A sign that this “millenial” is becoming boring?

I really hate being called a millenial. Or part of Generation Y. Why do we have to classify millions of people into one huge, sweeping statement and assume we are all the same, with the same motivations, aspirations and goals? The same disregard for anything traditional, secure, well thought out?

Hrrmph.

What I love being is a young person, although I was aghast when an article about young people and got me up in arms with the presumptions made, but then I realised I was not in the 18-25 “young” demographic any more. Balls to that I say, I’m young!

Anyway, I digress. I did one of those boring things that “millenials” aspire to, yet quite obviously can’t afford/want with their vagrant lifestyles and penchant for over-priced coffee. I bought a house!

Technically, I bought a house with one of my best friends, Amie. We got drunk, she said she wanted to buy a house, I said I wanted to too and we got the ball rolling. 8 months later we officially got the key to our new home. It was all so exciting, and so Generation X! And I LOVED it!

9 months

It has literally been 9 months, to the day, since I last wrote a blog post. I could have had a baby in that time (thankfully I haven’t)! But seriously poor form by me; I really enjoyed writing posts on here, but I’ve clearly let life get in the way a bit too much.

I’ve done some amazing things though, and I promise I’ll blog about most of them in the near future. So, here’s my highlights of the 9 missing months!

• Bingley Music Live – a great little festival in Yorkshire with the friends we made at Glastonbury in 2015
• Went to Banksy’s Dismaland
• Holiday to Budapest – wow, what a city! One of my absolute favourites!
• Christmas!
• I bought a house! Yep; adulthood hits hard with a mortgage! This was a very stressful part of my life, but I’m so glad we did it
• I joined a Book Club. Because I’m a well rounded individual 😉
• Developed a strong obsession with Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself after walking around Paris singing it at every opportunity on a hen do
• Went to see Avenue Q and Mamma Mia; having never seen either, both were really entertaining!
• Wedding of the year: Georgia & Erin ❤
• Another Secret Cinema trip; again completely mind-blowing
• I went on my first ski trip. I had mixed success; both moments of tears and moments of elation
• A once in the lifetime trip to the Arctic circle for a friend’s 30th. This one will make a great blog post, I promise!
• Camping in the Brecon Beacons with friends; there were so many peacocks roaming free
• Renovated our bathroom. #exhausting
• Reunion with Uni friends at an incredible Air BnB; table tennis, beer pong, football and laughs by the bucketload
• Restarted the Body Coach plan, after absolutely jumping off the wagon in September!

After that whistle stop tour of some of my highlights of the past 9 months,  I am realising how much fun I’ve had. And that list doesn’t even touch the sides; I’ve had many awesome weekends with friends, evenings in the pub and all of those little things that make life awesome.

Until my next post (before the end of this week!), bye!

Feeling full, fresh and fine!

It’s Tuesday today. Specifically the Tuesday after the August Bank Holiday and back to work I went. Today is also my Day 9 of the Body Coach’s 90 Day SSS Plan and I have to say time has flown by!

Despite being completely overwhelmed by the amount of food I need to eat, it has all gone swimmingly so far. Well, except for a couple of turkey and egg muffins doing their best to culture a new type of mould that is! After one big supermarket shop, which included enough tupperware to equip a small army of mums, I was ready to crack on with preparing some of my meals for the week. I spent about 5 hours last Sunday preparing meals for the coming days. Thankfully I quite enjoy cooking, but I was shocked at how many eggs I would have to eat! 9 days in and I have eaten maybe 30 or so! As friends will know, I don’t like eggs. Apparently except for when they’re in a delicious omelette that is…

#Sweaty! But don’t be distracted from all of that yummy food!

The food has been a dream. Admittedly there is a lot of it; 3 large meals and 2 snacks a day. There have been plenty of times I get to 9 or 10pm and realise I haven’t eaten one of my snacks so I’ve scoffed a protein shake. Protein shakes: I never really got on with them in my cycling days. They were always a necessity rather than something tasty. The My Protein ones however are rather tasty. I think it helps that they actually dissolve into the water rather than leaving a powdery residue on your tongue.

The exercise also hasn’t been too challenging (she says). High intensity interval training; it’s quick, creates a killer sweat and leaves me breathless and unable to speak! But I’ve generally recovered well enough. With the exception of one session where I clearly did not warm up/down properly and caused calves so tight I could not walk when I got out of bed or off of a chair!

I generally feel better on this plan. I have more energy, enjoy all of my meals (although that was never a problem). I have not missed sugar or evening snacks. Alcohol was supposed to be cut out, but having only four G&T’s over a Bank Holiday weekend is a success in my book! I also had to replace a couple of meals when i was eating out with work or friends, but I think I made (reasonably) good choices…

Two more days fully on-plan this week, but then I am off to Bingley Music Live. Three days of lots of alcohol and I imagine lots of bad fast food! I’ll do my best to make good choices, but I am just not sure if they will be available! Oh well; I’ll just commit extra hard to those HIIT sessions next week!

Right, time for bed. Up bright and early to cycle to the gym and smash out half an hour on the rowing machine. Wish me luck!

