WALKING WORK BREAK

LIVE WITHOUT WALLS

// A few random photos from a week of outdoor exploring 

Over the past months at university I have made it my routine to go to the gym 6 days out of 7 as it gives me time to relax, but since coming home for Easter holidays I find that outside is where I want to be. Over the winter months its hard to exercise outside due to all the rain and the snow and more rain and the wind, oh the wind! Although, alas, the sun has started to shine as spring has made itself comfortable on these shores. As a result, every lunch time I take a break from revision and go for a cycle. I usually do a 14 mile sprint because I don't want to be out too long as I'll just have to revise later into the evening and I prefer to have everything done by the latest half 6. 

Over the last week myself and my mam have been going on long walks as she is training for the London Moonwalk that takes place later next month. Last Saturday we walked around 12 miles and this Good Friday I walked 15. There are so, so, so many steep hills around our area that it feels that you are doing 15 miles of constant lunges and squats. Ouchie! But it is really awesome to be outside and as we were discussing today, we really do live in a stunning part of the world that not many places on this planet can rival. Once I head back to Southern England I shall start to take my cardio sessions outside as I have something coming up later this year that will require me to train pretty hard - Exciting stuff!! 

If change one thing in your life over the next few weeks/months/years go outside more, leave the computer and your phone and get exploring. 

HELLO AUTUMN & WELCOME

With the temperatures cooling down I think it's fair to say that summer is over and to be honest I think we had an OK one this year weather wise. I mean, we didn't see any caravans floating in rivers that were once campsites now did we. But even though I think it's great that we've had some sun over the summer months I'm more of an Autumn person myself. Autumn is a time when the leaves turn brown, gold and yellow, a time when you wear big coats and go on long walks. It's also a time when you can hear the rain lashing outside but you're all comfy inside watching a film under massive blankets in front of the fire. There are downsides like I can't go out on the bike as often because it gets so windy, rainy and dark and . . . well, I can't really think of anything else at the moment. Also, even though I hate scary things - I seriously can't even watch a scary advert, Autumn makes me look forward to Halloween. Oh, and who could forget bonfire night - sparklers, fireworks, mulled wine and toffee apples. Scrumdidlyumptious. This is also the season when rugby comes back in to our lives and a time when you discover a whole load of new things such as music, books and food on the days when you are forced to stay inside because of bad weather. Hello Autumn & welcome. 

These photos are from a little walk that Alaw, Hendrix and I went on at the beginning of the week. 

WALKING ON A SUNNY AFTERNOON // Welsh coastal path exploring

On Monday I took Hendrix (my dog) to have his hair cut in Aberaeron. I thought that it might take an hour or so but when I went in their, at one o'clock, the woman told be that he'd be ready at 4! Instead of going home and coming back again I drove in to town, parked by the sea front and went for a walk on one of the many coastal paths in the area. I walked the four miles to Aberarth and back. The path was really empty and I only passed a few old couples and their dogs as they enjoyed their holiday by the sea. I arrived in Aberarth before I had even realised as I was just thinking about things the whole way there but on the way back I was so relaxed and just enjoyed the walk. The air smelt of seaweed and salt, the only sounds I could hear were the waves in the sea and the wind blowing the grass - peace!

I do like going to London for weekends or just a couple of days but there is no place that makes me more happy and comfortable than just open spaces such as fields & the sea. I do like people and love to be around friends and socialising but I'm one of those people, and I'm certain that many people are like this, that just needs to be on my own from time to time. Even if it's just a few hours, I need to just chill by myself, I might not do anything constructive, I might just sit on my bed and think or read but I can just reassemble and then I'm OK for a couple of days. Walks are my main thing. I love them. Especially around where I live, you can go on a 2, 3 or even 4 mile walk without seeing a soul except for a few nosey cows and some scared sheep. I am so happy that I'm now able to go back and do some speed walking and potentially some cycling after a year and a half. You have no idea how happy I am about this!

