My 1000 adventure list

Yeah, 1000 adventures. I’ve not thought of them all yet but that’s my impossible goal! I’m so inspired by reading other people’s bucket lists, and I get a sense of achievement when I look over the experiences I’ve had in my life so I’m combining the two into this ultimate life list. This has been a piece of work over the last few months, and I’ll continue adding to it as I think of new ideas and achieve new things.

Some of the completed experiences have links to my corresponding blog post, perhaps a new goal will be to write about each one too!

The list below includes future goals and past achievements, the ones I’ve completed are in bold.

2020 Update – So I organised this list a bit better with sub-headings! Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to continue the numbering underneath each but for reference there is about 378.

Travel

1. Visit Disney World, Florida
2. Visit the Louvre
3. Visit Reykjavik
4. Tour the Houses of Parliament
5. Visit the Colosseum
6. See the northern lights
7. See the Hollywood sign
8. Visit Warwick Castle
9. Visit Pax Lodge
10. Attend a Brazilian carnival
11. Visit Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
12. Visit Universal Studios, Florida
13. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
14. Visit another Scandinavian city
15. Spend a night on a Megabus
16. Visit New York
17. Complete the Golden Circle, Iceland
18. Visit the Tower of London
19. Visit and escape Alkatraz
20. See the Changing of the Guard, London
21. Walk the Hollywood walk of fame
22. Visit the Vatican
23. Tour the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms
24. Visit Castle Hedingham
25. Travel first class
26. Visit Disneyland, Paris
27. Go on a cruise
28. Tour the Globe Theatre
29. Visit The Atomium, Brussels
30. Walk along the Great Wall of China
31. Visit Asterix Park, Paris
32. Take a boat to see The Needles, Isle of Wight
33. Visit Dover Castle and the Underground Hospital
34. Visit the Blue Lagoon, Iceland
35. See Mount Rushmore
36. Make a wish at the Trevi Fountain
37. Visit Porta Ventura theme park in Spain… three times!
38. Stand at the top of Mount Vesuvius
39. Visit Australia
40. Visit the Comics Art Museum, Brussels
41. Attend the Edinburgh Festival
42. Visit Pompeii
43. Visit Niagara Falls
44. Visit Platform 9 & 3/4
45. Visit Stonehenge
46. Go to a Japanese theme park
47. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
48. Visit the catacombs of Paris
49. Visit Disney Land, California
50. Visit the Roman Baths
51. Visit all capital cities in the UK
52. Tour the Blackpool Tower
53. Spend 24 hours at an airport
54. See Tintagel Castle
55. Celebrate Christmas in Lapland
56. See The Little Mermaid statue in Denmark

Adventure

1. Ride underwater in a submarine
2. Ride in a dune buddy
3. Get a tattoo
4. Ride in a helicopter
5. Try stand up paddling
6. Feed a giraffe
7. See sunset and sunrise in the same night
8. Go on safari
9. Ride the vomit comet
10. Shoot paintballs with a slingshot
11. Try a VR escape room
12. Camp at a music festival
13. Ride a Segway
14. Take an indoor skydiving lesson
15. Try archery
16. Tour a police station
17. Try caving
18. Swim with dolphins
19. Ride a jet ski
20. Visit ICANDO
21. Take a bushcraft lesson
22. Go white water rafting
23. Go up a volcano
24. Go zorbing
25. Go on a ghost hunt
26. Go camping
27. Feed an elephant
28. Ride a chairlift
29. Try clay pigeon shooting
30. Tour a secret nuclear bunker
31. Mosh in a mosh pit
32. Ride Kingda Ka at Six Flags, New Jersey
33. Play laser tag
34. Go snorkeling
35. Ride The Smiler at Alton Towers
36. Attend a concert
37. Go zip lining
38. Go paintballing
39. Go rock climbing
40. Ride The Ultimate at Lightwater Valley
41. Explore a cave
42. Play The Void Star Wars VR experience
43. Do a high ropes course
44. Escape an escape room
45. Race a Go Kart
46. Have a spontaneous water fight
47. Learn to start a campfire
48. Hold a Tarantula
49. Try axe throwing
50. Ride a Ferris Wheel
51. Take a Jack the Ripper tour around London
52. Visit an Ice Bar
53. Ride in a horse drawn carriage
54. Find way out of a corn maze at night
55. Ride in a limo
56. Try kayaking
57. Ride the London Eye
58. Go parasailing
59. Walk over the o2
60. Climb Stealth at Thorpe Park
61. Try disc golf
62. Go geocaching
63. Hold a snake
64. Ride in a hot air balloon
65. Carry the Olympic torch
66. Go to space

Creative

1. Start a blog
2. Have a caricature drawn of me
3. Complete a life journal
4. Tie dye a t-shirt
5. Make a YouTube video
6. Make pastry from scratch
7. Complete a scrapbook
8. Keep a line-a-day journal for one year
9. Publish a novel
10. Design and paint a games room mural in my home
11. Make soap
12. Take a life drawing course
13. Act on stage
14. Complete my web comic
15. Learn to crochet
16. Learn basic origami
17. Record a podcast
18. Act in a play
19. Learn a magic trick
20. Create art with spraypaint
21. Publish my web comic online
22. Try calligraphy
23. Build snowman twins
24. Make a hummingbird in origami
25. Write a children’s novel
26. Make toys out of felt
27. Carve a pumpkin
28. Learn five songs on the guitar
29. Make a nativity set
30. Produce and host a nativity play & carol service
31. Write and produce an Epiphany day play
32. Learn to play the drums
33. Complete a 365 Day photo challenge
34. Bake a creative cake I’m proud of
35. Make a ‘Guy’ for bonfire night
36. Paint a Christmas bauble for our tree
37. Make beaded pattern bracelets on a loom
38. Write a campfire song
39. Learn to knit (and complete all the knitting kits I’ve been given!!)
40. Have an illustration published
41. Produce a colourful church banner
42. Make and sell stickers of my own design
43. Complete a NaNoWriMo
44. Make a piñata
45. Buy art at an auction
46. Complete a Wasjig puzzle
47. Publish a blog post every week for a year
48. Learn five Christmas songs on the piano
49. Make slime
50. Make some balloon animals
51. Make an advent calendar
52. Complete my camp blanket (Progress)
53. Bake Lebkuchens
54. Build a website from scratch
55. Build a bird table
56. Design a charity Christmas card
57. Take a photo at each Monopoly location in London
58. Build a gingerbread house