Time to get mean and lean with The Body Coach

It’s August; days should be sunny, warm and spent in the company of good friends. Instead it’s raining, miserable and autumnal. Grrr. It feels like summer has just whizzed by, and that can’t just be because the past 3 weeks have been one grey, drizzly blur. British summer eat your heart out.

I have enjoyed myself way too much over the past few months; the tightness of my jeans tells me so! I am the heaviest I have ever been and probably the most unfit. A lifestyle change is in order. One that brings meaningful exercise back into my life now I have had to give up football due to knee pain. One that allows me to continue to eat delicious, home-cooked meals. One that allows for those days where all you really want is to slob out.

After much stalking on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram I signed up to The Body Coach’s 90 Day SSS Plan. I was totally swayed by the incredible before and after pictures that people had achieved on this plan. And none of them were those false before/after ones that are merely improved with good lighting and a smile. These are serious transformations. I want that level of success.

At nearly £150 for this 3 month plan I will definitely be committed to it. I still can’t quite believe I have spent that amount of money on a personalised lifestyle plan, but if in 90 days time I’m feeling lean and mean then it will be totally worth it. So far I’ve done a food shop which looked like a week’s food for a family, not just for one person. The amount of meat, broccoli and spinach is ridiculous, but luckily I love my greens! I spent this afternoon preparing some of my meals and snacks for the coming days whilst chain-watching Parks and Recreation; multi-tasking at it’s finest.

Preview of tomorrow’s food: spinach and mushroom omelette for breakfast, two turkey “muffins” for a snack, tuna salad for lunch, ranch avocado dip and celery for another snack, a giant turkey burger with smokey sweet potato fries for dinner after I’ve played squash. Seriously, what a yummy menu! Also some vitamins and other supplements. And protein shakes! The delivery of those to the office tomorrow could be a conversation starter!

I’m excited to get going! I’m starting the first “S” of the plan: Shift. So hopefully over the coming 4 weeks I will shift a good few inches! I already know there are days when I will not stick to plan (a boozy music festival to start with), but the beauty of this plan is that it’s a lifestyle; you just jump back on board the next day.

Let me know you’re finding the plan if you’ve started it, or feel free to ask me any questions if you are thinking of joining up.

Oh hey blog, did you miss me?

I have been so rubbish at keeping up to date with my blog. So I apologise to it (and to any followers who may have missed me). In the time that I’ve been absent a lot has happened in my summer so far:

• Glastonbury 2015- totally awesome! I made some new friends from “oop norf”, fell in love with Lionel Ritchie and found out that adding gin to Carlsberg only improves it!
• I’m buying a house! This perhaps will be it’s own blog post in the future given how much pain it has been already, but I’m getting on the property ladder with my friend Amie. Life goal: tick!
• Many wonderful evening and weekends with friends have been had. From surprising Stimps with a midweek birthday visit, to enjoying Bristol Harbour Festival with Jack, watching the Balloon Fiesta with Hannah and drunk evenings with jenga, nibbles and 90’s music with the Cardiff girls. I love you all
• Surprised my Mum with her first visit to The Emirates to watch The Arsenal. She loved it! Dad and I have successfully converted her into a Gooner after many years of trying!
• Completed the Adrenaline Rush obstacle course
• Went to watch the Ashes in Cardiff and saw England absolutely dominate! “Miiiitchellllll!”
• Tried my hand at disability sports (wheelchair basketball being a favourite)
• Travelled to another galaxy at Star Wars Secret Cinema
• I’ve enjoyed breakfasts in the garden and beers in the sunshine
• Watched Arsenal win the Community Shield at Wembley
• Searched for Shaun the Sheep dotted around Bristol
• Adrenaline chasing at Alton Towers
• Read loads of good books; 22 books read so far in 2015!

Mmmm, roast and Pimm’s!

Met Glenn McGrath!

Balloons! Worth getting up at 5am for!

The Who totally rocked Glasto

Alton Towers queue selfie

Glasto family

Enjoying the cricket

A sampling of the Bristol Shauns

#knackered

Star Wars Secret Cinema costume

All in all my summer is turning out to be a cracker. Work is crazy busy too, which is definitely contributing to my lax blog writing commitment. I’ll try and be better, although I realise I’ve definitely said that before in the past few months! And I really need to write some more posts about my trip to Vietnam before I forget the details (quite likely given my memory).

One thing I may end up blogging about is my latest attempt to get fitter. I have always enjoyed exercise (and food and booze) but I’ve always been on the “larger” side of things. So I’ve signed up to The Body Coach in the hope it can help me shift some of the wobble! It will probably be horrific so I will likely moan on here, but as long as it’s worth it in the end, then that’s ok. Right?

Until next time..

Paradise on Earth at Ha Long Bay

One of the only things Esther and I had booked prior to arriving in Vietnam was our boat trip to Ha Long Bay. We knew we wanted to experience this UNESCO World Heritage site and we had read plenty of reviews online which pointed towards the fact that the quality of tours was mixed to say the least. So, we continued to research and read recommendations about tour companies, boats, tour duration, cost and so on.

