Evan on Earth

Saturday morning there was a real buzz in the air as we set up marquees, decorated every inch of the site with bunting, and arranged our big pink glittery letters along the fence - because nothing says pride like a hot pink glittery welcome sign.

In the lead-up to the event there were so many unknowns, the main one being - will people even bother to turn up? Of course the worry was all for nothing because if there's one thing Chorlton knows how t do, it's community spirit!

We had over 2000 people visit throughout the day, and it was a real celebration of local pride. The atmosphere was so joyous all day, and it was fantastic to see the diversity amongst the people who showed up to support us and the local LGBT community.

As someone who grew up without seeing any pride events until my late teens, it really hit home how important small events like this are to all generations.

It was a pleasure to be a part of such a fantastic team of volunteers, and what a great achievement.

To say my apprenticeship passed me by in the blink of an eye would be an under statement. The last year has gone so quickly, from starting my first week and not knowing where in Manchester I was, to now living only 20 minutes from the office. 

After weekly classes, monthly modules, a final deadline and 2 days of assessments, I can happily announce that I passed my apprenticeship with a distinction. Whilst I knew that my job at Forever Manchester was safe regardless of the result, I am very proud to have achieved what I set out to do. 

I feel immensely lucky to have started my career off with the team at Forever Manchester, where flexible working is encouraged and the work culture is fun and friendly. I’ve been even luckier to work under a great manager who quietly (and probably unknowingly) builds my confidence by seeing the potential in my future. As a result of this, I am very excited to say that I’ve been shortlisted for the Apprentice of the Year Award at the MPA - Manchester Publicity Association Awards this year!

The MPA Awards are are all about celebrating the growing talent in Manchester’s creative and marketing industries and I'm very grateful to be listed amongst other young and brilliant creatives in this city. 

Being shortlisted has been very reassuring that I’m on the right path and making positive progress. Occasionally I’ll see friends from uni sharing their promotions on LinkedIn. Congratulate them on becoming a senior member of the team or starting a managerial position, and I’ll have a fleeting moment of ‘that’s where I should be in my career’. But then I remember the reason why I took two years after uni to travel, how that impacted my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and how as a result of that I’ve ended up working and living in my favourite city.

It’s August 2018 and I’m sat in my bedroom surrounded by my suitcase, hand luggage and a duffle bag still covered in tape with the FedEx customs label wrapped around the handles. What I’m supposed to be doing is unpacking and settling in back at home after landing in the UK 48 hours ago from New York. What I’ve actually been doing for the last hour is scrolling through my phone, revisiting the endless photos and videos that I’ll end up viewing multiple times again and again, over the following year.

I’ve spent the last 12 weeks at a summer camp in America, photographing camp activities 5 days a week before spending the weekend visiting the Lake, our favourite diners, or during one memorable weekend - zip lining over Niagara Falls. When camp finished, I spent the next 4 weeks travelling across America. Feeding crocodiles in the swamps of Louisiana, spending Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and road tripping up the coast of California. I learnt how to line dance at Honky Tonks in Nashville and lived my Elle Woods fantasy in Boston. I’d had the best experience of my life, but all it took was a 9-hour flight to bring me crashing back down to reality.

I was 22, freshly graduated from university and not a clue what I wanted to do with my career. All I knew was that I missed the care-free days of camp life. In fact, I’d had such a great experience that I pressed ‘pause’ on my life and knew that I had to go back for a second summer 10 months later.

It was an easy decision to make because it came from the heart. It was simple; I was choosing what made me happy. But then my brain caught up with the idea and all of a sudden, I was filled with a sense of panic, guilt and all-round helplessness. Why was I spending 10 months of my life working in a supermarket, just to save enough money to go back for 3 months to something I’d already done? How was any of this contributing towards a career? Why wasn’t I doing anything with the degree that took me 4 years to get? Surely, I should be saving for a house? That’s what everyone else was doing, right?

In the lead up to my second summer in the States, these were constant worries. Comparison is a killer, and I was questioning everything, feeling completely out of the loop with my friends who had gone straight from uni into graduate jobs. But I knew that I’d probably never get the opportunity again to travel for this length of time without any attachments.

