Well, it's happened. And as one of the 73 per cent of 18-24 year olds who voted to Remain, it's impossible to overstate the sense of betrayal I feel. My generation, already suffering under the weight of ever-rising university tuition fees and crippling house prices, is being stripped of our future by an ageing sector … Continue reading Thoughts on Brexit
When I went to see Brooklyn yesterday, I wasn't expecting to be so reminded of myself. Yet Soairse Ronan's character, the young Eilis who moves across the ocean from County Wrexham, Ireland to Brooklyn, NYC in the 1950s to make a better life for herself, embodied all the emotional turmoil so familiar to me when … Continue reading Brooklyn, and big decisions
Every year, the sun comes out (eventually) and along with it, a desire to lie with my nose in a good book for hours on end. Each summer I usually get through a good 5-10 books, and have decided to start documenting them. I'm the kind of person who likes to have several books on … Continue reading Six books I’m reading this summer
“People do go back, but they don't survive, because two realities are claiming them at the same time. Such things are too much. You can salt your heart, or kill your heart, or you can choose between the two realities. There is much pain here. Some people think you can have your cake and eat … Continue reading
Farewell to my final destination: New York City, as viewed from a fabulous balcony in Long Island City One of the questions long-term travellers dread upon their return is: "so how was it?" You've spent three months or more out of the loop, straying from most everything which formed the makeup of your life before, … Continue reading Returning from a long period away – an ode to London
Originally published on Shiny Shiny. So, a trip's on the cards. You might think that going travelling is about switching off your gadgets and switching into relaxation mode, but even the most minimalistic of travellers can benefit from these electronic essentials. I've put together a list of some of the handiest travel gadgets around today. … Continue reading What to take travelling – gadgets / accessories
You will sometimes find me writing elsewhere, and this is a post I originally wrote for Shiny Shiny - basically all my favourite films in one list... so if you're looking to unleash your inner nomad, I recommend you sit yourself down on a big comfy sofa and watch them all. There’s something undeniably refreshing … Continue reading 9 incredible films about travelling
Being born a woman is an awful tragedy... Yes, my consuming desire is to mingle with road crews, sailors and soldiers, barroom regulars—to be a part of a scene, anonymous, listening, recording—all this is spoiled by the fact that I am a girl, a female always supposedly in danger of assault and battery... I want … Continue reading ‘Wild’ and the perils of travelling as a solo woman
Tweet Exactly two years ago I was sitting up in this very same bed, restless, listening to the unique silence of the night before Christmas around me. I was intensely frustrated at being unable to sleep, for no one really wants to dwell alone in the dark pre-Christmas dawn. I knew that my younger sister would … Continue reading Déjà vu
Tweet The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of the most life-changing, life-affirming books I have ever had the pleasure to read. I recently rediscovered my love for it, via an intensity of feeling in which I recalled some of the potent wisdom which is written among its pages. I first whipped through The Alchemist when I … Continue reading A book I once read in Croatia
no cash on the highway 