Shows & Events

1. Attend Comic Con
2. See Hamilton
3. See an immersive theatre experience
4. Camp at a music festival
5. Tour a police station
6. See a caravan banger race
7. Attend a Formula One race
8. Attend a secret cinema event
9. Go on a ghost hunt
10. See a tennis match at Wimbledon
11. Have a palm reading
12. Mosh in a mosh pit
13. Have a dolphin perform a trick
14. See a musical at the west end
15. Attend a murder mystery
16. Put on a bet at Newmarket
17. Attend a concert
18. See Blue Man Group live
19. See the red arrows
20. Attend the Edinburgh Festival
21. See WWE live
22. Take a Jack the Ripper tour around London
23. See a Boxing match
24. Go to a horror maze experience for Halloween
25. See Derren Brown live
26. See the New Year fireworks in London
27. See a show / musical from a private box
28. See an event at the summer Olympics
29. Watch experiments at the Science Museum
30. See a Basketball match
31. Watch Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
32. Attend the filming of a TV show
33. Attend a TED Talk
34. Sit on a jury
35. See a Cirque du Soleil show
36. Attend an equestrian event
37. See the Trooping of the Colour
38. Visit a planetarium … (almost! It broke the day we visited!)
39. Go to a silent disco
40. Scare someone in Madame Tussards
41. See a demolition derby
42. Attend Big Gig

Active

1. Try paddling boarding
2. Play human table football
3. Workout every day for 3 months
4. Do yoga
5. Take a fencing class
6. Hold a plank for 5 minutes
7. Play Basketball
8. Run 5k
9. Take a skiing lesson
10. Be able to tread water for 30 seconds
11. Learn ballroom dancing
12. Compete (and win) at a relay race
13. Run 10K
14. Play Hockey
15. Run a half marathon
16. Complete a Colour Run
17. Be able to comfortably touch my toes with straight legs
18. Be able to do the splits
19. Walk the London Bridges
20. Beat James at table tennis
21. Carry the Olympic torch
22. Complete a 30 day exercise challenge

Learning

1. Complete all coding lessons on Khan Academy
2. Take a Bookkeeping course
3. Attend a cooking class
4. Attend a baking class
5. Complete an online course
6. Be able to recite all the Commonwealth countries
7. Take a creative writing course
8. Take a French Patisserie course
9. Learn to meditate
10. Complete a data course
11. Be fluent in another language
12. Learn the periodic table
13. Learn to use chopsticks
14. Be able to recite all the European countries & their capitals
15. Attend a wine tasting
16. Learn a fact about 10 dinosaurs
17. Complete all statistics lessons on Khan Academy
18. Improve self through counselling
19. Learn to start a campfire
20. View an exhibition at the Science Museum
21. Be able to recite the 50 American States
22. Learn to spot constellations
23. Read a parenting book
24. Understand Macbeth
25. Learn sign language
26. Read a self improvement book
27. Complete a leadership & Management course
28. Know how to solve a Rubik’s cube
29. Be able to mix three cocktails
30. Learn to juggle
31. View an exhibition at the British Museum
32. Understand chess strategies
33. Figure out crosswords
34. Complete a first aid course
35. Be able to complete a full car check
36. Attend a self improvement class
37. Complete a cryptic crossword
38. Learn Morse Code

Food & Drink

1. Eat pizza in Naples
2. Eat a croissant in Paris
3. Drink beer at Oktoberfest
4. Eat chocolate at Cadbury World, Birmingham
5. Eat a cannoli in Italy
6. Eat a Cornish Pasty in Cornwall
7. Try a corn dog in America
8. Eat a Macaron in Paris
9. Bake a gingerbread house
10. Eat McDonalds three times in 24 hours!
11. Gut a fish
12. Help cook Christmas dinner
13. Make pastry from scratch
14. Eat churros in America
15. Eat at a dark restaurant
16. Eat a Grande Big Mac
17. Drink Limoncello in Sorrento
18. Eat chocolate and waffles in Brussels
19. Collect a glass from every Hard Rock Cafe (Progress)
20. Try Frogs Legs

Career & Volunteering

1. Get a promotion
2. Earn my Girlguiding leadership qualification
3. Complete the Girlguiding ‘Going Away’ qualification
4. Organise a tombola fundraiser
5. Be a Girlguiding Peer Educator
6. Collect and donate school equipment to Malawi
7. Be a Post Pals Fortnightly Writer for a year
8. Lead a campfire
9. Organise an event for over 100 people
10. Complete the Commonwealth Award
11. Complete the Chief Guide’s Challenge
12. Organise a Girlguiding district event
13. Donate blood
14. Count the vote in an election
15. Co-ordinate and produce a 40 page brochure
16. Sponsor a child for 5 years
17. Be interviewed for a magazine article
18. Become a Girlguiding trainer
19. Organise an international Brownie pen pal exchange
20. Volunteer at a national Girlguiding event
21. Volunteer at a Peer Educator training weekend
22. Volunteer at Wellies & Wristbands