Fast forward to present day, and I’m so grateful that I made that decision to return for a second summer. Without sounding cliché, it changed my whole perspective on life. I met people who were older than me and just starting uni, people who were in their early 30’s and had taken a career break, and people who - like me, just simply weren’t ready to settle. By the time I got home, all of my friends seemed to have stepped into the ‘real’ world. The world of careers, and serious relationships and finally moving out of your parent’s house.

But this time round, it didn’t bother me. I was creating my own timeline and choosing my own path. I was nearly 24, with no idea what was next, but I was happy with the unknown because I knew that whatever was meant to be, would be. By choosing to change my expected path, I’d opened up a whole new chapter of my life where I was content with doing things at my own pace. After camp, I’d planned to go travelling around Asia with some of the friends I’d made over the last two summers. We didn’t have a plan, just a rough idea of locations and the idea that we’d stay out there until we only had enough money left to buy a plane ticket home. Of course, due to the pandemic hitting, this never happened. Instead, I used lockdown as a chance to think about what I really wanted from the next few years. I realised that travelling and having a career don’t need to be independent books but can be part of multiple chapters in my life. So, I brushed up my CV and got excited about beginning a career in the creative industry, because this time round I felt ready for it.

Society has conditioned us to believe that we have to be constantly hitting these specific milestones at certain ages, and if not then we’re somehow failing at life. We should be going to university, or getting on the property ladder, having children by 30 and choosing one career to stick to until retirement at 60.

But guess what? There is no time limit on any of these things! Only a socially constructed ‘ideal’. And there is more to life than ticking boxes.

It starts when we’re little and we get asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and then it’s “What A-Level options are you picking?” How are we supposed to know at 15, what’s going to make us happy at 25? At 50? I’m not even the same person I was a year ago, let alone 10. Even more so as women, we get told that our lives won’t be ‘fulfilled’ until we have children (which, by the way, has to be by a certain time because you don’t want to be an old Mum right?), or that the only reason we’re single is because we ‘just haven’t met the right person yet’ rather than by actual choice.

People talk about using your 20’s to ‘find yourself’, but that’s not really how it works. You’re not lost, you don’t need finding. Your true self is right there, it’s just buried under pressure from society, what you’ve been told is the right thing to do, and other people’s opinions of what you should be doing.

This isn’t to belittle those people who have taken the expected path, because for those people that might be their dream. Some people want to settle down with a family by the time they’re 30, or go straight from university into a job; the same way that I knew it was exactly what I didn't want to do. For them, that’s their own happiness. No one else but you is responsible for your own happiness and deciding what your definition of that is. Your timeline is yours to create, it doesn’t matter what other people your age are doing, focus on building your own happiness and everything else will come in time.

Creating your own path in life isn’t easy. Especially if it feels like you’re somehow not at the same point in life as all of your friends are, it’s hard to break away from the flow and realise that you can do something different. Breaking the ‘rules’ and doing your own thing can feel scary but deciding to live life on your own terms is ultimately the best reward.

A close friend of mine said to me recently “What is meant for you won’t pass you by and what passes you by wasn’t meant for you”.

After what felt like an endless 8 months of job-hunting, I am so proud to say that I will be starting my Content Creation journey in less than 2 weeks. Whilst I was incredibly grateful to have a job during the pandemic, it’s hard to stay motivated when it’s not a pathway that you’re passionate about. Knowing that retail wasn’t forever, and yet not having an end-date in sight was hard at times, but good things come to those who wait! (and boy have I done my fair share of waiting). 

Working as an apprentice for a fabulous charity called Forever Manchester, I’ll be focusing on all things visual! Not only does that mean that I’ll be doing a little bit of everything that I love when it comes to digital creativity, but I’ll be working for a company that I am super excited to be a part of. 

They’re the only charity that raises money to support community projects across Greater Manchester, and it has always been my long-term goal to both work and live in Manchester, so now I’m halfway there. 

Ever since I was 16 and took the train into Picadilly with my friends to go to our first ever gig at the 02 Apollo, I have been fully enamoured by the city. Since then, I’ve lived in Coventry for 3 years, moved to Madrid for a year, spent 2 summers in New York and visited a whole host of American states, but none of them have ever filled that little place in my heart that I hold for Manchester. 

