childhood heroes in fiction

2017, lifestyle, travel

Hello!

What we watch as a child can hugely affect who we are today – in a millennial generation that longs to go back to when things were easier, Disney movies both old and new are more popular than ever before I reckon.

Personally I have always been a huge daydreamer – I have very, very vivid memories of perching on the edge of my bed when I was about six with my head in my hands desperately wishing that Peter Pan would come and sprinkle some pixie dust over me and take me away on an adventure to Neverland.

Just for clarification – I was waiting for the animated character, not a ‘real life’ version of him, the actual cartoon.

But from a more psychological point of view, the way the story of Peter Pan has influenced me is by making me always look for adventure and fun, to not let my youth limit my attitude and goals and an insatiable desire to fly.

I also periodically get ‘We’re following the leader’ stuck in my head for three hours on loop. You’re welcome.

I started watching Doctor Who in 2007 with Series 3 of ‘New Who’ – 10^th Doctor David Tennant and new assistant Martha Jones. And I still watch Doctor Who to this day – I think the current series (10) with Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie is one of the best series there’s been and I think there’s more parallel’s between Peter Pan and Doctor Who than anyone would think at face value.

It inspires that sense of adventure, not letting time or age stop you from exploring and causing a little bit of trouble, except it’s time travel rather than flying and The Master and Daleks rather than Captain Hook and the crocodile.

Doctor Who has a phenomenally big fanbase because so many people grew up with it and let’s them relive that little taste of childhood once a week for 45 minutes – at this point, I wouldn’t even call Doctor Who a kids show but it’s still got that sense of wonder that no one ever really loses.

My boyfriend and I quite often browse through Netflix or his dad’s old DVDs to watch an old episode of Doctor Who because it’s just so much fun, it’s so easy to watch and it’s almost comforting, in a way, to be able to come back to the same characters.

From a creative point of view, I love the way Doctor Who is written and produced – recently I have a growing interest in how TV works and how programs are created but that might be because so many of my friends study in a TV related field and I don’t want to be left out. But I’ve always loved how Doctor Who is written – I used to want to be a screen writer purely so I could write episodes of Doctor Who for a living, Steven Moffat was my idol.

Things change, times pass and people change too; I’ve changed – I don’t want to be a screenwriter anymore, I think I want to be in Doctor Who as much as I’d love to write for it and I’m ten years older than I was when I watched David Tennant and Freema Agyeman on the Moon.

I’ve been thinking a lot about childhood recently – I spent the weekend with my family scattering my Nan’s ashes and we managed to turn it into such a positive, happy gathering and I have so much love for my family. But there were a lot of old photos being passed around – my Granddad had written up a sort of memoire and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every detail the other night and finding out so much about the man I’ve grown up with.

There’s so much that I miss about being a kid, but rather than let myself get down about it, I think I’m just going to carry on as if I still am – because who grows up really?

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

tips for saving to travel

2017, student, travel

Hello!

Disclaimer (before we get into all this): I’m a student so I only have a part time job, I don’t have to pay taxes or pay off a loan so… bear that in mind.

When you’ve decided you want to go travelling and have picked a goal or a time you want to go, the big thing is saving the money to actually go. Personally I know I want to do some travelling in 2018 and then 2020 is going to be my proper year out and travel all over the world year, so I’ve got a good few years to save as much as I can before I go anywhere.

But I’m really bad with money – I really struggle with wanting to spoil the people I love and wanting to treat myself. However if I want to go travelling I need to pay for it, so here are some of the ways I’ve found have been helpful for me when I’m trying to save.

Close all the tabs you have open – Amazon, that January clothes haul, that new toy or game or gadget you’ve had your eye on, just close it. This doesn’t mean to say it has to be forgotten, but if you really want to go travelling, it can wait.

Make a wish list – a list of all the things that were in those tabs so you can either budget it in so you can buy them soon or just so you have a list of things you want when you get back and you can save again. By then you might realise you don’t even really need some of these things anyway! Making a list means you can evaluate what you really want and you won’t forget anything.

Have a money bank – like a physical money bank, like the ones we had when we were kids. Having something physical can 1) be really rewarding and nice decoration and 2) can be a nice way to empty your purse or wallet at the end of every week. Sure it might be filled with coppers and loose change but it’s something – spending money, a few extra drinks here and there, anything helps.

Open a savings account – sounds obvious, but the key here is to actually use it. Set yourself a weekly budget and then put what you don’t spend of that budget into the savings account at the end of the week, or maybe have a monthly budget and do the same thing. For example, if you allow yourself to spent £50 on food, a night out, maybe someone has a birthday coming up (however you want to spend it), but say you only spend £35 this week or you have a few pennies left at spending £48.27 or something – put the difference in the savings account. It may not be much but it all builds up in the long run.

My last tip would be that you need to stay very aware of your bank account – trying to save is all well and good but you need to live in the moment too and stopping yourself from doing anything to save you money means you might not enjoy your time at the moment, spend time with your friends and family but be cautious as well. You have to be strict with yourself but also be kind.

These tips aren’t even necessarily just for travelling – if you’re like me (and every other student) who got a bit trigger happy with the overdraft spending and you’re trying to see that positive bank balance again, these tips can help you too, or even if you’re just trying to save money in general – this doesn’t have to be travel money!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

How to pack the bare minimum!

2016, travel

Hello!

I’ve been on a couple of big trips now and I’m slowly getting better at packing – I like being quite minimalist and I like using everything I take on a trip with me, so I thought I’d collate some tips that might help you if you’re packing for a holiday or a trip!

Side note: I’m assuming you’re going on a holiday, abroad for about a week – adjust more or less accordingly!

1) Don’t overpack clothes!

Realistically, don’t plan outfits for every day – you don’t need seven t-shirts, four pairs of trousers and three dress shirts! You can wear a t-shirt more than once and it’ll just be disappointing if you bring home clothes you didn’t even wear!

You do need spare underwear though. That’s useful.

2) You don’t need a whole library!

As someone who thinks they read but realistically don’t read as much or as fast as they like to think they do, I always take three or four books away with me and I barely finish one so save your own space and take a realistic amount of books! Or a kindle, that’s a good compromise and then if you do get really into reading you can read more if you like.

3) Be realistic with bathroom stuff!

Do you need that massive bottle of brand new shampoo with you? Probably not! Either buy travel sized cosmetics or buy those little packs of tiny bottles and portion that new bottle of shampoo into the little bottles and taking a little travel sized dry shampoo or hairspray.

4) Be careful with your other cosmetics!

Do you need all your make-up? Is it going to be too hot or too cold for make-up? Is there a sun-cream foundation you could take instead (two birds one stone?)? Only take the stuff you really need, not everything. A few hair bobbles will go in your make-up bag and do you really need your curling iron?

5) Keep only the stuff you need on the plane in your hand luggage!

Clothes, hygiene items and even some forms of entertainment can go in your suitcase – the kind of things you’d put in your handbag or your pockets (if you’re lucky enough to have male-sized pockets in your clothes!). The less you have to carry on the plane, the less you have to worry about losing – phone, passport, plane ticket, money, a book or music device, maybe painkillers or plane remedies, the list doesn’t get much longer than that.

The incentive is that you’ll have less to carry, you won’t have that feeling of ‘why did I bring this?’ when you where the same pair of shoes for the whole trip and if you want to buy lots while you’re there, you’ve got more space!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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