The End...

So, just like that my Gap year is over!

I couldn't have imagined a more perfect year than what I had. It was so much better than I could ever have hoped for, I saw so many places and met so many incredible people that I will keep in contact with forever (I hope!)

It was a year that I was so uncertain about. On my first night at the school I had a bit of a moment and suddenly realised what I had done, that I had actually moved to the other side of the world all by myself, to a country that I knew almost nothing about, and a job that I had no idea what I would be doing, or who I would be working with.. But I decided to not let any of that worry me, because I had been looking forward to my gap year for the last three years, and I was determined to have a good one.

Little did I know that I didn't need to worry about it, because everyone I worked with was amazing and made me feel at home within a week of being there, my job was so much fun and it never felt like I was actually working, I would travel to 21 countries throughout the year and love every single one of them. I made so many new friends that I never felt alone, no matter what time it was or where I was, I always had someone to chat to. I had the most amazing extended family who took me in and made me feel like a real part of the family time and time again, who showed me places I never would have discovered for myself and who let me stay in their spare rooms, eat their food and use their washing machine without a second thought. To the Slades and the Scotts, I will forever be grateful for what you did for me, and I will be sure to return the favour if you should find yourselves in my corner of the world!

It was a year where I didn't go to the cinema, and instead I went to the theatre, yes all by myself but I had the best time ever. I went on spontaneous trips, spent all my money on whatever I wanted because I didn't have to worry about a student loan, so I went everywhere I could, I brought too many clothes and ate too much food (and accidentally gained a bit too much weight from the food..) but I don't regret a thing. I always told myself it didn't matter if I came home with a dollar to my name, I never went there to make money, I went there to experience life in a different country, to grow up from a kid fresh out of high school who was so paranoid about missing trains and hated talking to anyone I didn't know, to someone who would catch a bus to another country without thinking twice and who would chat to someone I had never met without worrying about it, and I didn't even notice it happening.

I know this will sound vain and a bit cheesy but I am so proud of myself for doing this. For proving to myself that I can do anything I want to, that I moved as far away from home as you can get and I came back a completely different person, without having gotten homesick or being to worried to do something I might not enjoy. I showed myself that I wouldn't get laughed at if I went to a restaurant by myself, or if I accidentally got on the wrong train and had to get off a stop after I got on. I taught myself that it didn't matter if I got lost because someone would always help me figure out where I was, and half the time I was lost I found something worth taking a photo of that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

So that's it. Thats the last post for my gap year. I hope you've enjoyed this little blog and the stories I've told throughout the year.. I know I've enjoyed making all these memories sharing them with you..

The biggest lie ever...

So, as you probably know by now, in December last year I managed to pull off the biggest lie of my life (with the help of the best dad ever) and convince my entire family that I was staying in England until late January when in reality I was sneaking back home a month early to surprise them all for christmas.

So when I was supposed to be heading to Weymouth with the Scotts after the Warner Bro's Harry Potter Studios, I was actually sneaking across London to get sorted for my flight to Singapore the next morning.

So on the morning of the 18^th of December I was in a taxi heading to Heathrow, chatting to the driver about my big secret plan and he was telling me all about his home in Sierra Leone which was very interesting.

I got to Heathrow and did all the normal airport stuff, and eventually got on the flight and made he most of the movies on the seat back system.

Once I got to Singapore I got a shuttle to my hotel for the next two days and immediately got changed into shorts because it felt like 100 degrees in comparison to the English winter I had left behind. I spent my time in Singapore doing three things, the first was seeing as much of the city I could, the second was sleeping because my jet-lag was horrible (asleep by 8pm and wide awake at 4am every day no matter how much I tried to stay awake until late or sleep in, and the third thing was staying away from any form of social media, because no one knew that I was on my way home except for dad, and the family in England....

While in Singapore I went to the botanic gardens, walked along orchard road (I was so disappointed that I had no suitcase space because I could have spent all my money there.. I also saw the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which I don't really remember because the combination of the heat and jet-lag I was basically sleepwalking the whole time..

Because I don't really remember a lot of Singapore, and I was back in my hotel by 4pm every day, I thought I would as usual dump a whole lot of photos and claim its a semi-decent blog post!

There were turtles in the lake!

I figured I had to have a photo of myself there because no one would believe me otherwise..

Butterflies at Singapore Airport!

Somehow, despite the jet-lag and hundreds of things that could've gone wrong, I managed to sneak half way across the world, spend three days in Singapore, catch 3 flights and no one had a clue!

My best friend from school picked me up from the airport and took he to her house so I could have a shower and wait until it was time for me to go home for the first tie in over a year.

Dad had managed to convince the whole family and a few friends to come round for a cocktail night to days before christmas, so when I walked in the door everyone was there, and the look on their faces was an absolute picture!

And just like that, my gap year was over! But I'll do a special post about it, don't you worry ;)

All good things must come to an end..

