10 Magical Moments

I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to travel so avidly during my 27 years on this planet, and over those years I have had many incredible experiences and moments that have felt surreal. Choosing my most magical moments whilst travelling was quite a feat but I have collated ten moments in which time seemed to stand still and I had a minute of self-reflection just taking in the magic. 

1. Skydiving, Australia (2019)

   

   For obvious reasons, skydiving is (and likely will always be) one of the most memorable things I’ve done. My mum and I were travelling across Australia and New Zealand for a few weeks over the Christmas holiday and whilst we were outback in Uluru with little to do, we decided to take the leap. I had wanted to sky dive for years by this point as I had done various other “extreme” sports and wanted to try something that I knew terrified me and was fully out of my control, especially as I knew I would get more scared the older I got. In year 6, I backed out of abseiling at the last minute and I’d regretted it for years, so wanted to prove to myself that I could actually do it. My mother had actually never mentioned wanting to skydive, but perhaps wanted to show herself (and us!) that she could do it, so we called the skydiving company and had a booking to jump from 12,000 feet a few hours later. From that moment, I was simply trying not to panic, whereas my mum was very relaxed, and then as we finally arrived at the venue, I also became incredibly calm.

   
   

   It was very unexpected, as I thought I’d either back out at the last minute, or be silently panicking, however a calmness just overcame me and that was that! The whole experience was surreal, and the fact that I was able to share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with my mum was something that I will forever cherish.

   
   
   
   

2. Northern Lights, Iceland (2018)

   

   Similarly, my mother and I spent a long weekend in Iceland since the boys (my dad and brother) had already been and didn’t want to join us, and the thing that I’d been most excited to see was the Northern lights. We’d been skiing in Norway several years beforehand, and turned up to our ski lesson to everyone obsessing over the Northern lights that they’d seen the previous night, which we’d completely missed, and I’d wanted to see them ever since then.

   
   

   We had booked a trip out to sea one night, however as that evening approached the forecasts claimed low likelihood of seeing the Aurora Borealis due to cloudiness and low visibility. That was the only night we had time to view them, so we hopped on the boat anyway, albeit with low expectations.

   
   

   As we headed further away from the capital, we started looking at the skies in the hopes of seeing some colours. We had little luck, and I remember a group of Irishmen singing a shanty at sea whilst we waited for anything to appear. Eventually, we started seeing green shadows dancing across the sky, and before we knew it there were pink ones too! Against all odds, we’d actually managed to see rare colours intermingling and between the lights and the shanty, it felt like a film scene. To this day, it gives me goosebumps and I’m very grateful that I got to share this memory with my mother too.

   
   
   
   

3. Cactus Island, Bolivia (2024)

   

   Whilst travelling South America with one of my best friends, we visited the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia. Although many people look forward to this, I wasn’t too fussed about the flats as I imagined it’d be similar to being in a desert or fields of snow, where you get used to the view fairly quickly. Nonetheless, it made sense to visit given our route so we booked a three-day tour in Uyuni.

   
   

   We had no data or wifi throughout these three days and they were by far the least comfortable part of the South America trip, with very basic accommodation and at times no electricity or heating. That said, one of my favourite moments of the trip occurred in these salt flats...

   
   

   We were travelling across the vast salt expanses, which are 12km squared and stretch out as far as the naked eye can see. It almost looks like snow, especially as it was cold when we visited, but the sun was also shining and due to the reflective surface the brightness is intense, so I had to put my sunglasses on to see comfortably. We were driving through the salt flats, when all of a sudden an island appears. As we approach, we realise that it’s covered in huge cacti all across the island, and I clock that one of my all-time favourite songs was playing on the radio (Vienna by Billy Joel). It was one of those moments where I got goosebumps and even shed a tear - I could not explain why but that moment just hit me and I felt a lot of gratitude and awe at being there. (It also inspired me to get a cactus tattoo to commemorate the trip).

