Posts with the label Yearly Review
Showing posts with label Yearly Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yearly Review. Show all posts
31 Dec 2020
2020: Reflections & Favourite Photos
I’m a sucker for reflecting and planning at this time of year, but planning for 2021 is frustratingly impossible right now and I’ve had a real urge to ignore any kinds of reflections on 2020; my first instinct is to not focus on the tattered plans and memories that should have been or the mental health that deteriorated. Why relive the cancelled Christmas, two lockdowns, three cancelled holidays, four cancelled weddings, the abundance of anxiety, frustration, so many different kinds of grief and – if we’re honest – boredom?
Inevitably though, I started going through my photos from the last 12 months and, whilst there were a lot less than 2019, I was surprised by how many happy moments there were. So, despite my resistance, I ended up reflecting and looking back anyway.
I could only briefly bring myself to look at plans I wrote at the beginning of the year but it appears my thoughts for 2020 included travel, an alien amount of social engagements, more time dedicated to calmness and less time on my phone. Needless to say, none of this happened. There was a lot of ‘just surviving is enough’ stuff circulated online this year and yet I’ve noticed rather a lot of lists-of-achievements doing the rounds on social media in the last couple of weeks. People who achieved all their goals for the year or people who just managed to achieve a lot in general, all regardless of Covid. And hey, great to celebrate achievements and all that. But if you need to hear it: I have no idea what I’ve achieved this year unless you count lying in a heap as an achievement.
But even when everything felt really, really dismal, there were shiny, joyous moments: sunshiny walks, happy days at the beach, jumping in ballpools, seeing our favourite band live, a stay in the Hoxton Hotel, my best pal asking me to be his best wo-man, a brand new kitchen, restoring my Grandad’s chair and all the work and love we have poured into our house, blossom trees, so much baking and cooking, video calls with my girls, celebrating our first wedding anniversary in lockdown, two summer trips to London filled with cats, babies, good food and favourite friends, a stag do, glamping in Norfolk, stargazing and BBQs and firepits, mini breaks in the Cotswolds & Cambridge, savouring the moments where we could see family & friends in person, pink cotton cloud skies, the most beautiful actual real-life wedding, pub gardens, baby cuddles, hot chocolates and twinkly fairy lights.
This year, more than ever, I have appreciated that people are more important than anything else no matter what latest achievement or goal society pushes upon us. I have appreciated the importance of the little things, of the hug and the tiny gestures and little parcels in the post from friends. I have appreciated sunshine and the seaside and the therapy of kneading dough in a way I have never done before. I have appreciated my lovely home and my bloody marvellous husband.
I’m also proud of the work we’ve done on our house, proud of friendships maintained despite a year apart, proud of working in a role and for an organisation that supports the NHS and improves patient care, proud of finally nailing the perfect bread loaf (it really is the small things), proud of not losing our damn minds. And proud of all key workers who have kept us all going despite a shit government. I bow down to you.
Looking through those photos, I remembered that we survived and there were many moments of joy so I pulled out all the photos that made me smile from each month of this crap year and put them altogether and that is what I am going to choose to remember and focus on.
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Happy new year all, and here's to an improved 2021 x
31 Dec 2019
2019: A Year In Review
Cor blimey, this won’t be a year we will forget any time soon. There is no way that, for Gary and I, this year won’t be remembered as the-year-we-got-married-and-bought-a-house and all that came with that. It’s been a bit mad, a bit hectic, a bit sometimes-anxiety-provoking but for the most part, it’s been pretty darn special. Here’s a round up of 2019!
JANUARY
We kicked off the year with a bang; heading to our wedding pub to see in 2019 with booze and our wedding band Katie Plus Juan. I wasn’t really feeling going out to begin with but ended up dancing and laughing until about 3am; the best kind of night. I felt all creative and excited for the year ahead – we had so much planned. We spent a lot of the month doing wedding admin, including my first dress fitting; it all suddenly felt a lot closer the other side of Dec 31st!
We also squeezed in a trip to the Kent countryside with my family, I headed to Towcester for a weekend with my girls and we introduced my mum and step-dad to Gary’s family which, again, made the wedding feel much more real! Plus I challenged myself to take a photo every day to keep doing something creative amongst all the madness.
Favourite moments – drunkenly dancing around the kitchen in the early hours of new years day & trying on my wedding dress for the first time.
FEBRUARY
February started with snow and ended with a freak heatwave. It was weird. I celebrated my twenty seventh birthday with lunch in Sketch and finally going to see The Lion King at the theatre (oh and ate huge doughnuts), and the next day Gary and I celebrated four years together with a night out at a cheese and wine bar. I think I found myself in a weird mood come the end of the month. It was over a year since we got engaged and I was impatient for the wedding now, but my birthday made me do a minor double take, mostly because my younger self used to think 27 was a good age to have my first baby. Come again? I found myself wanting to time to hurry up and also slow down.