Fun and Random

1. Get a tattoo
2. See sunset and sunrise in the same night
3. Win a big game of Monopoly
4. Witness a wedding proposal
5. Read one novel every month for a year
6. Have a capsule wardrobe
7. Buy a house
8. Have Afternoon Tea
9. Contact someone with the same name
10. Watch all Studio Ghibli films (Progress)
11. Bury a time capsule
12. Get face painted as an adult
13. Read all of ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’
14. Wear fake eyelashes
15. Give a haircut
16. Catch all 150 Pokemon in one game
17. Send flowers
18. Try a reflexology treatment…reluctantly!
19. Meet a sloth
20. Try hypnosis
21. Get a spray tan
22. Complete a Mario game
23. Create family tree
24. Watch every classic Disney film (Progress)
25. Have professional family portrait taken
26. Read all the Sherlock Holmes stories (Progress)
27. Be visited by the 13 Yule Lads of Christmas
28. Get a manicure
29. Dye hair blonde
30. Dye hair ginger
31. Dye hair pink
32. Watch a full season of LOST in 24 hours
33. Own a pet axolotl
34. Carry the Olympic torch

Family & With Children

1. Say ‘Yes’
2. Have a child
3. Breastfeed my child

Travel (with children)

1. Holiday on the Isle of Wight
2. Visit Cornwall
3. Visit the Louvre in Paris
4. Build a sandcastle in Spain

Adventure (with children)

1. Visit Blackgang Chine
2. Visit Centre Parcs
3. Visit Alton Towers
4. Visit Legoland
5. Visit Thorpe Park
6. Go camping
7. Visit Pepper Pig World

Creative (with children)

1. Dress up in matching cosplay with my kids
2. Help paint a canvas for their bedroom
3. Create personal Christmas Eve boxes for my kids

Shows & Events (with children)

1. Attend Comic Con
2. See a Pantomime

Active (with children)

Learning (with children)

Food & Drink (with children)

Fun & Random (with children)

Seven Days in Sorrento

Our recent week in Sorrento was a great, active break – and we felt we fitted in everything we hoped to do and one week was the perfect length of time. So here I share with you my ideal seven days in Sorrento.

1. Explore Sorrento and find the station

We all do the same things on our arrival in a new place, don’t we? Get your bearings! First find Sorrento main town and the nearest train station.

We actually stayed in Saint’Agnello, a nearby town east of Sorrento. It was a 15-20 minute walk to Sorrento, which in the July heat was quite exhausting so if you can afford to I would recommend staying in the main town. We found our way to Sorrento, explored the winding streets and the many shops within.

Important parts of Sorrento to find is the stairs down to the port. This is on the main Corso Italia road, on the Piazza Torquato Tasso. You will see a railing with a view of the sea, to the left are the steps leading you down to a road. It is only a short walk to the port where you can pick up a boat to Capri. There are a lot of steps, however I believe there is also a lift somewhere west of this point – though we never used it.

Also find the station, if like us you’re happy to travel cheaply to the many sites around Sorrento you’ll need to find this. In Sorrento this in on a little road just off of Corso Italia. if you headed east from the steps. The road Via Ernest De Curtis is on the right, and you will see the sign for Circumvesuviana, the name of the train line.

We found a nearer station in Saint’Agnello, it was a little dirty inside but walk up those steps and the station is fine! (We circled the whole building checking it was the right entrance!) You may wish to walk to Sorrento in the hopes of getting a seat since Sorrento is the start of the line, but at Saint’Agnello we spotted the front carriages had empty seats (right if looking at the train line) so made a beeline for those.

2. Pompeii

We spent out first full day in Pompeii – this may have been a mistake as we weren’t ready for the climate, though we were aware of the vast size of the site! You may wish to move this later in your week.

We took the Circumvesuviana line to Pompei Scavi station and on exiting you will be greeted by tour companies. It is your decision if you want to use these but we did. It cost an extra 12 euro on top of entry fee but it meant we skipped the queue and had a guide to point out the important aspects of Pompeii life. (Make sure you have cash to pay for your ticket into the site.)

Our tour lasted a couple of hours, but only covered one area of Pompeii so we stayed another couple of hours to visit the Villa De Mistri and the colosseum. (Yes, they are polar opposite locations!) The Villa De Mistri is a fair walk away from the main part of Pompeii, but you see beautiful gardens and then the site itself is rather different to every other home you see. Then we headed across the site to view the colosseum, you can enter it by going around the side – it isn’t obvious at first look. There is also an indoor museum next door where you can view more artefacts.

There are plenty of places to eat around Pompeii, we weren’t shocked by the prices in our one (exiting Pompei by the colosseum) but we may have walked off the beaten track slightly. Definitely allow yourself a full day here!

3. Amalfi Coast

To visit the Amalfi Coast we bought tickets for the ‘City Sightseeing’ tour bus. We thought it was good value being 10 euro there, and 6 euro to come back again. Plus the on board commentary via headphones. Be warned though this bus is not ‘hop on hop off’ like others you may have used to explore big cities. It only stops once during the journey to a town I don’t recall the name of, and it’ll be another 6 euro to get back on at this point.

And make sure on your outbound journey you sit on the right! We were excited to have front seats on the left that we didn’t think about the fact the coast was on the other side of the bus! We sat on the left on the return to get a better view.

At Amalfi we spent a few hours exploring the town, we headed up to the shops and explored the outside of the cathedral. We were duped into buying expensive ice cream because we took a seat (it costs a lot extra to sit in at some of these places, but they do give you more and in a fancy glass, just find out prices first!)

There is a small area to sunbathe and paddle, we preferred sitting on the cliff top looking over them and enjoying a glass of limoncello.

4. Mount Vesuvius & Herculaneum

On the train again, the stop is called Ercolano. Be aware, even though a station is crossed out on the map the train still stops there! I was thinking London Underground and noticed the stop before Ercolano was crossed out so we were a little concerned when we first left the train. This must be a regular occurrence as the train driver pointed us and other tourists back on the train!

Leaving the station there is a tourist company to the left that will drive you to Mount Vesuvius. I’m not sure how regular their coaches are but we were not waiting long. We paid for our ticket in the office, and were given a little red sticker on board when showing our ticket. Mine came off my bag strap on the coach so I stuck it to my vest, by the time I was off the coach it was in my armpit so I took it off and stuck it to my bus ticket. James lost his too and we found one on our journey up Mount Vesuvius. It was fine boarding again for our return as we showed the ticket, but maybe just stick your sticker to the ticket to be on the safe side.

