Travel Talk.

So after many, many months of planning and researching I have finally taken the plunge and booked my tickets for my worldwide adventures.

I have learn't so much already from just these first initial steps into planning my trip... planning such a mammoth adventure is completely overwhelming!

I am thankfully now in the final stages and entering the two week countdown until leaving (standby by for the travel blog!)

Here are some tips that I have learn't along the way...

Don't rush into booking things.
It has taken nearly a year to properly plan everything and although it was frustrating at times finding a million reasons not to go with one company or another, it was so worth it in the end.. I ended up saving a huge amount of money on flights through properly shopping around so take your time.

Read reviews.
There are a lot of extreme and sometimes unfair reviews out there so definitely take them with a pinch of salt. Its worth looking through legitimate review sites but don't let them be too much of an influence or you will be going round in circles.

Ask questions.
Don't be scared to ask! Whether its the nurse giving you jabs or the guy selling you your travel insurance ... no matter how big or small its worth asking. Talking and inquiring is what gets you that extra information that you cant find anywhere else.

Talk to experienced travellers.
I have hands down learn't the most from just speaking to people I know who have travelled. Its amazing! Nothing is more valuable to you then a friend who is fresh off the plane from their own trip so seek their advice and you won't regret it!

Give yourself plenty of time.
When I say plenty of time I really do mean it.  We have been planning this trip for about a year and a half and although its finally coming together it has been a slow process. You need a lot of planning time just to get your head around the basics and trust me, there is so much you won't have thought of ... its been a real eye opener!

Prioritise.
Tick things off in a sensible order. Work in a logical manner, from biggest to smallest. Don't even begin to worry about clothes for example until you have your flights booked. Equally allow yourself time for visas to be processed and documents to be received in the post.

These are just a few things but worth thinking about.

Happy planning!
X

Tales of the London Underground...

The London Underground.
To most an efficient, simple and direct way to get around London with ease.. to me? An absolute maze of confusion and stress.

Today I ventured to London to meet some friends from University and catch up.. and yet again was reminded how much I can't navigate myself around our dear capital city! Its a total nightmare...

I managed to take the longest possible route to get to where I wanted, thank goodness I had a travel card or else I would have probably spent a small fortune on tickets..

I'm afraid I am one of those poor people who was not born with any sense of direction at all, northbound and southbound mean absolutely nothing to me. I can only go by colours and the rest usually comes down to following random people in the hope that they are going my way!

Note to self: learn the tube, you're an adult now. (Although I am sure I am not alone).. right..? X

Romeo, Romeo where for art thou ... anyone?!

So you've reached that time in your life when suddenly you have looked up and around you are most of your friends all loved up in relationships...

 

Its not that it bothers you because actually you're pretty content as you are. I mean I for one absolutely love that I can do whatever I want to do, see who I want to see, get drunk and dance around like a nutter with no one to answer to in the morning. Its absolutely liberating and I love my independence... its more for me that thought deep down that thinks shit, should I be like everyone else now? Finding someone and 'dating'?!

 

I don't know about you but I'm afraid I am that one in the group who can sadly relate most to a mix of Bridget Jones and Jess from New Girl (please go and watch this program if you haven't - its absolutely brilliant). It's not that I don't try to pull off sexy, mysterious and desirable ... I just can't. Perhaps its the perils of having absolutely gorgeous friends but yes ladies, I am that girl who spills her drink over the hot guy or stacks it whilst trying my hardest to look composed or gets a text from said hot guy asking for the number of one of my pals ... its safe to say that in the big wide world of dating I wouldn't know the first thing about anything.

So for all you single ladies (and gents) out there who may just be feeling a bit like me and wondering what could possibly be worse then feeling lonely and like a third wheel, here are some of the best bits of single life:

 

You have more money to spend on yourself.
Without another half you instantly free yourself from the pressure of expensive Birthday and Christmas presents and frequent dinners, take aways and those anniversaries and valentines celebrations that you are never sure what to do for. Instead your hard earned money belongs to you and you can spend it however you wish. Save it, spend it it doesn't matter!