Favourite moments – taking photos in the Sketch toilets with Alice (if you know, you know), scoffing huge doughnuts from Doughnut Time on my birthday, drinking huge glasses of gin to celebrate our four year anniversary, going for a walk without a jacket in the bizarre sunshine at the end of the month.
MARCH
Luckily, the beginning of March snapped me out of that mood as I kicked off the month in Lancaster with my girls. It was exactly what I needed to set me right and I will always be grateful for friends who can do that for me.
The highlight of March was absolutely my hen do in the peak district. I had a blast. Every time I think about it, even now, I feel so darn happy. I felt so lucky and grateful for the beautiful people I call my friends, and came away from the weekend feeling so incredibly loved. I will never not feel emotional at the effort Lizzie and Becca went to organise it for me or chuckle every time I hear the song Africa.
Favourite moments – every moment of my hen do, it’s impossible to pick just one although the moment I first arrived and saw everyone waiting for me with a glass of prosecco does spring to mind.
APRIL
Shit ramped up in April. It felt like we came out of a lull wedding-wise and there was suddenly so much to do. Just to add to our fun, somewhat spontaneously and earlier than expected, we started house viewings and immediately fell for the first one we saw which complicated things!
I took Gary on a surprise weekend in Suffolk for his birthday where we stayed in a windmill. It was a lovely relaxed weekend, interspersed with phone calls to the estate agents trying to arrange a second viewing.
A week later – on the 12th April to be exact – we made an offer on the house and it was accepted. I was in a café when Gary rung to tell me and I can remember wrapping my half-eaten flapjack up in a napkin and running through town like a flapping pigeon.
As a result, our Easter weekend was filled with Ikea trips and browsing kitchen catalogues!
Favourite moments – chilling out in our windmill in Suffolk, finding out the offer on our house had been accepted, sitting in the sunshine in the pub garden browsing kitchen catalogues during Easter weekend.
MAY
May was a lovely one. I’m sure there were moments of stress but my overwhelming memory is of feeling relaxed and excited. I went to stay with my dad for a few days, did a photography course I’d long wanted to do and had a lovely day with my girls a couple of weeks before the wedding where I got to see their bridesmaid dresses in the flesh for the first time. I also got to set my out of office for nearly a month which was uhmazing.
Favourite moments – the girls prancing around my tiny flat kitchen in their bridesmaid dresses, feeling proud at some of the photos I took on the course, finishing my last day at work for nearly a month, the day before our wedding when all our family and friends arrived and we spent the afternoon/evening jumping between pubs and restaurants to catch-up with everyone.
JUNE
What. A. Month. 1 June 2019 was our wedding day and it really was one of the happiest days of my life – yup, I’m a cliché. Everything just felt perfect for us and we had a whale of a time. It was such a special day.
Our honeymoon was also a dream. We spent a week in New York – our favourite city - before flying out to California for a ten-day adventure, covering San Francisco, Sonoma Valley, the Redwoods and Yosemite National Park. It was once in a lifetime and a trip we will never forget.
A complete whirlwind of a month but one we will be talking about for the rest of our lives!
Favourite moments – I honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin. Watching a stunning sunset over the Manhattan skyline, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, the first moment we arrived in the wonder that was Yosemite National Park… to name a few - there are so many! You can read all of my favourite moments from our wedding day here.
Favourite moments – I honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin. Watching a stunning sunset over the Manhattan skyline, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, the first moment we arrived in the wonder that was Yosemite National Park… to name a few - there are so many! You can read all of my favourite moments from our wedding day here.
JULY
My main memory of July is packing. The Move was upon us and we had to push through any post-wedding, post-honeymoon blues to get shit sorted. Whilst stressful, it does prevent you from brooding too much should you also be wondering what to do with yourself after a major life event/holiday. Leaving our flat carried so many emotions; we were excited to begin the next chapter but that flat and those three and a bit years in St Albans will always be so special to us. It really was bittersweet.
Favourite moments – picking up the keys to our new house, having a moment stood outside our lovely flat the night before we left, having a picnic in our new garden on moving day – the packing was over and we were in!
AUGUST
And so the DIY began! The house has turned into way more of a project than we had really prepared ourselves for and a lot of work and love is going into it. August was the start – the paint brushes were out! The temperatures were bloody hot and the house was bloody messy but we were doing this!
Favourite moments – getting the office painted and a desk set-up – the first small step! A brief trip to Kent to visit Gary's friends and family. Heading to Towcester on the bank holiday where we were given wine, a baked Camembert, good company and a lawnmower; it was as a welcome break from painting. Thanks Claire and Bec!
SEPTEMBER
This month feels blurry. Work was hectic, we started the bedroom renovation; I felt wound up and like there was so much to do. I was genuinely surprised when we were suddenly at the end of the month – where did it go?
We spent the final few days in Devon which was well timed; we had a week doing nothing apart from eating and reading which was probably what prevented us from losing the plot slightly.
Favourite moment – the golden leaves appearing and getting the opportunity to breathe in some sea air and actually, well, breathe.