Head straight up! There is more walking than you realise, even when you think you’re near the top. We just had enough time to walk up and back, toilet (you need to pay the guy sitting nearby…) and a can of drink before the coach returned.

Once we were back at the station we headed to Herculaneum. If you had come out of the station you are almost walking straight ahead off you, just keep walking in that direction and you find the entrance at the bottom of the road about 5-10 minutes walk. This was a lot quieter than Pompeii and we were able to wander around at our own pace. The free guide was really useful, there are numbers around the site that link to the information in the book. We managed to go the wrong way around but it seemed everyone was doing the same!

5. Capri

There are many different options for Capri, there was a massive ferry taking people over but we went with a smaller tour. It was 45 euro and took us along the Sorrento coast, over to Capri, toured around the island, we saw the coral grotto and the green grotto. We saw the outside of the famous blue grotto, but the hoard of boats, and queue along the coast for row boats kind of killed the mood of this. We weren’t going to have the time to queue for a row boat so we skipped this, it sounds amazing inside though.

The boat trip was about two hours and following a week of sun and walking it was a welcomed rest! Once on the island we wandered around the shops looking at the Capri bells, knowing we would be buying one for our Christmas tree. We stopped for ice cream and explored along the coast to the end of the beach. We weren’t prepared for lying on the beach too long, plus our time was short as we only had about 2 hours before the return boat trip.

If you’re looking to explore the island at a leisurely pace this tour would not have suited you. We had no idea where we were going though and were quite happy just chilling around the harbour.

6. A day exploring Sorrento

Sorrento isn’t really a ‘beachy’ holiday, but you can have a day lying by the sea on a sunbed with on demand service if you like.

We spent the morning wandering the streets of Sorrento picking up souvenirs and searching for anything quirky. We walked further and further west until we came to a stretch of beach covered in sunbeds, and signs indicating the sunbeds were free to their customers so we bought some drinks and had a lie down. If you’re that way inclined you could spend a whole day in this area.

There isn’t a whole lot to do in town, we ended up going back to the hotel to change into nicer clothes for the evening meal, the only time we had done this. The shops were open fairly late too so we look around at clothes. Then a late night waffle.

7. A day in Naples

Our last full day was in Naples. The train journey is roughly 2 hours and is the full way along the Circumvesuviana Line. It is a little rough on leaving the station but the area gets nice as you walk on.

Our day consisted of visiting the National Archaeological Museum, which has free entry on the first Sunday of each month. We picked up an audio guide for £5, and they have free lockers since you cannot take large bags in with you. The museum has lots of exhibits around Pompeii and Herculaneum, including mosaic art and sculptures. It is definitely worth a visit if you spent time in one of the two sites. There are vending machines inside if you need a drink or a snack.

After this we found the Underground Naples tour and descended under the city streets to see the town it was built on. This tour was a good price at 10 Euro. We were shown the ancient Roman site and given lots of new information, which helped with understanding Pompeii a little more too.

There are plenty of places to eat around Naples, it was hard to choose somewhere for our last meal!

So this is what I considered to be a great way to spend seven days in Sorrento, and hope it inspires you!

Our adventures in Reykjavik

One month ago I was in Reykjavik. A four day trip with mixed feelings of highs and lows, it has taken me a while to tell the tale. Unfortunately that means my memories of such events has started to diminish, and unlike Paris I don’t have a fully detailed travel journal to refer back to. So here is four days in Iceland from memory.

Day one. Getting through the blue lagoon.

Our early morning flight got us up and awake at 2.30am. Arriving at Keflavik airport we spotted the name of the tour company we were using and got our tickets to the blue lagoon. By mid morning we were at the world famous spa. So here is a story in itself as a spa is something I’ve never done before in my life! James and I split into our single sex changing rooms and I now had to fend for myself and figure out the dos and don’ts of spa life. I managed to get myself changed, four days worth of luggage in tow, then had to figure out the locker system. We had wrist bands to open them but I hadn’t realised I was looking for an open locker, I was just wandering around pressing my band to the scanners expecting it to find one for me! Once I had found a convenient corner locker a nice American lady helped me shut it and I headed onto the showers. After a quick wash and lots of conditioner I left the changing area to find James waiting for me. Apparently I’d taken ages and James was worried I’d melted down in anxiety in the middle of the lockers!

The blue lagoon was lovely. So nice and warm and calm. We tried on the face masks, floated around the whole area looking for warm spots, enjoyed a blueberry skyr smootie, and James went for the sauna. After a couple hours we left, changed back and went exploring the outside area and enjoyed the views. This was a little off the beaten track so was also very quiet. We returned to the bus and got ourselves dropped of in Reykjavik.

When we got dropped off though we managed to get ourselves to the wrong hotel! There are lots of Foss Hotels in Reykjavik and luckily our one was only round the corner to the one I mistakenly thought was ours. After checking in and dumping our bags we explored the city and had an awesome dinner in this little pub themed restaurant. We headed back to the hotel for a nap before our bus was due to pick us up for the Northern Lights tour at 10pm.

We were downstairs at the hotel by 9.20pm, as it states pick up starts half hour before. But the bus never picked us up. To cut a horrible story short, somewhere between the travel agent in the UK, the holiday company they book through and the tour operator in Reykjavik someone printed us tickets for our chosen time of 10pm, but we were actually booked on the earlier 7.30pm. The 10pm didn’t event run that night, and we would’ve been happy to go at 7.30pm had we known. It was very frustrating, left me feeling very worried for the rest of our excursions and disappointed not to see the lights. We were able to go on the tour the following two evenings, spent 1 hour 45 mins standing in the freezing cold watching the sky both nights and saw nothing, and we were aware that people had seen the lights the night we were booked for. That explains the whole story, so I won’t be mentioning it again.

