I created the “Travellers’ Tales” section to give other travellers an opportunity to talk about their travels. Today I would like to introduce you to Laurence Norah, a travel blogger from the Seychelles. He and his wife Jessica blog at Finding the Universe and Independent Travel Cats.
I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to “Travellers’ Tales” , fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.
My name is Laurence Norah and I’m a British / Seychellois traveller, writer and photographer! With my wife Jessica, we run two travel blogs: Finding the Universe and Independent Travel Cats. I’ve been a full time traveller and blogger since 2010.
I was lucky enough to grow up in the Seychelles, and my earliest memory is taking the plane between the islands. I loved flying in the little planes, and flying is still one of my favourite parts of travel.
We travel primarily for work these days of course, but we try to make every trip a bit like a holiday! That said, the most recent trip that was all about the relaxation was our Transatlantic cruise aboard the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York. It’s an 8 day voyage. We went totally offline when we did it, so it was lovely to be really disconnected. That was in June. Since then we’ve had trips to France, the US, Ireland and Japan.
We took the QM2 to the USA, where we spent a few days exploring New York, before heading on to Ohio. I always love visiting New York, there’s always something new to see – but I think my favourite part was catching up with some of my friends who are based over there.
Wow, this is a tough one. I think if I had to pick, perhaps my first safari? My parents took me to Kenya for my 14th birthday – the idea was that I could go anywhere in the world that I wanted for a week. Apparently, my Dad was mentally prepared for Disneyland, but very relieved when I chose Kenya!
We love so many different countries for so many different reasons, but if I had to pick one country to keep visiting, it would be the USA. There’s just so much variety, it’s easy to travel in and the people are lovely.
It is absolutely essential to do a road trip in the USA! We’ve done numerous US road trips, including Route 66, around California and the Deep South, and we’ve had a wonderful time doing so. The USA is just perfect for road tripping – car hire and gas are affordable, and there are hundreds of accommodation options to suit every budget. Plus the roads are easy to drive on and there’s so much to see!
This has to be Jessica! We travel and work together full time, and whilst of course, not every moment is sunshine and roses, we do love what we do and are very thankful for our amazing life together.
My camera! As a professional photographer, I’d be lost without it.
Don’t overplan. It’s good to have a plan, especially of the must-see sights that you definitely want to see, but having some flexibility to go with the flow is awesome. Also – talk to people. Most locals we’ve met on our travels are super friendly and helpful, and you can learn a lot this way.
I really want to go into space. Hopefully space tourism gets to the point of affordability before I die!
We have our two blogs - : Finding the Universe and Independent Travel Cats.
Then we can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you, Laurence , for sharing your fascinating travels with us!
I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to “Travellers’ Tales”, fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.
Who will I feature next? I’ve got an exciting line-up ahead. Make sure you subscribe to the free newsletter so you don’t miss out on some exciting travel tales.
Sara Essop is a travel blogger and writer based in South Africa. She writes about family travel and experiences around the world. Although she has been to 50 countries thus far, she especially loves showcasing her beautiful country and is a certified South Africa Specialist.
