“Aren’t you too old for a gap year?”

– Yes, technically, I am too old for a gap year. But mentally? Uhm yeah probably. But because I am me and never do things in the right order? Hell no I’m not too old.

“How can you leave London and all the opportunities it has to offer?”

– It has been 5 years and while there has been great times, my life has been defined more by extortionate beer prices, endless hours waiting for night buses, endless hours travelling on night buses, the fact that renting will bankrupt you and too many ‘today has been crap, red wine is the answer’-days than anything resembling the plethora of opportunities it seemed to hold before I arrived. But I do believe London can do better so I’m going to give it 9 further months to step it up. I’m generous like that.

“Uhm, but Gunilla, I’m pretty sure none of the places you are visiting will be able to satisfy your over-indulgent shopping habits like London does…”

– Hah! I beg to differ.

“Ok, fair enough, but you do know you won’t be able to fit everything you’ll want to buy into your backpack, right?”

– I will have you know I’m my father’s daughter which means there is no planned, condensed, carefully considered packing that can’t be done. Fact.

“So does that mean you are bringing your Ashish leopard print platform ankle boots with you?”

– I wish… But I am sensible enough to realise that there is a slight difference between walking from my desk to the printer and trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I will be saying hasta luego with a heavy heart to my Ashish shoes. And to my favourite floral silk dress. And to my canary yellow DVF dress. And to my amazing vintage suede coat that makes me feel like I’m in a band in the 70s. And to my blue beaded 1960s handbag with the gold chain. And to my 7 sequin dresses. And my 3 sequin tops… Crap, I’ve made a mistake, I can’t live without those things! I need to re-pack before I go!

“How can you afford to do this? Fashion must be paying well!”

– Hahahaha please excuse me while I recover from my laughing fit over the last part of that question. Fashion doesn’t pay well. At all. Recession or no recession. But I’m good at saving (almost as good as I am at spending!) and that’s really all there is to it. But if I never have to buy Tesco Value pasta or frozen mixed vegetables or strategically plan my supermarket trips to bulk-buy bread at half price or spend weeks at a time living off egg-fried rice, I’ll be very ok with it.

“Omg, you went to ______? Why didn’t you do ______?”

– Did you tell me about before I left? Is it mentioned anywhere in the Lonely Planet? Has my brother already done it? Does it sound really random/interesting/crazy when it’s mentioned in a blog that comes up in a google search about that country? If so, I guarantee it was in the original plan. So probably I just ran out of time and had to skip it.

“Are you sure it’s safe is it to travel in ______ as a solo female traveller?”

– Hi mom! Thanks for reading! I know you worry about this so to answer the question; yes. Or at least as sure as I can be based on previous experiences. And the information in the ‘survival guide’ pages of the Lonely Planet. Despite what some might claim, I’m pretty sensible and that surely makes me just as well-equipped to travel alone as anyone else, female or otherwise.

“Why are your photographs all overexposed/wrongly lit/slightly wonky/poorly composed?”

– Because, while in my head I am Steve McCurry, Paul Strand and Walker Evans all rolled into one, my camera fails to acknowledge my talent and consequently produces sub-standard images. It’s on my to-do list to master the skill of photoshop to correct some of these issues on my return.

“This blog is rubbish.”

– While I don’t think that qualifies as a question, you are entitled to your opinion and I thank you for sharing. But I’m new at this so if you have any specific tips for improvement, they are welcome!