I have never been able to quite put my finger on the magical ‘thing’ that makes Manchester feel like home, despite being raised next-door in Cheshire. Most likely it’s my obsession with the music scene and it’s history in pop-culture, but I suspect it also has a lot to do with the great sense of community and pride that the city holds. 

So with that being said, I can’t think of anything better than working for a company who gives so much back to a city that has given me so much over the last 10 years. 

Almost by accident I stumbled across an apprenticeship scheme for a huge company in Manchester. After a couple of job interviews at the end of 2020, I knew from feedback that whilst I had some promising qualities, I was lacking the professional industry experience that a lot of companies wanted. So, whilst I’d been looking into graduate schemes, apprenticeships had never crossed my mind. 

I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say that I didn’t fully understand how much of great opportunity these can be. I’d naturally assumed that they were for students finishing their GCSE’s who didn’t want to go to college or university, and as someone who is very proud of the First Class degree, I assumed that I was over-qualified, imaging that an apprenticeship would be a step backwards rather than forwards. 

I was so wrong. 

After doing my research, speaking to friends in the industry, and looking at current openings, I now understand how apprenticeships can be such a fantastic opportunity to take that first stepping-stone into an industry. Whether this is for those leaving school, graduates needing professional experience, or adults choosing an entirely new path in life. 

Apprenticeships provide the chance to work alongside industry professionals, build your own portfolio of work, gain a qualification AND earn whilst you learn. 

Three things that have happened since my last post back in August. Back then, Lockdown 1 was still fresh in our minds, warm sunny days of baking, tie-dying everything in sight, and binge-watching Tiger King on Netflix. 

Then Lockdown 2 hit, coinciding with a dull cold winter and a lack of clear guidelines regarding Christmas reunions with family. But it was okay, we had the unshakeable magic of the countdown to the festive season to drag us through the days and optimistic daydreams that a new year would somehow bring about the end of the pandemic. 

But alas, here we are, 2021, Lockdown 3, and the statistics are worse than ever. Yet only recently has the Government decided it would be a good idea to close borders. Whilst the news of a vaccine has raised the hopes of some, it does leave you wondering why, (unlike other countries), we weren’t able to get the virus under control before medical science stepped in.... and where on earth we’re going to be 6 months down the line from now. 

Whilst I am so grateful to have a part-time job during such a difficult time for thousands and thousands of people, I started applying for ‘proper’ jobs back in August, hoping to find the perfect opening into a successful career in the creative industry. But it would be just my luck that in the (nearly) 3 years since graduating, I choose the year we have a global pandemic to decide that I’m ready to begin that journey. 

6 months later I am still working in retail, dreaming of the day I get to hand my notice in and never have to wake up again at 3am to pick people’s shopping. I’ve applied to multiple jobs, so many in fact that I stopped counting. But here’s the thing that you don’t realise until you’re having to do it, JOB HUNTING IS HARD! It’s time-consuming, mentally draining and so incredibly dispiriting when out of the 50 jobs you apply to, less than 10 get back to say ‘no thankyou’ and if you’re lucky, maybe 1 gets back to say ‘we’d love to interview’. But even then, you know that will still result in a ‘sorry you haven’t been successful this time’, because here’s the thing, as a graduate how am I expected to have 2 years of professional experience? 

Add to this the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic and on the brink of a recession, and you can understand why over Christmas I made the decision to take a break from applying for jobs. It’s always important to prioritise your own happiness, and constantly hearing nothing at all, or at best a ‘no’, can really take a toll.  

4. Worldwide Lockdown, and the realisation that safe travel wouldn’t be possible for a long time. Began to think I would be in retail forever. Creative mind being stifled. Sad. 

5. Feeling the pressure of being a 24 year old working in retail and living at home. Wondered where I would be if I hadn’t returned to camp. Started to question all of my life choices and compare myself to my friends who are living independently and went straight into work from uni. 