 

You have more time.
Relationships are hard work. When you aren't seeing each other you are texting or messaging or calling from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep - it can be a 24 hour thing! As a singleton you only have time for yourself; this opens up more time for your friends, family and most importantly yourself! You can spend your free evenings dressing up for a night out with your friends or equally you can crash out on the sofa with a movie and no one need know about it. Time is such a precious thing so having more of it can only be a blessing right?

 

You have an all new appreciation for your friends.

Since being single I have definitely seen so much more of my friends and in turn my friendships are much stronger. When you don't have a partner you have to depend on your friends more; you open up to them, you tell them about your day and share your worries with them. This not only forms a stronger bond between you all but it also makes you realise how great your friends are and what a support they are to you. On the other hand you can also be there for them and give them your undivided attention so it definitely works both ways.

You have nothing tying you down.
With only yourself to worry about you have nothing restricting you to a certain place or plan. It is so liberating when you think that you can just pack up everything and go and it would only expand your horizons and bring you new friends and stories to tell. I am just applying for a job and I could be placed in one of seven regions in the country and I am so excited, albeit a little scared, but the thought of moving to a new place and getting to know it is really great. I am also in the middle of planning to travel for a few months next year and again I can plan this trip and it doesn't matter how long I go for or what I do when I am there; its completely on my terms and again, its a really liberating feeling.

 

You can work on your self-esteem.
Being in a relationship commits you to one person and quite rightly so; I am definitely not one for condoning any sort of cheating, or messing around as I believe once you are with someone you owe them your loyalty and respect. However as a single person you can go out and chat to whoever you want to, you can flirt and laugh and take advantage of the odd free drink - its absolutely fine! Embrace the world of dating, go out for dinners and relish the attention; as long as you are being safe and careful this is your time to be noticed or to notice other people, so its time to look good, feel good and get out there!

You don't have to worry so much about the finer details.
(Sorry guys but this one is more for the ladies) Girls I am sure you will all agree with me, but single life allows us to 'relax' a little in the cosmetics department. We don't have to worry all the time about what we look like, when we crash out in our joggers and sweats with no make up on and greasy hair, we can! Your legs don't need to be clean shaven every day of the week and you don't have to worry about morning breath or plucking your eyebrows on those days when you really can't be bothered. Of course when we are out on the town or there is a special occasion we can then go all out, dress to impress and relish in the fact that tomorrow no one is going to see you scoffing a dominoes in your pjs!

You can rediscover yourself.
More than anything, being single is a time for you to get to know and love you. Sometimes for people who have been in bad relationships a lot of damage has been done to your self esteem and you may not even be aware of it. If a relationship is not particularly healthy you may look back at it and realise that you were constantly put down, or laughed at or controlled and this may have really had an impact on how you feel about yourself long after the relationship has ended. Being single is a time to draw a line under that person you used to be and reinvent yourself. You can like whatever music you want to, you can buy that outfit you always wanted but didn't buy because you knew your other half would hate it. Start new hobbies, take on challenges and surround yourself with people who make you feel good - this really is a time to learn about you and what makes you tick and once you are back in a relationship you may never get this precious time again.

 

Relationships are amazing things; there is no doubt that being in a happy and healthy relationship is a gift and its the best feeling. I have many gorgeous friends who are in great relationships and wouldn't look back and I am by no means saying that being in a relationship is a negative thing - far from it! What I am saying is people who are single and maybe feeling a bit lost can forget the positives of being single and there are so many of those too.

I am a firm believer in love and fate and somewhere out there is someone for everyone, you may have even met them already or know them already (weird!) but right now it just isn't your time. Hang on in there and get embracing your freedom because one day you might wish you had it back.

So for all you singletons out there, take life by the balls and go and have some fun - you're gorgeous so don't stop smiling (you never know who might be paying you attention!) x

Job Interviews.

I am back and have made a vow to myself to set aside a weekly slot to dedicate solely to my blog.
In my defence I have been really busy, taking my first baby steps into the big wide world of job-hunting but sadly no longer for a part time job to feed my social life when the student loan has gone, but instead for an actual career!

