On the Bookshelf: First, We Make The Beast Beautiful

"But this journey is what I do now. I bump along, in fits and starts, on a perpetual path to finding better ways for me and my mate, Anxiety, to get around." 

Travel to the Blue Mountains for $2.50

To travel in New South Wales, you need an Opal card. This allows you to travel on the bus, train, ferry and light rail. It uses a 'tap on/off' system and deducts money from your card accordingly. There are many benefits of using an Opal card, however, one that I have taken advantage of the most is that all fares are capped at $2.50 on a Sunday. 

My Third Month in Australia

Okay, so I'm three months into my five and a half months in Australia. Seriously where is the time going? My flight home is coming around so fast.

Ways I've been practicing self care

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to work on improving my mental health and start to practice more self care. After all, my mental health is my own responsibility. Nobody else is going to work on improving it or keeping it in a good place. I have a bad habit of not listening to my mind and body and ignoring when they need some TLC. Practicing self care is not selfish, in fact it is the total opposite. It's important to recognise and acknowledge that taking time out for yourself is necessary. Self care will be different for everyone but here are some of the ways I've been trying to do that.

My Second Month in Australia

I've been in Australia for two months now, ahhhh. How did that happen? Where has the time gone? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun - and I'm having a blast. My second month has been just as fun, if not more so, than my first. I've met more new people, travelled a few new places, explored more of Sydney and just generally have been having a great time.

Decisions Decisions

So I moved away from home, away from expectations and pressures I felt like I should have been living up to by age 23. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, or, of it it's even like this for everyone, but for me, it just ended up putting things into perspective a little bit more. Everything I wanted, everything I thought I wanted and what I knew I definitely did not want suddenly became so clear.

Carnival Cruise: New Caledonia & Vanuatu || TRAVEL DIARY

Isle of Pines, New Caledonia

TRAVEL DIARY || Cairns

My first month in Australia

Somewhere in the sky

It's no secret that my time in Australia was never something that I had planned for this year. It was an impulsive decision I made nearly five months ago, when I was in the midst of heartbreak. When I was sad and I told one of my friends (Hi Jess) about my plans to come here, she said Australia is the best place and would make me happy. How right she was. 

Talking Therapies Newcastle: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

If you've been following my blog from its inception back in January, you may have read the post where I open up about what it's like to suffer from and live with anxiety. Towards the back end of 2016, my anxiety was at an all time high and was taking over control. In an effort to try and gain some control back, I decided to refer myself to have Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). 

Beaches, Harvard and Goodbye: Days 10-14 of Trek America

Sand Beach, Acadia National Park, Maine

Day ten arrived and it meant heading back to the good old U S of A. We were leaving Quebec City and heading to Bar Harbor, Maine. En route, we stopped a little random grocery store to buy food supplies for the next few days (which turned out to be the most stressful and frustrating food shop ever!), then we found a cute little place to make some dinner. It was nice to be out of the van for a little. When we arrived at the Bar Harbor KOA, we pitched our tents and were going for a BBQ style tea that night. Burgers, chips, sweet potato, the lot. 

Parking tickets, Jet Boating and Ghost Tours: Days 6-9 of Trek America

We left Algonquin and headed straight back into civilisation. Our drive to Montreal was going to be around five hours, so to break it up, we decided we would make a pit stop in Canada's capital, Ottawa. It was a beautiful, sunny day, we stopped around dinner time and found a little park to make some dinner. Kaley gave us an hour to explore before we had to hop back on the road. 

Parliament Hill

That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.

When the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve (or technically New Year's Day) I was probably the lowest I'd felt in quite a while. The last two months of 2016 were so emotionally draining. I deferred from university, my anxiety was at an all time high, and a relationship that I was quite invested in crashed and burned, and ultimately, I was left feeling exhausted, drained and really hurt.

Rain, Campfires and Smores: Days 1-5 of Trek America

I'm finally getting around to writing about my trip. Hand on heart, it was the best thing I've ever done in my life so far. It's making me feel so nostalgic, and while I have so many good things to look forward to, I am so excited to book myself on another trek.

Washington Square Park

The Magic of Algonquin Provincial Park

If you ever find yourself in Canada, then you need to visit Algonquin Provincial Park. When I was looking at booking my trip with Trek America, it was the days and activities planned in Algonquin that helped sway me to the Canadian Pioneer. Situated in the providence of Ontario, Algonquin spans over 3000 miles and holds over 1500 lakes. 

It is truly a special and magical place.

My first time giving blood

Giving blood has always been something that I've supported and wanted to do myself. I knew this year was the year I was finally going to donate blood. I hadn't been putting it off because I was worried about it, because I dislike needles or because I'd heard horror stories. I guess it was something that I just never really made the time for. I'm actually quite annoyed at myself because of this because I could have donated so many times by now.

Your Mind Matters: Living with Anxiety

This post is one that is quite personal, but I feel like it's important to talk about because there is still such a stigma around mental health. January is generally the time of year that everybody decides to 'get fit' - people start eating healthily and joining gyms in order to improve their physical health. But people seem to forget about taking care of their mental health and just how important this is. 1 in 4 people in the UK suffer from mental health problems and yet I find it is a topic that people shy away from, either from fear or embarrassment.

Trek America: My Overall Experience

I had never travelled with Trek America before, but I knew a few people who had and after listening to their experiences I just knew it was something I wanted to do at least once. The hard part was actually deciding on which trip to do. Anyone that knows me know how obsessed I am with America, so I knew I wanted to do a trip that was solely in the USA or one that incorporated Canada. I searched the website on a daily basis, I ordered their brochure and yet still I was at a loss. I didn't really have anywhere specifically that I was dying to see, because I'm dying to see it all. 

Dear Brogan: A letter from my nineteen year old self

When I was nineteen I thought it would be a fun idea to write three letters to my future self. One to be opened age 21, the second to be opened aged 25 and the third to be opened aged 30. I can't really remember where I got the idea from, but I think I'd heard about and read Victoria Beckham's letter to her eighteen year old self. I thought this was a really cool idea and it inspired me to do a similar sort of thing.

Barter Books

 

Barter Books is a secondhand bookshop located in Alnwick in an old Victorian train station. There is something so charming and captivating about the store, from the moment you walk in you are greeted with a cosy open fire. There are poetry lines throughout both rooms and a model railway that runs along the columns in the central room. 

Back again

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I always start with the intention of blogging consistently, though for whatever reason I never seem to continue with it. There's a reason why I always come back to it and that's because I enjoy having a space that is my own where I can share my thoughts, whatever they may be.