6. Existential Crisis. Oh, also, face masks are a thing now. 

7. THE MUCH-NEEDED TURNAROUND!  I read some fantastic books and got back into being creative for the sheer fun of it! Lots of painting, teaching myself how to use a graphics tablet and how to make dreamcatchers. I realised that my timeline is mine to create! It doesn’t matter what other 24 year olds are doing, things happen for a reason and I wouldn’t swap my experience in America for anything. I educated myself on LGBTQIA+ and BLM topics and followed more empowering people on social media. POSITIVE VIBES MANIFESTING. 

8. Bought a Nintendo Switch and downloaded TikTok. Not sure where the days went. 

9. Realised that travel and a career don’t need to be independent books, but can be part of multiple chapters in my life. There is no time limit on either of these things! Only a socially constructed ‘ideal’. Brushed up my CV, and got excited about the possibility of beginning a career in the creative industry. Surprised myself this made me as equally excited as the idea of travelling usually does.  

I absolutely fell in love with Green Chimneys and couldn’t resist returning for a second summer. Anyone who knows me will know that I am not the world’s biggest fan of children, but Summer Camp is SO much more than that! 

Second time round I returned as a General Counsellor rather than a Photography Specialist, which allowed me to get way more involved in the camp experience. I don’t know if it was the confidence I had returning as someone who already knew the routine, or whether it was the social side of things - turning up for a second summer already knowing some of the staff (both International and American) but Camp V.2 was extra special, I really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and spread those wings.

I honestly can’t put into words how life-changing Camp has been for me. Which I know is a shame because as this is a travel-blog, words should be the easiest part! But honestly guys, whilst life-changing might sound cliché, it’s not even a dramatic enough phrase to describe my experience. I am not the same person who left for New York that first time round. Camp was one of the best things to happen to me and it makes me emotional to think about how incredible my two summers were. 

Drenched in sunny nostalgia, my memories of Green Chimneys will always stay close to my heart. I will be forever grateful for the people I met, (some of who are now my closest friends), and the places I was able to visit. To look back at the bucket list that I first wrote whilst studying in Madrid has been a very humbling experience. I got to visit Yosemite, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, places I didn’t think I’d ever have the opportunity to visit in my lifetime let alone in ONE summer! Not to mention an epic road-trip up the entire West Coast and multiple weekends spent exploring NYC.  I drank wine in one of Rhode Island’s best vineyards, I learnt how to line dance at Honky Tonks in Nashville and partied during Mardi Gras and Pride in New Orleans. I sipped cocktails at a rooftop bar overlooking the Empire State Building, ran up the Rocky Steps in Philadelphia and lived my Elle Woods Harvard fantasy in Boston, and that’s not even half of it!

Leaving people who feel like family, and a place that feels like home is never easy, and boy was it hard last Summer to say goodbye to international friends. 

But, there is so much more of the world I plan to see! 

I’m starting to feel a huge mix of emotions, mainly excitement and nerves…but mostly excitement! I can’t wait to get going, to get on that flight and to land in New York, ready for the summer of a lifetime (cliché I know, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be exactly that). The flight from Heathrow to Newark is about 8hrs, so I’m hoping they have some great movies on-board, but after travelling regularly during my time in Madrid, I quite enjoy flying so I’m looking forward to the journey. 

This week the Green Chimneys group chats have been super active, and we’re all buzzing to get to camp, approx. 1000 questions have been asked about literally everything – I’m 99% sure the returners will have just muted the chat and I don’t blame them. On the upside, having an active chat means that we’re already getting to know each other and we’re planning to meet up at the airport, which for me will completely calm my nerves, it’s always better when you know you’re not the only who doesn’t have a clue what they’re doing. 

Now, I don’t have much to say seeing as the adventure hasn’t started yet, but, it’s 24 hours away and it’s finally sunk in that I am flying to America tomorrow! for 12 weeks! I’m trying to play it cool but on the inside my mind is blown that I have this opportunity. 

So, half way through writing my dissertation, I decided it was about time I filled out my Camp America application. Whilst a fantastic way to procrastinate (and claim I’d still had a productive day), this was something I’ve always planned to do. Years ago I got as far as the interview before realising (being less than a year into my photography A-level) that I was most likely vastly inexperienced. So, I put the thought on hold and having come back from Madrid in July, I figured this summer would be the perfect time to go to Camp! 