OCTOBER
October was a weird one. Whilst I had a lovely weekend in Nice, France with my family, there were also a few events that threw me off kilter and I’ve not felt that anxious in a long time. A sad and frustrating one for the most part.
Favourite moment – walking along the Promenade des Anglaise in Nice at sunset. It was stunning and a rare moment of peace during October.
NOVEMBER
A month that made me feel like me again. The girls and I had our annual weekend away to the countryside – this year to Warwickshire – and there’s nothing like some of your favourite people, autumnal countryside and a roast dinner to make you feel calmer again. The weekend after, I went on another venture to the countryside with my uni brother and sister and it was so good to catch up with them. There was also a surreal moment when we realised we were staying in a famous tv presenter's house which was very amusing.
On the back of October, I also challenged myself to National Novel Writing Month. If you’re unfamiliar, the concept is to write 50,000 words in a month, to focus on getting your novel down and worry about the editing later. I already had a busy November planned so I knew I would never get anywhere near the final word count but the year had been so hectic that I’d had very little time to write, and the challenge put a rocket up my arse. I came away from the month £15k words up and was really happy about it.
Favourite moments – walking down a country lane lined with autumnal trees with my girls, the moment Greg, Hayley and I realised whose house we were in (cue much laughter), typing away every day, twinkling Christmas lights starting to appear everywhere.
DECEMBER
And finally! December has been more relaxed than normal, with little desire to jump into party season and plenty of desire to just potter about with the Christmas tree twinkling in the background. It’s been a mammoth year and we were ready to stop. New Year’s Eve plans don’t go much further than good food and a few films and I’m happy about it.
Favourite moments – putting our first Christmas tree up in our new house, chilling out at my dads for a few days before Christmas, introducing Gavin & Stacey to my mum & step-dad on Christmas Day, taking a Boxing Day trip to Ikea (we can’t stop) and our master bedroom finally being ready to move into, just before the year is out!
Happy new year folks x
Happy new year folks x
30 Dec 2019
When Travel Goes Wrong: The Stories From 2019
I’m not saying I’m cursed or anything but public transport and/or the weather have been known to fail me quite epically whilst trying to get somewhere. I’ve been stranded in Brussels, pulled out of mud by a tractor, ended up in completely the wrong part of the country thanks to a train derailment, driven up the motorway during the beast from the east and I’m always getting travel sick. I do try to see the funny side when writing up the stories for the blog and amusingly, they are some of my most popular blog posts. So here are the stories from 2019. Thanks for enjoying my pain guys.
Er, why are we in Miami?
Not entirely sure I’m over this one tbh because it happened ON OUR HONEYMOON. Ffs. Alright, yes, a major first world problem but still. No one wants to spend part of their honeymoon stuck in Miami airport. Which, just so we are clear, is like the very centre of the seven circles of hell.
We’d just had a dreamy week in New York and were ready for our flight to San Francisco and the next part of our adventure so I practically skipped into JFK airport. And then we found out our flight was cancelled and I promptly stopped skipping. We were told we would have to turn back around and traipse to La Guardia airport, fly to Philadelphia and then be on standby for a flight to San Francisco. She may as well have told me I had to go sit in a bath full of spiders and I may have had a tantrum at the desk. My tears suddenly made her look a little harder and she presented us with the ‘best’ alternative which was to fly from JFK to Miami, wait in Miami airport for 4 hours and then do the 6 hour flight to San Francisco. No it did not make any geographical sense. Yes it turned our 6 hour flight into a 21 hour door-to-door journey. Yes it tested our very new marriage. Miami International airport had a huge, flowery ‘peace and love’ sign in it but we felt neither. It was like a huge shopping centre we couldn’t escape from. There was a hefty amount of British sarcasm about not being eaten by crocodiles. A burger so disgusting we agreed to never speak of it again. I had to beg the guy behind the desk to actually allow us to sit together and, despite the fact the flight is 6 hours long, domestic American Airlines flights apparently don’t have in-flight entertainment.
To top it off, British Airways refused to take any responsibility for the fiasco despite the fact all our flights were booked through them and American Airlines were not obliged to give us any compensation because they operate outside the EU law. So we got nada apart from the lovely honeymoon memories of our day out to Miami airport. I do begrudgingly admit that the plane views were rather good.
Boiled alive on a bus
I’m just going to dive right in on this one – the air conditioning failed on our minibus between Yosemite and San Francisco and the temperature outside was hot. Inside that bus, the temperatures were pushing the perfect boil-human-alive numbers. We’d been camping in Yosemite and hadn’t showered in two days, none of the windows would open and I was approximately 50% sweat, 50% angry gremlin. I am genuinely surprised someone on that bus didn’t snap and murder everyone in a delirious state. I can honestly say, I have never been that hot. Not in recent heatwaves, not in Singapore, not if I chose to sleep in a fucking oven. It was horrendous.
