By Zan

Since arriving back in the UK, things have been go go go. Morgan and I are both working towards a PhD in Playwork. But sadly, being on the road does not often lend itself to the most ideal study environment. So we’ve been studying hard in the last couple of weeks. And whenever we have had a few moments of free time, we have reflected on our adventure around the world.

Highlights are plentiful, from:

  • meeting friends in person for the first time, to;
  • reuniting with friends we haven’t seen for a long while.

My travel journal

In my travel journey, there is a vast collection of phrases and moments that capture playful moments for us as we travelled literally around the world. I call them “Amazing Moments” which include: the epic pool noodle battle, when the tug-of-war rope snapped, the red fabric swing, the purple tree swing, when the tyres kept on rolling, when the small boys all ganged up on the big boy, dressing as a robot to avoid wearing sunscreen, the big tarp parachute…. the list goes on! There are so many amazing moments of play that we have encountered on our journey, and we are grateful to have been part of every single moment.

We are so thankful to have been able to go on this trip. Morgan and I would have never dreamt of doing this, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing hosts from all 6 countries that we visited – thank you so much! We have learned so much from every community that invited us in, and hope that their play advocacy will continue to thrive. There are so many more reflections and stories to share so look out for more from us soon!

In celebration of a fantastic tour, here is a video created by us featuring the Pop-Ups Sound too. Yes, we had a lot of fun making this video – we hope you enjoy it too!

For more from Pop-Ups Zan, please visit her personal blog. To read more about our adventures as part of #PopUpsWorldTour2015 please visit our special tour page. To see more regular updates from us, please join us on Facebook.