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New Years Resolutions! 25:25

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Hi everyone,

So I’m a bit late to the party with this but I’ve been thinking an awful lot lately about what I want from 2016, and my travel plans are well and truly underway which fills me with lots of excitement!! I recently had a meeting with a fantastic consultant at STA Travel who really helped me understand what it is I want from my upcoming career break/gap year/I-need-to-escape year! And so, I’ve set myself an almighty challenge…

*NEWSFLASH!* I’ve decided that I want to have visited 25 countries before my 25th birthday… big statement I know! That’s where the 25:25 plan comes in and now, at the turn of the year, seems like the perfect opportunity to put things into practice! I’ve always said that 2016 was going to be my year and I’m determined to make it more amazing than ever!

To more experienced travellers I guess this doesn’t really seem like a massive deal, I bet you’ve all travelled across plenty of countries, and continents, exploring hundreds of cities and ticking off numerous famous landmarks! To me, however, this personal goal is huge and is somewhat of a life changing moment in my short 22 years on this beautiful planet! I’ve worked since the age of 16, been in full time employment since the age of 18, and never really had the chance to fully explore and take exotic vacations like other travellers.

At school and growing up we went on family holidays to Cornwall and different places around the UK and, if we were lucky, we also got the chance to enjoy package holidays to the nearby Spanish islands! My childhood has been amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing, but I feel like now is the time to start altering certain aspects of my life- and travel plays a HUGE part in that!

 

Now is the time for change though, and I’m fully embracing it! I’ve decided to focus on Europe; I’d like to inter-rail across the continent and trek across 10 countries in the hope that I can see as many cities as possible. If you’re an avid reader of this blog you’ll know by now that European city breaks are my FAVOURITE type of vacation! I’m looking at hitting France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria to name but a few. I’m also hoping to end up in Sweden to attend the fantastic TBEX conference in Stockholm with lots of fellow bloggers! But my plans are always changing, so we’ll see about that…

At the other end of the spectrum I’m also hoping to take on a road trip across the East Coast of the USA… I’ve never been to America before and there’s so much to see and do that I’m just dying to explore!

I will of course keep you updated with my travel plans once everything is firmed up… where’s the most exciting place you’re travelling to in 2016? I’d love to hear your itineraries!

Love Jess x

PS. Don’t forget to VOTE for me in the UK Blog Awards 2016 under the TRAVEL section! You can keep voting until 25th Jan yay!

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UK BLOG AWARDS 2016!

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Hey everyone,

I hope your first working day of 2016 has gone well! Mine went super quick (yay) and I’ve been dying to get home and write his blog post as I am SO EXCITED to share some big news with you all!

After deciding some time ago that 2016 was going to be my year I entered the UK Blog Awards (Travel Section) for the first time in the hope that I can add award winning blogger to my increasingly long website description and bio on all my social profiles.. doesn’t that sound AMAZING?! A girl can dream huh!

In all seriousness, I’m not expecting to win anything or even be shortlisted but I’ll be pray hoping that the exposure will boost my site and that it’ll give me a great opportunity to interact with even more fellow bloggers!

So, why am I writing about this now I hear you ask? Well, today marks the first day of VOTING for this fantastic award and I need YOUR help to get some votes for my little blog!! Any votes at all would be hugely gratefully received and voting will be running between now and 25th January at 9pm.

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Voting couldn’t be simpler and takes literally just a few seconds! What’s more, you can vote for my blog multiple times (yay) off multiple devices (yay again) but only one vote per device per day is permitted. So you could vote each day on your mobile, tablet AND laptop and treat me to lots of lovely votes! Please click here to cast your vote! I’ve also sneak cleverly dotted various VOTE NOW buttons throughout this post so it’s eyecatchingly obvious that you can vote vote vote!

There’s stiff competition this year for the awards, and I’m up against 100 odd other other talented bloggers in the Travel Section, including Jess from The Travelista, Sophie from Sophie’s Suitcase, Victoria from The Girl on the Move, Emma from Paper Planes and Caramel Waffles and Vicky from Eat Sleep Love Travel. I admire each of these travel bloggers hugely and am delighted to be in the same category as them. Best of luck to all of you guys too! <3

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Voting is now open so if you could find it somewhere in your heart to give me a little vote between now and 25th January I will be eternally grateful and it would mean the absolute world to me!

