Starting Again

Over my summer of travelling, I found myself with plenty of time to sit and think. During last semester, I was caught up in this neverending cycle of lectures and tutorials, and when I was free, I spent my time with the people who could brighten my day. With my laptop in my room, I was never truly alone; constantly checking in online with those I’d left behind in England, or reading up on the latest news, or losing myself in a game.

However, in trying to explore Australia, it was almost the polar opposite. I could decide how busy my days would be; in Melbourne and Sydney, I tried to do as much as possible, exploring all the tourist hangouts. In Townsville and Perth, it was just too warm to be on the move all the time, so I was happy to relax in the cool air of a cafe or city park with a cold drink and a long book. Forever moving from one place to another, I would never really connect with anyone in a hostel. Sure, I would have the customary chats of where we were from, what we were doing, and what we wanted to see, but it was never anything more than that before I once again had to pack up and move on. I looked forward to those occasions when I knew I would be able to meet up with a friend, someone who would already know me. My laptop was scarcely used, save for when I had to write a blog post.

I have learnt that there is only so long I can travel alone before I start to long for meeting someone with whom I have a connection, and by the end of Perth, I was beginning to go a bit mad. Added to this was my lack of sleep in hostels, a problem most evident in Perth where air conditioning had apparently been forgotten when the hostel was built. And then, whilst trying to enjoy my extended holiday, I tried to keep you all in the loop on this blog.

I am truly sorry for the ever-lengthening posts of the last few weeks. My early witty posts have been replaced by long, meandering lists of everything that happened to me, headed by a truly awful pun. I struggled to think of witticisms for my And Finally…, often just posting something vaguely related to what had happened to me that week that I could make appear funny. However, change is afoot!

This semester, I have challenged myself to improve ‘me’. Without going into details just now, last semester did not work out how I wanted from an academic point of view. This year, I will attend all of my lectures and tutorials, and I will pass my courses in style. Since going to Sheffield, my fitness has slipped away, and my weight has increased, so I will eat healthier, and I am taking up running three times a week. And most importantly to you, my blogging will improve. Since it is inevitable that less happens to me at university, the posts will be less frequent, but it will be all about quality, not quantity. If I know that I’m in the kind of mood where I can only create a list of seemingly unconnected events that have happened to me, I won’t bother. I’ll try again another day, when I know I can create something that is truly enjoyable to read. Rather than listing the touristy things I have done, I want to return to my posts of bright remarks, with real insight into what is happening to me.

And that, my readers, is what will come in the next post. I’m going to go away and write it now, but I feel that as a statement, this post is complete enough. Look out for the upcoming post soon (I’ll send an email round).

And finally, (you didn’t think I’d leave it out did you?) I leave you with this image that I happened across online. If I see one of these in my room, I’ll make sure to find a better technique.

(It might take a little while to load properly!)