How to do a festival in comfort and warmth - a few festival tips.

I am by no means a festival expert and have only been to 5 music festivals but I do think that I have picked up a few tips on how to 'do' a festival along the way.

The First festival I ever went to was V Festival back in 2012. The day before my friend and I headed on the bus up to Shropshire we received our A-level results and so in the evening I went over to a friends house to celebrate which meant that we were a bit tired setting off - not a great start. It took us what felt like years to find somewhere to pitch our little two man tent. We finally decided on a little patch of grass close to the fence right by a burger fan - convenient, easy to spot and the first free patch of grass we saw after about 20 minutes of walking in wellingtons with massive backpacks on our backs. From Saturday morning to Sunday evening (baring one trip to a different tent to watch Tim Minchin) we stood by the main stage. No seats, no moving. A terrible idea. We did see some awesome bands though including The Killers, Noel Gallagher, Stone Roses and Madness but it was definitely not the best way to do a festival. By Sunday evening we were ready to pack up our tent and head home.

2013 I headed to V festival once more and this is when I decided that I am too old for V festival. Is swear that the average age for V fest goers is 14, it is crazy. Different to the previous year I went to this festival with four other friends and we all stayed in one big tent. Yes, 5 people in one 4 person tent. It was tough at times but it wasn't too bad and in the end I had good fun. I think if I was to go with a group of friends again, I would definitely take 2 tents or at least a bigger tent just so that we could have a little space and some room to breathe. Also, make sure that you head to a festival with proper friends, like really good friends where you can be yourself and tell them how you really feel etc because you've paid £200 to be there so you want to have the best time you can. If you want to go your separate ways do. I went to see Seasick Steve on my own while 2 of my friends stayed to watch one act and my 2 other friends went to a totally different stage. You don't have to stick together at all times, just agree on a meeting place and time and you'll be fine.

I also went to Reading in 2013 and despite a man falling on our tent in the middle of the night, a little bit of rain and some anxiety, it was all good and I really enjoyed it. Reading is much more of my kind of festival and even though there are a lot of young people, they are a different sort of young people to those you find in V fest. The general demographic is much older and the music is better.

This year's Reading I went with my mam and we stayed in a hotel. Yes, a hotel and it was the best thing ever. We woke up in a massive comfortable and warm bed, had a lovely shower, ate some Wagamamas or some hotel breakfast and at around 1/1.30pm we strolled down to the festival. We'd watch a few bands, have a sit down, watch the likes of Simon Amstell, Seann Walsh, Milton Jones and Bill Bailey in the Alternative tent and then made ourselves comfortable while waiting for the headliners to come on the MainStage. The best way to do it! We didn't have damp clothes, my back wasn't hurting and I didn't have constant anxiety that someone was going to fall on our tent or set the whole place on fire with a rogue fire. I know that you miss out on some banter with the other tenters (is that even a word?!) but I would much rather feel fresh and clean ready to conquer the day than fell like absolute shite after only managing 3 hours sleep and waking up in a damp tent.

Also since Reading 2013 I have learnt to relax at festivals. I used to think that you had to go go go and see as many acts as you possibly could but I have come to learn that it's a holiday and it should be as relaxing and fun as possible. So my mam and I, like I stated, would get down to the field at around half 1 then we'd see a few acts, open our deck chairs, watch a few more acts and just chilled. We also bought all of our food outside the festival, so we got our dinner from M&S everyday just because it was cheaper. There were a few Tescos and Sainsbury's about so if you are camping, make sure that you venture out of the camp in the morning to grab some food etc. We were staying in a hotel right near the centre of town and it only took us like 25/30 mins to get down to the arena. It's worth it and you'll save some money.

If you are camping remember to take a torch of some kind because the tent is dark when you get back after the headliners set finishes and you won't be able to find your clothes, food, toiletries etc without some sort of light. Put your clothes in plastic bags and then put them in your backpack, this will stop them from getting damp throughout your stay. Nobody wants damp/damp smelling clothes. Bring some snacks with you which will keep you going throughout the day - cereal bars etc. If you bring alcohol make sure that its in a plastic bottle/cans because they won't allow you in with glass bottles and I saw numerous people lose their 1 litre bottles of Vodka at the security gate. Sad times. Taking deck chairs is a great idea, even if you don't take them with you into the arena they are such good things to have outside your tent. My friend Nicola and I would sit for hours on our camping chairs outside the tent and we made so many new friends that way and loads of random conversations with drunk strangers. LEAVE YOUR IPHONE/SMARTPHONE at home. Bring an old school Nokia/brick phone because it won't be a big deal if you lose it and the battery will last the whole 4 nights so you won't need to pay an extortionate rate to charge it. Loads of baby wipes and hand sanitisers are a must. Try to bring as much cash as you think you'll need because taking money out at the arena is expensive as they charge you something like £2 to just take some of your own money out - where is the logic in that. If you do need to take money out go off site and look for a local garage/ATM. One last thing - a music festival is not a fashion show so take practical clothing such as coats and fleeces because it gets super cold when the sun goes down.

If I was to give one main piece of advice it would be to just chill and you'll have the best festival experience. You don't need to rush from one tent to another to watch everyone. Just grab a pint of cider, sit down and just enjoy the music and the atmosphere.

PURPLE RAIN

A week or so ago I headed to the hair dressers to put a purple toner through my hair. I had previously put a lilac toner through my locks and although I really loved the colour, after just one wash almost all of the colour had been washed out. Thus, I decided to go a dark purple in the hope that it would last longer - and it has!

