A busier week than I realised | Finally Friday

When I started thinking about today's post I couldn't really remember what I'd done this week and didn't really feel liked I'd done a lot. Then I looked through my phone at the photos I'd taken this week and realised I'd done more than I thought. Time is just going by so quickly I lost half my week somewhere.

The weekend was, although relaxed, busy in a good way. I spent Saturday walking around the local village of Steyning with my mum. It was nice just to wander around in the sun and not think about college for a while. We spend too much time admiring sweets in the traditional sweet shop, too much time fawning over the first sunflowers I've seen this year and ate cake. A good day I think you'll agree.

I also went to see 12 Years a Slave this weekend with my family as our hyperlocal cinema has re-opened and is charging over the odds to see a film that all the other cinemas screened weeks ago. But I think it's pretty clear that it was the must see of this movie season so we couldn't resist. It was really good in a way that can't be described as enjoyable because it was disturbing and though provoking and heart wrenching but amazingly made and brilliant because of all those things. I made my own popcorn and definitely read the recipe wrong because I've been eating popcorn all week and still have half a tub left. 

Sunday was a chilled day. I got work done, packed for the week and spoke to Jack for a good few hours while everyone else was at rugby. Me and mum took the dog for what turned into a very muddy walk forcing Molly to be sat in the footwell on the way home, something, as you can see by the look on her face, she hates. Sunday ended with roast beef, my second favourite way to end a Sunday, my first being roast lamb. A good weekend all round.

This week has been intense. I started revision for my law mock. It feels like I've only just started learning and already I'm revising. Pulling out the coloured pens was a bit nostalgic as I flashed back to A-Level days drawing endless mind maps. I also made a nifty fake front page in production which I loved doing and am really proud of as it's something I've never done before. Might look easy, it's not. But this type of journalism, known as sub-editing, seems as of yet the most up my street. 

We went to crown court this week which is in Lewes. If you're in the area go for a wander, especially if it's sunny. It's an historic town complete with castle, cobbled pavements and coffee shops to your hearts content. I took Katie for mini tour of the town after court and after food obviously and she seemed to quite like the place. Again, it was nice just to get away from the dead end of Hollingbury for a morning and enjoy the sunshine. Court itself was dreadfully boring. If you want your mind to be numbed by an hour and a half of a dreary judge re-reading evidence to a jury from a two week long court case go along to the verdict day of a murder trial. We were all under the impression it was going to be exciting and make a great story neither of which ended up being true. The most exciting part of it all was realising I know the family on trial as they're quite notorious around my parts and realising I'd heard all about the incident a few months ago. 

I've been making salads this week and I've been enjoying them. I've changed them up each day but my favourite was definitely Monday's. Feta, spinach, rocket, tomatoes, cucumber and pomegranate seeds with a balsamic and chilli oil dressing. Fantastic. I've also got myself a new desk. My carpet. I've found sitting on the floor and working is much easier than on the bed so that's what I'm going for due to lack of dining room table/actual desk at my uncles.

It's my dad's birthday so this evening I'll be enjoying a fish & chips supper. Thank god I need some grease in my life at the moment. And probably a cider or two. 

So that was my week. A pretty busy one, hope your week was enjoyable and enjoy your weekend! 

Know Your Audience | Thursday Talks

Know your audience has been the key piece of advice I've picked up from the variety of guest speakers that have been into journalist works so far. They haven't all explicitly said 'know your audience' but I've always got the gist of it. Sometimes it's as simple as look at the people in the room and deciding the angle you're going to take with what you're going to say. I.e. in a room that's 90% female don't start throwing around sexist comments - yes I'm still talking about that three weeks later.

However it's been said, or in some cases not said or even considered, I've come to the understanding that knowing your audience is the key to successful journalist. However,  the paper you're working for is very likely to have already figured out who they're audience is and therefore that will limit what you can write to some extent. For example it's highly unlikely that the Daily Mail will let you print an opinion piece of why immigration is so great, for example.

The whole idea of knowing your audience and creating something for that target audience is quite restrictive in journalism, taking my example for example (last time I'll use the word I swear). However, with blogging I don't feel it has to be that way despite what guest speakers, with more experience have said. If you stick to the idea that knowing your audience is key to a successful blog then you're, in the same was as journalism, restricting what you write. If you believe your audience is forty-five year old librarians than it's unlikely, though not impossible, that a blog post about your love for One Direction is going to satisfy why they're reading your blog.

I blog about something different everyday, although everyday has a theme, it allows me to write about whatever I feel best. I don't restrict myself by calling it a lifestyle blog, a book blog or travel blog. To me my blog is all those things because I write about those things and therefore open myself up to more audiences.

The power of a hashtag, or tag, or label, depending on the surface you are using to reach people, vastly increases the audience you might get. Don't be restrictive with the tags. What you've written about is likely to cover a large variety of things so tag all those things and open yourself up to larger reading numbers and don't be scared to tweet or facebook your blog link. Publish your link on as many different platforms as necessary.

Obviously it is important to know your audience to a certain extent. My blogger stats help me find which posts people most enjoy reading, where they come from and what link they're following to get here. Therefore I can, although not limit myself to, but do more posts similar to the ones that are enjoyed the most, I can target them to specific places and I can also know where to focus my promotional efforts.

So although the advice you might here when you start blogging is know your audience, get to know them before you restrict yourself and don't be limited by your audience.

#Shelfie | Wednesday Reads

You've all heard of the word 'selfie' and if you haven't where's that rock you've been hiding under because I want piece of that blissful ignorance.Anyway the book world has taken it upon themselves to make the selfie hashtag much more book related by installing a 'h' and creating 'shelfie'. Essentially a photograph of your shelves.

These untidy calamites are my bookshelves, though not all my books are on these shelves. I have books in drawers, books in boxes, books in the loft, books everywhere - oh how I long for the day when I can have as many bookshelves as necessary to house all my books. The books on my shelves are a collection of my favourite books, the books I studied at school, the books I'm reading at the moment and the books I'm yet to read. 

Harry Potter is virtually central to my bookshelf and yes I do have a mixture of the original and adult cover, yes it does bug me, yes I do have to fight the urge on a weekly basis to re buy the whole series so they match. To the left of Harry Potter collection you'll find my English literature class books: Miller's 'A Death of a Salesman', Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights', Bradley's 'Shakespearean Tragedy' but to name a few, topped with a few random ones that kept falling from the top shelf, Moran's 'How to be a Woman' and Downham's 'Before I die', and my kindle (I'm not going to name all the titles on my kindle. To the right of potter is a few of my favourites, Green's 'Looking for Alaska', Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', Youngs 'My Dear I Wanted to Tell You', among others, and the beast that is 'The Magicians Apprentice' that I really want to get through. 

The top shelf is largely books I'm intending on reading though Bryson's 'The Complete Notes' lives there as it is huge and I'm currently half way through but taking a break, there's a few up there that I've read but meant too much to put away, Stockett's 'The Help', Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars', and others that I've read, not enjoyed but have become a pillar for other books to rest on cough Rowling's 'A Casual Vacancy'.