Don’t forget you can vote MORE THAN ONCE and I’ll be posting links and promoting this heavily on social media throughout January! Thank you in advance, you lovely lovely people!

Love Jess x

PS. Don’t forget to vote 😉

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December Newsletter – End of year round up!

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Hi everyone,

It’s that time of year again! I can’t believe we are now at the end of 2015… IT IS CRAAZYY! I have had a fantastic year and been to some beautiful places so am excited to start planning my 2016 over the next few months! I’ll be combining this newsletter with my end of year review but I’ll start with December and it’s been a cracker of a month.. here’s what I got up to…

I went to DISNEYLAND!

I had the most MAGICAL time at my favourite place on earth a couple of weeks ago. Me and two of my best friends booked a last minute, Christmassy trip to our happy place and we never wanted to leave! Read my trip highlights for photos, reviews and tips a plenty.. I dare you not to be filled with Disney wanderlust!

I finished my content writing internship!

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If you saw last month’s newsletter you’ll know that I recently took part in a month long internship for Freedom2Explore. I’ve now finished the internship and got a great LinkedIn Recommendation from my point of contact over at the company. I’m hoping the invaluable experience I gained whilst carrying out the internship will open other doors for me and will enable me to take my first steps into the world of travel/content writing when the time comes. A HUGE thank you to Becky & Jonathan for having me!

I had my works Christmas do!

Works Christmas parttyyyy 🎄🎅🎉👯

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For my annual works Xmas do we dressed up and headed to the beautiful Eynsham Hall for a casino night. We were treated to a slap up three course meal, disco and casino experience and danced the night away! I’ve been to Eynsham Hall many times over the years and it’s such a gorgeous place- I even had my two school proms there! Here’s me glammed up not looking like my usual, plain-Jane self at alllll!

I published my first post for ShopperLottie.com

My first post for the fantastic Shopper Lottie magazine went live a few weeks ago and I was sooo proud to have ANOTHER piece of published work! My first post was all about London at Christmas, and it’s so beautiful you just HAVE to visit! Read on for some serious city inspo…

ITS CHRIIIISSTTMMASSS!

This Christmas I spent some super quality time with my nearest and dearest, and I was able to really relax and enjoy myself at home with my family. We had such a lovely day playing games, exchanging presents and eating lots of yummy food! My family mean everything to me and have been there for me every step of the way, so I was thrilled to be able to share this special time of year with those who mean most to me! Ok that’s enough soppiness now… 😉

We're the three best friends that anybody could have…Merry Christmas everybodyyyy! 💖🎄🎅👯💖 #sisters #girls #love #christmas

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Overall I’ve had a fantastic 2015, filled with lots of fun and adventure, but also some personal health traumas and heartache along the way! If you’re an avid follower of my blog (I love you, thank you! If not, why aren’t you subscribed yet?) you’ll know that I recently hit a bit of a brick wall and have been struggling to feel content with my current situation so have decided to make this year the time for change!

I’m yet to decide what to do, I’m torn between interailing round Europe or road tripping across America for a few months… HELP! What do I do?! Your response to my recent Mid Life Crisis article was AMAZING! I was so overwhelmed with all your lovely comments, some from people I know in the travel blogging world, and some from complete strangers! THANK YOU!

I’m now looking forward to 2016 and the life changes I’m going to make to ensure I see as much of this world as I possibly can and I want to meet lots of shiny new people along the way! As ever, I’ll be posting regularly and will keep you all updated. I’ve also got some new blog features planned which I’ll be sharing with you into the new year and I want to say a massive THANK YOU again to each and everyone of you who have subscribed to this blog, liked me on Facebook or followed me on Twitter.. it means the absolute world and I can’t wait to reach out to even more of you in the coming months!

All that’s left for me to say now is… HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE! Wishing you love and happiness and the very best for 2016! Now where’s my glitzy party dress?!…

Love Jess x

#oxford #itsstillchristmas 👯🎄🎉🍸

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2015 WordPress Review!

Hi all,

I’m currently putting together my super duper round up of 2015 but, in the meantime, here’s this snazzy WordPress review with those all important stats! 2015 has been an unbelievable year for me, and my first proper year of being an ACTUAL REAL LIFE BLOGGER!