The only respite in that six hour journey was a supermarket stop which, blessed relief, had air conditioning. I marched up to the drinks counter and asked the guy if I could just buy a cup of ice without the drink. He was distracted and clearly thought I was a bit mental (picture me in hiking gear, un-showered, sweat everywhere, a delirious look in my eye) so just told me to help myself for free. I took an American extra-large cup and filled it with ice chips and then spent the rest of the journey either eating them or dropping them down the back of my t-shirt which was an improvement but didn’t really curb the delirium. At one point, the hellishness of the heat finally cracking me, I started laughing hysterically like a possessed banshee whilst throwing ice cubes at my face. We haven’t spoken about it since.
Stuck on a plane with drunk misogynists
Such a strange experience on our flight home from Nice, France. During the safety procedures, some moronic bloke behind us kept talking in an extra-loud and arrogant voice, telling the entire plane why he thought Brexit was a good idea. The air steward had to tell him to be quiet three times and the entire plane had firmly decided that the guy was a plonker. We’re literally on the runway, about to take off, I’m all ready to stick on my noise-cancelling headphones to drown out his stupid voice, and then suddenly the plane is swinging around and returning to the airport because ‘passengers are not complying with safety procedures’. Aka the guy had been talking throughout the entire thing. Never again will I have one eye on the in-flight entertainment during the safety demonstrations – no one wants to be the wanker delaying the flight.
So we’re then sat in – basically – a parking space not knowing what the hell is going on. There’s talk of someone being thrown off the plane but I can’t work out whether it’s the idiot behind us or some thing else has happened. You’d think this might make the moron shut up in the hope that he isn’t about to get kicked off the flight but oh no. He starts loudly bitching about the air steward and – I found out later – called her a ‘fat cow’. I missed this because I was trying to phase him out. My sister on the other hand – who was sat three seats away and closest to him – didn’t miss it and, it’s fair, to say flipped out. One minute I was scrolling through holiday photos determinedly not listening to anything he said and the next I was nearly dropping my phone because my sister had spun around in her seat and started shouting at him, kindly (okay not really) pointing out that the way he was talking about and treating women was horrific. Because you can never leave a sister (literally) to fight em alone, I immediately shouted YOU TELL HIM GIRL much to the amusement of my mum and step-dad who were sat between us. The woman sat directly behind me then shouted GOOD FOR YOU GIRLS so it really was a merry old party.
I’m not sure he got the point though because he was heard muttering that ‘clearly none of the women on the plane got laid recently’ so we will be making him re-sit his how-not-to-be-a-misogynist exam.
It then transpired that the person they were throwing off the plane was actually some drunk dude at the front so christ knows what drama we’d missed up there. Unfortunately, this meant we had to spend the rest of the flight, and passport control the other end, listening to our moron chat up a woman via the means of sexist jokes. She genuinely seemed to find them hilarious and LEFT THE AIRPORT WITH HIM. I have no words.
He also made sure the whole plane knew that he was a Trump supporter. Exactly 0 people were surprised.
31 Dec 2018
My Favourite Moments of 2018
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| @abellyfullofwords Instagram Top Nine |
G and I are heading to the pub (where else?) tonight to welcome in 2019, and celebrate a whole year of being engaged. I’m planning on dressing up but have a feeling all the cheese/chocolate/mince pies are going to come back and haunt me when I attempt to put my dress on. Pray for Kate.
The last time I sat down to write this post – on 30th December 2017 – I wrote ‘admittedly there’s still some of 2017 to go so if my absolute favourite moment happens in the next 24 hours, I’ll let ya know’.
And then, the next day, G proposed.
So I’m going to try and avoid any accidental premonitions this year, for fear I may trigger an unexpected pregnancy or summin’.
I started the year with a brand-new fiancé, planned a wedding, scribbled away in cafes and travelled more than I thought possible within 27 days annual leave. From the most northerly point of mainland Britain to the southernmost point of continental Asia and everywhere in between, you’ve been a ball 2018. Here’s my favourite moments from the last 12 months:
Waking up on New Year’s Day and remembering the events of the previous evening. Holy shit we’re engaged.
All the little exciting moments in January when we booked our wedding venue/photographer/band and particularly the day we chose my engagement ring. It’s a sparkly beauty and I bloody adore it.
Celebrating three years with G by chilling on the sofa, drinking wine and planning a wedding playlist.
Spending my 26th birthday in Singapore. It was our first day there, after booking the trip just a few weeks beforehand, and we were unbelievably hot and jet lagged. And yet, what a birthday. We tried local food, saw the Supertrees (which have been on my bucket list for so long), tried a Singapore Sling cocktail and generally soaked up the wonder of the whole bay area. It was a fabulous day.
Seeing the supertree light show and then the Spectra light show in Singapore and everything feeling a little bit magical.
Drinking mango lassis on the streets of Little India in Singapore just before flying home and feeling pretty darn lucky that I got to visit such an amazing place.
Seeing one of my oldest and best friends get married surround by a snow-covered landscape.
Sat in the Prae Wood Arms garden with G in April eating posh crisps and enjoying the little preview of summer.
