On travelling solo

As I mentioned in my last post, I went on a solo adventure to Hope Valley and the Peak District last weekend. My best friend was due to get married, and I decided to travel the day before. It had been a difficult week emotionally, relationally, and at work. I needed thinking time and head space. I seem to need a lot of head space these days.

Thing is, it sounds easy, but I was TERRIFIED. Driving alone 180 miles and camping somewhere? After a hard emotional week? Really?

I haven’t done anything of the sort for over 2 years, and I was worried about all sorts. Who would help me pitch the tent? Who would help me cook? What if the car broke down? What if I got lost? And so on. I am a natural born worrier. (I wish that spelt warrior! I’m working on it  )



 



 



 

These photos were taken with my HTC Sense phone camera. 

Once I'd pitched my tent, I sat down with my take away wood fired pizza (nom!) outside the tent and wrote in my journal. It felt good to be outside, and savour the opportunity for alone time.

What I learnt:

1. Listening to my worries, and knowing my little quirks helped me deal with the scariness of the trip better. I worried about the route, having adequate directions, getting lost and what to do when I got there. Knowing my worries meant that:

• I intentionally chose a campsite close to a village that I know. I researched it on the website, and was glad to know they have wardens there.


• I planned a stop in the village to get my bearings, i.e. set the SatNav (GPS) to take me there, and not direct to the campsite.


• In addition to having a SatNav, I wrote down all addresses, post codes, and figured out directions on Google Maps. I “drove” down the winding country lane in Street View to find the entrance to the campsite. I am a visual learner, so I recognise landmarks easily.


• I thought through all eventualities before I left. If I got lost, or the SatNav broke, I had my phone with internet capability and a paper map in the car should all else fail. If I broke down, I would call up the breakdown assistance and pay them directly (I don’t have breakdown cover).


• I checked the oil levels in my car, and was reassured that it had recently passed it’s annual MOT (safety test).

 

2. Decisions based on fear don’t lead to much growth. Had I decided against going alone, I would not have experienced the immense benefits of travelling solo, and would have delayed learning that I CAN DO IT.

3. Going alone helped me regain confidence in my ability to do something difficult that I’d set my mind to. I tapped into my inner strength and that felt empowering.

4. Too much choice is a bad thing. We know that already from the paradox of choice, but I now have a concrete example. It took me a while to decide where to pitch my tent. And I felt pretty self-conscious wandering around the campsite aimlessly.

5. It’s good to start small. I started with a short weekend trip where I knew I’d be seeing my best friend and lots of other people at the wedding. Maybe next time I can go alone for a full weekend, with just me, my camera, journal and thoughts.

 

Going away alone gave me some much needed time to reflect, gather my thoughts, and write in my journal. I was pretty busy from Saturday morning until I left on Sunday, but even the car journey was therapeutic – singing (loudly) to myself to my favourite music.

 

Over to you:

Do you travel alone? What have you learnt? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

 

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Adventures in Hope Valley

 

I went on a solo adventure this weekend, to the rather aptly named Hope Valley in Derbyshire, UK.

There are lots of changes going on in this house, and I feel the name captures my feelings around these changes rather nicely. It was a beautiful weekend. I went to my best friend's wedding, alone, 180 miles away. I camped, soaked in the view, and indulged in some photography while I was there.

I wanted to share some photos from the weekend with you, but couldn't choose between them! So here they are.



 

These photos are taken with my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR. 

 

I am working on a post about travelling alone, something I haven't done in over 2 years. It was incredibly refreshing and empowering, and I'd like to capture that in an essay soon.

 

What adventures have you been on lately? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

 

 

Project 333 in quite some depth

Hello again. I booted the virus out the door and spent the week catching up on things that were STILL on my to-do list at the end of 4 days in bed. Thank you for all your kind words, and to Bethany @ Journey to Ithaca for my lovely gift! :)

I am back, with more determination than ever. I think the break did me good. Breaks from things are generally rather useful. They make you think about things a little bit differently, and that’s awesome.

Onto today's post

I’ve been doing Project 333 for 3 consecutive seasons, a total of 9 months. Previously, I have just photographed my items, shown them here, and added a few lessons I’ve learnt in each season. You can see them here: season 1, season 2, season 3. And the random Season 3 Spring swap I did because I didn’t trust the English weather to improve!

This time, since not much decluttering has happened in the wardrobe department since I first started the project, I decided to take a full inventory of EVERYTHING I own, clothing wise. This includes shoes, jewellery, pyjamas, bags, workout gear. All of it. I categorised and counted my way through the weekend. It was way too hot here, so we hid indoors for most of it. (30C/86F)

This will be a picture laden post, as I have rather a lot of items in my total inventory. Don’t worry, there is always more than one item per photo! This is just the beginning. Then I have numbers. As I worked my way through Day 2 of the microcourse, I sorted all of it into piles, Love, Maybe and Toss. There will be numbers for those.

To make it easy, I just put little x's on the inventory photos to mark the items that are now on their way to the charity shop. I'd rather not repeat all the photos, that would just a get a little confusing.