I had my first real experience of a 'grown up' job interview last week and I must say it was a real adventure.
It was in London, so involved a lot of planning and travelling before I had even got to the interview itself. Now, for those of you out there who find the prospect of travelling anywhere on a train, on your own, quite daunting you will understand how I felt. Then throw in the fact that once you get to your destination you then have to navigate yourself through the busy streets of London under time pressure and you really are creating a recipe for disaster.

It was a very early start; having wolfed down a cereal bar and taken one sip from my boiling hot tea as I ran out the door (its always the nicest cup of tea when you don't have time to finish it) I was sat in my car driving to the station, the early morning radio stations playing upbeat songs, probably trying to help you wake up and feel chirpy, I am afraid there is nothing to be chirpy about at 6 o'clock in the morning.
I reached the station which was already packed full of cars and men in their suits locking up as they headed into the station. Being a newbie to the morning commute I parked up and went to get my ticket and off into the station I went.
Standing at the platform was actually quite peaceful, after of course I had checked, double checked and triple checked that I was at the right station, on the right platform and waiting for the right train (as I said, baby steps). There were so many people around which was quite a pleasant surprise at this time of day, although it was clear no one was in the mood to talk, or smile at that.
Despite my very best intentions of looking alert and reading through my interview notes on the train, within about twenty minutes I was fast asleep.
I was awoken an hour later by an older man, dressed in a very expensive looking suit, warning me that the train had reached London Bridge. I tried to awake gracefully but I think it was clear to him that I was really not ready for this day and in hindsight I probably owed him an apology for falling asleep on his shoulder for the majority of the journey.

I left the train with the crowds of London commuters, all walking briskly with a purpose; no doubt they do this journey all the time and you can tell - some of them literally did have their eyes shut! I followed the crowds through the barriers and after having to get change so I could pay 30p to use the toilet (I have never understood how they can put a price on going to the toilet) I actually managed to find the interview building remarkably quickly despite getting a little bit lost.

The interview lasted a whole day and was a pretty draining experience ... I have put together a few little tips for all you guys out there who have big interviews coming up that like me are a bit scatty and prone to disaster...

1) Plan your travels way ahead but when it comes to it be ready to pluck up the courage to ask for help
I printed out all the maps and had my journey in my head but upon leaving the station and reading 'head north-west' I was instantly lost! I had no idea where to go and the more confused I got the more I panicked. Even consulting google maps didn't help and so I had to ask a passer by for some directions. She was actually really kind and really helpful so don't be afraid to ask someone, especially in London where everyone around you can look busy.

2) Dress to impress but think practical
So the dress code was 'professional' which is always a little trickier for the ladies as we have so many more options and don't just have to dust off our finest suits (gents!) but find something that makes you feel comfortable. I do think wearing heels can be a brilliant thing, they give you confidence and can actually make you stand taller with better posture so I went for a small heel BUT for the train journey and the 15 minute walk through London I actually wore my flip flops! Despite getting a few strange looks I was comfortable and was able to keep up with the crowds without breaking an ankle ... just do remember to change into your heels before you enter the interview building (whoops!)

3) Be confident from the outset
Its so important, especially in groups situations to stand your ground. Being in a group of about thirty other applicants, it was really clear to me how important it is for you to make an impact on the crowd and let your presence be known. There will always be someone who takes control and tries to phase everyone else or intimidate them but when you clock that person stay alert but focus on you and how you come across; let them remember you for the right reasons.

4) Don't over analyse
Once a section or stage of the interview is done it is over. You can't go back and change anything so just use all that energy and adrenaline to drive the next stage!

Whatever you do keep calm and go for it!
Good luck guys! x

End of an era.