The many, many moments I giggled during our trip to Ireland, particularly the moment we propped up an empty bar at 2 in the morning and knocked back the baileys.
Watching the most epic lightning storm over St Albans cathedral.
Sat on a secluded beach in Dartmouth, Devon enjoying the peace and chatting to a guy about where his dogs came from.
Discovering the town we’re pretty certain we want to move to in 2019.
Going to my Grandma’s house for the final time before she moved; it was bittersweet but I’m glad my final memories of her house are being sat in the sunshine watching the youngest member of our family totter about.
Coming across a zipwire stretched high above a beach during our North Coast 500 road trip and spontaneously deciding that, hell yes, I was going to do that, and five minutes later flying through the air.
So many other moments from our NC500 trip – the most wonderful gin tour, eating pasta on a picnic bench in the evening sun with chickens running around us and a view of the sea, highland brie pizzas, the endless amount of stunning views we saw day in and day out, and so many more.
Finding my wedding dress and the whole experience being lovely, proving all my doubts wrong.
Seeing Baby Wants Candy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – a completely improvised comedy musical based on a title the audience shout out at the beginning. Ours was ‘Haggis, neeps and titties’ – it was hilarious.
Panicking that we were going to run out of wine whilst in the Peak District with my gals and deciding we were going to walk to the local pub down the pitch-black country road. In the pouring rain. With the very real possibility of being hit by cars…. And then banging on the door of the pub after it had closed. I mostly remember a lot of hysterical laughter.
Sat in the square under the bell tower in Split, Croatia, drinking wine and eating cheese with G in the most unusual bar and just watching the world go by.
Seeing the beautiful Nyhavn in Copenhagen after imagining it for so long; I insisted on going back a few times a day. My favourite time was probably when we were there really early in the morning when it was practically empty and the light was beautiful.
Wandering around Kew Gardens and seeing all the Christmas lights whilst reminiscing about the first few weeks of uni with Alice.
Playing the Friends edition of Heads Up with my sister on Christmas Day and laughing so hard that a) I couldn’t say the word ‘Yemen’ and b) a little bit of pee came out.
Every little every-day moment with G, family and friends that one is unlikely to remember specifically but that made the year, and life, that bit more joyous.
Happy new year folks – and here’s to an excellent 2019.
30 Dec 2018
Thoughts On A Year Of Travel
At the end of 2017, I declared that I wanted 2018 to be ‘the year of the travel’. I wanted to squeeze as much travel as possible within 27 days annual leave, with an eye for ‘bigger’ trips rather than weekend city breaks.
I went to Singapore, Ireland, Croatia, Copenhagen and did the North Coast 500 road trip around the Scottish highlands. In between, I also (finally) went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, spent a few days in Devon and took a quick jaunt to the Peak District.
It. Has. Been. A. Ball.
The countries? Singapore was one of the most interesting places I have ever been to and I am so glad I want there as a standalone trip rather than using it as the stopover it often is. The Irish countryside was a beauty and I would love to see more one day; however, I found Dublin underwhelming. The North Coast 500 road trip was one of the best things I have ever done and I would highly recommend everyone add the Scottish highlands to their bucket list. Whilst I had a lovely time in Croatia and would recommend, I didn’t quite get the hype that seems to be building around it. Copenhagen was everything I imagined it would be and I’d go back in a heartbeat.
The planning? Both Singapore and Copenhagen were booked just a few weeks in advance, somewhat spontaneously, whereas our NC500 road trip, Croatia and Ireland were booked several months in advance. There are so many perks to trips planned spontaneously and trips planned meticulously that I think a healthy balance of both is the best way to get the most from travelling. As someone who can suffer from anxiety, over-planning can be my way of dealing with things. And yet, I think a bit of spontaneity – particularly when one has to get on a long-haul flight – prevents me from thinking too much of the things that could go wrong and embrace the moment. On the other hand, I would not recommend doing the North Coast 500 without a solid plan. Seriously, get yourself a spreadsheet.
I thought this year would sate my desire to travel and have adventures, at least for a while, but it seems to have done the exact opposite.
I will admit, when I got home from a last-minute trip to Copenhagen in October, I didn’t want to be back in an airport anytime soon. I’d spent half of February in Singapore and then from May to October, I went away every month. I’d had such a good time but, quite frankly, I was also knackered; I felt like a stranger with my own bed and was craving time at home. I thought I was sated.
It didn’t last long.
The world is big and there are so many places I want to see. My desire to travel is urgent, like the world’s countries are going to disappear if I don’t reach them asap. But I’m not really sure why I have this urgency. Sure, I think it’s good to have some urgency because otherwise I’d never go anywhere but sometimes my internet searches would imply I was about to pop my clogs and was trying to visit as many places as possible before I get hit by a bus.
But I’m learning to control my urgency. Because, what this year hasn’t done is make me want to throw in the job and spend a year or longer continuously travelling. Don’t get me wrong, if I won the lottery, this would be high up on my list of things to do. But doing a lot of travelling in 2018 has also made me very aware that there are plenty of other things that I also want to do now, and I don’t want to give these things up.