Finally, the numbers that I have managed to declutter last weekend. I want this 4th season to be more than “box it up and forget about it” - because I’ve done that 3 times before, and it’s time for a (personal) challenge. By the way, it's freakin' awesome if you're taking on this project in any form, because it's amazing and I rave about it. I'm just 3 seasons into it, so I need to shake things up!

Here it goes!

Are you still there? Ready for numbers?

Total items in photos above: 182    (down from 220+ September 2012 - I only did a rough count back then)

I categorised and counted, and took photos. Then I realised that I don't need to be afraid of running out of clothing.

Next, I quickly sorted everything into LOVE, MAYBE, and TOSS piles.

LOVE pile total: 57  (-23 Sept '12)

MAYBE pile total: 41

TOSS: 5

At this point, I made the decisions quickly as to where to put each item. No more than 5 seconds. It's the first impression that counts.  My criteria for the toss pile were poor fabric and worn clothing.

Then the hard part

Starting with the MAYBE pile, as per the instructions in Day 2 of the Microcourse, I asked each item (literally) whether it deserved a place in my overall wardrobe. I tried them all on too, for good measure.

Decisions to keep the item were based on:

• 
  
  Colour (does it go with my existing pieces?)


• 
  
  Versatility (can I mix and match this?)


• 
  
  Is it useful (for interviews etc?)


• 
  
  Comfort


• 
  
  Fabric quality


• 
  
  DO I LOVE IT??

Decisions to toss were based on:

• 
  
  Crap quality


• 
  
  Scratchy fabric


• 
  
  Bad memories associated with it


• 
  
  Not versatile


• 
  
  Fit (does it fit me now? - will it ever fit?)


• 
  
  Comfort (too tight, loose, big, small, short)

New totals:

LOVE: 55 (-2)

MAYBE: 26 (-15)

TOSS: 0 (they will become insides for a crafty project. Yep, zero-waste gal right here!)

Total items decluttered: 22

A breakdown by category, you say? Why not!

TANKS/STRAPPIES: 17 (-6)

T-SHIRTS: 7 (-4)

LONG SLEEVE: 9 (-1)

CARDIGANS: 5 (0)

JUMPERS/HOODIES: 10 (0)

TROUSERS/CAPRIS: 16 (-2)

SKIRTS: 7 (-1)

DRESSES: 8 (-1)

SHORTS: 5 (0)

SHOES: 11 (-1)

OUTERWEAR: 5 (0)

ACCESSORIES: 12 (-2)

BAGS: 5 (0)

JEWELLERY: 27 (-4)

WORKOUT: added 2 tees to this category, but got rid of 1. So 5 (+1)

PYJAMAS: 11 (0)

I have a mini-series lined up as there is lots to cover after 9 months of adopting Project 333. Next I will be sharing the selection process for Season 4, plus an analysis of the items I have worn, and those that have not made it into any seasonal selection so far. Feel free to comment on here, Facebook, Twitter, or G+ if you would like to see anything particular covered in these posts. I'm very open to suggestions :)

Coming up: My Project 333 Season 4 selection, plus my strategies for selection, extra rules, and various thought processes I’ve been through. Stay tuned!

Knocked for six, or the tale of the three-headed monster virus

Can you tell I’m bored? yeah, well, I’ve been stuck in bed for 3 days, taken out of action by a virus of the inner ear. Labyrinthitis they call it. I think I got lost down the halls of Paint college and never made it to a lesson!

 

But it was fun to draw something from the imagination, straight down, bypassing the ever-present perfectionist Censor. How would a 3 headed monster, drawn on Paint ever look beautiful anyway? I think we’ll leave the perfectionism at the door this time, no?

So anyway. Felt sick and dizzy at work Tuesday, left work early, straight to the doctors, and she mentioned labyrinthitis. fun times. heard of that one. lasts for days if not weeks. joy.

Quite honestly, I’ve felt a little bit like Bambi. Couldn’t stand up for more than 2 minutes and I’d be in bed nauseous and feeling just generally horrible for the next hour.

 

Basically, this thing is like being sea sick when you’re not even on sea, travel sick when you’re not moving. All because the maze (labyrinth) inside my head thinks it’s a good plan to become inflamed and send some rather funky signals to my brain about what’s going on in the old balance system.

Maybe a bit like this, except you’re stationary.

A snippet of conversation with my body:

Body: mwahahahaha now you’ll listen.

Me: what did I doooo!!!

Body: Ignore me. I don’t like being ignored. So I sent a virus. Mwahahahah.

Me: Nice. Thanks. I heard you now, alright? Point taken, bed. Rest. Lots of sleep.

I devised a virus diet

Apple juice, and dry Cheerios in a bag. Insanely comforting, and the only thing I could eat as a sick child. oh and dry pasta for dinner. Rock on, haute cuisine!

 

So, yeah. Back to normal ish service, soon. I hope.

Take home message:

Our bodies are important. They’re the things that will let us live this life we are meant for. I’ll be forever sure that my body will take drastic measures for me to listen, if I dare to ignore it again.

Until then, be well. Look out for the three headed monster virus!

 And here are some very cute puppies. Just 'cus.