24 Days and Counting

There really is no way of describing the freaking panic and nauseating excitement of realising that my trip of a life time down under is less than a month away. I'm now forced to count down the remaining time in weeks and days.

3.233 Weeks.
24 Days.
576 Hours.
34,560 Minutes...

Amidst this panic, which left me rapidly inhaling my own carbon dioxide out a paper bag, I started realising all the things I needed to do before I left. At first all the obvious stuff came to mind such as packing and saving enough money and purchasing the strongest bug spray money can buy.

But then I started to think about all the little things I was going to miss about home; all the things I needed to do one last time for the next 6 months, and I only have 24 days to do it all!

I've made hundreds of draft to do lists for things to pack, things to buy, things to remember (passport/visa/insurance details etc.) but haven't even considered the things to do before I leave.

I tore myself away from the paper bag, flattened it on the table and started to scribble a list of all the things I needed to do. My pre-adventure bucket list.

So here it goes...

• I need say goodbye to the friends and certain special people who I haven't said goodbye to yet. I was forced to say an early farewell to most of my friends a few weeks ago because they're all at university, but there's still some serious buddy time to squeeze into the next 24 days. 
• I have a gift card for a shop in town that runs out in 2 months that I seriously need to use up. I'm not going to need jumpers and jeans for almost a year and that's all they're selling but I need to spend it!
• I need to eat a Cornish pasty... I know Warrens delivers to Brighton, but I doubt they deliver to Sydney.
• I need to visit Praa Sands. It's my favourite beach in the world and if I'm going to be adulterous and spend six months on the golden sands of the east coast then I should probably say a proper farewell.
• I need to buy one last large latte from my favourite coffee shop with the sexy barista I've crushed on for about 2 years, because his coffee is fantastic and his smile makes my day.
• Passing my driving test would be totally radical. It would be totally awesome to go pick someone up from somewhere and take them somewhere else just because I can. It would also be dramatically useful in Australia. Give me that van!
• I want to make sure my kitty gets plenty of cuddles so she doesn't forget me in her absence and me and the dog will have to go for one of our crazy long walks to who-knows-where.
• Last but certainly not least, I need some family time. It could easily be argued that I've had far too much family time since I decided to take a gap year and live at home 3 months longer than recommended for someone my age. However, my Mum and I have a tradition of going to the big M&S in Hayle for coffee and toasties and I'd like to do it again before I fly off to an M&S deprived country. I want a movie marathon night with my sister and a night in cooking for my Dad, because he bloody loves my food and he'll probably miss it in the next six months more than me!

Realising that's a lot to do in 24 days, I've resumed the hyperventilating position with my all important to do list inflating and deflating in front of my crossed eyes.

I think I'm going to go and lie down.

If anyone can help me complete any of these bullet points I'd be very appreciative and if you have anything else to add... fuck off! Can't you see I'm freaking out enough?!

Peace(?) Out ♥






 

The metaphorical new leaf of doom

Turning over a new leaf. It's a cliche adopted by many.

A promise from a son to father that he won't fail his next exam because he was hungover. 

A promise from boyfriend to nearly-ex-girlfriend after he betrays her trust again. 

A promise to yourself to start a fresh and leave the past behind you. 

Sometimes it's not that easy. When reading a book, you don't turn the page and totally forget what was on the previous page. You'd never finish the story and if you did, you wouldn't understand the plot or concept and you certainly wouldn't have learned anything from whatever moral might be hiding between the lines. 

How does anyone ever move on completely, cut all ties and pretend like everything that happened before that moment was just memories and learned lessons? 

Before diving into any new relationship, I always scroll through my Facebook friends thinking "who needs to go to make this relationship work?" The answer's usually pretty simple; estranged exes, previous booty calls, any friends I've accidentally slept with that one time. You name it, they gotta go.

Of course, that's quite a plunge to take. Turning round and looking at this guy and deciding he's worth burning your black book for, knowing you'll have to buy a new one and start all over again if it turns out to be a mistake. 

Do men do the same thing? Do they rid their past of threatening evidence before diving in to a new relationship or do they just hope for the best, knowing they have back up just in case it goes to shit? 

Men are a mystery. 

So this metaphorical new leaf is never as easy as you might hope, no one wants to throw out their previous exploits, take the plunge and, God forbid, actually trust another human being to do the same. 

In my experience, the new chapter in your life go two ways. It can turn into a book or barely last two pages before you decide it sounds like shit, select all and delete in a heartbeat and start the chapter again. Kind of like this blog post actually.

In light of this discover, I've coined a new phrase: the metaphorical new leaf of doom. Because no matter how many times you turn over a new leaf, take the plunge, burn the black book and, here it comes again, trust another human being (!!!) it could always be doomed.

So I leave you with no conclusion but a mere 'to be continued...'

How do you know when it's right to take the plunge and when it's doomed to the 'lessons learned' chapter of the book? 

And can you ever really burn the black book of doom? I mean it's all online now baby.

Peace Out ❤️