All the books on my Australia To Read List are housed on my top shelf so if you want to know what's up there check that post out.

So that's a run down of my bookshelves, if you have a book shelf share your pictures with the hashtag #shelfie you might even find some inspiration of you have shelves and books but no idea how to organise. Personally I think bookshelves organised by colour look awesome and one day that will be how my books will be organised, but for now piles and stacks with no rhyme or reason is the look I'm going for.

My Travels: Top 5 Most Wanted | Tuesday Travels

Today I thought for a change I'd stray from rambling on about Australia and boring you with the very uncertain trip that I'm taking in under three months and instead share some other travel related things with you. I love the idea of travelling but haven't done a whole lot of it. However, in my twenty years here I have figured out a whole lot places I want to go and as writing 99% of the planet would make a very short, boring, blog post and as posting a picture and telling you why I want to go to each place would make a very long, and boring, blog post, I've narrowed it down to my top five so here we go.

Canada. Now Canada has always intrigued me, north America never really has so much but Canada has something about it. Since going out with Jack he's really got me interested in the idea of skiing and is slowly bringing me around to the idea that it might not be as scary as I first thought - let's be honest though it will be. Anway, two birds with one stone seems fitting here. Canada and skiing. 

Who doesn't want to go to Hawaii? If not simply because you're under the impression you may come into the possession of a cute funny looking dog that turns out to be an alien, or that you're suddenly be amazing at surfing. Either way you only have to look at the colour of that water to know it's somewhere you want to go. 

New Zealand comes hand in hand with Australia (which would have been number 1) but seeing as putting Aus in would have been boring and predictable I went for New Zealand. Next door to Australia but so different - or so I'm told. Personally I think New Zealand looks a lot prettier than Australia and seems more of an outdoors exploring type of place which is right up my street. 

South America has always amazed me. I can't explain my fascination with it I just love the idea of being there and seeing it and travelling around it. I wouldn't mind seeing all of South America but Rio has particular pull for me, particularly after seeing the film Rio. I swear I don't base all my travel choices on cartoon films. I'd really like to get over to South America and do a relatively big trip in 2015 but I don't hold out much hope at the moment.

I love Europe and there are so many beautiful places in Europe that prove you don't have to fly to the other side of the world to enjoy the sunshine, the beautiful landscapes and some adventure. Venice is such a cool sounding place and there's no where else like it. It definitely ticks the exploring box and if Rio doesn't happen maybe Venice will. 

So that's it. Not many words today as it's all pretty self-explanatory I'm sure. I have so many places I want to go and it was hard narrowing this list down to these five but I think these are the ones. For me travelling is about adventure and being outdoors and all these places offer this. These aren't the type of places I'd want to go on holiday and sit in a hotel for two weeks. 

Where would you most like to visit? 

The best things come to those who do | Motivational Monday

Photo Credit

It's a well known saying, good things come to those who wait, but it's not overly productive. It suggests the best thing to do is to wait around at let the good things come to you without really being active and getting the good things - whatever they may be.

Sometime's it's probably true, waiting for cake to bake, waiting for your nails to dry, waiting to hear back about a job. Sometime's waiting leads to good things, and being patient leads to good things. However, often doing things means better.

Actually being active about getting whatever that thing is and pursuing it in an active way is far better and far more successful than sitting around waiting for it to come to you. Everyone's got one thing they want but are waiting for it to come to them. Today do something about getting closer to it, whatever that may be.

There's something out there you want and to get it you must do.

How to spend a Saturday | The Weekend Post

I spend five days a week quite stressed out about how much I have to do. This is week it definitely got the better of be and I let it get on top of me and stress me out to the point where I had to ring my mum for a cry. I was shattered like I've never been shattered before, I'd slept through my alarm and was running late and I knew I had a mountain of work to do that seemed unclimbable - sorry for the very poor metaphor. At the moment even when I get home from a college that's not a time I really have to sit down and relax. I normally get in, sit down for five minutes with Terri to talk about our days and watch the news headlines, go and do some work, have dinner and sit for half an hour with my uncle, go and do more work, face time with mum & dad and sometimes Jack depending on how early he's awake, go and have a cup of tea and watch the news and then go to bed.

Therefore, I have never relished weekends like I do at the moment. Even when I have work to do I can get a fair amount done and still have a good amount of hours to enjoy the day. I still get up at 9am which is something I never thought would happen unless I had good reason, but it happens and I suppose I have to admit it's the first sign of getting older. Nevertheless, this Saturday I did just that. I made myself breakfast then sat down to work for two hours and got a good amount done. I planned a couple of blog posts for the future, made the pictures for this weeks posts, did my law homework and topped it all off with a two mile run. Successful morning.

Mum and me decided in the week, post mini breakdown, that we'd spend Saturday afternoon strolling around the local village of Steyning. So we did. It's one of our favourite ways to spend a Saturday, especially when the weather turns out to be decent.

Steyning is a lovely little village not far from Brighton, and it's a proper village - a pub, a couple of cafes, a school, a church all those things that make up a village. It's full of quirky and independent shops, shops you can browse without feeling obliged to buy. If you want to buy someone a gift, have no ideas, head to Steyning. I can assure you'll find something you didn't think you'd find. Me and mum did go with the intention of finding my dad a little trinket for his birthday, but that was to no avail purely because we had something in mind but they didn't have what mum wanted. However, that did not put a downer on the day. The sun was out, the streets were busy, and there were sunflowers for sale, always a winner. A village day out wouldn't be a village day out without a cuppa and a slice of cake. We went into the tea rooms in The Cobblestone Walk (which is the cutest little collection of shops/stalls that you should definitely check out if you're in the area). Chocolate and orange was on the menu for me. I've decided no chocolate this week and possibly throughout lent (yes that will include mini eggs but I that's likely to change by Thursday) so this weekend I gorged on all things chocolatey. 

Once we'd finished wanting to eat everything in the sweet shop, buy every quirky item, and buy every bunch of flowers in site we headed to Asda. Very dull, I know. But the weekly shop is a must. All things healthy were in my basket for the week ahead, salads and fruit being the main theme of the shopping bags this week. I even swapped the dunkable Belvita's for a healthier. Again something I'll probably regret as I find myself dunking a twix bar into my 10am cup of tea in Wednesday's shorthand lesson. 

I finally went to see 12 years a slave last night. What? My god was it good. Harrowing, undeniably harrowing in so many ways but an amazing film nonetheless. Steve McQueen is clearly a genius and the actors and actresses couldn't have done a better job. Awards received so far well deserved. Although Fassbender needs one because his performance is outstanding. Possibly might review it for the blog but we'll see, I'm undecided as of yet. 

So my ideal Saturday was pretty much wrapped up in one big bundle yesterday and I felt a lot better for it. Today I'm planning on going for a run, having a chat with Jack as he's been away for the weekend, probably taking the dog for a walk and then enjoying roast beef before heading back to Brighton to do it all again.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend! 