My blog has been viewed over 3700 times MORE than it had done throughout 2014 and my readership has pretty much quadrupled! I’m so so thrilled that people like YOU still want to read my blog and keep up with all my adventures.

Here’s to a bigger and better 2016 filled with lots more travel… watch this space!

Love Jess x

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,600 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Help! I'm having a mid (20's) life crisis!

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Hello everyone,

I’m writing this post because I feel a bit lost at the moment, I’ve sort of come to a bit of a crossroads in my life and I’m not sure how to feel about it. I’m writing in the hope that I might see some sort of light at the end of the tunnel before I get to the end of the post, or in the hope that there might be someone else out there feeling the same way as me! I’m kind of going to use some of my Instagram feed for some inspiration and to remind myself of the good times I’ve had in the last 12 months! So here goes, I’m just going to write from the heart and see what happens…

This week I’ve been feeling very low, quite upset, and I’ve been bursting into tears almost every day. I got upset yesterday at work and just broke down completely in front of my manager.  I think the reason I’m upset is because I simply don’t know what to do with my life. I’ve never had this feeling before, I’ve always been quite content and grateful for a good job, nice car, fantastic family and friends and a good social life. However over the past few months I’ve realized that we are coming to the end of another year and I’m reflecting on what I’ve done/achieved in my life.  I’ve just found myself thinking that I’m not truly happy, and I think that stems from my desire and ambition to do something new.

I’m just itching to get away and explore the world, make incredible memories and meet new people, but I have no idea where to start. I’m torn between staying at home and just looking for a move to a new job in the travel industry, moving abroad to work, or just upping sticks and leaving to travel as much as I can. I’d much rather leave my life as I know it now to do something completely different, then come back  and try to kick start my career, but what if it goes wrong? What if I run out of money? What if I can’t handle not having a routine as I have done my whole life? There’s so many ifs and buts, yet I don’t know a single person who hasn’t enjoyed their experience of travelling.

I think I just need to stand tall, hold my head up high and take the plunge. If I don’t do it now, I never will. I’m in the perfect position, I don’t have kids, a boyfriend, no real financial commitments, and I have some substantial savings behind me – so why not just do it?! I’m dying to walk on beautiful beaches with the sea breeze in my hair, or to explore intimate cities and embrace their vibrant history and culture. I think I’m leaning more towards just travelling! Help! HOW DO I MAKE THIS DREAM A REALITY?!

 

I’d adore waking up to stunning sea views like the above, but I’d be equally happy with wandering the streets of ancient cities and releasing my inner explorer! Do I go long-haul on a once in a lifetime trip to the US or Australia, or do I have fun interailing round Europe’s  cities seeing their most famous landmarks? HELP!

On the other end of the scale, I’ve also thought about what skills I possess and whether I could make a living by working abroad rather than just travelling for a few months. I aced my GCSEs and A Levels and taught English to kids at school, I’ve been in employment since I was 16 and have good working/ customer service/computer skills that I’ve built on over time. I’m also getting more and more experience with my writing and I’m now freelancing and getting PAID for articles that I write. I suppose that in itself is an absolute dream come true! Who would have thought I could get paid to do the thing I adore?!

I still want more though, it’s not enough to just write a couple of articles a week – I need to earn a living from it in order to be successful, quit my day job and travel full time. I feel there are so many options I’m just not sure how to go about it!

Most of my friends have partners and are at different stages in their lives, and I can’t travel on my own as I have ongoing health issues which require me to go to the doctors and the hospital every couple of months. That in itself is a major issue – HOW LONG AM I SUPPOSED TO TRAVEL FOR?! I get check ups at the docs/hosp every three months – it’s so annoying! I’m sort of tied with that for the rest of my life which sucks.. and I get seriously lonely at the best of times so to go on my own just isn’t really an option at the moment.

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At my lowest point, when I was taken to hospital.

Ahhh I’m just going round and round in circles, I think I just need to really take my time and make the best possible decision for me, and only me. Have you ever got to your mid 20’s (OK, I know I’m only 22) and wondered what the hell it is you want to do with your life? Please share any comments/advice/wanderlust/inspo in the box below and I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Yours,

A very unsettled Jess x

 

 

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