JGHeraghty | Poetry

Tower Bridge, 2023   London was never one of my top picks for the Before 30 list, however Shane told me he enjoyed his short layover in London while he was traveling, so I figured it was a good destination to go to on our first trip away together. We planned a short trip to London for New Years in 2019. Pre-pandemic, the 'before times' if you will. We stayed in a luxurious 4 star hotel in the center of London, near Tower Bridge so we would be close to a couple of attractions. Before going, we purchased a thing called 'London Pass', I think it goes by something else now. The pass included tickets to some top attractions such as the Big Bus, London Eye, Madame Tussauds and Sea Life.   At the time, we hadn't yet established how we would plan out our trips. We went to London as part of a wider trip from Birmingham. Shane was spending Christmas in Birmingham with his family, so I met him there, and took a train from Birmingham to London to see out the New Year.  We were

Sagrada Familia, 2018 I went to Barcelona for a womENcourage conference back in 2017. It was my first flight, my first time trekking around on my own outside my small hometown. My parents came with me (also my mother's first time abroad) and we stayed in this hotel in Calella. Calella, while a lovely place, was not ideal as it was 2+ hours away from the University I was attending for the conference.  The first night was one of my best memories: it was torrential raining and we all got soaked in seconds. The whole night was lightning flash after lightning flash, and the three of us found ourselves hiding out in a soon-to-shut Burger King.  In the end though, we ended up having to brave the storm, ducking under shutters that were almost 3-quarters shut. I felt like we were in a movie, making it out at the last minute! haha That whole night, my room lit up again and again with the flashes of lightning, and the rattling of thunder. I don't know what I love so much about stormy weat

Before I am 30, I aim to travel to 10 countries!  While very achievable for most, I have only started traveling in the past few years. So when I set that goal, I didn't even think I would get to 10, if I'm honest. Obviously, the pandemic happened and I had to pause for a while, but we're still on track: we put a large dent in the list in 2022 alone - visiting a total of 8 countries in the year. I always thought of travel as something terrifying, I was mostly nervous about food. I love other cultures, and I can get excited about taking the plane, train, car or hike to the next attraction.  Here is my journey so far x #1 Barcelona, Spain I went to Barcelona for a womENcourage conference back in 2017. It was my first flight, my first time trekking around on my own outside my small hometown. My parents came with me (also my mother's first time abroad) and we stayed in this hotel in Calella. Calella, while a lovely place, was not ideal as it was 2+ hours away from the Univer