The week I ate the most expensive salad I've ever eaten | Finally Friday

This week was a funny one. I started it a bit down and ended it a bit down. Stress definitely got to me this week but looking back it was quite productive and a good week, in general. It ended on a high, with me feeling a lot less stressed and happier so that's a good thing. I still enjoyed my week so my motivational monday was successful in part, however, I could have enjoyed it more so I think I'll be going back to that one at some point. It's scary to think that when I revisit that particular resolution it will be the penultimate week of my course, so maybe that won't be too successful either but we'll see.

This week 12 of us went to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery to complete the review part of our portfolio's. We went to look at the Subversive Design exhibition they've got on. It was really good and I really liked what they had on display but reviewing it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I thought it would be relatively easy. I enjoyed what I saw, good sign, and I've written reviews before, experience could come in handy. It didn't. It didn't matter how good I thought what I saw was and how many things I could say about it I couldn't write it down in review form. The 250-300 words we were set sounded like a doddle, it was more like trying to draw blood from a stone trying to get those words out. Finally I got there but I spend the two hours of trying mainly spinning on my chair, chewing my nails and drinking tea in attempt to figure out how I was going to get it done.

I also bought a salad that day. For some reason the wonder that is Pompoko vanished from mine and Katie's mind and we stumbled into Eat defiant we were not heading back to college empty handed forced to surrender to the claws of Asda's sandwiches again. I chose a healthy, vegetarian salad. Falafel, hummus, chilli's, green leaves and all that jazz. And it was delicious. I enjoyed it a lot although I left the scary looking chilli's out of fear that they might destroy my taste buds for life. However, the £5.22 price that was announced to me at the till nearly made me fall over. For a salad. I thought it was some cruel joke. It wasn't. So I paid the money and made a mental note that Eat will only be for me when I'm not a poor student.

I met a new dog this week. Excitement overload. Jack's family have adopted the little fella that has now been called Loki, although the poor thing has gone through Luke, Lucas, Stavros and Milo over the past week. However, he apparently seems to be responding to Loki so is sticking. He's a character and he's adorable. Very excited that him and my second best bitch, Tess, will be coming to stay in April.

It was sunny again at the end of the week, at present it's continuing but I don't hold much hope for this week coming. It was nice, though to get home in daylight and not in rain and to walk out of the flat in the morning and get a dose of vitamin D. Makes me feel more ready for the day and generally people's moods are better. Although when I'm sat at the computer at college answering a reporting question for nearly two hours and I can see the blue skies and sunshine through the blind it does make me sad that I'm not out walking along the seafront in it.

The week ended on a high for me. I spent last night at the rugby club for a quiz night, and obviously to watch the France, Wales game. Any night spent at the rugby club is a good night. Spirits are always high and everyone has a laugh. The pork pie and minstrels I devoured when I got home though suggest I had one too many Koppaberg's as that's not my normal 12am diet. It was good night and a good end to my week.

I hope you all had a good week and enjoy your weekend! Until, next time.

N.B Today I enjoyed the pork pie and minstrels

What's in my bag: NCTJ edition | Thursday Talks

Sorry about crap quality - forgot to bring my DLSR to Brighton this week

'What's in my bag' videos/posts are things that I love wasting time watching/reading. It's that thing that all humans have called noseyness, don't try and deny it's an evolutionary thing, I think. Anyway, as I enjoy seeing what other people have stashed inside their bags I thought I'd share mine with you, probably with the end result not being as enjoyable as intended. So this is what's in my bag NCTJ edition (spoiler alert, if this works I'm planning weekend addition, hand luggage edition etc so let me know if you like it or if you hate it, but be nice either way).

So for travelling on cramped busses everyday I have found, through much trial and error, that my rucksack is best suited. No nearly breaking shoulders if I'm forced to stand in between four smelly adolescents on their way home from school and no fear of things falling out if it falls off the seat I have it perched on as 'don't sit next to me I'll bite your head off' warning. I received this for Christmas from my parents intended for my hand luggage but the bus situation meant I've had to get it out sooner than intended. I'm breaking it in if you will. It's from a local independant shop called Tiempo but it's buy Brakeburn. I really love it, it's super comfy and holds all my stuff (necessary and not) and still feels sturdy and I think looks pretty nifty too.

Now I carry a lot of crap in my bag but I have basic essentials that I wouldn't leave the house without i.e headphones, phone charger, purse and keys. All these things go into any bag I take with me everything else is optional. Apart from the carmex and a packet of chewing gum but they normally end in my pockets rather than my bag anyway. Because I change my bag a lot (every weekend at the moment) I keep all the essentials in a separate bag so I can just lift that out and not loose anything I need in the corners of my big bag. I keep all the essentials in the protective bag that my Louis Vuitton bag came in. It's handy as it has a drawstring on it which means I can keep it closed so it doesn't all fall out and like I say I can just lift that out when it comes to changing bags rather than trying to find loads of little things. Arguably this does make it easier for pick pockets to get all my expensive stuff in one swipe.

I also carry a variety of weather gear with me. Gloves, umbrella and sunglasses are in my everyday bag. At the moment Britain's weather seems to have a case of schizophrenia. Blue skies change to black clouds and torrential rail within an hour and therefore I never know what I might need within the day so it all comes with me so I'm prepared for every eventuality.

I carry a few beauty bits with me most days. Perfume stays in my bag as a staple as smelling good is key over anything else for me. People who smell bad make my day bad, I don't want to make someone elses day bad so I carry perfume and often deodorant as well for those days when it all gets a bit much and I need a top up. My perfume of choice is Hugo Boss' Femme as it's not to heavy so is great for everyday and any occasion really. I also carry hand lotion and hand sanitiser with me most days, particularly hand lotion. This hemp one from the body shop is a work of the gods. My hands have never been so soft and moisturised and it's the least greasy hand lotion I've ever used but you only need literally a dot for your hands to feel, also, like work of the gods. As stated before and in previous posts, my Carmex lip balm may as well be surgically attached. I'm already making a dent in my new one and I only use the smallest amount as that's all that's necessary. I just use it so much cause it does my lips wonders.

Books and notepads appear in my bags in abundance, this ones quite tame. I always have a reporters notebook on me at the moment as they're the easiest thing for jotting down notes at college but also just anything I think of during the day can be scribbled in them. I normally carry my blog post notebook with me in my bag but I haven't done this week as I forgot to pick it up before I left. My filofax is an essential, but I try not to carry it on the weekends as it reminds me of work and on the weekends that's something I do as I please and not to a schedule. Filofax's are great though I've had mine two years and I'd never go back to a normal diary. You can personalise them to suit your lifestyle for instance I have addresses, to do lists and notepaper in mine but there are many other things you can put in them to suit you. I also always carry the book I'm reading with me. You never know when you might get a chance to squeeze a chapter in so I carry it with me. At the moment I'm reading Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulks.

