In February 2012 I travelled the length of the UK for the Brand New tour, and - as well as being one of the best weeks of my life - I made a promise to myself on the coach out of Birmingham to never return. Unfortunately their ranking on those pesky University tables was to dictate otherwise, coupled with my lack of a mathematics A-Level - which stopped me from getting into half the courses in the country.
I also spent July 2012 in Europe, with my three best friends, and it was perfect, really. Three days in most cities we visited - and we visited a few. Stockholm, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Vienna, Berlin, Munich. It was everything I dreamed about, but since then I've hardly travelled at all. Sure, I've got the train over to Aberystwyth and Manchester. Things that keep me interested for a couple of days at a time - but I haven't been away for any prolonged period.
So you can understand why I can't wait for April to arrive. Brand New tour 2.0. Tickets for all eight shows: Southampton, London, Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol, and Nottingham. Me, my camera, my favourite band, and a whole lot of hours on trains should be pretty great. That and the ol' cliché of being able to see people I haven't been able to meet up with in quite a while.
That said, it still isn't really enough. Over the course of the Olympics I formulated plans to visit Latvia and Sweden, the former just for a quick visit and the latter for a month over Christmas; And then my friend mentioned Erasmus. I hadn't really thought about taking a year out in a different country - well, I had but I thought I'd decided against it - but then I started thinking how amazing it'd be to live in Sweden for a year. Slight problem is I already have a house for next year, and have a final project all but sorted - although I'm sure that could be deferred.
So now I've got a bug to travel somewhere. Among the many, many dreams I've had growing up a travel photographer is one that I still cling to, that someday might happen. It's not going to happen as there are innumerable people more skilled and talented than I in that particular field, and I'm aware that my composition and eye is nowhere near up to scratch for a travel photographer. Which is a shame.
One of the reasons for travelling is that this city gets me down quite a lot. It's grey, it's uninteresting, and I have that quirky teenage 'not fitting in' feeling that drags down many a child. Unfortunately, the money that I could use for a quick getaway to the continent seems to be earmarked for food, and actually attempting to have a good time while still being here - so that's out. I think a lot of this is just seeing there's beauty wherever you are (and I'm a firm believer that there is). Finding views of the University and The QE Hospital still occasionally catches me off-guard and somewhat takes my breath away. Plus I've explored none of this city, and maybe I should get round to doing that sometime. I managed to get all work for next week done today - so I guess I have this weekend to do just that.
The thought of dying without having seen the world saddens me. I don't really see the point in life if you have all these amazing opportunities to see these amazing places and then never take them - but on the other hand the risk cripples me. What if I don't fit in there either? What if I get homesick? What if it's not everything I thought it would be? I've gotta banish those thoughts.
