Seven years ago I started writing this post. I wrote only 2 lines..

I have come to terms with the fact i’m just a very unlucky person when it comes to weather.

Of course we’ve had a major heat wave for weeks in the UK but the day I decided to pop over to Ireland it hammered it down all day and I can’t explain how much I hate rain!

Flash forward seven more years and i’m pleased to say I haven’t encountered any more beastly storms. I have avoided the States though I must admit. But I stand by what I said seven years ago – I’m unlucky when it comes to weather.

My daughter was born in the hottest month on record which meant I was heavily pregnant in one hell of a heat wave! I then went on to spend my maternity leave in the wettest period on record in the UK. Of course that means I had the longest time off work i’ll have in a very long time and I spent it pushing a pram around in the rain.. Yay me.

I’ve been watching some eye-opening shows on Netflix lately. The Twister: Caught in the storm is a documentary about the 2011 tornado that hit the USA. It focuses on the city of Joplin in Missouri that was almost completely destroyed. There is some devastating and shocking footage which is hard to watch. The clips of the storm really reminded me of the lightning I used to see on a regular basis when living in Florida. The lightning used to really scare me so I can’t even imagine what it must be like to see a storm of this scale! 161 people sadly lost their lives in the storm. 

Last week I watched La Palma a four part series about a volcano eruption on the Canary island of La Palma. It’s not real but it’s based on a study and of course volcano’s are very real. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by volcano’s after hearing about Mount Saint Helens and the events of Pompeii. Even after all of this time I still remember those 2 events. I remember my mum taking me in to a high street bookstore and I picked out a book about weather and natural disasters. I can literally picture the pages in my mind with the volcano erupting out of the book in 3D. 

From my childhood fascination to reality, I’ve since visited three volcanos that I can remember. I have likely been to more but probably didn’t realise – Too many places, very poor memory.

The first I do remember was Mount Agung in Bali. I enjoyed a lovely lunch with a view of the volcano back in September 2015. This volcano erupted two years later in November 2017.

I visited the stunning Diamond Head in Hawaii back in May 2016 on my way home from my ultimate backpacking trip around the world. 

For my 30th I explored an active volcano in Greece and boy could you smell it! Stefanos Crater can be found on the island of Nisyros. It hasn’t erupted since 1888 and has the largest hydrothermal craters in the world!

There is definitely an element of fear that comes with visiting these places. My mind often wanders to dark places when I think of all the tragedy that has happened as a result of natural disasters.

In other years I’ve got to learn first hand what tragedy looks like during my time in the United States…

Hurricane Wilma

My first ever trip out of Europe back in 2005 I was greeted by Hurricane Wilma. Being just a teenager, my memories of this one are hazy. It was our first trip to the States and my first time at Walt Disney World so me and my sisters were super excited. Partway in to our holiday the weather took a turn for the worst and the sky was dark. I remember my dad driving us along the highways as the rain came down and we wondered when we might go back to Disney again. I didn’t fully understand what was going on at the time and I definitely didn’t understand the severity. All I remember was watching the hotels as we passed them by and hearing that some were evacuated. We travelled to visit some friends of family and when we returned our villa’s swimming pool was crawling with worms – Pure example of the strange memories our minds cling on to.

By the time Wilma hit Florida it was down to a category 2 but still managed to cause $19 billion in damage and take 30 lives in Florida alone.

Hurricane Irene

I was finally turning 21 and what better way to celebrate than heading to The Big Apple! I’d booked a gorgeous hotel with an epic view right in the thick of it all – Times Square. It was my first time in New York and I only had 5 nights to cram everything in so naturally I’d planned it down to the hour. Of course I didn’t know there were other plans on the horizon. I remember staying up through the night watching the news unfold as they tracked the hurricane getting closer and closer. I’d seen the signs all around the city and the sandbags propped up against the curbs. I’d watched the 24 hour city slowly shut down and close it’s doors. It was a bizarre sight to see and i’ll always remember walking the streets of an eerie Manhattan with no people. It was my 21st birthday when Irene hit and I spent the night in my hotel room watching the news.

Whilst Irene did reach Category 3, at the time of hitting New York it had weakened to a tropical storm. The impact it had on the city was felt all over but luckily the physical damage was minimal. Sadly throughout it’s destruction it claimed 49 lives.

Hurricane Harvey

There are many things I could say about this one. It will exist in my memory for the rest of my life. When you experience real fear it never truly leaves you. I have never been as scared as I was being in Houston, Texas when Hurricane Harvey hit. I wrote about my story at the time on this very blog. If you want to read more please click here.

Harvey was one of the costliest in US history inflicting $125 billion in damage. It claimed the lives of at least 107 people.

I recently read that Hurricane Harvey in 2017 was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005. Really!? So you’re telling me that I happened to be in the same country, in the same state, in the same location at the exact same time that the same two hurricanes hit? I don’t even live in the USA! The chances of me planning holidays over a decade apart across two different locations completely is so slim. In fact, I would bet that you are more likely to meet a lottery winner than someone from the UK who found themselves in this position.

But if I’m honest, if it was between being in two major hurricanes vs winning the lottery… I know which I’d choose.

All photographs on this post are taken by me or of me. Those taken in Houston, Texas during Hurricane Harvey are particularly emotional for me to look back on. I am so sorry to anyone who was caught up in any of the tragedies written about in this post.