I’ll start of by saying that if anyone has even the smallest inkling of applying for Camp America, in the words of Nike, Just Do It!. Best outcome: you’ll get to spend your summer in America, and worst outcome, well you can learn a surprising amount from rejection. 

I submitted my application in December and had an interview just before Christmas, it was nothing too serious, we met in my local Costa and discussed why I wanted to go to Camp and what skills I thought I could bring. 

In late January, I went to the London Recruitment Fair which I’d highly recommend. Whilst Camp America hire 80% of applicants online, the recruitment fairs are a fantastic way to meet face-to-face with the camps and to speed up the application process. Being an impatient person, I was more than happy to travel down to London to try and get hired on the spot than to play the waiting game online. 

Whilst you can find loads of helpful tips online about the fairs, I will say one thing: be open-minded! I went with a list of my top 5 camps and for various reasons I wasn’t successful with any of them. By the time I got there, 2 had already filled there places for photographers, 1 said they were looking for someone with more childcare experience, another said they were prioritising male applicants (as most of their returners were female) and the last camp said to come back at the end of the day as photography wasn’t one of the key things they were looking for. As you can imagine, I was feeling very defeated by this point and convinced that I’d be leaving without a placement. 

Doing one last loop of the venue, I spotted a camp in the corner who were advertising for photography. One of their reps came over to me and started filling me in on the role, he’s going back for his third summer this year and his enthusiasm completely sold it to me. Having never heard of the camp before, he told me that it was a day camp in New York, this was something I’d never considered! In my mind, Summer Camp was all about the overnight experience. But to cut a long story short, yesterday the system updated and I accepted my placement! 

Having had the time to research the camp, I am so excited to be heading to NEW YORK for THREE MONTHS! I’m going to be the general camp photographer (aka Paparazzi) and I can’t bloody wait. 

Who knew that when I started this blog to document my time in wonderful Madrid, that I’d end up moving to another brilliant city

Hopefully I’ll get the time to update you all throughout summer, and if anyone is reading this in the future and has any questions about Camp America, feel free to get in touch!

So, here we are once again. Madrid seems like a distant sunny memory and already the absolutely terrifying prospect of the future is hurtling towards me with no signs of slowing down. 

Since my last post, it seems that everything yet nothing, has changed at the same time. I’m back in Coventry, finishing the last year of my degree and with the gang back together, it feels as if we were never away from this concrete jungle (although jungle is perhaps an overly generous word for little old Coventry). 

The idea of finishing university in just over 3 months brings the inevitable mixed bag of feelings. Whilst I’m excited to move onto the next stage of life (which hopefully means moving to Manchester), I’m already feeling quite wistful over the idea of not living with my best friends after four years, especially since when back home we live all over the UK. The wonderful thing about university (despite the obvious) is that when there are days where you do absolutely nothing, you can do it with someone. Somehow, lying in bed all day on your own isn’t quite the same. 

 I’m trying not to get ahead of myself and make the most of the remaining three months, rather than already feeling sad it’s over...but nostalgia is a funny thing. 

Onto more happier thoughts! It’s nearly time for my Degree Show and shortly I’ll be looking at dresses for the Summer Ball which in turn means that it’ll be festival season in no time at all! This year however, things are going to be slightly different. Rather than spending 5 days in a field, I’ll be spending 2 days with the added benefit of returning home each night. With a line-up that we couldn’t turn down, Me and my usual die-hard festival comrades bought tickets for NBHD WEEKENDER at the end of May. Whilst The Courteeners were 90% our reason for going, there’s also more of our favs such as Noel Gallgher’s HFB, Blossoms, Circa Waves and Jake Bugg. 

BUT, (and here’s the big news), the best part of this festival is that it’s an early one in May, which means that...(get ready)...my summer will be entirely free for... *drum roll please*... CAMP AMERICA 

That’s right, my application is in, my interview has been done and my placement has been confirmed! Whilst i’m sure May will bring tears as we all travel back home from Coventry one last time, Camp is going to be a great way to shift those post-uni blues and a major way to kickstart life as a graduate.

So, from Madrid, to England and now to the Unites States, I’ll be using this platform to document my Camp Experience! 