Firstly I am so sorry it has take me so long to write another post. It has been an absolutely crazy few weeks full of exams and results and the dreaded ... goodbyes!
Everyone who has graduated from university will no doubt no exactly how I am feeling right now.. it is so strange!
One day you are revising and stressing and wishing that your exams would hurry up and finish but then they do and before you know it you have emptied your bedroom, cleared your kitchen and you are back in your room at home.
It really is quite the anticlimax ... I am looking around my room at the garish pink that I thought was my favourite colour, aged 15. I have tried to bring a touch of uni back with me but it isn't the same, the days of student houses are now gone for me and it actually feels quite sad!
I can honestly say going to university was the best thing I ever did. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I literally chose a subject I liked, that was my only reasoning but as the years passed I enjoyed it and clicked with it and along the way met friends I will keep for the rest of my life; it was such a great thing for me.
For anyone out there with even a hint of desire to go, then do it!
It's not always easy, if you are anything like I was you will feel rotten for the first few weeks, you'll long for home and family and friends, you won't like being cooped up in a tiny bedroom with a bathroom you have to share with people you don't know, the food won't taste nice and you'll miss your television and home comforts BUT if you push through that its amazing how much you end up missing the tiny student bedroom that you made your own and your daily supernoodle lunch and the mould that grew up the walls of the bathroom ... I know I sound like a nutter but its absolutely true.
Most of all you'll miss your friends, the best friends you make along the way. Living with people brings you amazingly close together - you can live with someone for three years and know them as well as friends back home you have known since you were three. You know all their habits and they know yours, you know how they take their tea, you know how they sound when they sing in the shower - you just know them inside out!
I was lucky enough to meet some great people and even if it doesn't happen right away you will eventually too, people who are just like minded and love all the things you do (well not all the things)

Just go for it guys and know that we are all very jealous of you! x

Fake Bake or Huge Mistake?

It has taken me until the age of twenty to finally admit defeat and turn to the fake tan...
Can you really blame me with the summer we have had so far?! I didn't realise the extent of my paleness until trying on a dress for my summer ball this weekend. I mean, girls, how unforgiving are those changing room mirrors at the best of times? They add more thigh to your thighs, they drain you of every last centimetre of 'I love that part of my body' and they can make you walk out of them with more determination to diet then you ever had before. What idiot thought that shoving a woman into a 1m x 1m mirrored box with a dress she isn't too sure she looks nice in and/or will even fit her was a good idea?!
So I tried this dress on at the weekend; thankfully I absolutely loved the dress (a very rare but beautiful occasion) but to my horror during the trying on saga I realised just how pale my arms and body actually are. Enter: fake tan.
I went off to boots after minimal research - the thought was there but I ended up being distracted on youtube so my serious 'research' was interrupted. I found the isle after spending a good ten minutes looking at sun creams by mistake and was greeted by an array of various products. Being a student, the more expensive products were ruled out immediately after quickly convincing myself that just because they cost the most doesn't mean they are the best ... and eventually picked one I liked the look of. Now I am sure some of you ladies can correct me on this, but I literally had no idea what shade to choose - there are no testers or guidance its just 'dark', 'medium' or 'light' .... I wish they just were honest and said 'quite orange', 'a bit more orange' and 'stop now this will spoil your photos and your life orange'. I picked light to be on the safe side and also chose the product I had seen on TV recently - made sense to me!
Anyway I have just applied a tester to my stomach (yes okay I sprayed my name, but it is on my stomach and I really don't think there is much chance of me bearing that in the next few days and I couldn't resist) so I will see how it looks tomorrow and decided whether to brave the full body application ...

Stay tuned for fake tan round two! x

Exams.

Exams. There is absolutely nothing fun about them. They are the most stressful, scary things and they horribly effect your sleep, diet and general well being. Everyone can relate to how miserable you feel when you have exams and for those of you, like me, who decided to go straight to university will know that after 7 consecutive years of exams you really have had enough of them.

