Travel Anxiety

In 3 weeks I leave not-so-sunny England for New Zealand (via 3 days in Hong Kong) for 9 months! As I told my mother "Some have a baby, I chose a gap year" *cue uncomfortable laughter*.
As the time gets nearer, it is becoming more real. I'm having to save a lot of money (much to the detriment of my current account), make a list of things to pack and struggle through choosing travel insurance. Plus parents/friends are starting to get all quiet when I mention how long it is until I go away, which is kind of sad (apart from one of my aunties who is really excited for me, since she backpacked around Africa via lorry when she was my age.)
The scariest thing that is starting to sink in is that I will be alone. There is no guarantee that I will make firm friends on my BUNAC group flight, or in hostels. I need to find a job and a place to live pretty quickly otherwise my money might run out....

Anyway, I've been having some really weird other anxieties about my life in NZ so.... enjoy.

• There aren't any Costa Coffees. This shouldn't be such a worry but I love Costa because it reminds me of lovely chats with my best friend, so it could cure my homesickness. 
• I'm not sure they celebrate Halloween?? I lovelovelove Halloween, and it would be kind of weird not celebrating it.
• I am scared of spending Christmas alone. I envisage a very sad looking me with a veggie Christmas dinner for one, wearing my L.E.D jumper and reindeer skirt. Oh, and its sunny not snowing outside.
• Do they have Heinz Spaghetti?
• Will there be sufficient WiFi? I've read in some places that NZ has some shocking WiFi.

So yeah basically I'm entering mad panic mode!! Its starting to dawn on me how big and scary this trip is, and that I'm doing it alone. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited. But terrified. 

The next 3 weeks are going to be weird, and I'll sure as hell be turning to this blog to vent some feelings! 

Thanks for reading,

Kitty x

Trippin'

Adulthood is scary, which is why I am thoroughly enjoying watching my 18 year old friends flail about whilst I stay on the 'dancing queen young and sweet only 17' boat. Yes I know, being 17 really sucks because you can't go out with your friends or have any legal fun or vote but at least I can still behave like an idiot and say "hey I'm 17. it's okay".
Anyway, it's getting closer and closer until my birthday (less than a month now!!) and I've been thinking about the future and stuff. Mainly my gap year.
I decided to take a gap last year with one of my best friends. Since then, my plans have re-jigged quite a lot. I'm now heading off to New Zealand, on October 23rd (via Hong Kong), alone!
So I've made a quick Q/A based on what I usually get asked (as a protest to people who ask me this, and to be nice and open to y'all).

Why NZ, I hear you cry? I'm not quite sure. Part of it is that my family approve (which shouldn't be factor I know), I have contacts over thanks to my Gran's past family tree finding antics, and also kind of because my ex used to talk about going, so I guess that initially planted the idea in my brain.

Really? Alone? Yup.

What are you gonna do over there? I'm getting a working holiday visa, so that is exactly what I'll be doing. I'll work my arse off, and travel around NZ 'cause it's really lovely.

Where are you going to stay? Who knows?! I'll find out when I'm over there. It's an adventure!

Aren't you scared? I'm absolutely terrified. I've never really traveled on my own, so this is a huge step. But, I'm hoping that the group flight with BUNAC will help me make some friends who are in the same position as me.

And so your parents are paying for it? Not that it's any of your business but no, not all of it. My parents have always given me an allowance but I saved a hell of a lot of money when I was younger (me aged 8-10 was an obsessive saver), and that should cover some travel costs. And I have a full-time job as a waitress.

You probably won't come back, I knew blah blah and they went on a gap year and never came back. Okay so I've already applied to university and (subject to my grades) I will be attending in 2015. I am absolutely desperate to go to uni and train to be a nurse, but I want to grow up and be free for a little bit.

That is sooo brave of you! I don't see why? I'm not seeing this as brave, I see it as running away. I'm so sick and tired of my life in England and all I want to do is get away. I've felt this for a long time, and I really didn't want to use university as an escape because my chosen course is so demanding- it shouldn't be an escape, but a happy and healthy choice.