Stay Tuned

Now this isn’t going to be an emotional post about how I can’t believe the year is coming to an end, or how I never want to leave Madrid, because in reality I think I’ve slowly begun to come to terms with the fact that I’ll be leaving in little over a week. The saddest thing is not knowing when I’ll be returning, but I have so much planned in England to look forward to that it’s kind of just like moving from one great thing to another

Looking back at my bucket list, I remember sitting in our hostel room and starting this blog, never expecting to be able to tick as many things off the list as I have. Infact, I pretty much completed my Madrid Bucket List and was even able to cross one or two things off my general one. The only points left over were:

- To visit the underground spa. I would’ve loved to do this, but we just never seemed to get round to it. However, since visiting Budapest this completely made up for it! Why visit one spa in Spain when you can visit multiple thermal baths in Hungary?

- Go to a Madrid football match. Although this would’ve been a great experience, I was never willing to pay the €50 ticket price for any matches that happened to come up. I’ve also been in and around Sol on really busy occasions such as St Patricks and Pride, as well as experiencing the occasional protests - so I’ve definitely experienced an amazing atmosphere in the city centre (whether or not it was football related). 

Since my last post, I’ve also visited Valencia and Budapest. Valencia was a fun weekend and I loved being out of a landlocked city and able to visit the beach, but Madrid has a lot more to offer and whilst it was nice to go, I’m not sure I’ll be revisiting any time soon. Budapest on the other hand was THE BEST. I’d highly reccommend a trip here and I can’t wait to return. It’s such a lovely city (made better by our great hostel experience @wombats) and it was definitely my favourite trip of Erasmus. 

Returning to England is going to be tiring, emotional, sad, exciting and probably a little bit crazy. I’ll be travelling on an early flight, after being at MadCool festival all day till about 4am.... so god knows what state I’ll be in (probably exhausted and losing the plot from too much sun, sangria and music). But hey, finishing Erasmus the way we started! (DCODE Festival in August is still one of my favourite days.) 

And then? Well it’s onwards and upwards, with a festival in July and a holiday to Crete planned in September before heading back to Coventry to finish my degree. I’ve been so lucky this year with being able to actually live here as well as being able to travel to so many new places.

Life is good. 

So, we’re coming to the end of April which means that Summer is on it’s way! 

Unfortunately this also means that the final flight to England is just over 2 months away....TWO MONTHS. Please can I stay in Madrid forever. 

I have a really busy May planned with friends visiting, a trip to Budapest and a trip home for a gig (I promise the band is totally worth it). So I feel as if May is going to quite literally FLY by. 

It’s one of those weird times where you don’t want to wish the months away but I have so many positive things in the works that whilst I don’t want to Erasmus to be over, I’ve almost come to accept it and already started to look forward to life after Madrid. I have a couple of festivals booked and moving back to Coventry (whilst a major downgrade) is still something to look forward to as we’ll all be reunited and I’m actually excited to get back into the academic swing of things with decent lectures etc. 

In the mean time, we have a trip to Budapest, a place I’ve wanted to visit for ages (and yes, I’ll be playing George Ezra’s song on repeat all weekend). There’s also Madrid World Pride in June which I’m super excited for as I know it’ll provide some great opportunities for photography.

I’m also visiting Valencia in June, which will be our final trip of Erasmus. Like I mentioned in my reflection, I’ve travelled so much more than just inside Madrid this past year. I think that’s one of the most valuable things Erasmus has provided me with. 

Looking back on the past year, I’ve really needed the chance to just pause uni! Coming to Madrid has allowed me to stop, take a step back, and really think about what I want to focus on in 3rd year and what I want to do my dissertation and FMP on. This time last year, I had no clue what I wanted to do my dissertation on and I don’t think I could’ve gone straight into 3rd year. Whereas I now feel refreshed and recharged, ready to conquer my final year of university. I’ve definitely had time to grow as an artist this year, and not actually having set assignments has allowed me to experiment with my own style of images, editing in my free time. (Check out my Instagram here)

I’ve also had the chance to visit multiple exhibitions due to the sheer fact that there’s always so much going on in Madrid, and I’m hoping I’ll stick to this when I return to Coventry and continue making the effort to visit new exhibitions.

