Carry On Vlogs

The original post only has US helplines. I've added UK helplines underneath. It would be great if people could add numbers from everywhere in the world.

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453

UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem): 08457909090 e-mail [email protected]

Childline (for anyone under 18 with any problem): 08001111

Mind infoline (mental health information): 0300 123 3393 e-mail: [email protected]

Mind legal advice (for people who need mental-health related legal advice): 0300 466 6463 [email protected]

b-eat eating disorder support: 0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: [email protected]

b-eat youthline (for under 25's with eating disorders): 08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

Cruse Bereavement Care: 08444779400 e-mail: [email protected]

Frank (information and advice on drugs): 0800776600

Drinkline: 0800 9178282

Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999 1(open 2 - 2.30pm 7 - 9.30pm) e-mail [email protected]

Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02 every day, 6pm to midnight

India Self Harm Hotline: 00 08001006614

India Suicide Helpline: 022-27546669

Kids Help Phone (Canada): 1-800-668-6868, Free and available 24/7

suicide hotlines;

Argentina: 54-0223-493-0430

Australia: 13-11-14

Austria: 01-713-3374

Barbados: 429-9999

Belgium: 106

Botswana: 391-1270

Brazil: 21-233-9191

China: 852-2382-0000

(Hong Kong: 2389-2222)

Costa Rica: 606-253-5439

Croatia: 01-4833-888

Cyprus: 357-77-77-72-67

Czech Republic: 222-580-697, 476-701-908

Denmark: 70-201-201

Egypt: 762-1602

Estonia: 6-558-088

Finland: 040-5032199

France: 01-45-39-4000

Germany: 0800-181-0721

Greece: 1018

Guatemala: 502-234-1239

Holland: 0900-0767

Honduras: 504-237-3623

Hungary: 06-80-820-111

Iceland: 44-0-8457-90-90-90

Israel: 09-8892333

Italy: 06-705-4444

Japan: 3-5286-9090

Latvia: 6722-2922, 2772-2292

Malaysia: 03-756-8144

(Singapore: 1-800-221-4444)

Mexico: 525-510-2550

Netherlands: 0900-0767

New Zealand: 4-473-9739

New Guinea: 675-326-0011

Nicaragua: 505-268-6171

Norway: 47-815-33-300

Philippines: 02-896-9191

Poland: 52-70-000

Portugal: 239-72-10-10

Russia: 8-20-222-82-10

Spain: 91-459-00-50

South Africa: 0861-322-322

South Korea: 2-715-8600

Sweden: 031-711-2400

Switzerland: 143

Taiwan: 0800-788-995

Thailand: 02-249-9977

Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800

Well, it's almost time.

Not that I am counting down the minutes or anything -- really, I'm not -- but the due date for my adventure of a lifetime keeps drawing nearer and nearer. 

(Should I say adventure of a lifetime? That may be a bit presumptuous. Who knows? A grey wizard may come galavanting into my life one day and ask me to become a burglar. You never know...)

Now that the holidays have past -- something I am exceedingly grateful for -- I am now spending all of my time prepping for my trip to the UK.

You all should be very proud of me. Alongside work and writing, I have managed to get somewhat ahead in my classes that I will be enrolled in while abroad. I also have made a preliminary packing list that includes way, way too many clothes. But I am just too attached. 

I guess, really, the biggest concern that I am having about the trip is my anxiety. My post-tramatic stress and anxiety attacks have been rearing their troublesome heads more and more often since Thanksgiving. Everything at home is going a bit, well, poorly, so I am nervous to leave the situation and not be able to have any control over what happens.

Maybe my therapist was on to something when she mentioned I seemed like a bit of a control freak.

With every decision I make, the overwhelming pressure gets a bit tighter in my chest. I know that that's normal when one's about to live in a foreign country for a few months without ever having traveled before, but my "pre-exisiting conditions," however, have been playing interference.

But that ain't gonna' stop me this time. Uh-uh. Nope. No way. Not this time.

So, I guess I will just share my New Year's Resolution with you all a little before I should. The same old, same old will still be racked down on the list. You know, the usual: getting healthy, losing weight, making straight A's, and finally catching all the legendaries in Pokemon X.

But those aren't the important ones. The one I want to remind myself most -- and I will need your help with this -- is to tell myself, "Shhh."

Sometimes, we all need to reminds our thoughts to be quiet and to just enjoy the moment regardless of any fears, worries, and stresses we might be facing. 

Some more than others. 

This semester has been exhausting and exhilarating in ways both expected and not. I knew that I was going to grow, but I grew in directions I didn't anticipate.

I'm learning to stand up for myself—to say what I want and to be unafraid.

I'm learning to be kinder to myself, both mentally and physically, by getting more rest when I need it and not beating myself up over silly things.

I'm learning what it means to be a good friend and how important it is to be one.