   
   
   
   

4. Lion’s Den, South Africa (2019)

   

   I spent two weeks in Cape Town in 2019 as part of an International Relations course that LSE and UCT were jointly running. My brother had been to South Africa several years beforehand for a rugby tour and absolutely loved it, so it was high on my bucket list (in true younger sibling fashion). I had the best two weeks and loved the group I’d met, however one particular highlight was climbing up Lion’s Head mountain. We’d been told by some locals that this was a very easy climb and worth the view, so we set off after lectures in regular clothing.

   
   

   Two hours in, as I was climbing up iron rungs fixed to the mountain in jeans, I was doubting whether this hike was as easy as we’d been told. That said, we all made it to the top of the mountain for sunset (which was our aim) and as I looked out and saw the city, the sea and the mountains all within the view at sunset, I realised just how incredible this city was. It was one of my favourite trips to date and despite its flaws, remains one of my favourite cities.

   
   

   That said, the descent was intense as the sun set very quickly and we had a lot of ground to cover in the darkness, which was exciting but also nerve-wracking.

   
   
   
   

5. Machu Picchu, Peru (2024)

   

   If you’re anything like me, you may not understand the hype around Machu Picchu, and as someone who has had the opportunity to travel across many countries and see many famous landmarks, I thought this would be another overrated one.

   
   

   Boy was I mistaken. Peru is perhaps my favourite country in South America, following Brazil, and Machu Picchu felt otherworldly. We didn’t want to do the Inca trail as we had various other hikes planned throughout our trip and didn’t think we’d enjoy it much, so we opted for the train and then bus to this wonder of the world. We had gotten the train the day before so on the morning of, we simply had to get on a bus at 7am.

   
   

   The ride up is honestly astounding, as it’s windy the whole way up and you’re very much on the very edge of an abysm. It’s reminiscent of driving in Madeira, except you’re on a huge bus rather than a tiny car that you can control. Once you (hopefully) reach the top, you then follow a one-way route through the ancient ruins and it’s hot and sweaty but fascinating. Then you get to the famous viewpoint, and you see… nothing.

   
   

   It’s often very foggy and the day we visited was no exception. Luckily, it tends to just be a waiting game so eventually the clouds dispersed and the mountains were revealed. The sight of these mountains was breathtaking; there’s a river that winds around them at the bottom, and huge mountains to either side of the ones you see on the classic postcard picture. To this day, Machu Picchu is one of the most incredible sights I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing and is by far my favourite of the 7 Wonders of the World that I have seen (and I only have the Great Wall of China left to see!). If you need inspiration of where to travel to, I would move Peru to the top of your list!

6. Masaai Mara, Kenya (2023)

   

   For my mum’s birthday in 2023, we spent a couple of weeks visiting four parts of Kenya: Amboseli, Nakuru, Maasai Mara, and Nairobi. Maasai Mara is to Kenya what the Serengeti is to Tanzania, and they’re actually the same territory, just across the border. This was the last of the three safari parks we visited and was renowned for being the place to spot the big five (lions, leopards, buffalo, rhinos and elephants). We’d seen almost all of the wildlife on offer, including white rhinos, hyenas, and monkeys by this point but we’d not seen cheetahs or lions up close, nor leopards at all.

   
   

   We arrived to Maasai Mara via a tiny plane with only a handful of seats and landed on a dirt runway, before being picked up by a Maasai warrior and driven for an hour through very bumpy terrain to our hotel. My mum and I got out of the car feeling very queasy and unwell - this was our introduction to Dee, our tour guide. Dee took us on many safaris and liked to go off track (so much so that the park rangers pulled him over), but he also spotted the most coveted animals before anyone else and would take us up close (too much so if you ask me), so we saw cheetahs and lions up close with no one else around (he’d then tell the other guides via his walkie talkie once we’d taken our pictures).