I mentioned some of the negatives in my last reflective post, and so I won’t go over them again. But they do remain, the lack of proper education continues and makes me ever more grateful for the standard at Coventry. I’m also still not fluent in Spanish but I think this was a high expectation and I’ve learnt just enough to get by! My only other disappointment, was the lack of Erasmus Community at UEM. In my head, I thought that we’d be in big classes full of students from all over the place, and I’d come back knowing people at different universities all over England. In reality, the classes usually consisted of us 4 and perhaps 2 or 3 more people from other countries. However, looking at this in a positive light, it’s not as if this massively effected my Erasmus experience and if anything, it made the year spent with my closest friends even better. 

One of the more interesting things that developed from doing Erasmus was my change in opinion of being at home. During 1st and 2nd year at Coventry, I was more than happy to spend entire terms at Uni, and didn’t tend to miss my home life. Being in Madrid changed this slightly, especially as the months passed by. I never made any trips home without reason but whenever I did go home for Christmas or Easter etc I became quite content and happy to be at home rather than feeling the need to rush back to the big city. Obviously I think was because I never at home for more than 2 weeks (I’d definitely get bored if it was for any longer than this) but as it was, I continuously felt split between two places. Perhaps it was knowing that thousands of miles was the difference this year. When I was at home, I missed the weather and my friends, but whenever I came back to Madrid, I missed the home comforts. I think I’ve come to the realisation that at the end of the day, home is home and always will be. As much as I adore Madrid, it’ll always be nice to return home every so often. 

One of the reasons why I absolutely love Madrid is because you’re never to far from a little patch of nature. I say little, most of the best parks in the city are actually huge. 

Of course, Retiro is probably the most well-known one. It’s right in the centre and massively popular all year round. On Sundays it’s a bit of a tradition to spend the evening at the park, so it’s always packed at the end of the week. This is one of those parks where there is so much more to do than just walking around. There’s a gorgeous lake where you can go rowing, a crystal palace (based on the original one we used to have in London) and a Rose garden, plus multiple cafes, statues, street performers, outside gyms and the occasional art exhibition. 

Despite the wide range of amusements on offer at Retiro, one of my favourite parks has got to be Cerro del Tío Pío. I only discovered this the other day, but I’ll definitely be re-visiting soon. It lacks the grandess of Retiro and has more of a natural feel to it seeing as it’s largely uninhabited by masses of people and vendors, but I think that’s what makes it so good. It’s essentially 7 large hills on the edge of city, which if you climb to the top of any of them you get a great view of the city. It feels like you’re sat on top of the world and it’s a lovely place to visit if you’re feeling reflective, need to get away from the buzz of the city or just need some peace and quiet. I can imagine that it’s a stunning place to see the sunset. In fact, it’s a similar view to the one you get by visiting Moncloa Lighthouse (which you can actually see from the park) ... except you don’t have to pay for this one! 

Another lovely park is El Capricho. Built by the Duchess of Osuna in the romanticism style, this a really endearing space full of winding paths, mazes and water features. It’s right at the end of one of the Metro lines meaning it’s quite a trek outside of the city so it’s perhaps not the most frequently visited, but it’s worth a trip to say you’ve been. 

There’s also quite a cute little park called Parque de los Quintos. It’s full of Almond Blossom trees (over 1000) so of course the best time to visit is in Spring when they begin to bloom. This is a nice place to visit for the novelty of blossom because it’s such a beautiful flower, but much like El Capricho, it’s not one of my most-visited. 

Oh Seville, possibly one of my favourite places I’ve visited since leaving England for the Spanish capital. It’s about a 6 hour coach ride from Madrid, which I wasn’t initially keen on but it turns out it was definitely worth it.

On the first day we arrived we had a stroll around the main city centre which although tiny compared to Madrid, is still very grand. The architecture was beautiful and in general it’s just a very aesthetically pleasing place. Luckily, we had really great weather the day we arrived and so it was nice to just walk around. The next day however was a full on downpour! We just embraced it though, the best thing to do. 

Over the weekend we visited Las Setas (which translates to English as The Mushrooms). This is an absolutely massive overhead structure made entirely from wood and apparently it’s the largest wooden structure in the world. We also visited the Cathedral which was pretty cool but I don’t think anything will ever compare to the one I visited in Milan, it’s tough competition. 

