Moving Home to Find Myself

This is my competition post for the Blogger's Lounge "Your Biggest Adventure" competition.Thank you to GapYear.com for sponsoring this! Although I initially considered it, I felt like I could hardly call any travelling that I've done an adventure since it has almost always been organised for me. I am instead writing a more personal post.

My little happiness board by my desk!

At the end of the summer of 2012 I found myself 250 miles away from the house and area that I'd grown up in, some three days short of starting Sixth Form in a new city. A year and a half later I find myself reflecting on this time and realising how much I've grown. My biggest adventure so far has not been so much of a physical one, but an emotional one, as I've realised how much more confident and involved I've become.

I made the decision to study twenty miles away from my new home, which has forced me to become more independent, even if it has often meant leaving the house at 7am to get to the railway station, or not getting back until nearly 7pm if I'm lift sharing. Despite the distance, I have become more involved in my current school than my last, assisting in lower school classes, tutoring GCSE students and becoming our Sixth Form chair. I'm now working with a prom committee to get our end-of-year ball organised, dealing with booking and accounts. It is definitely strange to start to take on more responsibility, but I've been enjoying it.

Meeting new people isn't something that comes naturally to me, so I think that that part was the hardest thing about moving. It took some time, but I've met the nicest people, and I am going to miss a lot of them when we all go our separate ways to university this autumn. I'll definitely be staying in touch. However, I do now feel much more equipped myself to when it comes to moving on again.

I have committed myself to becoming more active since moving, mostly with running and yoga. I still don't train as much as I'd like to, but it is a big improvement, and I am starting to really appreciate my runs, as I'm doing them, rather than after. Getting into fitness is what inspired me to start writing this blog, There's something lovely about documenting my thoughts onto a little piece of the internet that I've made myself, regardless of whether anyone reads it.

There have been a few sacrifices, leaving old friends and having to put my sailing instructing on a back burner thanks to a lack of sailing youth clubs near me. But, since I will be living on the coast next year, I am hoping to get on the water again soon.

  This post hasn't been about glittering events, or exciting places, but for me, the last two years has been a pretty big adventure. And, more importantly, it has made me ready for my next one. I hope to study abroad for a semester or a year, learn to scuba dive to a high standard, and get involved in some conservation work that I am passionate about. Life is an adventure, and I can't wait.