking at this trailer, I can't see how it would be anything less than fabulous), I just want to see the worlds in which Walter Mitty explores (real or imagined).




I've been to Thailand before - I went on a work trip for a week. It was so delightful but I feel like there is more to explore, like I barely scratched the surface. It's different travelling somewhere when you are actually a tourist rather than a spoilt travel agent (we get spoilt on these trips) with a strict itinerary.

So far on my wish lists for this trip is a trip to the tiger temples in Chiang Mai, a visit to an elephant sanctuary, snorkelling at Phi Phi Island and canoeing through caves at Phang Nga. I'll keep you updated on the plans when they begin to form properly.

May feels like a really long time away.

 - Brooke

Adventure Awaits - Hand feeding lions

Wellington New Zealand - June 2012

Normally I would associate New Zealand with all things Lord of the Rings (it's exactly where my mind wanders to when I start thinking about New Zealand) and while my trip back to the beautiful North Island was filled with many wondrous LoTR related adventures I was able to find a special kind of experience in an unexpected place. 

I can remember reading about a trip to Wellington Zoo that Gala Darling took in 2011 where she did a "Zookeeper experience" and was able to hand feed lions. The image on her website stuck in my mind and I promised myself if and when I headed back to New Zealand that I would do this too.  It was probably (if I'm being honest) a main driving factor of going back to New Zealand and more specifically the north island (that and Sir Ian McKellan was touring at the time). 

When we were in the planning stages of this trip I can remember having a conversation about the different animal encounters that Wellington Zoo offered. For some reason it became a discussion between Crystal (my sister), Lauren and I which one we would actually do. The choice was between the Red Pandas and the Lions. It wasn't a very long conversation or discussion.

By the time we reached Wellington on this trip we had already patted lion cubs in Rotorua at the Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park and had seen lions fed up close but we knew this face to face encounter with the lions was going to be something special. 

I still don't know if I can properly describe the fear and joy involved with being face to face with a full grown lion. 

Our zookeeper for the day led us into the lion enclosure - there are some very sturdy fences between us and the lions at all times, we weren't just walking through their enclosure, these are wild animals. They had the three lionesses inside the enclosure and there were two male lions out in the main enclosure (where you could see them if you were just visiting the zoo). When I saw that we were "playing" with the female lionesses there was a small level of disappointment (that didn't last long) - the boys were so huge and beautiful. 

The zookeeper showed us how they train the lionesses and explained to us that they do this to make it easier to do medical exams on the animals. It made it more comfortable for the lions especially if they could examine them without having to drug them. She had one of the lionesses go into a smaller adjustable cage where we got to first touch her tail - which was SO strong. My hands were shaking when it got to my turn to touch her tail - even though she was behind a caged fence I was touching such a powerful, strong, dangerous animal and it felt unreal and unnatural. 

After the zookeeper showed us how they are trained (this also involved having the lioness reach up with two paws on the fence in front of us) she then brought out the bucket of horse meat and said "if we were brave enough" we could hand feed the lionesses. She didn't have to tell us twice, we took turns feeding the lionesses. The way we did that was by putting the piece of bloody horse meat flat on our palms and placing our palms on the fence - making sure we didn't bend our fingers - and the lioness would lick the meat out of our hands through the fence. A LIONESS LICKED MY HAND. Their tongues were like a stronger, bigger version of your cats tongue - scratchy and warm.

While we were feeding the lionesses, the two male lions got interested in what we were doing and began stalking the cage area that we were in. The zookeeper asked if we wanted to feed the boys and we didn't hesitate to turn around and quickly forgot about the ladies. 

I could have stayed there all day. It was one of the most magical, frightening, amazing, surreal, beautiful things I have ever experienced. To look into the eyes of a fully grown lion and have it lick food out of your hands is something I will never forget. 

The best thing about this experience is that if you visit the beautiful city of Wellington in New Zealand you can do this too. It costs NZD $130 per person to do this animal encounter at the Wellington Zoo and I have to say it's worth EVERY penny (we paid the fee to do this, and I'd pay it again in a heartbeat). They take bookings online  and 10% of the proceeds of the "encounter fee" goes directly to conservation projects that are supported by the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund.

 - Brooke

Introducing "Adventure Awaits"

I love to travel. The great thing about being a travel agent (and a team leader/manager) is that the opportunity to travel crops up quite a bit. Not all of these trips offer a lot of leisure time but I do always get a chance to explore and experience the places we visit. 

A feature I am incorporating into this re-development of my blog is called "Adventure Awaits" where I will share with you a little story or tip from my travel experiences. 

It could be a small restaurant that I've stumbled across in Bali, or a great hotel I've stayed at in New York City. It might be about my experience at Harry Potter land in Universal or some of my favourite music venues in London. Whatever it is it will come from my experiences while travelling and exploring this world.

Travel is my livelihood, I talk about it every day and I know a thing or two about it. It's one of my passions in life and I don't always remember to share my own travel experiences here. 

I'm so excited to begin

 - Brooke