If you ever visit Seville, I would definitely reccommend the Palace Gardens. The landscape architecture is amazing and I’ve never seen so many Orange and Lemon trees. Of course, Seville is known for it’s Oranges but what I didn’t know, was that they are actually really bitter and the locals use them for fertilizer rather than food...so I wouldn’t suggest picking and eating any. They really do add a gorgeous touch of colour to the landscape though. In addition to the Palace Gardens, my other favourite place was Plaza de Espana. It’s this beaitiful curved building and small lake which was used years ago for multiple reasons (army offices, medical studies etc) and it’s truly gorgeous. Seville really pays attention to details which is probably due to the fact that as well as oranges, it’s also famous for ceramic tiles. 

We also had really varied cuisines throughout the weekend including Mexican, Italian and of course traditional Spanish Tapas which Seville is known for... but I’m sure every Spanish city says the same about themselves. Of course, we also ended up in an Irish bar... I think it’s guaranteed that a good time can always be found in an Irish bar. 

6 months. That’s how long ago I moved to Madrid. It’s so hard to comprehend. On one hand it feels like I’ve barely been here for two seconds, on the other, it feels as if I’ve always lived here and as if I’ll never have to leave. Unfortunately, 6 months means that I’ll be leaving in just over 4 months. At some point, we passed the halfway mark and since then, time has just flown by.  

Doing a year abroad has been the single most wonderful thing I’ve done, but I think it’d be best to get the (very few) negatives out of the way first. 

First of all, I’m missing my home university. Whilst it’s crazy to compare Coventry to Madrid, academically speaking the lectures just don’t stand up to what I’m used to back home. I think this is a cultural thing in general, Spain is known for being very laid back and England is known for having a good education system. So it makes sense that Spain is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to the ‘studying’ part of Study Abroad. I think the difference in education is also emphasised by the fact that the photography course at Coventry has such a good reputation. Plus, I’m one of those people who loves being in education. I love learning and I love being in that sort of environment, so I’m kind of missing a more intellectual scene. 

However! on the plus side, the lack of expected work does mean that I’ve had so much time to enjoy living in Madrid. I did know before coming here that the level of education would be lower than what I’m used to, and in all honesty, if you choose to do Erasmus in Madrid, you choose it for the city rather than the universities. Madrid is such a wonderful place to live that I wouldn’t swap it for anything.

The only other slight negative on this very short list is the fact that I’m still struggling with my Spanish. Whilst I definitely know enough to get buy, and I’m quite good at reading it, it’s hard to practice in real life when the majority of the city would rather speak to you in English than listen to you only half make sense. But fair enough. 

Despite the lack of engaging lecturers at UEM, the subjects themselves are actually quite refreshing. Not studying photography has been an interesting change and although I can’t wait to get back to a faster paced education system, Erasmus has given me the opportunity to do modules I’d never of had the chance to do. For example, one of my favourite classes has been Art History but I already knew a bit about this due to it being a personal interest. On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, next term I’m due to be studying Political Communication and International Affairs which I have absolutely no background knowledge in. 

Erasmus has also given me to the freedom to travel more than I expected. I’ve been able to visit Milan, Toledo, Seville and have booked trips to Budapest and Valencia for after Easter. Not only has it given me the opportunity to travel, but it’s opened me up to travelling more when I’m back in England. Of course, I’ve always loved the idea of travelling all over the place, but this year I’ve realised that it’s a lot easier than I’d anticipated.

Although this might be expected from actually living (and surviving) abroad for a year, Erasmus has allowed me to work on my people skills and self-confidence. When you have to communicate with people who don’t speak your language, suddenly coming home and speaking to strangers doesn’t seem like a problem. I’ve also become more independent (something which going to university in general encouraged) whilst at the same time becoming more appreciative of my family whenever I’ve made the trip back home. 

For the rest of my time in Madrid, I’m planning on seeing even more of the city, ticking everything else off my bucket list and re-visiting some of my favourite places. But most all, I’m planning on soaking up every second of what will be a wonderful beginning to Summer.