Lastly food and drink. A bottle of water comes with me everywhere I drink at least a litre a day and carrying a water bottle with me helps me make sure I do that. Also my lunch, I try to take a packed lunch everyday to save money but also it tends to be healthier that way. At the moment I've been eating a lot of soup for lunch but I've also been taking my breakfast with me to eat at college as I've heard it's better to eat breakfast about two hours after waking up. Eating it later also helps to keep me going for longer so less snacking happens. I've been taking granola with fruit and yoghurt the past couple of days with some fruit and then having soup of many varieties at lunch time.

So that's it, that's what you'd find in my bag most days of the week.

I told you not as enjoyable as intended.

Top 4 Underread Authors | Wednesday Reads

I read a lot of different authors, but reading book blogs and watching a lot of booktube I'm aware there are more authors whose works I should be delving into but also who I should be reading more from. These are the four who I've chosen as my top four.

1) ZADIE SMITH
I read NW last year and really didn't like it. Since then On Beauty has been sat on my shelf collecting dust thinking that I won't like that either. However, I'm aware that Zadie Smith is a very accomplished author and a lot of people like her writing, particularly On Beauty. For this reason I'm going to give Smith another go and fingers crossed it goes better than the first time.

2) GAYLE FORMAN
Gayle Forman is a name I've heard springing about booktube for a couple of years now. Since releasing Just One Day, she's released a sequel and I believe a third novel is due for release at some point. A lot of people raved about Just One Day and it sounds like my type of book. I've been restraining from buying it because my bought but unread book list is ridiculous however, I feel I may cave soon.

3) RAINBOW ROWELL
Again, a name I've heard banded about booktube A LOT. Eleanor & Park is on my shelf and has been for about six months and is also on my to read before Aus list. She's got a couple of books about that I'd like to read as well as Eleanor and Park but I'm planning on starting with the one I own once I've finished what I'm reading at the moment.

4) J.R.R TOLKIEN
Tolkien fans don't eat me alive. I've only read The Hobbit and this is something that I plan on changing soon. As in when I'm sat on the plane soon. I love The Hobbit so much and love the child like feel it has, however I know the Lord of the Rings trilogy doesn't have the same feel which I'm nervous about but I'm looking forward to delving into the The Fellowship on my 12 hour flight to South Korea soon.

So they're my top 4 unread authors, what are yours, and any recommendations?

N.B Today I enjoyed a quiet bus ride home where I read two chapters of my books

The Weather Variable | Tuesday Travels

Photo Credit

Australia is known for being hot. I blame Neighbours, but more likely Home & Away (try not to sing the theme song, it will only make you cry) for my belief that Australia is constantly sunny, constantly dry, and constantly making people sweat. The latter is probably true, the other two not so much. Let's be honest, it's almost definitely always warmer than Britain because 99% of the year we live in a freezer and the other 1% we live in a broken fridge that we confuse for an oven as an excuse to wear the shorts that we'd rather not remember the cost of.

Anyway, I now realise - and have done for a fair while, I got an A in GCSE Geography for a reason (it was coursework based) that Australia has it's fair share, possibly not fair, of rainfall and also cloud coverage. In typical Emily style I'm arriving in Australia just as their winter is starting.

Except I'm not really because the Australian weather divides are more confusing that architect's rulers (have you tried using one of them, don't bother it's too much stress for a straight line). 

Essentially imagine Australia split in half. The southern half i.e. Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, all those places I mentioned in a previous Tuesday travels about where we wanted to go, have seasons in the same way we do. Summer, spring, autumn, winter. I arrive in May, just as autumn is turning to winter in all these places. It's not ridiculously cold, thought it probably is for Australians for me, a girl toughened by winters spent wrapped in layers upon layers of wool, it's relatively warm. On average winters in southern Aus get as cold as 6 (that's cold even for me) degrees. 

Good news though. In the northern parts, or sub-tropic cities, Darwin, Cairns etc. Winters get on average as cold as 23 degrees. Much more pleasant and desirable. A bit of education now. Rather than seasons as we know them, they don't get winters like we do. They have wet and dry seasons. I'll get there in dry season. Colder but, as the name suggests, dryer. 

Due to all this learning I've been doing and talking Jack has been doing, we're now thinking of taking a more northerly route to Perth on the way there and the southerly, already mentioned, route back to Brisbane. That way we should get, essentially, one long summer. Only resulting in the English winter feeling so much colder when we return but nevertheless, I prefer this idea.

However, as of yet we know of all of two places on the northern half of Aus. Darwin and Cairns. Both relatively eastern but seeing as we want to travel pretty much as west as you can go we need to find some other stops. So this is now what's happening. 

Any suggestions are more than welcome - we need them! 

So there we go, emilyjdoesthings offers education on the Australian weather system as well as whatever else it is you come here for.

N.B. Today I enjoyed getting home early, being productive and doing some much needed exercise after two days of chocolate happening too much. 

Enjoy Today | Motivational Monday

So we're back to resolution conquering. Eight weeks ago when I wrote my new years resolution post my fourth resolution was to 'enjoy myself'. I've noticed this is something I've already been conquering, particulary having started my new course. 

Normally, something like that, being surrounded by new people and doing new things, would terrify me. However, this time I haven't let it. I suppose you could say I've grabbed my NCTJ by the balls and got on with it. 

When I started the course I realised everyone was in the same boat, they knew as little about me as I did about them. So it was the perfect oppurtunity to put myself out there, not be so shy or anxious and make some new friends. I'm pleased to say I've succeeded on all counts and as a consequence have been enjoying my course more than I would have been otherwise. 

It is something that I've been working on, and it's also something that's been helping me with resolution number one - I've found when I'm enjoying what I'm doing and focusing on that then I have very little time to worry about things or focus on the anxiety that could create. However, despite enjoying things being something I've already been working on, and succeeding at, I am going to continue to do so and this week I'm going to enjoy everyday. I'm not going to have a bad day this week. They do happen, no matter how much you don't focus on anxiety or how much you try to enjoy, everyone gets a bad day. Normally it's a day that involves shorthand. 

This week I'm not going to let it happen. Bad days occur because I get overwhelmed by something and then get frustrated with it, again normally shorthand. This week I'm going to take it in my stride and make sure I don't let it overwhelm me.

To ensure I enjoy everyday, at the end of every post this week (excluding this one) there will be an N.B telling you what I particularly enjoyed that day. 

Let me know what you're enjoying this week, and remember to enjoy everyday. 

The First Published Article | Finally Friday

This week was quite an exciting week. I got an e-mail on Monday morning informing me that I'd have the article I sent to the Chichester Observer (my local paper) would be published. I contacted them last week asking if they had anything they needed someone to write over Valentine's period with a couple of ideas of my own and received an e-mail  back saying they liked my idea about including mine and Jack's Valentine's situation in the article along with some cheap and different ways of spending Valentine's. So that's what I did. I got a 600 word piece (not bad for my first published article) a full page with four of my own photos. Very impressed and very happy. Not a bad start to the week or a bad start to the whole journalism thing.