   
   

   If you’ve ever been on a safari, you’ll know that leopards are very rare to spot, and Dee hadn’t seen a leopard in a few days, but if anyone could spot one, it was him. We drove around for a while and lo and behold, Dee spotted Bella, a leopard. We got closer, to the point that she walked under our jeep and as she did, she made eye contact with my brother, which we caught on video. I never knew the difference between a cheetah and a leopard until this point, but the leopard is just incredibly beautiful and majestic, and once you’ve seen one, the difference becomes obvious. It was an incredible moment and I look back on our time with Dee very fondly (despite the, quite literally, shaky start).

   
   
   
   

7. Scuba Diving, The Maldives (2012)

   

   Whenever someone asks me what my favourite trip was, I always say the Maldives. Of course, the Maldives are absolutely stunning, however it’s not so much the views that I look back on, so much as how many firsts were experienced there: it was my first time out of Europe, my first long haul flight, my first time on a sea plane, my first time swimming with sharks, my first time seeing a whale shark, and my first time scuba diving.

   
   

   One of my favourite things in the world is swimming in the sea, and so I knew I would enjoy scuba diving, but I was also a bit nervous to try it. That said, all of the nerves disappeared as soon as I started to see the colourful corals and fish - it was absolutely out of this world and I couldn’t get over how stunning it was. It felt very exciting but serene, and I’ve since tried to recapture that moment whilst scuba diving in the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef but it has never been the same - either the coral has mostly died due to global warming or it’s a bit of a tourist trap and you don’t actually explore much. Regardless, my experience scuba diving in the Maldives was one I’ll never forget and I’m very grateful to have done it when I did.

   
   
   
   

8. Seeing fireflies, Nicaragua (2023)

   

   In November 2023, I visited Central America with my go-to travel buddy and close friend, Becca. I absolutely love Latin America and this trip was no exception; we’d had very cool experiences, from seeing lava in a volcano crater to sand boarding down a volcano, and we’d met some lovely people along the way. We went with Intrepid and visited many countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and the final destination on the trip was Nicaragua.

   
   

   I wasn’t actually that fussed about Nicaragua, but it ended up being a lot of fun, especially the big night out we’d been on. On the final day of the trip, we had a final dinner altogether and then walked around the town, taking in the sea and stars before heading back to our hotel to say our goodbyes. Here, we spotted fireflies, which I’d never seen before, and it was both bittersweet and melancholy, but the perfect end to an incredible trip.

   
   
   
   

9. Dog Sledding, Finland (c. 2007)

   

   I absolutely love skiing, and my family got into the habit of going on annual snow holidays when I was quite young. We visited Finland early on and had an incredible time, although it was very cold, reaching -27C, so even our eyelashes and nose hairs froze over. We rode on snowmobiles and visited Lapland in the Arctic Circle, walking around in snow shoes, meeting reindeer (and Santa!), and drinking a hot berry tea, which to this day I enjoy.

   
   

   My favourite memory however, was dog sledding across the vast snow plains; I sat under a warm blanket, whilst the adults took turns controlling the sleds, and the huskies were loud and rearing to go. My memories of this trip are slightly hazy, but I remember the feeling very clearly and it was one of incredulity and awe.

   
   
   
   

10. Perito Moreno, Argentina (2024)

    

    As aforementioned, some of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen were during my trip to South America last year, and a top contender is the Perito Moreno glacier in Patagonia. I visited the Argentine side of Patagonia (as opposed to the Chilean side) and we got a bus, followed by a boat, to the glacier. Pictures do not do it justice; you cannot take in the roars as the ice cracked or fell and the imposing nature of the glacier. We visited in May, however were surrounded by autumnal hues in the nearby forests and the sun hitting the glacier, giving it a pale blue colour. It was just astounding and more breath-taking than I ever could have anticipated. 

I feel extremely lucky to have experienced so many incredible things at such a young age, including the ten magical moments listed above, and I would encourage everyone to experience at least one of these in their life as it really puts everything into perspective and makes you appreciate life (and nature) that little bit more.