Day Two; Reykjavik city life

The next morning after our lovely breakfast at the hotel we wrapped up warm and headed to the small city to explore. First we went to the coast and watched the waves crash onto the rocks that stood before us. We walked along to the new Harpa building. A place to get out of the cold but we were surprised by the inside. We explored the shops, all at this time of year with beautiful Christmas decorations. Wandered the building and its interesting architecture.

Next we headed into town and found many Christmas themed shops. James took to one in particular and discovered the story of the 13 Yule Lads of Christmas. We now have this cute little Christmas story in our living room, and it shares the secrets of this family who visit in the run up to Christmas day. After the shops we had a drink in a coffee shop and read the new book. Next we walked up to Hallgrímskirkja, the church at the centre of Reykjavik and the tallest point in the city. We paid to go to the top and looked out at the views. The wind was so strong that day we had to hold onto the bars across the windows to hold ourselves up!

Leaving the church we explored further to find a strange little bridge to another venue holding events, explored some more and found ourselves in a cosy little coffee shop again for a rest. (Somehow James led us in the staff entrance, James insists he is correct but we definitely left through the public entrance!) As we sat I read through our guide book and found the few sites I wanted to make sure we visited during our short stay. One was the art museum,Hafnarhús, showing the works of Icelandic cartoon artist Erro.

Leaving the coffee shop (through the correct door!) we found ourselves opposite the art museum from my book! Being close to 5pm we walked in to look around the shop, but we then realised the gallery stayed open late on Thursdays and decided to visit there and then. The works of Erro were very thought provoking and showed a lot of dark feelings, giving the time period he was creating this work. We visited the rest of the gallery too, I also enjoyed the work of Örn Alexander Ámundason and their blunt explanation of the art you were looking at, James was not quite as impressed. We both enjoyed Yoko Ono’s ‘One More Story’ exhibition, which promoted working together, peace and activism. This exhibit included a lot of opportunity to take part, but I especially liked the chess set all white and the implications of keeping track of the game if everyone is the same.

For dinner we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a nice meal, picked up some shot glasses for our collection and James was of the impression it was fairly new. I don’t know why. But it did turn out it had only opened 3 weeks earlier.

Day Three; the Golden Circle

We headed out on the obligatory Golden Circle tour on our third day. This took us the see how tomatoes are grown in the giant green houses outside Reykjavik, watching the geysers exploding, take in the views of the Golden waterfall, and then head to the Þingvellir National park for a walk along the canyon formed by two tectonic plates. The photos do all the talking on this day, and the video of the snow storm the amazing coach driver drove us through. Still need to get the photos off the camera so that is still to come!

Oh yeah, I wore my Girlguiding jacket the whole time!

Day Four; shopping and visiting the Vikings

On our final day we made our way around the shops to pick up the souvenirs we had wanted to bring home (but were too concerned about our money to pay at the time!). We also headed to the Saga Museum, a small exhibition following the early history of Iceland and the first settlers. This museum was a collection of lifelike models accompanied by an audio guide to explain the stories of these famous figures. It was very informative and even though it was a fair walk to the other side of the city it was well worth it.

Our final meal was a fancy fish and chips at this nice restaurant alongside the volcano house (which, if we had more time we would’ve taken in the film here). After lunch we took our final walk through the city before collecting our bags, and getting the taxi back to the airport.

Random Tips for Iceland!

1. It really is expensive!
2. The water smells of sulphur, you won’t be looking forward to your morning shower.
3. You won’t find many bugs.
4. Go before Christmas to enjoy the festivities!
5. You only need a backpack, just pack lots of layers. No need to lug suitcases around.

My current happy lifestyles

Hello world. I’m sorry I’ve been so out of touch with this blog of recent. Last year I was working on and achieved my Look Wider & Commonwealth Challenges through Girlguiding, and due to the amount of time it took this blog took a backseat. Unfortunately, as a result I haven’t picked it up again as regular as I would like. So I thought I would check in today with a life update and how well things are going at the moment.

I was inspired to write this post as I was watching a lot of journal advice videos on YouTube. I wanted to start my own, but felt very strange about it. That led me to think I should just input all my feelings right now onto here instead! This post may be more of interest to future me than those of you who aren’t me that read this, but maybe you’ll find something of interest here.

Since February of this year I have been running regularly, which has been fantastic for me. I know now that I NEED exercise to live a happy existence. It is very noticeable when I don’t exercise how rubbish I become. I really started working on my fitness when I checked my BMI and I was 1 pound away from being considered overweight. And now, since May, I have lost over a stone. I’m loving running (hatching Pokemon eggs is an additional motivation) and I had an awesome run this morning! Smashing PBs.

I also realised a few months ago that overeating bad food is another thing that triggers me being rubbish. I had a huge pizza takeaway (I’m talking stuffed crusts, mozzarella dippers, wedges and all sorts of dips) and the next day was very difficult. It actually put me off my favourite takeaway for a while, and last time we had pizza we were both very careful with what we ordered. I also started eating salads for lunch at work, which I think has had a major impact considering I used to eat cheese sandwiches everyday. Our bread goes mouldy every week now. (Put it in the freezer!)

Another positive impact in my life is using a Bullet Journal. I started one in May as I felt my current day to view diary wasn’t working for me. I love my bullet journal. If you don’t know what that is please Google it, there is so much info online I’m not going to go into details here (but plan a post about how I use it in the future). I write daily lists of what I need to get done, check my daily intake of water, everyone’s birthday and special dates are there, and I use it to show gratitude, log my planking and make sure I keep up with my comic drafting. It takes a little time each week to draw up my weekly log but it is good to review where I’m at and ensure I’m not missing things.

I’ve also been meditating. I love to meditate for 5 minutes after exercising. I think it is having a positive effect on my outlook. I do struggle to find 5 minutes (yeah I know, right) on the few days I don’t exercise, but this is what I’m hoping to improve on. Then I can extend some sessions to 10 minutes. Just need to avoid being late for work!