As part of the NCTJ we had a court visit this week. Me and and twelve others trundled along, in the rain, to Brighton Magistrates court to use a court proceeding for one of our portfolio pieces. It was a really good experience and we got some good cases (good in terms of writing about them, not good in terms of what was happening). It's not something I'd rush back to do as it was a little boring and monotonous at times but overall it was a life experience.

When we left court the sun was out for the fist time in weeks. Over excitement due to the sunshine and due to the prospect of something else for lunch other than an Asda sandwich, we decided to head into town to find something to eat. Gemma suggested Pompoko somewhere I'd never heard of but was happy to try on hearing it was Japanese food and cheap. The key to my heart. It was really good food. Tasty and cheap, I'll definitely be returning. £5.80 for a HUGE bowl of rice topped with prawns marinated in ginger, honey and soy sauce with peppers and onions and a can of coke. It was more than enough to munch on for lunch and I was incredibly happy with my choice. The only thing that made it better was the 3pm Creme Egg snack break.

This week me and Jack hit the 3 month countdown until I get to Aus. It was exciting seeing as we're officially over half way in between him leaving and me getting there and it's gone so quickly. Even more so now I'm busy with the course and he's busy re-vamping the van and looking for work. It's exciting don't get me wrong but there's still a lot to happen and also get done before I land on 13th May. Eee. Excited face.

My hair's growing. You may not know this but at the end of 2012 I cut my hair (at the time below my waist) up to above my shoulders. So much hair. I loved it for the first two weeks then hated it forever after that. I was so happy when it got below my shoulders but I caught how long it's looking in the mirror the other day and nearly squealed. It's not far of how long it was before I cut it which made me super happy. Definitely a good week this week.

In case you missed it it was Valentine's day this week. I thought I could revert back to a crying mess of missing Jack but it was fine I got to talk to him throughout the morning and he's camping this weekend so I'm keeping busy doing blog stuff and course work so it's not too bad. Of course I'd have preferred it if he could have been here but we'll get over it and here's too many more Valentine's Days together. I also did a couple of fun illustrations with a Valentine's theme. So maybe, if journalism fails, greeting card designing?

So that was my week, sorry this didn't actually go up on Friday but I couldn't get a picture of my article for the post until today when I came home so you got it now. Anyway, hope you've all had a good week and enjoy your weekend.

Until Monday.

Valentines: Cheap Alternatives | Thursday Talks

It's Valentine's Day tomorrow, already I know. We all do it, we all tell our partners, no fuss, no presents, just a normal day. The classic 'I don't need a special day to show you how much I love you' line. Get a grip. Spoiling the one you love is nice and you enjoy just as much as they do. Every year, no matter how many times you spout that line, or tell each other not to get anything you always will. But my Lord, it's expensive. The average box of chocolates is three pounds more expensive than it was yesterday or will be tomorrow, a bottle of wine will make you forget you even got paid this week, and to go to dinner you may as well sell the house, the car and your body. You want to spoil that special someone but that's just ridiculous. So here are my ways to impress without going bankrupt.

A trip to Paris. How romantic, the city of love and all that. But for flights and hotel over the Valentine's weekend you're looking at around £500. PER PERSON. If I found out that my other half had paid that much to take me away for a weekend I'd ask him where he'd left his brain. No one should expect you to pay that much to show your love and make them happy. It's a lovely gesture and if you can afford it than great but there's more important things than a Valentine's, overpriced, weekend away, things I'd rather spend a grand on. Instead, set the Parisian vibe. Bring coffee and croissants up to bed Valentine's morning, or if you're rushing out to work on Friday wait until Saturday. You don't want it to be a quick 'here's some croissants love, enjoy your day.' Sit in bed together and talk whilst you munch on your £500 saving.

Jewellery is quite often, and I am not exempt, the way to a girls heart. But Valentine's day is not the day to be splurging on expensive pieces of metal. Save that for the Birthday's and Christmas'. Buy an expensive ring for Valentine's day, what's she going to be expecting for her next Birthday, think about it. Not a good situation to put yourself in. Don't get me wrong I'd love to open that iconic blue Tiffany box - hint, hint. (I'm joking definitely joking). But for Valentine's day, no thanks. Instead grab a bag of Haribo and pick out the rings, much more fun and let's be honest a lot tastier. Also won't use up your life time savings in one purchase. That tiffany ring is lovely though. JOKING.

Dinner. As I said, prices are up on Valentine's day. They're not stupid, they know lovers will pay over the odds to impress their loved ones and make them feel special. Don't succumb to it. And let's be honest, it's always half the size of the meal you really wanted and even that glass of wine isn't making it better. Want my opinion? No, well you're getting anyway. Cook up a hearty, winter warmer, grab a bottle of wine (you've scrimped on the meal so you can splurge on the plonk) and bob's your uncle. In this weather, a big bowl of stew and dumplings, or sausage and mash with gravy would be my top choice over being dragged out in the rain and wind to sit in a crowded restaurant and pay over the odds to be able to hear the couple next me arguing about why he didn't buy her the Tiffany ring over what my other half is trying to get across. Winter warmer over fancy meal for me anytime.

So the movie people have done it again, there's a new romantic movie out. It won't be overpriced, no more than cinema's are anyway, but it will be packed. And if you'd rather be surrounded by the smell of sweaty adolescents as they try to woo their date and sneak that arm round the shoulder than be my guest, me I'd rather a cosy night in with homemade popcorn, a classic flick and a huge blanket. Popcorn seeds cost at most £2 and take like five minutes to create, sprinkle some sugar, syrup or, if you're a weirdo, some salt over it and hey presto. I wouldn't recommend the notebook unless you want to be a mascara sodden mess next to your other half by the end of the night but something romantic and funny, commonly known as a rom-com is the best way to go. Think Bridget Jones and you're there.

So that's it, four ways to make your Valentine's Day feel less like you've been visited by the debt collectors. Hope you enjoy your day.

Birdsong: A Love-Hate Relationship | Wednesday Reads

If you read my Wednesday Reads post two weeks ago about high expectations, you'll know that 'Birdsong' is my favourite book. Whenever you tell someone what your favourite anything is they always want to know why. What, for you, makes that one thing better than all the other things of the same category. Why are jelly tots your favourite sweet? Why is history your favourite subject? Why is sleep your favourite activity? Often, it's hard to explain why something is your favourite thing, and to be honest explaining why Birdsong is my favourite book is difficult, but I thought today I'd give it ago, even if only to make it a bit more clear to myself.

I studied Birdsong at A2 English Literature, I compared it with Bronte's Wuthering Heights in terms of how much the central characters were portrayed as victims of doomed love. I literally tore the book apart. I only needed to focus on certain parts but I was convinced that Stephen showed signs of being a victim of doomed love throughout the novel and so analysed the whole story. I knew the book inside out, cover to cover, I could almost tell you what chapter you'd find certain things in and in some cases it was narrowed down to pages. After I'd studied it so viciously I decided to read it purely for pleasure and so got myself a clean copy, free of pencilled in scribbled notes across every page. To my surprise I enjoyed reading it for pleasure as much as I did deep analysis.

