Letter to my January 2018 self

Dear future me,

I can't believe it's 2017 already, this past year has gone crazy quick and I suspect you're saying the same about 2017 going fast. I've been wanting to do a goals or resolutions type post, seeing as it is the start of a brand new year but I don't really have any at the moment. Then I saw Musical Bethan's video Dear 23 Year Old Me, and decided to write a letter to you and ask you how the year went instead. 

I assume you're back in the UK, seeing as your Australian visa runs out in October and I would like to be home for my birthday and Christmas this year. Was Australia everything you hoped it would be and what were the highlights? Did you go to New Zealand and the Fiji Islands? How about Bali or somewhere else? Do you have any trips planned soon? 

Are you living at home? Or have you moved to Cardiff yet? Have you got a job? If not hang in there, I'm applying to jobs at the moment and it worked out then didn't it?! Please tell me something works out. I hope you're smiling and saying YES you found a job you loved, or even just any job at all. 

How's this blog doing? Next month (for you) it turns five! Did you post as much in 2017 as you intend to at the moment? Is your Instagram game still going strong? Are you still watching YouTube? What books did you read that will stick with you for years? What did you learn over the past year? Are you still interested in Myers Briggs? Do you have any new skills or talents? What podcasts would you recommend I listen to? I know, it doesn't work like that.

What's the world like in 2018? Is the UK still a part of the EU? How is the USA doing? Has the real world caught up with the corner of the internet that treats people equally and with respect, whatever their gender, sexuality, race, nationality, physical abilities, mental abilities, the list goes on and on. I really hope so, it's about time already.

Now that you're back home I hope you've kept the same spirit you have when you travel. I hope you have confidence in your immediate and longer term future, even if you don't have it all figured out. Don't choose a path just because it seems easy or it seems what is expected of you. You've made it this far following your own heart and mind. You may not have a career plan but you know exactly what you do want from life, you just have to go for it. I believe in you.

From the Sunday the 8th of January 2017 you,

J :)

2016 round-up

The past two years I've done a picture round-up post showing what I got up to. You can find them here: 2014, 2015.

This year has gone by so fast. It feels like only a few months ago I was making the 2015 round-up post. And yet again so much has happened. This year saw even more travelling, which was kicked off with a trip to Bali and Amsterdam at the end of March. I started a new job working at festivals and events which was challenging yet rewarding. It also meant I got to see more of the UK and managed to see Frank Turner at Reading Festival again and this time he played Four Simple Words, which made me very happy. At the beginning of October me and my sister Amy set out on our current adventure travelling around Australia. Just before Christmas I celebrated my 25th birthday by climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge and finally I ended the year watching the Sydney NYE fireworks.

Here's my highlights from the past year:

Jan: Burned my old uni work and school work on a bonfire; Mar: Got paid to defend the VIP carpark from people in massive cars at my first event; Mar-Apr: Trip to Amsterdam and Bali; May: Busted gig with support acts Wheatus and Emma Blackery, then a trip to Watford with my bffs to visit the Harry Potter Studios #hufflepuffpride; July: My childhood dream of becoming a pokemon trainer became a reality; Oct: Started my Aussie adventure in Perth; Nov: Met a quokka at Rottnest Island; Dec: Survived a quarter of a century and climbed a bridge.

J :)