And I'm learning that God didn't make me better or worse than anyone: I'm different, but I'm also the same.

Now, I've registered for classes for next semester, and I think I have a (SUPER FABULOUS) roommate. Life is moving on quickly, and I'm both excited and terrified.

I've fallen utterly in love with England, and leaving is going to tear me up inside. I know that.

But I also know that next semester is going to be one of the defining semesters of my educational career. I still have time to figure out what I want to do, and this semester will help me figure out what that is.

In the words of the Doctor, "I don't want to go."

But at the same time, forward is the only option, and it's the one I want to take.

See you in the States.

Visiting this church was one of the highlights of my trip. My friend Lindsay knew of them because they're a sister congregation to her church back home, and she wanted to visit when we were in Scotland. I happily agreed.

Getting there was difficult: my friends and I started in Edinburgh that morning, attempting to get to Glasgow for a 10:30 service. Little did we know that navigating Glasgow's public transportation system without any previous experience can prove exceedingly challenging.

Finally, after many frustrations, we arrived. We were greeted warmly, and soon we were sitting with the congregants for worship.

The worship was familiar yet different. I'm used to worship bands, but I only knew a couple of the songs they sang. Nevertheless, the worship and the message were nice.

Interestingly enough, the nondenominational church didn't serve Communion that Sunday. That's not a big deal to me personally, but it struck me as I've been brought up in the Church of Christ.

What stuck with me the most, though, was the warmth of the fellowship following the service. Gone were the masks that I've been so accustomed to wearing and observing; there was only genuine love.

The students were exceedingly welcoming, too: I loved conversing with them, and we decided to go to lunch together. They even treated us, which was extremely generous.

Glasgow was freezing, but the genuineness of the Christian fellowship kept me warm for a long time afterward. Harvest Bible Chapel was definitely the best spiritual experience I had in the UK.

One of my favorite experiences in England was watching the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who with Scott and Sam.

I fell in love with the show just after I turned eighteen. My best friend introduced me, and I quickly became obsessed. I borrowed her Netflix account to stream New Who once I exhausted the Eleventh Doctor's stories.

I love stories of courage, intellect, love, and friendship, and the show has all of them. The Doctor is a man who's suffered much and will suffer more, but he does it all to bring hope and peace to the universe. He sees being human as something to be celebrated, from the smallest gestures of kindness to the grandest sacrifices of all.

The show is very, very British. You can hardly go a week without seeing a Dalek or a sonic screwdriver somewhere or other. Whether genuinely, ironically, or reluctantly, most people have an appreciation for the show. It's the longest-running in sci-fi history and is beloved the world over for the very reasons I've just described.

Is it weird?

Of course.

Is it absolutely fantastic?

Undoubtedly.

While we're on the subject of makeup, how about we explore makeup across Europe.

I do thoroughly enjoy makeup, so I like to observe how others wear it. My observations may not be entirely correct, but this is what I've noticed throughout the semester.

In England, you can pretty much get away with anything. Attitudes toward makeup seem to be almost identical to those in the States. Unfortunately, makeup is more expensive in the UK than in the US, but so is pretty much everything. However, high street or drugstore makeup in the UK seems to be of much better quality than that of American brands. Revlon is always a fail-safe, and Maybelline will cover you for mascaras, but French brand Bourjois is widely available in the UK and shouldn't be missed out on. Plus, Barry M Gelly polishes are some of the best and cheapest nail polishes I've ever used. If you leave anything at home or simply want to try something new, get thee to Boots and/or Superdrug!

Paris, as you would expect, sees a range of makeup from none to maximal. Wear what you want with panache, and you'll be perfectly fine. I do tend to stick to more neutrals when I'm in France in general, but that's also my personal taste and my attempts to emulate the cliché effortless Frenchwoman. I doubt that I ever truly blended in, though: blonde hair is still something of a giveaway.

Spain threw me for a loop. I know I stood out for more reasons than my eyeliner and lip lacquer—namely because I was lugging a stuffed backpack whilst wearing a mint green day dress—but my raspberry-stained lips didn't help. A woman on the subway attempted to pickpocket me, but—thank God—I caught her. Obviously, I'm not only blaming my lip lacquer, but I very quickly noticed after the incident that I hadn't seen a single woman in Barça in bright lipstick. As soon as I settled in the hostel, I changed into jeans and a navy shirt and scrubbed the lacquer off my mouth. The rest of the weekend, I wore my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette—just in the shades Walk of Shame and Naked2—with mascara and very neutral lip colors (think petal pink and peachy pink). You know what? I think I looked really nice; it was refreshing to take a break from my daily eyeliner. From what I quickly learned, Spanish/Catalonian women like their minimal makeup, and, honestly, who can blame them?

As always, it's a matter of taste. When in doubt, go neutral: less is usually more, but remember to have fun.

Much love!