The view from the top deck

In the end we actually booked via our hotel in Hanoi. We stayed at the Especen Hotel and they advertised a couple of tours with Galaxy Cruises on their website. I was apprehensive about booking through the hotel initially; everything in my gut told me that this relatively budget hotel would be trying to rip us off and we would end up on some dodgy boat having a slightly awful time in one of the most beautiful places in the world. However, Tripadvisor reviews were positive so we booked a two day, one night tour for $159 each which was a lot of money considering how cheap everything else in Vietnam was! I mean, we were staying in a hotel which would be maybe 3 star in the UK for $8 each per night..

Day one: Hanoi, my first taste of Vietnam

After a 12 hour flight where I had managed only an hour or two’s sleep, we walked down the stairs from the plane and whoosh; the humidity hit. I knew what to expect. I had done my research. I had tracked the weather in Hanoi for weeks prior to the trip and I thought I knew what 29°C and circa 80% humidity at 8am would feel like. I did not! It was kind of like stepping into a bathroom when the person before you has just had a hot shower, but maybe three times as warm! It was quite overwhelming, but a fitting introduction to the climatic conditions that Esther and I would be battling for the majority of our trip.

After minimal sleep and maximum visa scrutiny and luggage wait time, we walked out of the airport to find the bus which would take us into the heart of the old town. This was not straightforward. My Lonely Planet guide advised that for $3 we could get the Vietnam Airlines minibus to take us to their offices in the old town, which would be perfect as it was only a short walk from our hotel. After much gesticulating with a lovely lady at the information desk who did not speak English I managed to locate the correct bus stop. Although the bus driver did not. We waited over an hour for a bus which was supposed to run every 30 minutes before we gave up to source alternative transport. Along with another 3 tired travellers we sourced a minibus from another bus-stop and paid $5 to drop us at each of our hotels, which was a god-send.

Snap back to reality

“Oh there goes gravity…”

Wait, this blog post is detouring already (like my thoughts which are now streams of Eminem lyrics)! But, I am back after two wonderful weeks in Vietnam; country number 17 in my quest to visit 30 before I’m 30. I actually landed 6 days ago, but since then I’ve been recovering from the travel and sadly smashed straight back into work. So much so that it doesn’t feel like just a week ago I was in Saigon enjoying my last evening in Vietnam!

It’s frustrating how quickly “real life” can erode the feelings of relaxation, contentment and peace which come from two weeks of travelling. The usual work stresses return, the climate you are in changes back, and you realise your time is no longer 100% your own.

The good news is, that you get to relive that holiday, once you get past the mountain of washing! You get to wax lyrical about the scenery, the food, the people. You get to share photos and anecdotes. You get to give people a small taste of your journey by sharing the gifts you purchased.

Holidays become nostalgia all too quickly in the fast-paced world we live in. But they are totally worth it.

My mission this weekend (along with catching up on real life admin) is to curate the photos from my camera, and to write the first installment describing my journey through Vietnam. In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures from my phone to tide you over and summarise my trip. Enjoy!

Where does the time go?

This time tomorrow I will be departing from London Heathrow on a plane headed for Vietnam. And boy am I excited! I booked the flights just over 3 months ago and now the two week trip down the country is almost upon me.

I’ve been pretty quiet on my preparations so far as work has been crazy; I’ve literally been doing the job of 3 people whilst we still recruit the two junior members of my team. Hence, I’ve not been able to document all of my pre-trip shopping; the minor hassle of deciding which bag to buy, how many layers do I need, coat or no coat, ugly walking sandles, booking some accommodation.

But, who cares? The holiday is almost here and I cannot wait. After an 11 hour flight tomorrow it will be “Good morning Vietnam!”. And I promise I’ll return to my blogging ways once I debrief on this trip!

Dreams, barriers and determination.

We all have dreams, right? I don’t mean the thoughts that go through our minds when we are asleep, but rather the desires that drive our lives. Surely everyone has things they are striving for in one way or the other?

I was talking to my colleague about this on the train back from Manchester today as he has just started writing his bucket list. He spoke of how when he started to try and write the list of things he aspired for that he really struggled. Identifying exactly what we want from life when we have a clean slate can be quite difficult I guess. Go on, try it.

Got some ideas? Now really challenge yourself; are they truly your dreams, aims and goals? Or are they in some way influenced by what you subconsciously think you should do, maybe based on friends, family or popular culture? My colleague gave the example of wanting to own an Aston Martin. At first he thought it showed that he was materialistic, But then he thought about it some more and realised it was not the car he wanted, it was the experience of driving a fast car. So this bucket list item morphed into driving fast cars around a track.

I think it’s really interesting to consider whether what we are dreaming of is really what we want, or how much is dictated by social constructs. We are all influenced by society, friends, perceptions of ourselves and so on, but each of us is affected to a different extent. The idea that our long term, or even short term goals, may not actually be ones that will make us happy is something which feels alien. Surely we all know what we want, what we enjoy doing, what we want to see? I also think it’s key to acknowledge that what we want to be can change. When I was younger I was not remotely bothered about seeing the world, but now it is my top priority. It may not be in the future, and that’s OK. We adapt, we learn, we grow and we re-prioritise. But we should be on top of that; aspire to do what makes you happy!