Oh, and also, If you ever get a chance to visit Wales come to the West. There are soooo many utterly awesome coastal paths around the area that have some of the best views you could probably find anywhere in the world. Also you don't have to be an experienced walker, the paths range in difficulty. The one I did on Monday is very easy and is mostly flat the whole way. However, if you go to the path that starts on the other side of Aberaeron that takes you in the direction of New Quay then that one is more difficult with steep hills to climb and rougher terrain but the views are just magnificent.

A STRANGER CALLS

... well not a stranger exactly!

On Thursday my friend from university, Laura, came over to West Wales for a few days. These easter holidays have been really long and when I go back next Sunday we will have been away from there for five weeks! So it was nice to see Hollie in London and then Laura last week. Because she arrived late Thursday that's all we did that day was grab a Costa and have dinner.

Friday however we went for a little walk in the morning so I could show her more of where I live. Since Laura lives in quite an urban area it was totally different for her to see fields everywhere along with sheep and almost no cars at all on our walk. After our walk we headed in the car to Penrhiwllan for some lunch at the Daffodil restaurant. We had awesome food - her lasagna & me beer battered cod and chips. Delish. As a second part of the meal we headed to Aberaeron to get some honey ice-cream and to walk by the beach. That evening we ate some of my mam's homemade Chinese.

 

 

Saturday I wanted to show Laura more of where I live so we went to Lampeter to grab brunch and then in the afternoon we went down to Llanelli to watch the rugby. I haven't watched a live game of rugby since christmas, so I was looking forward to watch the Scarlets take on the Blues. It was a beautifully sunny day - perfect weather to watch the rugby!

Sunday we watched Pitch Perfect (I love Fat Amy!) and then we took Laura to the train station. I'll be seeing her along with the rest of the block J crew next Sunday when I make my way back to Egham. :)

SKATEBOARDS, BOOKS & SOCKS

Yes, it's christmas in the Thomas household. This year we had a very relaxed day without much fuss at all (just 5 of us and Hendrix). I woke up about an hour later this year than previous years (8am) had a shower and changed before anyone else had gotten out of bed. To continue with tradition I headed into Owen's room and we opened our stockings. In the stocking we get smaller gifts such as socks, mugs, puzzles and some jewellery. We then took our stockings into our parents' room and showed them what we got from Santa (yes, we are 21 and 18 years old)!

Once everyone was ready we had croissants and bucks fizz for breakfast. With only crumbs left on our plate we ventured in to the living room where Santa leaves the bigger presents. I received gifts including a Radley bag, Henry Holland jumper, Miss Dior perfume and a Great Gatsby poster. The best gift however, was the awesome Penny Skateboard that Santa brought. It's a blue 'Nickel' board with red wheels and white trucks. I have not gone a day without being on the board for at least two hours! Yesterday I went for my first proper outing on the penny (proper - meaning not going back and forth down the hall way!). It was a three mile ride and it was completely awesome. Living in West Wales it's very hard to find a place that is flat and even if flat it's hard to find a place that is properly concreted and not filled with potholes or chippings. So most of the journey was downhill which was scary, fun, scary & exhilarating all at the same time! I love this gift.

One of my other favourite gift was the Blog Inc. book I received which is written by Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! It's a must for any aspiring blogger or for an existing blogger who wants to know how to improve their blog both aesthetically and contextually. I haven't put it down since I opened it Christmas morning. Along with this book I opened many travel books which are just teasing me at the moment until I finish university in three years then they'll (hopefully) be my bible as I travel around the world :)

I hope you had a very merry christmas :)

p.s you might have noticed the new name and design of this blog. I thought it needed a change not only to celebrate almost a year of blogging but also to make it look cleaner and sharp. The name I changed so it'll be easier for people to find. I've lost count at how many times I've had to repeat my old blog name to people as they have no idea what I've just said and then I had to spell it out for them. Hopefully this new look & name will be easier for all of us (: Hope you like it!