April on The Little Backpacker

By Littlebckpacker @littlebckpacker

Sitting, staring at my laptop, my eyes are struggling to focus on the text in front of me and all I can think is “I’m exhausted”. Over the last five days I’ve read countless sources and written 2650 words, but that isn’t what’s tiring me. It is the thought of still having 3650 words to write over two more assignments and that is, without even thinking about the two presentation assignments and grammar glossary I need to complete by the 18th of May. The worst part is my life seems to be so busy between now and then that sleep is going to have to forgive if I want to complete any of this.

Did I mention I go to Barcelona in 6 days? I know it’s snuck up on me too. I’m so flippin’ excited to get exploring again but my head is telling me to halt the excitement until I get some of those words I just mentioned written. Instead of doing that I find myself sitting on Twitter, reading blogs or actually working to earn money.

I knew this time of year was going to be hectic but no one warned me it would feel this bad.

I’m aware this is a very negative start to a blog, but it is the most inspired I have felt to write something in ages. So I let myself write it, and you know what it felt good to just put pen to paper (well technically I typed it but whatever) and write honestly. In the bigger picture I’m not unhappy with my decision to be at university and couldn’t be happier with my near completion of first year.

Boat Race from Putney

On to April…..

This month has been busy. First it was the Easter holidays and I spent time back in the New Forest working, essay writing, seeing friends and preparing for the biggest wedding of the year. I then had the honor of being bridesmaid for my oldest friend, at her beautiful wedding in Basingstoke. The following morning we rushed back to London for the Boat Race in Putney and to cheer on the women for the first time. The atmosphere along the river was electric and the weather was on our side for once. We spend the afternoon in good company drinking Pimm’s in the sunshine while watching Oxford smash every race. The crowds were so hectic I’m not sure I’d go again, but I’m glad I went this time.

Nicole and Dave’s Wedding

The following weekend was my birthday, it started with dinner at Sketch on the Friday. The gallery restaurant was as pink and magical as I hoped it would be. Saturday I took the train to Bath for a day trip with my other best friend. We shopped and ate afternoon tea in the cutest vintage tea rooms all while enjoying the sunny weather. On Sunday my parents came to visit and for the first time in ages I was a tourist in London. We saw London from atop Tower Bridge, walked the banks of the river, explored the street art in East London and took a trip to the cat cafe in Shoreditch. It was an exhausting but fun weekend.

Then last weekend it was back to central London again for a stay at Clink 261 and meeting old friends on Saturday. We dined in St Christopher’s Place – a place I never knew excited before – and did a little shopping on the ever busy Oxford Street. Before cursing at how hard it is to get home after a late evening in the pub in central London. After such a busy month I regrettably gave watching the marathon live a miss… maybe next year.

Being a tourist at the Tower Bridge Exhibition

What I’ve been writing this month

Over Easter I spent some time in West Sussex and despite the miserable weather finally made it to Old Town in Hastings. It is a beautifully cute town and I couldn’t help but grab some snapshots on my phone.

Another month, another competition post, this time: My Top Three Travel Bucket List Destinations for the Transun competition which closed at the end of April. Deciding on just three was very difficult!

And finally I started off the month by writing up two posts about my weekend at the Traverse 15 blogging conference in Kingston: Pocket Kitchens at Riverside Edge & Top Takeaways from Traverse 15.

Street art I found in Shoreditch

Blogs I’ve Been Loving

It all starts with dreaming, this post by Caz of ytravelblog had me inspired from the first sentence. By the end of the blog I was right there with her wanting to be someone who can help a country during the time of a natural disaster. Ever since the 2004 tsunami I have wanted to be someone who provides help on the ground when people most need it and Caz reminded me of why it’s good to dream about these things…. because one day it might just happen.

Helen always has me wanderlusting after Africa with every new posts she writes, this one about her time in Kenya was no different. One day I will get back to the land that gave me the travel bug but until then I’ll continue to live through Helen’s blog.

Jayne’s review of the Olympus PEN mini has had me wanting to buy it ever since. I got to test out Olympus cameras a while back and she only reminded me how fun they are. They are a great middle ground camera, not as bulky as a DSLR but with more features than a normal point and shoot.

Finally some photo and video inspiration of different parts of America. These dizzying views of NYC had me falling for a city I don’t even love that much where as Brooke’s video had me green with envy for my favorite part of America.

In May…

As I have already mentioned I will be flying off to Barcelona on the 6th of May for six days of exploring the city. It will be my first visit to Spain and I cannot wait to try all the food, see as much Gaudi work as possible and head to my third Formula One race.

Also this month I am using the rental of a Fiat 500 I won at Traverse 15 for a little road trip in the South of the UK. I’ll also be heading to my first west end musical in London and on the 26th of May I will finally complete my first year at university.


Tags:  London Monthly Statistics