Birdsong, for any of you who don't know, is the story of a young Englishman, Stephen, who we initially meet living in France with a French. During his stay with this family Stephen begins a very passionate affair with the lady of the household, Isabelle. Eventually they run away to the countryside together where they appear to be making a happy life together, before one day Stephen returns to home to find Isabelle gone. Skip forward a few years and we're with Stephen and his comrades in the French trenches of WW1. The story goes from passionate, dramatic love story to passionate, dramatic war story. Check number one for being my favourite book.

The way Faulks intertwines, so seamlessly, such seemingly opposite stories is brilliant. Emotions run high for the reader throughout both the love story and the war story and heart strings are pulled and torn, for different but equally thought provoking reasons. Due to this, your're never left feeling low or waiting for something to happen. Faulks keeps the story lifted and exciting and despite how heart wrenching it becomes, due to subject matter, the whole thing makes you want to keep reading. Cliche but true.

The characters created by Faulks are so rich it's hard to forget they're not based on real people with real lives. Each one is so detailed that I become so attached to them every time I'm brave enough for a re-read. Obviously, Stephen and Isabelle, as main characters in my favourite novel, hold big places in my heart. But equally, Jack Firebrace, an equally as central character with his own story to tell becomes a big part of everything quite unexpectedly. For me Jack is the real hero of the novel. he has so much more understanding that Stephen and through him the wisdom and the moral and the saving grace of the horrific things that are happening come forth.

It is true that all good things must come to an end, unfortunately with Birdsong it's not the end of the novel. The end of the good comes with the completely, in my eyes, unnecessary 1970's elements. Intermittently through the earlier set parts of the novel, Faulks feels it proper to disturb your pleasurable read with the story of Stephen's granddaughter, seeking out her family history and essentially playing the role of Stephen's redemption. All she serves, for me, is tying up loose ends and I find the 1970's parts disturb the story and make it disjointed. Perhaps that's the point but for me it's pointless. However, I manage to see past all this for this novel and that rarely happens. Usually something that so hugely annoys me in a book would ruin it for me, but in this case I am happy to just ignore it. If you're going to pick the book up read them because you should cause Faulks obviously put them there for a reason, but don't worry if you don't like them, you're certainly not alone in that.

I have so much more to say on this but if I said everything the post could be a book in itself. Generally, I feel Faulks' beautiful descriptions, wonderfully crafted characters and seamless story interweaving is what grabs me, holds me, and makes me fall in love with the novel all over again every time. It's always the book I'd recommend to someone if they asked, so I'm going to recommend it to all of you. If it's the only book you read all year it won't be a wasted year.

Birdsong: A Love-Hate relationship, but let's be honest mainly love.

3 Months Today | Tuesday Travels

Ok, so today it's officially three months until I jet off to the merry old land of Aus, I hope you realise what I've done there, at least I think they're the right lyrics (I'm referencing the Wizard of Oz for anyone a little confused). Three months may sound like a huge amount of time. It's a quarter of the year, it's 13 weeks, 89 days etc etc. But when I realise that it was a whole two months ago that I said goodbye to Jack and we started counting down from five months, and that Christmas was a whole seven weeks ago, and that I've already done three weeks of a 14 week course, three months doesn't seem all that long.

It's also going to be a very hectic three months. I've got the remaining 11 and a bit weeks of my course to get through (yes, that's 11 more weeks of shorthand but really that's the one that goes the quickest). In that time I've got to find five stories for my reporting portfolio, I've got get my head around about 67 law for my media law exam, workout the best 'NCTJ way' to write a story, figure out the in's and out's of indesign and get to 100 words per minute in shorthand. The scary part is the reporting and law exams are now only six weeks away, in perspective think how quickly school summer holiday's used to go.

Once I've hopefully walked out of Brighton Journalist Works, alongside my fellow classmates but importantly, new friends, with a gold standard NCTJ diploma, I'll be heading off to Chichester Observer/ETC magazine HQ to do a week's work experience. Call me an eager beaver, I don't care. With a trip to Australia on the horizon I wanted to get my work experience sorted and out of the way. It's one thing I can put on the CV before heading off and that's definitely a bonus.

However, that week is also my last week before I get on the plane to the other side of the world. So alongside meeting real life deadlines that you really can't miss, going out and about reporting, writing things that will actually be published and continuing to travel everyday to a nine to five, I'll be sorting myself out to travel all those thousands of miles. Alongside all that stuff previously mentioned I've got to work out how to get at least three months of stuff into a 70 litre rucksack, whether or not I really need that whole list of things for my hand luggage and whether to risk the nail file.

To be honest, I need a to do list and I need one soon. I've still got a couple of bits to do before what I'm taking can even enter my mind and I keep thinking of things I need to remember but not writing them down, something I should really get into the habit off.

So three months, a long time, maybe not as long as I originally thought. Sigh.

N.B I suggest it's not long enough to get everything done, but I'd get it done in a day if meant getting out to Aus I CAN'T WAIT.

I Can Not Do It All | Motivational Monday

I know what you're thinking, 'well that's not a very motivational thought.' And no, at first glance it's not. The normal theme of these 'Motivational Mondays' is to encourage you to believe you can do it all. But the honest truth is, that's not always the case, and that's ok.

Everyone is busy. Everyone has a never ending to do list. No one is ever really on top of everything they've got to do. And there are only so many hours in a day. In eight hours no one's expecting you to walk the dog, do the ironing, arrange that meeting, write up those notes. It's only you expecting it of yourself.

Sometimes, it's better to take a step back and prioritise. Assess what really needs doing at that time and start again. When you realise you can't get everything done it all becomes a lot easier. Don't be lazy about it just be realistic.

Realistic goals are much more productive than setting yourself goals for the day that are completely unattainable. Give yourself 21 things to do, get ten done, feel like crap cause there's 11 things on your list you didn't do. Give yourself five things you have to get done, do those five important things and three extra, feel brilliant because you do three more things than you set out to do.

What's the one thing to take away from today's post? Be realistic with your to do list.

All About January | Monthly Wrap Up

A new feature, and on a Sunday. Shock Horror. I was going to post this last weekend as that was technically the beginning of February but I wasn't 100% sure about it at the time but I've decided to go for it. So every first Sunday of the month I'm going to wrap up the month that went before it. It's a good oppurtunity to look at everything I've done over the month, combine the majority of the posts over the past month under one title. It's also good to see how the blog is developing and where I think I can go next with it. As well as that, anyone who comes along in the middle of the month or at the end doesn't miss out on anything as all my favourite posts of previous months will be in one post. It's a bit of a selfish thing really because it's basically a chance for me to look at what I've written over the past month and see if I've achieved what I wanted. 

