From time to time I feel the need to keep my readers updated with what is going on in my personal life. Normally this has been done in big elaborated posts like ‘Should I Follow My Head or My Heart’ or ‘Not Belonging In the World I Wished For’ and more recently I’ve been doing this with weekly vlogs about London and student life. However today I’m simply writing you a little note because bringing you a vlog just isn’t possible… We have no internet at home and uploading a file to You Tube in a cafe I don’t have time to be sat in doesn’t sound like fun to me!
The biggest update is probably my apology, as I mentioned on my Facebook page a few days ago….
Sorry in advance for the lack of blogging that will be done over the next six weeks. As well as having no wifi in the flat – the biggest nightmare of a blogger and my own fault for using BT Open Zone instead of getting my own wifi. I have started a placement with university and am teaching/observing in school from 8-5 every week day. On top of that I will need to be working and sleeping at the weekend as well as keeping up to date with all my uni work and paper work in the evening. I’m not pressuring myself to blog because I need to pass placement and get it right the first time around. I am however aiming for at least one post a week to keep the ball rolling and to keep me from getting cabin fever. This might be a precaution that is pointless and I may end up working to my normal blog schedule but with limited time to get to said coffee shop with wifi, I’m not holding my breath.
Weekly vlogs with continue again from mid February when I have finished placement and am back to being a lazy student again…..
December on The Little Backpacker
What I’ve Been Blogging About
Highlight and Lowlight of the Month
December was a whirlwind month, there was so much to count down to and get excited about for the latter part of the month, that the first two weeks dragged. It was a routine of uni and work and essays. The biggest excitement of the month in London was taking time out to visit Oxford Street and the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park to get ourselves in the Christmas spirit a little.
After uni was wrapped up for the holidays and I completed a week of working it was time for the fun to be had. Our trip started with 24 hours in Iceland where we saw the Northern Lights ever so faintly and splashed around in the Blue Lagoon while snow fell around us. It was an amazing 24 hours which only ignited my want to explore the rest of Iceland. Following our quick stopover we travelled on to New York City where the real adventure began, just as soon as we cleared customs. The process was the normal slow and rude service, making first impressions a poor one. Luckily things got better from there and after being upgraded rooms in our hotel we sipped on a bottle of champagne for the rest of the night. Throughout our time in New York City we packed in a lot including: an NFL game at Met Life Stadium, three bus tours with the Big Bus Company, a visit to The Top of The Rock, Christmas shopping, hunting the best Christmas displays and much much more. It was certainly a holiday I won’t forget in a while but one I returned from in need of a rest!
The rest of the festive season passed by in a blur after landing back in London on Christmas Eve. There was lots of driving between family, eating too much, present giving and receiving and even a wedding. It was a busy week or so of festive fun and hard work (yes I made myself work over the holidays because I needed the money). We rounded the month/year off with a curry and game of Cards Against Humanity – trust me it’s a good game.
Snapshots of December
What I’ve Been Loving This Month
Blogs
Backpacker Banter – Siargao Island – A Complete Guide To The Philippines Surfing Paradise: This blog gave me the biggest hit of wanderlust all month, after reading this post I was all ready to quit university, buy a plane ticket and never return. Unfortunately my head got the better of my however Siargao Island is firmly on my bucket list!
Backpacks and Bunkbeds – How My Travelling on a Budget Has Changed With Age: There is always part of me that thinks once a backpacker always a backpacker and in some ways that is true. However as Neil describes in this post that is not always true and that often reflects in the way you spend money.
Adventurous Kate – Sri Lanka, What Took Me So Long?: This blog was another one responsible for stirring the wanderlust in me this month but what I loved most about reading this post was the mention of her planned trip there in 2010 and how it never happen. I remember reading Kate’s blog back in 2010 and just dreaming of travelling anywhere and everywhere.
Videos
Vietnam Road Trip Videos by a Rambling Northerner: There is nothing uber fancy about Jack’s equipment or video editing but there is something so honest and natural about the videos. They show Vietnam just how it is and they don’t try to brush over the negatives of travel. This road trip through Vietnam was something I did via bus instead of motorbike and boy did these videos make me jealous!
Next Month
As I mentioned in my little update, this month I am on placement for university, with my teaching degree I am required to spend a certain amount of days in school each year. For me that happens over the next six weeks and means I will be extremely busy in the day with teaching/observing and in the evenings making lesson plans and keeping up with any uni work. The weekends are then reserved for actual work and hopefully some sleep. Unfortunately all this means no travelling this month, possibly not even a day trip out of London – but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for that one! On the blog you can expect to hear all about my New York and Iceland trip for the next few weeks as well as hopefully announcing travel plans for 2015 as I currently have none….
Tags: Monthly Statistics