In the last week or so I am starting to draw more. I am in the process if drafting my graphic novel, something I started in January, and I upped the number of pages I’m drafting per week from 6 to 12 and it is pushing me to draw more regularly. Some days I am just drawing very rough outlines but it is getting me closer to drawing the final pages. My other motivation is to post on Instagram every other day, so I need quality drawings for that.

I’m loving collecting and reading graphic novels. I picked up two today, Andre the Giant (I loved WWF as a kid) and Paper Girls. The first was something I wanted to buy earlier and didn’t, the second was an impulse buy following watching the awesome Stranger Things. I’m in the middle of reading Maus (I know, it has gone unread on my bookshelf for years) and it is an intense read but I’m breathing in anything comic right now. (That includes my 1996 Rugrats comics my Mum found in the loft.)

Brownies starts back this week. We had an awesome trip to the Science Museum this summer. Perhaps something I should’ve written about. And I’m going into this term determined to run a better programme. The plan is to run this term around taster activities from interest badges that the Brownies are interested in (while following You, Community, World and Promise activities) but I’m starting with a discussion on badges to get all questions answered, and then some pulse raising Healthy Heart activities for the first week back.

James and I have some adventures in the pipeline, both Paris and Reykjavik before Christmas so I should have some more inspired posts over the next few months. Plus my bullet journal and camp blanket are other topics to cover. I want to post about my favourite graphic novels too.

So there we have it. My September check in and everything is currently running smoothly, who knows what tomorrow will bring though!

International – Phase 2

Phase 2 of an octant should take at least 12 hours to complete, it can be a continuation of Phase 1 or something new. For my Phase 2 I took on a challenge with my Brownies which took up a lot of time and hopefully made a difference to some people’s lives.

Phase 2: Complete Together We Can Volunteer with Brownies + Backpack Project (Millennium Development Goal)

In the Autumn term of 2011 we ran the Together We Can project with the Brownies. The girls tried out a range of activities based on the 8 Millennium Development Goals, such as trying to play a game without being able to read the instructions, collecting a meal with food from the different food groups on, a game around mosquitos and a game around being given food from aid helicopters.

After the Brownies decided on ‘Ending Poverty and Hunger’ as the goal they wished to help we ran more activities relating to this. One of these involved the girls making a football out of newspaper, plastic bags and string to show how children living in poverty need to be creative with what they play with.

Once the Brownies had learned more about poverty and how it affects parts of the world they wanted to take action. We gave them two options to choose between, fundraising to send farming animals to communities or volunteering to collect school bags and educational equipment for children too poor to attend school.

The Brownies chose to support ‘Mary’s Meals Backpack Project’ and volunteered to collect items to send in backpacks. In total we collected 11 completed backpacks filled with stationary, second hand clothes, flip flops, hygiene products and a tennis ball. The project took many weeks to complete, plus one evening for the girls to pack the bags and lots of time after the meeting to ensure the bags had all the right items inside. We also had extra bags and boxes filled with stationary and clothes that were also donated to the project. I then needed to arrange for the items to be collected and sent to Africa. A few weeks later the unit received a certificate confirming the backpacks had arrived and distributed in Malawi.

Out of Doors – Phase 3

Phase 3 of an octant is a long-term commitment and should take at least 30 hours, can include gaining a qualification or teaching something to others. My Phase 3 is something Ispent months researching and planning for, and spent a full weekend working towards…

Phase 3: Complete Brownie Holiday Licence

After completing my Adult Leadership Qualification I wanted to get involved in organising a Brownie Holiday for the unit. Our unit had not been on a holiday recently so I spent a lot of time researching, getting advice from District Commissioner, and reading the ‘Going Away With…’ book from cover to cover.

After visiting a couple of holiday homes I settled on Thriftwood as it had a lot of outdoor space and new activities the Brownies hadn’t tried before.

Gaining the licence took a lot of work, I first planned a budget so I knew how much to charge each girl. This was based on the costs of accommodation, two on site activities, food, sundries and contingency. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough girls take us up on the trip and therefore invited girls from another local unit to take our numbers from 8 Brownies to 11.

I then set about asking the Brownies what sort of activities they wanted to do on holiday. They chose an Olympic theme, aiming to complete the On Your Marks Sports badge over the weekend, plus they asked to do archery and the cresta run. We also looked at the menu and they were happy with the options I had set up. I also asked each girl to fill in a survey on what food they liked and didn’t like. This went okay, but the following year we decided to give this to the parents to complete on their behalf.

Once the programme was decided I created packs of information for the parents. This included the weekend programme, menu, kit list, directions and emergency contact details. I held the parents meetings at the end of a Brownie meeting with our young leaders occupying the girls. I introduced the team, went through each piece of paperwork and answered questions.

I completed a massive order for the food from Tesco and this was delivered on the night before we went. I also collected boxes full of craft and activity equipment, had three different first aid kits with updated inventories and packed my own weekend bag too!

The weekend went smoothly. I was lucky to have a couple of girls from a neighbouring unit who had been on holiday before to show how it is done to our new campers. The only downside was the rain; some outdoor games had to be taken indoors but the two onsite activities ran fine. The Brownies got very muddy at archery, and many said their favourite activity was the cresta run.

It was difficult to get the Brownies to sleep on the first evening, I learned that I should try to get them worn out on their arrival!

I brought along an empty notepad and asked the Brownies to sign the first page and write something they enjoyed and this has started our ‘pack holiday memories book’.

Since this weekend in 2012 we have taken the Brownies on four more Brownie Holidays. In 2013 we took a small group of 8 older girls to Chigwell Row for a weekend of toy making, climbing, pedal karts and a treasure hunt. In 2014 we held a bigger holiday with 13 girls going to Belchamps for a party weekend to celebrate the Big Brownie Birthday. The Brownies tried mini crossbows, geo caching, the assault course and pond dipping, we also had a piñata and the Sixes led party games. In 2015 the Brownies adventured in the jungle, with a blind trail, water walkerz and the wobbley pole. And in 2016 we returned to the Olympic theme with cork guns, slacklining, and lots of time spent out doors.