I vowed to be prepared for my finals ... I mean REALLY prepared. I thought I could combine my past experiences to become some super revision machine who was SO prepared for my exams that I could spend the evening before each exam flicking through 'a few past papers' commending myself on just how well prepared I was ... oh boy! I could not have been more wrong about that idea...
No matter how much you try to prepare you are never ready.
Don't get me wrong I did work - I had to! But I still felt that horrible serge of panic as I entered my penultimate revision day and still found myself frantically scanning lectures, discovering new slides I had missed or had previously vowed to 'look back over' ... horrific!
I had six exams, which isn't as many as some and to be fair they were reasonably spread out bar the last few and despite feeling fairly in control at the start of the two week exam period, by the end of it I was a broken human being ... they really do wipe you out! I became some crazed machine that was functioning (efficiently functioning would be a very strong term) on about 5 hours of sleep a night and a diet of cereal, coffee, coffee, coffee and whatever was in the freezer for dinner... despite Mums stern warning to make sure I eat fruit and keep healthy - there was no time for that!
I have been unfortunate enough to have suffered a fair few exam disasters in my time ... I remember once in my first year at university we stayed in catered accommodation and upon leaving the dining hall I trod on a fork, in my flip flops (we had a summer that year, crazy I know). It seemed very minor at the time, no visible injuries, until walking towards the exam hall I looked down at my foot and saw it was gushing with blood. How ridiculous. With no time to spare I limped briskly to the exam hall, accompanied my two of my friends who were doing nothing but pointing and wetting themselves laughing, I rushed to the reception area to seek out a plaster of some kind only to be told to go into the hall and someone would bring one ... so there I was, in my seat, in the middle of a sports hall filled with hundreds of other students, with some poor receptionist knelt down beside me applying a plaster to my gushing foot. I don't know what was more embarrassing; the eager first aid I received in front of all the other students or the fact that, when asked how it had happened, I could only reply 'I trod on a fork'.

So if you take anything from this post, realise that exams are horrible, no matter who you are or what you are doing but no matter what happens, you could always have trod on a fork and sat down with a bleeding foot ... so it really could be worse. (Although I did surprisingly well in that exam it must be said)

I am thankfully free now but for those of you still going - good luck and watch out for cutlery! x

Revision.

Yes, it is that dreaded 'R' word that we all despise.
I hate to say this and I know there will be many academic lecturers and teachers frowning upon what I am about to say, but in all honesty, try as you may, you are always going to have to cram..
We all vow to start early and with each passing exam term we promise ourselves that we will never, no matter what, put ourselves under that kind of stress and pressure again, but we do.
I mean, don't get me wrong, you do have to do some work and without doubt I do believe that you get out what you put in... but if it is one week until your first exam and you feel as though you can't remember anything, from my own experience that is pretty normal..
The real learning comes in that crucial few days before the exam when you find yourself in some kind of crazy exam mode when suddenly you are able to sit down, without music blaring through your headphones and read that 12 page paper or huge chapter of that textbook you've been avoiding like the plague.

I am not an exam person at all.
I completely dread them from about Christmas time. No matter how hard I try to have that confidence and arrogance all the really smart people have, I can never bring myself to say 'I smashed that exam' or 'I can't wait for this paper, whatever comes up, should be easy this one' ... No thank you. I certainly will not be tempting fate when it comes to the dreaded exam halls.

It is the most surreal experience sitting an exam. For a whole two or three hour period everyone is completely focussed and you find yourself writing pages of words and facts and information that you didn't actually know that you knew...

Whatever happens you've just got to try and keep calm and remember that it is your chance to 'show off what you know' as they say ... although really you just can't wait to finish so you can cross off another module or topic that you don't need to know any more ...

If you are like me and you are preparing yourself for the most horrible two weeks of the year and frantically popping the vitamin c tablets like no-ones business because you know it is a matter of time before your tonsils flare up with the stress, then I would like to wish you all the luck in the world - it's not our time of year but all you can do is get your head down and get on with it and remember that cold beers and pubs will still be around when you are finished and you would have most definitely earn't that first pint...

Good luck! x

Blogging.

Welcome to my new blog... I have been meaning to get back into blog writing for ages but haven't had the time to sit down and get around to it until now.
What can you expect from this blog? Good question. I guess it is a means for me to stay in touch with a lot of my travelling friends, and for them to keep in touch with me on my travels.. It is also just mean't for fun in the hope that out there somewhere are many other twenty-something folks who, like me, are trying to claw themselves into adulthood but maintain the fun we never want to let go .. if it brings a smile to someone's face or provides something that someone can relate to then that is even better ... enjoy! x