I’ve actually realised how much I love being at home, just as much as I love heading off on an adventure. Being home may not be as exciting or as exotic but it brings me a level of contentment that I wouldn’t be without for anything. I want to buy a house and I want to do it soon. I want to marry G and spend Saturdays in Ikea picking out a new bathroom. Spend Sunday mornings writing and hell, start an actual family. A different kind of adventure. And, despite all the ‘travel whilst you’re young’ stuff that is thrown around, I’ve realised that it doesn’t have to be one and then the other. A desire to travel can be a part of who I am for the rest of my life; I don’t need to visit everywhere now. Cos let’s face it, if I did, there’d be no where left for the rest of my life. And so, my wanderlust and my liking for home have learnt to sit relatively comfortably side by side. They still tug at each other a lot but I’m learning to take a deep breath and remember that it’s about appreciating each place fully, rather than trying to squeeze in as many countries as possible.
I have been incredibly lucky to visit all the places I’ve been to in 2018. But, based on a lot of things I see on social media/the media in general, you’d think the four new countries I had the opportunity to visit were nothing. Everyone loves to travel these days and I often feel like I am bombarded with the idea that travel is about ticking off as many countries as possible; that visiting four new countries in one year is now only visiting four new countries in one year. As though many of us have forgotten the funds required to travel. Then there’s this sense that unless you give up your job, fly long-haul and bungee jump over a canyon, you’re not having a proper adventure, not proper travelling. Apart from the fact that this sounds unbelievably wanky, it also makes travel and adventures seem very elitist. And I hate that.
So whilst my adventures abroad over the best year have been incredible, and I know I will travel abroad again in 2019; as we move into the new year, I will also strive to embrace more microadventures. My favourite definition of a microadventure is ‘an adventure that is short, simple, local, cheap – yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding’. In my eyes, a microadventure can be anything you want it to be and can bring just as much joy as an experience that required travelling half way around the world for. One of my favourite adventures in the last year? Probably making my way down a pitch-black country lane in the rain, with speeding cars, just for the sake of giggles and wine. I didn’t leave the country. I barely needed to get dressed. But it filled me with laughs and adrenaline and I won’t forget it anytime soon.
Adventures can be swift, they can be small and they are most definitely subjective. They can be the tiniest step outside your everyday routine. An adventure is any new undertaking that quickens the pulse. Adventure has a broad definition, and we should fight to keep it so. All true adventure is an inner adventure. It’s our emotional response to a change in our physical circumstances. If it’s an adventure to you, it’s an adventure. – Anna Hart
31 Dec 2017
A look back at 2017
2017 goals here
Am currently sat in our study come lazy-boy-chair come place-to-dump-things-and-close-the-door room. I don’t actually sit in here very often but just had a sudden fancy for getting cosy in the smallest room in the flat (bar the bathroom – but why would I go chill in there?). So I’ve created some kind of cosy cave with a gillion candles. G is sleeping because he’s ill and I’m wondering if he’s actually going to make it through the New Year’s Eve celebrations we have planned.
I may end the year surrounded by tissues and a feverish boyfriend. Hoping it’s not a sign of how 2018 is gonna go.
Because we’re in the final days of 2017, I’ve been having a read back of THIS post that I wrote this time last year all about my goals for 2017. It was fun to reflect on my ambitions for the year ahead but I didn’t think I would actually come back to it to see how I got on. Yet here I am.
It’s weird how you look back at something you wrote a year ago and think oh yeah, this time last year I was in that head space. I feel so different towards my job than I did this time last year. At the end of 2016, I knew I wanted to make some kind of decision about my day job. I didn’t actively dislike it but I was often bored and had a strong feeling of wanting to shake things up a bit. I actually went to a few interviews this year but, really, all they seemed to do was show me just how flexible my current job is. And flexibility is so important to me as it allows me to pursue other ambitions. I am so, so lucky to be able to work compressed hours and from home and I began to realise that giving that up would require something special to come along. It didn’t. As I was debating all of this, I was actually offered a promotion, to do a kind of hybrid role that involved more responsibility and more money. Although it’s been more stress and a rather big learning curve, I think I’m enjoying it and there’s a good chance a further promotion is on the cards in the new year. I have no goals surrounding work for next year, I’m simply adopting the ‘let’s see how we get on eh’ approach.
The year also saw G and I start sharing a bank account and I can now barely remember what it was like when we didn’t. This means regular discussions about our savings which isn’t actually the most interesting of topics but it’s a lot better than ‘oh shit, I have no savings’ discussions. Hashtag adulting.
(I did actually spend a few savings on buying the Olympus Pen camera but as if I have regrets about bringing that baby into my life).