Out of Doors – Phase 2

Phase 2 of an octant should take at least 12 hours to complete, it can be a continuation of Phase 1 or something new. For my Phase 2 I went camping for the very first time!

Phase 2: Volunteer at Wellies and Wristbands

This was my first experience of camping with guiding and volunteering at a Guide and Senior Section event. I stayed at Foxlease from Thursday 27^th August to Monday 31^st August, camping for four nights.

Setting up camp on the first evening was easier than I expected, and carrying my equipment up to Katherine Wilson campsite wasn’t too difficult either. I was worried about the campsite shower! But this was fine too.

I had been assigned to the activities team and was allocated shifts at the Hot Tubs and the Cinema. I was shown how to operate, maintain and keep the girls safe around the hot tubs. This task became difficult as you needed to remember which groups had been in the longest! There were fourteen tubs to keep a watch over. The cinema wasn’t much of an outdoorsy activity, but it gave the guides a place to rest and be quiet following their more energetic activities. Whist manning this I was giving out popcorn and slushy drinks, took money and set up the film.

Because the volunteer team were short staffed I also took on other shifts. On Friday I joined the Meet and Greet team and welcomed guide groups as they arrived at the campsites and helped direct them to their assigned area. On Saturday morning I helped set up the ‘Daily Dash’ – a group of large outdoor games – and put up decorations. I stayed on to help run some races. On Saturday afternoon I did a shift in the Foxlease shop taking money. On Sunday I spent some time running the sports day races, including egg and spoon and sack races, and I also manned some of the inflatable activities.

With my free time I explored the site and saw the great range of activities the girls could take part in. I spent some time having afternoon tea and made a beaded keyring in the craft tent. In the evening I saw some of the bands at the stage.

Over the weekend the weather changed from hot and sunny on Friday to heavy rain on Monday morning so experienced camping in different weathers. I really enjoyed the weekend, and glad I chose the experience camping rather than staying in one of the buildings.

 

Out Of Doors – Phase 1

Phase 1 of an octant must be about trying new things and should last for a couple of hours. These are the adventures I had to achieve Phase 1 of the Out of Doors Octant …

Phase 1: Try a Segway forest trail

This was my first time riding a segway and it was much easier than I expected. Just gentle movements backwards and forwards to move, and leaning the handles from side to side to steer. This segway trail took us through the forest of Elvden, Centre Parcs in December 2013.

The activity made a usual trail through the forest a new experience. The basics of segways were easy to master, so most of this activity involved just enjoying being in the forest. The most difficult task was learning to move up and down mounds within the forest.

Phase 1: Take part in a Bush Craft session

In November 2014 I took part in a two and a half hour session of Bush Craft at Elvden, Center Parcs. The first activity was to study images of tracks left by a range of animals and to decide what they were. The expert talked us through the pictures and we became able to spot different deer by the size of their prints, the difference between rabbits and hares and also otters, dogs, cats and human.

We then headed into the forest to discover the different uses of plants. For example never burn the leaves of Elder trees as these become poisonous. We also looked at stinging nettles and was shown how to hold them without being stung. Nettles have a range of uses from tea to shampoo, plus crushing the leaves produces a liquid that will sooth the stings it causes.

I really enjoyed looking for tracks within the forest. This became easier by getting on the ground, shutting eyes and feeling the dips in the ground.

My favourite part was learning about navigation. We were shown how to use a watch as a compass, either analogue or digital, how to make a sundial, how to find the North Star and also how to navigate using any star if you cannot find the North Star.

We were shown how to start a fire using material from trees or tree stumps. We also had a brief session discussing the different type of trees and how to identify them.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the session and would like to take it further by learning more about constellations, and being able to identify all the common trees and leaves.

Phase 1: Build a bird table and take part in RSPB Big Bird Watch

After receiving an email from Girlguiding we considered including the RSPB Big Bird Watch into our Brownie programme. The Brownies then chose Wildlife Explorer as the interest badge they wished to work towards in Spring 2015 so this became a part of our termly activities.

To be able to run the badge efficiently I studied which are common birds for our area. I was given the parts to build a bird table for Christmas 2014, and after building this on 2^nd January 2015 regularly fed birds in the garden.

The more regular visitors are woodpigeons, blackbirds, and sparrows. When I notice birds I do not recognise I use the rspb.org.uk website to identify what they are.

Using the Brownie Adventure book page 51 the Brownies made yoghurt pot bird feeders. Each girl was given a RSPB bird watch printout to know which birds to look out for. I collected all the data from the Brownies and input this to RSPB and as a unit we received a certificate for our work.

Since then we now have a bird bath beside the table and notice a lot more birds visiting the garden, including some nests in the trees.

Brownie Christmas Sleepover and a Very Scary Cave!

When we stayed at Belchamps Scout centre in the summer we came across a leaflet for their Christmas sleepover. As a leader it was fantastic! Imagine giving your Brownies an amazing residential experience without all the planning. I feel I could easily stop running the usual Brownie Holidays and adopt regular visits to these fully catered adventures but it does come with downsides which I’ll discuss later.

We arrived Friday night in the dark, lugging all our overnight bags and pillows through the forest to our holiday house. The Brownies arrived one at a time and we got them settled into their room. As we hadn’t done anything like this before, all the planning out of our hands, we only took 6 Brownies and 2 Leaders (all signed off by our residential advisor). We shared a holiday home with another Brownie unit so we got all the girls together to introduce each other, then we headed to the large indoor hall for relay games. Our six Brownies against the other 12 Brownies, and two teams of Cubs. The Brownies were very gracious at hearing they came second overall, when they knew they were the real winners due to an error by another group which went unnoticed, meaning they won the final game. No moaning from our girls at all 🙂 The relay games were a bit of fun, and this was followed by campfire songs outside. Though I was just as gutted as my Brownies at forgetting to bring our blankets with us! We learned some new songs and helped the instructors with the ones we already knew like the banana song and the pirate song. We then got to meet Father Christmas! (Not had to deal with “Why is Brownie S saying there is no Father Christmas?” before…) Then we headed for a hotdog before bedtime!

