One youtube time I came across an interview with Danny
O’D (The Script/ The Voice) talking about his childhood with a Dad
for a musician and how, as a kid, when his father returned they didn’t get gifts
but they gathered around him as soon as he got through the door for stories. He
said-
“Being Irish, stories, it’s like our currency”
And I thought about that quote for a while. It really resonated for me in some way. Because as a young teen my shoes always had holes in and my phone would take 5 minutes to turn on but I was at London going to shows and hanging out in theatres whenever I could. Stories are something I’ve never been short of.
I remember being 14 and swinging in a hammock I’d found with my DofE group “Awesome! Hammock!” and one of our teachers came over and talked to us, turns out it was his hammock we hijacked. Oops. But he told us stories about all these places in the world he’s taken that hammock- places I’d never heard of and couldn’t pronounce if I tried. If I had to pinpoint a moment where I wanted to travel, that would be it.
I have a bucket list 228 items long that my 13 year old self dreamed of doing. I promised her I’d do all those things. One day. But time is running out and the list keeps growing!
I don’t want to keep that notebook buried in a box in a cupboard. I want to pick it up in 30 years having crossed it off and written all over it with new notes and ideas. When I dream, I don’t sit around and watch clouds, maybe that’s how it starts but it becomes something more real. And I wanted to do something real with Summer. Not just getting drunk, partying and wearing stupid costumes (hey, that’s what Freshers is for right? ;)
“Being Irish, stories, it’s like our currency”
And I thought about that quote for a while. It really resonated for me in some way. Because as a young teen my shoes always had holes in and my phone would take 5 minutes to turn on but I was at London going to shows and hanging out in theatres whenever I could. Stories are something I’ve never been short of.
I remember being 14 and swinging in a hammock I’d found with my DofE group “Awesome! Hammock!” and one of our teachers came over and talked to us, turns out it was his hammock we hijacked. Oops. But he told us stories about all these places in the world he’s taken that hammock- places I’d never heard of and couldn’t pronounce if I tried. If I had to pinpoint a moment where I wanted to travel, that would be it.
So, I’m young and broke (this trip is born through a mix of
savvy research, fundraising, kind sponsors and lifetime savings) and for the
next forever I’ll be broke (£50,000
student debt… *cries*) but I won’t always be young. When I do have money
I’ll have a real job, I might have a partner, possibly kids: you can’t have
youth and finance on your side. What I do have is time 3 months of summer with
no commitments to school or boyfriends. (Woohoo!)
I have a bucket list 228 items long that my 13 year old self dreamed of doing. I promised her I’d do all those things. One day. But time is running out and the list keeps growing!
I don’t want to keep that notebook buried in a box in a cupboard. I want to pick it up in 30 years having crossed it off and written all over it with new notes and ideas. When I dream, I don’t sit around and watch clouds, maybe that’s how it starts but it becomes something more real. And I wanted to do something real with Summer. Not just getting drunk, partying and wearing stupid costumes (hey, that’s what Freshers is for right? ;)
This summer: Travel, Teaching, Theatre. I’m doing all three
For me summer is about going to places further than a young person’s railcard can take me. And experiencing that kind of magic and wonder I’m sure exists in the world. If I search to find it.
I’m eighteen and I think this summer deserves challenges, tears, and hyperventilating laughter, photos that make no sense, new friends and new stories. The kind of stories you think to yourself in that moment “Oh my. This is one to tell the grandkids”.
I'm flying to Bangkok then Chiang Rai tomorrow!
For me summer is about going to places further than a young person’s railcard can take me. And experiencing that kind of magic and wonder I’m sure exists in the world. If I search to find it.
I’m eighteen and I think this summer deserves challenges, tears, and hyperventilating laughter, photos that make no sense, new friends and new stories. The kind of stories you think to yourself in that moment “Oh my. This is one to tell the grandkids”.
I'm flying to Bangkok then Chiang Rai tomorrow!