Somewhat surprisingly, I took up running in the summer (I will admit, it’s fallen by the wayside in the last couple of months due to new jobs and dark evenings but I’m hoping we’ll get back on the horse in 2018). I eventually finished that proofreading course – at the 11th hour – and came out with a B. Sometimes I hated it, sometimes I loved it; I’m glad I did it. Ironically, the biggest lesson I learnt was that I much prefer re-writing and improving text rather than explicitly correcting grammar.
I also wanted to reduce the time I spent feeling anxious unnecessarily and time I spent pointlessly scrolling on social media. These little fellas ebb and flow but I guess that’s just life.
This year was a good’un travel wise. It started with a weekend in Devon for my step-dad’s 50th birthday in January – we stayed in a castle! I had weekends in Edinburgh and Bristol to visit old friends, a lovely week in Corfu with the family and two uh-mazing weekends in Wales and Paris with my gals. G and I also did a mini road trip around York and Newcastle/Northumberland and we had a little staycation weekend in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire at my cousin's. Of course, without a doubt, the travel highlight was finally getting to go on our big trip to New York in April. Sweet jesus, take me back.
Speaking of travel, I did finally put together my Iceland videos and discovered I loved the process, so made a few more videos here and there. Like, I’m not necessarily any good at video editing but I really love capturing a few video memories, and hope to keep doing so over the next 12 months.
Obvs this year has had lows (personally that is; let’s not even discuss the low points for the human race in general…cos, you know, Trump). G being made redundant, some family drama, the weirdness that was my first cervical screening but, in general, it coasted along quite nicely.
I turned 25, I celebrated two years with G, I wrote a fair bit. I saw this little corner of the internet slowly grow (I even had my first ever sponsored blog post) and I love each and every one of you people for giving it a read. Promoting my blog does not come naturally to me, mainly cos scheduling tweets may be the dullest thing in the world, but I honestly don’t know what I’d do without being able to type away here.
So yeah, thanks for listening you cuties. Hope you all have a marvellous new year’s eve, whether you’re out partying until 5am or hiding under the duvet by 9pm (looking at you mum).
See ya next year x
30 Dec 2017
My Favourite Moments of 2017
Admittedly there’s still some of 2017 to go so if my absolute favourite moment happens in the next 24 hours, I’ll let ya know. In the meantime, these are just a few of my favourite moments of the last year:
Surprising my step-dad in Devon for his 50th birthday at the beginning of January. He opened the door expecting a Tesco delivery driver and was greeted by us holding a big birthday balloon and yelling ‘surprise!’. His face was a picture.
Eating at Read’s restaurant to celebrate my birthday and our two-year anniversary. The food was incredible and we had such an amazing evening.
Exploring more of Edinburgh with one of my favourite people and having the best time.
Seeing the night time view of New York City from the top of the Empire State Building. The wind up there was ridiculous and I had to cling desperately onto my dress to try and maintain my dignity but THAT VIEW. It genuinely took my breath away. We spent 9 months planning our trip to New York and it was everything I hoped it would be. Seeing the city sparkle beneath us was my favourite moment of the whole week. And there were a lot of amazing moments to choose from.
Making a 5-year plan with G in our favourite pub. We imagined our wedding, travel, house buying, children; all whilst somewhat intoxicated.
Swimming in an almost-infinity pool with the. Most. Glorious. View. in Corfu, Greece.
Singing (very loudly) along to Britney songs with my gals after a day spent walking, saving sheep (no really) and chilling by the fire in our little cottage in the Welsh countryside.
Standing my ground at work and getting the exact pay rise I’d asked for. Empowerment and all that.
Meeting Eliza, my cousin’s little one; the latest addition to the family. She’s now five months old and is absolutely adorable.
Walking along Bamburgh beach with G during our mini holiday up north. The sky was a perfect blue, G persuaded me to dip my toes in the freezing sea and the beautiful beach stretched endlessly in front of us.
Watching my blog slowly grow. I did my first sponsored post, my first review post and St Albans cathedral got in touch to ask if they could use my images in this post for promotion purposes. My stats are still small but people are reading my rambles and it makes me smile.
Dancing to 80/90s music at my best friend’s hen do. We weren’t expecting to end up in a club but the spontaneity of it just added to the sheer joy of belting out some absolute classics at the top of our voices.
Drinking wine sat outside a bar with my girls not long after arriving for our weekend in Paris. I just had such a sense that it was going to be a corker of a weekend.
Finishing a week of working late in the office at the end of November and coming home to the St Albans Christmas market. The lights were twinkling, there was Christmas music playing and it started to snow. I just had this sudden spurt of emotional excitement at the fact that Christmas was here.
Waking up to heavy snow at the beginning of December. It’s been years since I’ve seen snow like that down south and St Albans was a magical winter wonderland; so happy I got the chance to see it.
Arriving in Sheffield for Christmas to find my dad waiting for me at the station wearing an elf t-shirt and a Santa hat. I laughed so hard.
Feeling pretty content with my lot throughout the year.
Happy new year folks!
31 Dec 2016
Dear 2016
Well hello there pals, how are ya? Was your Christmas full of magic sparkly goodness?