Saturday was a full on day of activities! We were up and at breakfast by 7.30am, then the girls had 10 on site activities led by instructor Chris and work experience instructor Liam. Each activity was 30 minutes which was loads of time for our group of six. We started with mini crossbows which some of us were accustomed to following Brownie Holiday last year. Swallow and I joined in, but I felt a bit rotten when I knocked down the can castle!

This was followed by the traversing wall, the girls were fab at this and played a game called sharks where they had to avoid being the last off the floor.

We then headed for the demolition derby. Basically an inflatable with four stands and a large boulder to knock each other down! It was a little lacklustre but that may have been the girls were a bit too small to push it hard enough to knock each other off, but they still enjoyed it!

After getting loads of new badges in the shop we tried slacklining. Having never heard of this before I wasn’t expecting much but this turned out the be a fantastic activity. The idea is to walk along a fabric, elastic tape which was tied between two trees. The girl walking had the assistance of the rest putting their hands up to lean against. It showed great teamwork! They then attempted a more difficult task. Two girls on the tape facing each other, with two escorts steadying them across. They had to figure out how to pass each other without stepping off the tape. Well, they figured it out first time! It was great! They each then had a go at some tricks on the tape assisted by Instructor Chris.

Next was the assault course. A couple who came to Brownie Holiday last year knew what to expect… a lot of mud! But they all had a go, got muddy, and cleared the course. Girls can!

They faced each other in the bungee run. Raced each other on the pedal karts and had a short go at archery. We also made smores, including a new ingredient – dough??

I was nervous about the Brownies going into the caving experience. From the outside it was a large box. Nothing more that we could see. The Brownies were given their helmets, Instructor Chris said he would lead them in and then leave at the exit before entering the main cave. I asked if they would get stuck and he said some have been stuck before but he can guide them out. I was worried, so it didn’t help when we got to the entrance and one Brownie was already freaking out and asking me to join her! I looked at Swallow and decided I had to go in! I was given a helmet and had the girls led me into the mineshaft. It was completely dark, no light at all. The girl who asked me to join them was already crying out and there wasn’t much we could do until we got to the exit following the mineshaft. She was encouraged to go through the cave with a light on her head, how lucky for her! I somehow ended up wriggling around on the floor, pitch black, unsure where to go with only feeling the fake rocks to guide myself. Four girls, including the one with a torch, vanished quickly. I was behind with tiny Brownie, and another who was further ahead that I didn’t know she was scared too. Instructor Chris ended up helping her through the maze while I went ahead just trying to figure out how to get out! All six Brownies, and myself, somehow made it through the cave and I couldn’t have been more proud of them!

During the Saturday we had a lovely Christmas dinner, and a finale singsong. It was a fantastic sleepover, Brownie R described the motto of the weekend ‘Learning to Work Together’ and I completely agreed with her.

Some downsides include conflict of Brownie Holiday rules with the other group and the impact on our Brownies (some even refused a drink!), the Brownies had no input in activities, helping with housework or cooking, and it really wouldn’t count towards the Brownie Holiday badge so we will continue our regular residentials but we are definitely planning to return next year too!

I think all the Brownies gained confidence through trying new activities, re-enforced friendships with Brownies they might not necessarily have worked with before and built a little bit if independence being away from home. My favourite moment of the whole sleepover though was a natural moment on Friday evening. The Brownies were given Christmas pencils from Santa, I was holding two with Christmas Trees on the top for a couple of girls. One Brownie then started dancing her Snowman around the Trees and starting singing” Rocking Around the Christmas Trees…”, and we all joined in the whole song, it was such a lovely moment I won’t forget!

Fit for Life – Phase 3

Phase 3 of an octant is a long-term commitment and should take at least 30 hours, can include gaining a qualification or teaching something to others. My Phase 3 is something I spent ten months training for…

Phase 3: Train for and complete a 10k run

With all the training I had done with ‘Couch 2 5k’ I was looking for a new challenge to keep my motivation for running. I thought it would be a good aim to look at doubling the distance I could run.

I took up my training for the 10k run in September 2014, with an aim to run Race for Life in July 2015. This gave me plenty of time to train for my goal. I signed up for the race in January 2015 and was sent information on how to fundraise, what to expect on the day and my race number. At this point I set up a training programme, a mixture of strength and stretch workouts and gradually increasing distances. Over the winter it was difficult to keep up motivation for going out in the dark to exercise so I started including weight training indoors into the schedule to improve the strength of my legs.

As the mornings became lighter I started a new training programme using my Garmin Forerunner 10 watch to time and check the distance of my running. My aim was to run 5k three times a week, with a longer run on a Sunday to build up to my 10k target.

Before the race I only completed 10k on one occasion, on Sunday 28^th June. I completed this in 1 hour and 9 minutes. This was confidence building for the day as I knew I could complete it.

On the day of the 10k run I attended Chelmsford Hylands Park for the start at 1100am. Starting the race was quite daunting as I didn’t know what to expect. I’d only ever run on pavement and hadn’t run on grass before. I found the first 5k quite easy, and I seemed to be ahead of time. The race became difficult between 7km – 9km and I struggled with the hills around this section of the course. However, when I reached the sign for 500m left to go I felt a boost of energy and ran at a steady pace to the finish line.

I completed the race in 1 hour, 1 minute and 29 seconds. I was very happy to finish in a time so close to the hour, and was surprised I must’ve held a very steady pace.

Through sponsorship money I raised £195 for Cancer Research UK. I covered at least 30 hours in my training for this event, running or working out at least an hour a week over ten months.