A Solo Travellers Mind

August was a very very busy month, full of new memories and lots of laughs, followed by a chilled September with a little employment side quest.

First I headed to Newcastle, to visit the place I use to call home. My time in Newcastle was short lived, with me staying for a total of 11 months before leaving the UK, however some of the friends made in this time are quite exceptional. My lovely friend Anna let me stay in her flat, saving me from a week in an English hostel, and although I imagine they aren’t too bad, they most definitely aren’t as lovely as her little plant filled home. My first day in Newcastle was spent exploring a little park, a place I use to go to clear my head. Jesmond dean is a really sweet place, and a cool place for a trail run (which resulted in me falling head over tit, and scraping my knees ops). Then I met up with my old roomie Sophie, for a long awaited catch up and a few ciders along the river tyne. It was a very wholesome evening! My next day in Newcastle was spent exploring the beach, and catching up with my friend Charlotte. I opted for a very cold quick dip, while Char opted to play photographer before we headed for a much deserved fish and chips! In the evening I met up with Rhys. Rhys I think could actually be one of my oldest friends, having met when I was maybe 15? Over 10 years of friendship is a wild concept, given I now live 12,000 miles away! We had a few games of pool, before getting an unbelievable gyros. The day before I left Newcastle, a much required catch up with Anna took place, in the location of a very tasty ramen restaurant! Anna is one of those people, who truely is a wee angel and an absolute delight to the world! We are all lucky to have Anna’s in our lives.

On return to the South I attended a family BBQ, this involved tasty food, and a surprise meeting of my oldest brother (of whom, before today, I did not know). It’s weird meeting family you don’t actually know, but it always makes for a fun story for my friends!

The following week I stayed with my friends Dan and Alisha. They’d kindly let me crash there while I attended an intensive driving school. This was as you could imagine for me, as someone who absolutely hates being in a car. However, I did learn the basic skills of driving, and will continue to have lessons to not lose these skills before I move to Aus (and hopefully pass my test there). It was a little crazy of me to attempt to fit in a test in the UK before I left, and I think this made the experience more stressy than needed, so now I’ve decided to do it in Aus, driving is less stress, and more “fun”… It was super nice to see my friends too of course, spending an evening eating tasty foods and having a wee catch up about life at home so far! Alisha even brought home a kitten from work, and although he was very poorly, he was also incredibly adorable!

Next up was my mums b’day, which involved a Chinese, and me and my brother sitting up till far too late chit chatting about various topics of life. Me and my brother don’t communicate for long periods very often, so this was a very wholesome time. We’ve both done incredibly well in life, in very different fields of employment, and it’s lovely to see the person you’ve grown up with also enjoying life.

I met up with some old friends this summer, people I grew up with but then as life happens, you grow apart from. It was such a nice catch up, and so so nice to see my friends flourishing. Collectively we were all quite a damaged lot growing up, living with lots of pain inside, and it’s nice to see how we’ve all managed to come through this! We had a M&S picky bits dinner, and I got to meet the cutest wee doggy you may ever come across!

I also headed to the Lake District, for a reunion camping trip with my uni friends! We secured a really cute little camp site, and made a very successful camp for ourselves (which is quite impressive as in previous years, we’ve forgotten the tent poles!). Our first day in the Lake was spent swimming in the lake, and heading on a really cute little hike to a local waterfall, before heading to a place called boot, for a post hike pint! The next day was an early rise, hiking up Scarfell Pike. We were very blessed with the weather, with clear skies and lovely views of the lake below. Me and Liv hiked up together, before getting to the top and making some companions, where I traded biscuits for a cup of tea (a great deal!). We all then hiked down and headed back to camp, but not before a stop at a local pub for a pint of apple juice and an unreal roast dinner (SERIOUSLY GOOD!). The evening was spent eating bbq food and chit chatting about life, before heading home the next day.

The following week was the beginning of my employment journey. Since my arrival to the UK I’d dabbled in some casual employment with my god father, giving me a little extra cash, but as I had not much planned for September, I figured I’d try get a temporary full time job. I’d attempted to get some care work or nursing work, but it’s a paper work nightmare and if I’m honest, wouldn’t have been worth the time, given how long I planned to stay. But I did manage to secure a temp warehouse job, a 20 minute walk from my dad’s house (ideal really). The work was easy as, but for a few weeks, I’d do the job to pass the time, and give me some extra pennies before heading off for a European Autumn!

One weekend was spent catching up with another uni friend of mine, Alex. She’s now based not too far from where I was crashing for the summer, and happened to be playing a gig, so I hoped on a train to go a spectate. It was ace to have a wee catch up, and discuss the craziness of life, and of course get to watch her perform once again, before I called it a night and headed to my bed. The party continued without me, but unfortunately im an old lady now lol. The same weekend involved a mad dash back to Huntingdon to make it back for Nicolas surprise birthday bash. Some Thai tapas, and a few ciders in the sun was a lovely way to celebrate her 26 years on this earth!

Myself, Dan and Alisha had a wholesome weekend together too. We headed to DIGGERLAND one saturday to drive diggers, and dumpers, dig big holes and stack big tyres, and race around a wee racetrack in mini go karts. Honestly an ideal expereince for anyone! A fun filled day was followed by a super relaxed day at the cinema watching the Roses, if youve not watched, I seriously advise.

Me, Anna and Meg had another wee catch up and pizza date. Another wholesome evening putting the world to rights, and attempting to understand how we are now suddenly adults… crazy tbh.

One weekend was spent with Nicola and Co. Enjoying a movie and curry night followed by a morning of “helping” to paint a room (AKA I painted one wall and got bored), and then a tasty roast dinner. It’s crazy to me that there are now 2 little Nicolas running around in the form of her children, credit where credit is due as well, because i could never!

The end of my time in Britain coincided with the end of summer, and if I’m honest, this was a relief. Although it’s been lovely seeing friends and family again, i think my time back in the UK has shown me that this place is no longer home. I can’t be sure where home is right now though!

One week was spent with Laura, exploring Wigans surrounding countryside, before we headed on a camping trip to north wales. We hiked Mt Snowdon, lived off tuna pasta and froze out butts off in a tent with Jasper the dog. Oh, and Jasper ate a chicken… in front of the owner… It was traumatic…

Another week was spent back in Newcastle saying fair well to my buddies here, and binge watching a new Netflix series given the weather was a shocker… The art gallery was visited, and the Tyne river was strolled along, with a night out at a concert occurring.

My final days exploring the UK were spent with Hayley in the Yorkshire Dales. We stayed at a women and children’s hostel/hotel. It was very cute, and had a selection of wonderful people. Our plans to complete one of the peaks were put on hold due to the weather, but we did manage a wee hike, across some of the dales. The whether was quite incredible, very cold, very rainy, and at one point we were in fact walking through a river on a very flooded path, dodging water by climbing up walls and gates. It was very funny though, and at times the sun did shine and there was a little blue in the sky. One night we had a pub dinner, the next we had a rather incredible spread of mixed meals, lentil Dahl and beetroot salad, some pasta, and a very tasty pear crumble. It was ideal! We spent some days at Hayleys, were we walked along the tops with the doggos, went for brunch with heather and sat chit chatting till far too late (as always)! It was a lovely way to spend the last of my summer!