So I started January as most did, with some resolutions. December wasn't a great month for me spending most of it feeling a bit down and upset about a lot of things, but New Years Day gave the oppurtunity I needed to change all of that and kick myself up the bum and get into action. I decided to get healthier, worry less, see more of the world and enjoy myself. I think generally, so far, I've been quite successful. I've been running as much as I can, considering the 9-5 plus three hours for hunting down stories and shorthand, and I've been heating pretty healthy, again considering the constant need for chocolate on the course. I've definitely been worrying less, I've had the odd moment a couple of times when tiredness and stress has gotten the better of me and I've succumbed to a crying mess on the floor and some mini eggs, but generally the trajectory is upwards. Operation: See More Of the World, is always a-go. Plans for Australia get brought up at least once a day. Travel insurance is still to be purchased, detailed travel plans are still to be made and a packing list is still to be written. Australia is the only real point of call that we have but New Zealand and Thailand are still at the back of the mind depending on funds. I've definitely enjoyed myself more and have thrown myself into the course and made some brilliant friends. New people have and new things have always been a bit of an anxiety trigger but it didn't take me long to realise that everyone was in the same boat and I was actually quite privileged to be able to go home at the weekend, something that I wouldn't be able to cope with.

My tickets for Australia arrived this month which was very exciting. The £900 that left my bank account wasn't so exciting but needs must. It all got very real but it was good to be able to talk to Jack about the whole thing a bit more definitely saying without saying 'well if I get out there...'. We were able to sort out some more plans and get a better idea of what we want to do and see. It also definitely helped with the third resolution. 

This year I also made some reading resolutions. Every year I set some sort of goal in terms of my reading but after seeing how successful my general resolutions were becoming after posting them on here for the world to see I thought that perhaps my reading would be as successful. As of yet, the theory isn't proving true. I've been so busy that reading has been thrown the back a bit but I am still reading and still intending on fulfilling all of these goals. I have got a twenty four hour flight to fill so I've got time. 

Every Tuesday on the blog is Tuesday Travels. Generally this involved me waffling on about Aus plans and stuff Aus related. However, in January I temporarily moved out (excluding weekends) to Brighton for ease due to my course being located in Brighton. It was bit weird as it was the first time I've stayed away from home, more or less on my own, for more than two weeks. At twenty that's a bit embarrassing and a bit scary considering I'm going to Australia on my own in a few months, however it's all been fine. I've been doing time keeping, and getting myself up, dressed and out the door on time excellently and as of yet there's been no disasters. 

Overall, January has been a pretty good month. It started off pretty down and dull but I managed to pick myself up and get on, something I'm proud off. Once I'd gotten over my mini panic phase the month was bright and shiny, not literally the weather has been appalling, and I've enjoyed my January. Let's hope it can only get better. 

Back In The Swing Of Things | Finally Friday

It was another busy one this week but I feel I was more on top of it all. Blog posts, and not crap last minute thoughtless ones, went up everyday and I tweeted like a trooper at Brighton Journalist Works' recommendation. Shorthand was as confusing as it ever is, but it's getting better, definitely better. I suppose it could never have got worse. I've been keeping on top of it, completing homework assignments and going over each unit after we've done it to consolidate. I'll be honest I'm a little shorthanded out this week. However, saying that I can definitely see why they advice an hour a day practice, it would just be running away without me, faster than it already it if I wasn't practicing.

Skies appeared to blue and bright at the beginning of the week but it all went downhill from there. The weather has been atrocious and even venturing outside for a brie and bacon sarnie from Asda, along with the greatly chosen packet of skips, became an Indiana Jones style mission as we avoided passing cars who didn't seem to realise the road was partially flooded and driving at more than 5mph was causing water to go everywhere. Luckily the sandwich and crisp choice made it worth it. The skips being particularly appreciated by my taste buds.

I nearly ran out of carmex this week. Not very interesting I know however it's the first lip balm I've ever completely finished and will definitely be repurchasing. Although I didn't purchase the first one rather stole it from Jack before he left. It's lasted a fair while I think although he's under the impression it should have lasted me another couple of months. Clearly he doesn't understand.

I got a bit of reading in this week which was good. Cheered me up getting four chapters into Charlotte Gray, which may I say I'm loving so far. Despite what I said about Faulks in my reading expectations post it is possible he could become my favourite author if he keeps this up. You never know I might actually get a review of a book up on here at some point for a Wednesday Reads but let's not hold our breath.

Mum sent me another care package this week. Last week gloves, this week mini eggs. Don't get me wrong the gloves were good and much appreciated but the mini eggs were just the dogs bollocks. You never know, the way things are going, next week could be even better. Gold star for mum on that one.

Now onto the little fella in the picture. Meet Alfie a frequent visitor to my room, particularly when mini eggs are involved (he doesn't get any, no one gets any mini eggs from me). However, this week I came out of the shower to my room to find him on my bed in a knitted jumper. Heart melt. He's such a sweet heart if a little doolally and he needs to learn that licking my face after he's just eaten dog food that smells like rotten bins is not appropriate behaviour.

So that was my week, hope you all had a good week and enjoy a good weekend.

Until Monday.

Who Knows Where This Is Going? | Thursday Talks

You might be able to guess from the post title, but I don't really know where today's post is going. This is the first blog post that I've written since starting this daily blog thing where I haven't had notes written down in my notebook beside me to help guide me through the blog post writing process. Ideas seemed to have dried up inside my brain and been swept into the deepest, darkest corners of my mind where I keep the disturbing stuff that I see on the internet before I sleep (I'm talking Greg James' Wrecking Ball parody disturbing, just for clarification). I suppose we'll run with the no plan blog post for today, see how it goes and you never know maybe I'll be a martyr of my own blog. I don't know if that's possible but run with it. They're might be a lots of just run with it in this post.

The first being shorthand. Just run with it is a common train of thought throughout the three hour mind numbing submission to childlike scribbles that Roxanne (a marvellous woman who's mind can't control her mouth) is still trying to convince me, and the twenty four others, represent letters. The answer when you're confused tends be 'because it is' or 'in context it will make sense.' I've come to the conclusion that it's best just to accept it and move on, over thinking it just complicates it. Read the scribble, know what letters it makes, move onto the next. This is a very hard concept for me, who refused to get my head around GCSE level Algebra because it didn't make sense. Well I suppose it shows growth if nothing else. 

However, I'm not really sure that's the best attitude to have general, in fact I know it's not. If we just accepted everything as we were told it was, nothing would change or develop and discussion would be at minimum level. Accepting things (well most things, if you're learning shorthand it's best not to think in the way I'm about to mention) as we first encounter them, and not questioning them makes developing said thing and making it better very hard. It would be like handing in a first draft of an essay and expecting it to come back with full marks. You have to work on things, question them, discuss them, develop them and change them to make them the best they can be. I'm sure someone, somewhen has done that with shorthand, but in my mind they didn't do it very bloody well. 

