Being Buttons

First impressions of the USA

First impressions of the USA
It’s hard to write first impressions of a country that’s so large and varied; I imagine the different states can feel like completely different countries at times. On my recent trip to the USA, I literally scratched the surface. I visited three cities across two different states and know I cannot claim to have ‘seen’ or ‘done’ America now. However, as it was my first trip to the USA I came home with a few reflections and observations that I’d like to share. On of the best parts of travelling is seeing the differences in a new place to what you are used to. Sometimes you come home questioning what you need to or could change as a result of your experience, and other times you come back and are happy to return to your version of normality. View Post

Impressions of Australia

Impressions of Australia
Australia has never been somewhere I’ve had a burning desire to visit. Sure, if the opportunity came along I would go but there were lots of places much higher up on my bucket list. Most people seem to want to visit Australia, and then go to see New Zealand almost as an after thought, whereas for me it was the other way round. I wasn’t sure what I’d make of it and to be honest I’m still not sure. It’s such a big and varied country that you can’t possibly do it justice within a week, so I would be keen to go back and explore some more, but I don’t think I’d be bitterly disappointed if I didn’t get chance to. View Post

10 fun facts about New Zealand 

10 fun facts about New Zealand 
Over the time I’ve been in New Zealand I’ve been slowly adding to this list. Originally it was something I was going to share after the first few weeks rather than in the last few but I’ve just kept coming across more things which I’ve wanted to share. Quick note – a lot of these are my impressions rather than facts so take it with a pinch of salt… View Post

Auckland 

Auckland 
Auckland is a city best seen from a distance. From the air you can see both harbours and how far the city sprawls in all directions. From the sea you can see some of the cities volcanoes standing tall above the rest of the city, with the exception of the sky tower which appears to pierce the clouds. Whereas Hong Kong was overwhelming to begin with, Auckland was slightly underwhelming. I’m aware that I’m not really selling the city so far, but bear with me. View Post

Impressions of Hong Kong

Impressions of Hong Kong
I was expecting Hong Kong to be big, loud and overwhelming. I was expecting to feel very much a fish out of water. I’m not really a big city person, and going to Hong Kong was going to be my first experience of being in Asia anyway so I was expecting it to be very different to anything that I had previously experienced. It didn’t disappoint. View Post