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Travel Bucket List

Friday, 9 January 2015

Over the last few years my travelling bug has been growing and growing. I mean the best part of travelling sometimes is coming home. It's the feeling of not being "connected" via the mobile that weighs on me whilst I am travelling. The lack of 3G and wifi gets to me, not being able to see what others are doing and the ability to interact with them at any moment. This is something I am still working on, during my time in New York I felt like I was able to walk around, roam and not feel the need to be connected (although technically I still was, because there was wifi everywhere!)
So to prepare myself to part with technology one day on my travels, I am attempting to stay away from my phone and the habit of opening and closing Facebook and Instagram. I unconsciously click it and just scroll, and just looking through it bores me. Anyway, off topic. Here are a couple of bucket lists I have come across lately that I find just exciting to read, and ignites the travelling bug in me!

Elite Daily: http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/50-least-predictable-places-visit-20s/898167/
This bucket list is full of places I have never heard and maybe an attempt to stay away from the big crowds of tourists everywhere!

Rough Guides: http://www.roughguides.com/gallery/the-bucket-list-30-essential-travel-experiences/#/5
This one is for the more adventurous, if going to Icelandic glaciers and sailing is your thing, this is the bucket list to check out.

Travel Bucket List: http://www.travelbucketlist.co.uk/1/post/2013/10/ticking-off-the-bucket-list.html
This is a mix of the generic and the cool. The really amazing thing about bucket lists is watching yourself and other people tick them off. It brings a sort of positivity that nothing else brings.

I'm sure I am yet to come across some amazing bucket lists yet, and I am looking to compile my own soon. Soon to be 21, I'm worried how travelling will fit into my soon to be adult lifestyle, but it makes the future seem all the more exciting, even during the bleak times. I can't wait to continue!

New Years Resolutions

Friday, 2 January 2015

2015 has well and truly crept up on us. It's strange that the end of 2014 was causing a panic for me, and when 2015 came something felt like it had been lifted off my shoulders. It is so metaphorical, but when a new week, new month or new year comes along, something just seems to restart within us, well at least some people. I am those kind of people, when a new week comes along I feel newly energised and ready, and as 2015 rolled around it was exactly the same, I felt re-energised and ready to go. Before I tell you about my long list of resolutions which everybody seems to have, I will tell you about an app I came across whilst reading on mashable recently. The free app Coach.me on apple app store, I'm not sure what other devices they are available on, but it is like a small community that comes together with similar goals, which can be from anything to exercising, eating healthy to coding to learning the guitar. So many different options and it is quite a big community. I joined recently, and it seems both helpful and quite inspiring.

So lets begin with my new years resolutions:
1. Wake up early
I mean over the last year I have been an early riser anyway. My housemates, my family and friends always ask me why I am up at 8am, or 9am and secretly I am thinking why are you NOT up? There is at least 1 or 2 hours of your day which you could have done anything in. In 1 hour you could do so much, exercise, have a slow enjoyable breakfast, meditate, work. This year I want to continue this, I know this is my final year of University and I should make the most of it not being obligatory to wake up, but really after 9am it just feels like a total waste of time to sit and do nothing in bed. With this one, I also want to incorporate and remind myself to 'be present' in situations where I used to constantly listen to music, look at my phone etc, I want to be present, take that big breathe of fresh air and just live.

2. Practice coding everyday 
It is something I enjoy and want to practice everyday, I want to spend time doing the things I enjoy and is worthwhile. I mean there are lots of things we "enjoy" because they are easy, browsing others blogs, looking through social media etc, but these aren't actually enjoyable, just easy. This year I want to challenge myself a little and break through these mental barriers of not being able to do things, because I think I can't.

3. Exercise regularly and frequently
The last few months I have been trying extremely hard to keep this one, and I intend to keep it going. During the beginning it energised me a lot, recently I have been tipping off because my eating has been taking a toll on my energy, but I want to regain control of both my exercising patterns as well as my eating patterns.

4. SAVING MONEY
Shall we all just have a little sob to this one? So my 21 years of education is coming to an end, and do you know what that means? YES, my mother and father will no longer be supporting me (well I would hope they don't need to) So this year I want to beginning keeping on top of my spending so when the real world comes along I am not struggling, trying to figure out where I went wrong, why I don't have a particular amount here, for a particular thing.

5. Work HARDER and smarter
This is probably something I have struggled with for the last two years of University. I've just been strolling by, doing what I can and not what I have the ability to. Final year means I have to prove myself to myself and also my parents, and my siblings because they are little shits who are constantly bantering me.

6. Meditate
Through out last year I did contemplate on becoming a buddhist, and then I realised it is unrealistic because I live a life of excess and none of my family will agree (I also got a few laughs). It is not to say they influenced me into not becoming a buddhist, but I just don't believe my life aligns with the commitment that comes with being a buddhist, and I don't want to be half-arsed. However, I do want to take meditation and bring it into my lifestyle. I mean there is always room for more positivity and enlightenment in ones life.

7. Travel to a different destination monthly
This resolution sounds so extravagant, however I don't mean it to be. I just want to go to a place I haven't been once a month. This could be anywhere and however far, I mean this could be Dublin, which isn't far, maybe a few hours, but it is still somewhere new. I just want to open my eyes a little more and take a breather every once in a while.

I mean these aren't life changing resolutions I know, but they are small things I want to do to improve myself. I found 2014 to be an extremely eye-opening year for me, and I want 2015 and the coming years to be the same. The only way to improve yourself and anything else is to take notice of one-self. So here's to 2015 and it being another great year with lots of different places, faces and achievements.