Mine was a general joy of travelling down the country (started in Sheffield, ended in Kent) to see all the lovely people, generous gifts and, of course, all the foods (including three Christmas dinners).
The only downer was my dad managing to break his foot. It was my first day off work, I’d arrived in Sheffield, was sat on the bed reading and I could already feel myself starting to unwind. I was just starting to think that my dad had been a while on his daily run when I heard the door. About ten minutes later, I heard him walking up the stairs very slowly.
“You alright?” I called out.
“Er, I think I might have just broken my foot.”
“Eh?”
He hobbled into my room and I immediately noticed the lump on his foot.
“Oh my god, is that your bone sticking the wrong way?!”
“I’m not sure. But I’m almost certain I heard something snap when I fell over.”
I cringed and curled my toes and all the other things you do when you’re in a omg say no more or I’ll vom kind of situation.
So I called a taxi to get us to the minor injuries clinic and reluctantly got dressed. My dad meanwhile, packed a rucksack with a book and snacks.
“Erm, you’re not going on holiday,” my sister pointed out.
“You’ll thank me when we’ve been sat in A&E for four hours” my dad said whilst hobbling around.
“If we’re there for four hours,” I growled, “I’ll break your other foot.”
I pride myself on my excellent bedside manner.
In fact, we were in and out the clinic in 40 minutes so, if you fancy breaking a bone kids, do so on a quiet Wednesday evening before 8pm (when the minor injuries clinic closes).
Other than that hiccup (although not entirely sure my dad would agree that snapping your metatarsal bone is a mere hiccup), Christmas was rather dandy.
G and I emerged from the Christmas bubble when we got home on the morning of the 28th and then immediately entered the Christmas-New Year limbo where you forget what day/week/month it is and lie on the sofa eating cheese and chicken&stuffing sandwiches whilst watching the selection of random films on the telly. It’s marvellous until you hit that point where your stomach starts cramping cos it can no longer handle the cheese food baby, and you realise that you haven’t done any of those household things you were going to sort whilst you had time off.
Ah well.
I’ve partially re-joined society today. By which I mean I’m dressed, I’m actually planning on leaving the house later for a civilised goodbye-and-fuck-you to 2016 and I started thinking about some things to tick off my to-do list whilst watching Bake Off re-runs.
And I’m also taking a moment to reflect on 2016 which, I think we can all agree, was weird. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out why; we’ve all stared at our televisions/laptops/phones in appalled disbelief enough times this year. Momentous political shifts aside, on a more personal level, I think my highlights would be moving to St Albans with G, taking the first step in getting more time to write, and all the new places I’ve been lucky enough to travel to including Tenerife, Budapest and Iceland.
I’m not really one for making resolutions cos, lol, I don’t need more things to add to the ‘you really should be doing this rather than watching Netflix’ list but as well as eating more veg, being better at saving money etc, I hope 2017 is full of small, happy things, plenty of adventures, the guts to make some big decisions around my working life and a hella lot of writing.
And preferably less referendums and celebrity deaths.
Here’s what I learnt in the last 365 days:
1) Sweet and salted popcorn is actually the stuff of dreams and I have been SO WRONG all this time.
2) Some friendships aren’t destined to last but that’s okay; it gives you more time to focus on the important ones anyway.
3) Going to the cinema alone is strangely therapeutic and I am big believer that this is something we should all be doing every now and again.
4) It’s important to make the little things count. Life really is horrendously short and you never know when the rug will be pulled from under your feet. Appreciate those tiny things that put a smile on your face.
5) Candles make me feel calm and happy, and generally soothe my soul. I now have a whole box of candles in my living room and I will keep adding to it. Join me in this; you won’t regret it.
6) Your twenties is a time in your life where you know people who constantly ask when you’re getting married and having kids and also know people who would think ‘when are you getting rid of it?’ was still an appropriate response to a pregnancy announcement. You know what’s nice? Drinking wine and avoiding the topic entirely.
7) Doing what makes you happy and satisfied will always be more important than getting a bigger pay cheque.
8) Sitting in a cafe really helps my writing juices flow. Particularly if they’ve nailed the optimum room temp and do good muffins.
9) You will never regret making time for people, no matter how grumpy or fed up or tired of life you feel. Making the journey may feel like a lot, but seeing your favourite people will always give you a boost you didn’t even know you needed.
10) You can’t change the big things; things like referendums and who will be president, things like terrorist attacks and wars, things like the economy and house prices. BUT. You can cast your vote, you can donate to charities helping those less fortunate and you can show kindness in all walks of life; in the hope that these small things create a world that isn’t as bad as it seems.
You were an odd’un 2016 but I’ll still make the effort to say goodbye to you. My NYE plans include a lazy bath with a Lush bathbomb and some kind of sparkly drink before glamming it up a notch and heading out for a fancy meal and too much prosecco.
Please can we all pray that my planned dress still fits after the Christmas food carnage.
See ya next year guys; thanks for reading this little blog throughout 2016 <3
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