the beginning of the beginning

Wow, this really is new. 
Whilst I actually have tried my hand at blogging before, I never really committed to a blog as I am known to get bored and move on from activities- even almost as soon as I've started them. On the last blog I had, I wrote one post and subsequently forgot my password, so I couldn't access the page any longer (who's smooth? I am). 

Anyway... travel writing. Here goes nothing, right?
I love travelling with a passion, but had always seen as a "doing", in-the-moment activity rather than something to feed a blog. Recently, however, I've been frequenting a website called 'The Everywhereist' which has encouraged me to nurture my love of travelling and to accompany it with my ever-present photographing and my growing interest of writing. And although I could be downright awful at this, trying can't hurt, can it?

I thought I might give a little introduction to myself to start with, for my many readers out there who are clearly interested in my background (hilarious).

My interest in travelling was primarily inherited: my Dad loves anything that defeats his expectations (as visiting unknown places often does) especially when it involves grueling hikes and breathtaking views; on the other hand my Mum is a sucker for culture and would often drag us (my two siblings and I) to many a museum to soak up as much foreign atmosphere as humanly possible.

But I gained some of the interest through my own experiences as well. 
When I was five years old, my Dad got a job offer to go and work in South America. My family- my parents and us three kids- threw ourselves into a lifestyle that was almost a direct opposite from the way we'd previously been living in a quiet suburb in Outer London. To cut a very long story short, the initial intention was to stay for a year and then return home, however in our bid to broaden our horizons and immerse ourselves in the waters (of Titicaca, the Amazon and the part of the Pacific which borders Peru), we didn't end up leaving the country until seven years later. Which meant it was unbelievably hard to eventually pull ourselves away.
The point is, whilst living in South America my parents made an effort to interest us kids into not only the Peruvian culture, but also that of any country anywhere near to it. This meant that by the age of 8 or 9, I had visited cities, lakes, towns, museums, ruins, beaches and mountains in 7 of the 13 countries that make up the continent. I have been skiing in both Argentina and Chile- where I experienced some of the best ski conditions I've ever had, visited Macchu Picchu (the lost Incan city ruins in the Peruvian Andes) twice, seen the icebergs in Patagonia at shockingly close proxitimity and felt the spray of the immense Iguazu Falls against my face. 

The "monkey" part of this blog's name comes from the fact that, according to my friends, I bear uncanny resemblance to a monkey. Monkeys also happen to be a favourite animal of mine- though I don't know whether the love springs from the nickname or just happens to accompany it coincidentally.
Either way... Welcome to the world of blogging, me.