The last day of topdeck, was, as you can probably imagine after five weeks together and a night of no sleep, full of emotions.

After we had packed up our soaked and muddy tents for the last time (ever, thankfully) we headed onto the bus and made the most of the dry and warmth and slept the whole way to Bruges, which I did accidentally pronounce Brug-ee in my head for the first few minutes there because it was written on all the postcards and signs as Brugge... I blame the lack of sleep on that one.

I don't have many photos of Belgium because I was tired, in my pyjamas and too busy eating all the waffles and chocolate I could get my hands on, but here are a couple I managed to take in the pauses between bites...

Bruges was picture perfect, and stunning in every way, from the architecture to the people to the food (of course!). But when we went back to the coach we had to say goodbye to a couple of the group who were staying in Europe which was so hard.. There were a few tears at that point and we all reluctantly got onto the coach and made our way to Calais.

Once we got to the ferry terminal we had to say goodbye to Matty and Scotty, our incredible Chef and Driver, which was possibly the hardest goodbye. They made the trip so incredible with their jokes about everything, their excitement over the littlest things (like finally finding the Karate Kid) and their unconditional love for their jobs.

We all got onto the ferry and while the others played cards or went to the bar I slept the whole way, until we got to Dover and got on another coach, with a driver that wasn't scotty that took us to London.

That bus ride was odd, as no one really knew what to say or do. We were all just appreciating the last few hours that we would all be together, and quietly chatting about our favourite parts of the trip.

When we arrived at our drop off in London it was raining and cold and our trip had finally come to an end. We all said our final goodbyes and headed off in our various directions. Mine was to the tube station in my pyjamas, with more bags than I could carry and exhausted, but all warm and fuzzy on the inside because I had just completed the trip of a lifetime.

I had no idea what would happen on my Topdeck trip. Before I booked it part of me wasn't sure if I could do one, I mean going on a five week trip with no one I knew and no idea what it would be like or if I'd even be able to complete. But one night I just took a deep breath and booked, and god am I glad I did. I couldn't have wished for a more incredible time or more incredible to share it with. Every day I knew there would be someone who wanted to go where I wanted to go, or eat something different, or visit an incredible piece of architecture, or simply wander around a new fantastic city and just take it all in. I had no idea I would eat like royalty the whole time because Matty could cook up a storm in a tent, while dancing up a storm at the same time. I am so lucky to have experienced so much on this trip and I have so many photos to look back on and memories to keep with me forever.

I cant believe how fast the five weeks went by, and once I had caught up on sleep and washed all my clothes I wanted to do it all over again! Because just for a change I want to revisit everywhere I went!

The last photo of La Familia!

Dreams coming true!

Now, the following will probably consist of mainly pictures and a little bit of fangirling, so consider yourself warned

On Thursday, I had the most magical day of my life. I went to the Warner Brothers studios where they filmed Harry Potter, and where all the sets and costumes and props and prosthetics and creatures and basically everything Harry Potter.

You're probably thinking that i'm over-reacting about all of this, but Harry Potter was basically my childhood. The first film came out when I was five, and every year after that we would see the newest release for my birthday treat until the final one was released when I was 15..

So for me to see the actual sets and everything from the films was a dream come true!

I know that if I go into detail we will be here all day, so I'm just going to post a whole lot of photos of me pretending to be cool, calm and collected when on the inside I was giddy with excitement for the four hours we were there (I don't think I hid my excitement all that well, but at least in the photos I look sane..)

(they're a bit out of order sorry but i've had so many dramas trying to get all the photos - why it's so late being posted- that i can't be bothered to sort it out, but you'll get the idea!)

At the main doors to the Great Hall!

Neville's totally badass cardigan that helped him save the world (because to save the world you have to look the part!)

Waiting for the next course to appear

At the gates to the school!!

In Dumbledoors office!

I think Hermione's dress is my all time favourite costume, and in real life it was just stunning (so was Cho's- there was so much detail that you didn't see in the film!)

Some of Luna's clothes!

This corridor was probably under two metres long, but it's an optical illusion to make you think that it's a lot longer!

Cheeky selfie in the Mirror of erised!

So I got to keep the bit of paper that came out of the Goblet of fire because i knew what happened when the flames turned red and it was potentially the best moment ever (free souvenir!)

The Gryffindor common room looked so cosy and perfect (so close to how I've always imagined it from the books!) 

The invisibility cloak! (!!!!!!!) 

All the animal actors! So many dogs played Fang!

Learning how to cast spells like a pro!

About2 seconds before this photo was taken a dementor jumped out onto the screen and gave us a massive fright.. This is our recovery!

Annoying the Dursleys! 

Somehow Lucy managed to get behind the wheel...

My turn to drive!

Me basically holding back tears at the sight of Hogwarts in the snow...

Choosing my perfect wand!

So as you can probably tell, I had the time of my life in that place and the dream i've had since I was five finally came true!

Soz if you're not a Harry Potter fan but there was no way I wasn't going to do this post... Soz