One thing I know for definite is that shorthand is quite literally sending me delirious. Yesterday evening I spent a good twenty five minutes googling adjectives synonymous with confusion followed by various animals i.e. confused animal > confused dog > annoyed dog > annoyed cat. I finally landed on this beauty: 

And this is my shorthand face. If you were to look on my twitter feed you'd find five similar photos of various confused looking animals as me and some classmates spent an hour of our time comparing our 'shorthand faces' personally I think t-shirts should be made. Delirious, see? That's not where the delirious-ness ends either, much to my embarrassment. Monday lunchtime we spent a fair amount of time discussing the ideal water to couscous ratio and the embarrassment felt by one classmate after he was banned from all Co-Ops in Brighton for being caught stealing. The item in question, bay leaves. Could you get a more upperclass case of shoplifting? 

I think that's all I really have to say. I should probably stop there before I embarrass myself, or more importantly any more of my classmates who, at present, are the only ones getting me through the long hours of shorthand and every minute that passes after 3pm in the afternoon (the time I've recently found to be the time I start shutting down, not ideal).

I suppose considering none of this was planned, it didn't go too badly? 

Making Time To Read and Reading for Enjoyment | Wednesday Reads

Photo from Rebecca Thomas on Pinterest 

So I'm crazy busy at the moment. You may know I'm doing the NCTJ course in Brighton which is 9-5, plus an hour every evening of shorthand practice, plus finding and writing a minimum of five news reports, plus blogging everyday. So many things to fit in a day that I'll be honest, reading has been being put on the sideline.

I've always read, and I've never had a problem with making time in my day to read. But now it seems that every second that seems to be a spare second isn't really a spare second because my to-do list is a hundred items long, and counting, and reading a chapter of my book is number 101.

I have read a couple of chapters on the bus in the morning, once the school children have stopped squashing everyone else into the corners of their seats that by the way are definitely big enough for me and you small eleven year old child. I am really enjoying 'Charlotte Gray' as of yet, Faulks isn't letting me down. But even the hour I'd normally devote to reading before bed has been replaced by another hour in which to be doing homework.

I don't read for any other reason than enjoyment, and I was thinking maybe that's the reason I can't bring myself to make the time for it when everything else on my to-do list is stuff I actually have to do or need to do, not just want to do. When I was still studying English Literature at school I could so easily make time to pick up whatever book I was studying, I'd read on the train to and from school, in the library in free periods, in bed, over breakfast, in the bath, literally anywhere. But I had to read those books, if I didn't read them I wouldn't have gotten the grades I did get, thank God after all that note taking.

Maybe making time to read isn't what you do if reading is simply for enjoyment. It's just not feasible to make time to do something you enjoy and want to do when you've got so many things that you enjoy and have to do. I do still enjoy the moments when I can squeeze a few pages into my day, and when I get a chapter in on the bus to college my brain definitely feels more stimulated, so it's not a case of other things are taking over the enjoyment I get from a good book, it's just that other things are more important than picking up a good book.

Obviously we're encouraged to do things we enjoy, to take a break from the things we have to do to relax for an hour or two. But I enjoy doing what I have to do, I enjoy (as bizarre as it may sound) going over shorthand and consolidating what I've learned, I enjoy searching out stories and I enjoy most of all writing them up. So maybe that's where the problem lies. It's not a case of putting something I enjoy aside for something I simply have to do, it's putting something I enjoy aside for something I both have to do but also enjoy doing.

I'm still striving towards completing my 'before Aus reading list' but as the days go by and more chapters go unread, it seems less likely.

What are your thoughts on reading for enjoyment? Do you sometimes find it difficult to make time for reading? Let me know in the comments.

The 'Van'.2 | Tuesday Travels

Photos courtesy of Jack

If you read yesterday's post you will know that plans are finally on the move. Quite literally, as Jack managed to find and buy a new van over the weekend. He's been meaning to get a car since his parents left Australia at the beginning of January but he hasn't really been able to find one until now. I woke up Sunday morning, tagged in photos of this old thing, very confused. However, an upgrade from the literal rust bucket we were driving around in before he left (hence the .2 element of the title, you never know one day we might be driving around in a shiny new van, if Jack gets his way anyway).

Jack managed to get it a lot cheaper than the asking price and has now stripped the whole thing out and is preparing to rebuild the back. It may look a bit of a rust-bucket but it's perfect for what he needs for working until I get there, and for what we need for travelling once I do get there. It will essentially be our first home in a sense. No, it's not a two bedroom flat with a spacious kitchen diner and scope to extend (I've possibly been watching too much Kirstie & Phil) but it's still exciting.

Jack's in his element as he's finally got an excuse to pick up tools again and get building and it also means we can start looking at places we want to see and stop at on the way to Perth. If you've read previous Tuesday Travel's you'll know that we plan to drive all the way to Perth and so now we finally have a mode of transport it's very exciting.

We know, already, we want to stop in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, the obvious points of call I'd imagine. However, we're lost on places to stop between Adelaide and Perth. It's something we'll be looking into over the next couple of weeks, but with me busy with the course and Jack busy re-designing the back of the van, or our home for the few months following May, it's probably not going to be a quick planning process.

Anyway, enough with the wooly stuff I suppose I should tell you a  bit more about the idea behind the van. Essentially Jack is going to re-build with a bed in the back. That way we can travel as much or as little of the day as we want, stop whenever and kip down for the night not having to worry about booking campsites in advance and making sure we get to a certain place and a certain time. Obviously, we will stop at campsites when we can, we will have to do some washing eventually, but at least this way we know if we're still driving at 8pm we can just stop when Jack gets tired of driving and not have to worry about finding a campsite. Obviously that sort of lifestyle isn't for everyone and to be honest if Jack hadn't managed to find this van and got it so much cheaper than it was priced at we'd probably still be looking into cars. However, now the van is in our life I'm very happy and excited to get on the road in it.

Only 96 days to go.

The World Is A Book And Those Who Don't Travel Read Only One Page | Motivational Monday

This week is another week where I aim the motivation at me, and clearly I should have thought about this more when I suggested every other week being a week where I could motivate myself to get on with a New Years Resolutions. My third resolution was to travel more. Clearly I can't actually do a lot about that at the moment. I haven't got the money to go spending on more trips other than that very big one that's happening three months and nine days from now. However, I have got somethings I need to do in terms of Australia so I thought maybe this week could be the week to get that done.

Jack got a car/van/wagon/rust bucket this weekend just gone and so now we know we can officially drive across the country to Perth, which is what we really wanted to do. However, it may be clear from my post the other week that as of yet we have no idea where we want to stop, mainly because we didn't know if we'd definitely be able to do it and so didn't want to make loads of plans for a road trip that might not happen. But now that's changed, we can officially start looking into stop over points.

This week I want to do that. I want to end this week having more of an idea of all the places we can stop and see to make the most of the huge road trip we'll be doing across Australia. This sort of covers the travel more part of the resolution. I'll be seeing more of Australia by driving, or by Jack driving, and doing a heck of a lot sitting in a passenger seat.

I wouldn't want to leave Australia thinking 'I wish I'd seen more of it', this way hopefully I won't be thinking it. Hopefully, this way I'll leave Australia knowing I saw as much as I could and got out of it everything I could have done. This week I'll be motivating myself to ensure that's the case.