I hope you've found this update.... interesting. If you are thinking about taking a gap year, pop back to my previous blog post which provides you with loads of really good advice and sites to use. I can personally definitely recommend STA Travel and BUNAC at the moment, as they're organizing my trip and have been super fab.
And if you're doing any exams at the moment like me, keep going.
Thanks for reading,
Kitty x

Moving On Up

On my final day of secondary school education (which is tomorrow but I am being proactive and posting now wow go me), I'm feeling weirdly relieved. If you read my previous blog post, you would have realised that I've been at my current school for the past 7 years, so its been a big deal to leave. But, unlike in the past few months, I'm starting to feel disenchanted with school and I really feel ready to leave. I've spent a good deal of my life there, and I've changed a lot compared to the shy little chubby girl who was really terrified of the world. I'm moving on from a lot of things at the moment, and it just seems suitable to leave school behind.
One thing I'm finding hardest to come to terms with is the fact that, after 7 years, I am only keeping in contact with a few people. I've lost more friends than I've gained and that's kind of a scary prospect. I partly think its because people don't like the person I've become- which is fine. I've changed a lot , in particular this year, because of stress, breakups, life choices etc. I'm not ashamed of the person I am. I guess that is just the way school goes, and I can't wait to move on and make new friends (or if not, adopt loads of animals).
I guess I'm just feeling a bit sad that I don't have a lot to show from 7 years of school.
I'm still going to cry my eyes out of course, this school was a massive part of my life. Plus I'm a hormonal, nostalgic, frequent cryer.
If you're also leaving school, please comment/tweet/tumblr message me and tell me how you're feeling about it.
Thanks for reading,
Kitty x


(p.s, I have gap year news! I'm heading off to New Zealand on October 24th with BUNAC! i'll do another gap year post soonish maybe though)

Wanderlust

It was the brightly coloured stalls of the school's careers convention when I first started to think about taking a gap year. They all told me that a gap year would be wonderful and not stressful and a great way to make money. From then I toyed with the idea of being an Au Pair, until I realised that you needed to jump through hoops of fire, NVQs in childcare and endless DBS checks, and I thought no no I'm going to university and starting proper adult life as a student nurse.
This all changed in one fleeting moment in a 50's diner in Cardiff with my best friend. We were chatting about how scary it is to think that university is just around the corner and how we both don't feel quite ready. We jokingly said how we should run away to Paris for a year and Ta-da!- the gap year idea was born! It was not, however, that simple from then on. We both jumped from one idea to another, amazed by the range of ideas that (seemed) available and a huge list of places we wanted to go. It wasn't until late December when we actually made a plan on a pizza hut napkin, over a large plate of nachos.
Our initial idea was to live with a friend in California for 6 months, spend 3 months in Australia, travel in Thailand then do something until August when we'd finally come home. This plan was going great, we were all ready to book our Round The World ticket until it came to researching how to get an American visa, and it all fell apart. Successfully getting an American visa is as common as human sacrifice, or so I've found.
So currently, me and my friend are desperately trying to re-think our plans.
To stop this from happening, I thought I'd make this blog post and give you some great gap year websites and books which I've been using.

• Lonely Planet's 'The Big Trip' book- This book is my gap year bible. It is stocked full of information on everything you can possibly imagine in a really friendly and simple format. I have already colour-coded each chapter that is useful to me. They also have a great website  which I would definitely recommend! 
• Gap Year 360- this website is fantastic, and offers a wide range of options from volunteering to paid work abroad. 
• Cool Works - If you're looking at summer/ski season jobs, then this is the place to be. 
• BUNAC- Another massive range of options, with a really well known organizer (may pacify nervous parents who seem to assume that your gap year will only involve you becoming a skint criminal)
• GapYear.com- This is a brilliant website which talks you through everything, with a massive range of articles, advice and forums with helpful people. 
• STA Travel- I've recently discovered these guys and they've been great. A friend used this and said it was great, what more do you need to be convinced?
• The Guardian have done some articles as well which may give you some ideas
• One World 365
• If you are looking for Au Pair sites, then greataupair, aupair-world and newaupair have all been good (even though I didn't go down that route)

Those are the ones I've cherry picked for you, and if I think of anymore, I'll update this list!

This process is scary, so don't be worried if you find yourself thinking 'oh my god can I actually do this? I MIGHT DIE' or 'WHY DID I CHOOSE TO DEFER'. As long as you can happily explain why you want to go both to yourself, your friends and your overbearing family who mean the best but would really rather prefer it if you didn't, then you'll be fine! 

Best of luck, and feel free to comment/tweet/message me on tumblr if you get confused or want advice or even have advice for me!

Thanks for reading,
Kitty x