For a long time I had been debating whether to dye my hair a different colour. Last year I played with the idea of dip dying my hair a pinky colour but alas  decided against it as a result of the fear of what people might think. However, whenever I roamed instagram and came across a purple haired cool girl I became incredibly and undeniably envious of her guts.

A few months ago I had an urge to cut my hair quite a bit and without thinking too much about it I just went for it with the mind frame of that it's only hair and it will grow back. With this in mind, after much toing and froing,  I decided that I was going to dye my hair purple - to hell with everyone! After all it is just hair and it will wash out. But the biggest thing that changed is my fear of stranger's opinions.

I still struggle quite a bit with what other people think of me but I am getting better. As someone said the other day, just because someone might think negative thoughts about you or the way you look does not mean that they are right. Although, I honestly think that I might be the only person who thinks these negative things about myself and I just convince myself that this is what others also think.

I guess my message is - if you want to do something or wear something then for goodness sake just do it. To hell with what people think. If you want to dye your hair the colours of the rainbow then do it (just check with school and parents first!).  Power to the people maaaaaaan!

THANKS TOM AND MEG

I love to read be that books, newspapers, magazines or blogs. I can find that sometimes I just get frustrated by TV and just want to sit down with a piece of paper in front of me, or a screen filled with words, with no distracting noise and just read. Over the summer I have been reading a lot for my dissertation work and random magazines but there is one blog that has caught my eye more than anything else.

Scarlett Curtis' blog (here) is one that gives you hope and makes you feel as though it's ok to feel how you feel and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You don't have to be suffering/recovering from depression like Curtis for the blog to help you in life. I experience anxiety in every aspect of my life and it can get a lot overwhelming and sometimes I find it hard to find something that just calms me down and allows me to relax. Although, I have been finding it a little bit easier after logging on to Scarlett's blog as she shares her experience and what she does to make herself feel better e.g. bake and watch films. 

What I think annoys me more than anything about anxiety is that it makes me frustrated and angry that I feel this way and then it turns into a vicious circle of frustration, anxiety and thus tiredness which just makes it all worse. It has been a long while since I sat down and watched a film from start to finish or even an hour of a TV programme as I feel guilty/lazy for sitting down while others are working. 

However, after reading Scarlett's post on her moving to New York and her list of films that sparked her love for the city I sat down and watched You've Got Mail. Granted I didn't watch it in one siting, I paused it to do some uni work etc, but gosh didn't it feel good to just chill for 2 hours and watch Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fight over books in New York. The film is so comfy, it makes you feel comfortable and happy. I certainly understand why Scarlett watched it again and again. I mean, I just pressed the 'buy' button on iTunes so I can watch the film whenever and wherever. 

It's strange where you find comfort isn't it. Thank you Scarlett. Oh, and Tom and Meg. 

WEST WALES ADVENTURE WITH ELLIE

A few weeks ago my friend Ellie from university came over to my part of the world for a few days. I hadn't seen her for a month or so thus it was super nice to have a little catch up. From Monday afternoon 'till Thursday morning we traversed West Wales from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth and from Mwnt to Aberaeron.

I know I live in the middle of nowhere and I think Ellie was a bit shocked at how in the middle of nowhere I do actually live but we do have some amazing views on the coastline and this is basically what I showed her.

Monday
Ellie didn't arrive 'till around lunch time on Monday so once I picked her up from Carmarthen train station and we went and had lunch at Pethau Da which is located in Pethau Bychain  on King St. After a lovely meal we perused some shops, drank some coffee and then hopped over to the beautiful Llansteffan. We decided to climb up to Llansteffan Castle just to see the incredible views that looked out towards the horizon. A great way to end a Monday!

Tuesday
A trip to Mwnt was on today's agenda and boy was I happy about that. Mwnt is my favourite place in the whole wide world. It has an awesome little beach hidden away between massive cliffs which not too many people know about, except for the locals and a few tourists. On top of the cliffs, overlooking the beach and the sea is the most beautiful church you ever did see and if I ever marry, this is where I want the ceremony to take place. Before Ellie and I headed down to the beach where we would later eat lunch, read and have a bit of a sleep (ok, that was just me), we climbed the little mountain that is near the church and sat at its summit watching the dolphins and attempting to see the coast of Ireland.

On the way home we stopped off in Aberaeron where we went for a little walk, bought some chips and ate them on the harbour wall. Scrumdiddlyumptious.

Wednesday
Today we headed north to Aberystwyth, a nice seaside town where my brother goes to uni and where thousands of tourists flock to in the summer to smell some fresh sea air. We arrived in the town at around lunchtime so after buying a few things on our little shopping date we finally downed tools and ate some beautiful sandwiches at Agnelli's. My brother is in the middle of writing his Masters dissertation so he spends most days up in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth so myself and Ellie went up to visit the Library. It had a really cool Dylan Thomas exhibition which I loved. Once we had finished looking at all the exhibitions we went and had a coffee in the Library's caffe.

Thursday
As Ellie was heading home in the early afternoon I had planned to spend the day outside walking with Hendrix but alas the Welsh weather got the better of us and with rain pouring outside we gave the walking a miss and started our journey back down to Carmarthen where we had a nice little coffee before Ellie was on her way back to Somerset.

I really enjoyed my few days travelling West Wales with Ellie. I am just continuously baffled by the beauty that surrounds my home and I am happy that I got to show off my little corner of the world to Ellie!

Girl Power #1

Since becoming older and becoming more aware of what's going on in the world, especially since going to university, I have noticed that so many girls/women don't believe that they can do what the boys do. I don't only mean in terms of business and work but also in terms of sports etc. Growing up I was never exposed to this idea that girls shouldn't be playing football, rolling in the mud or building dens in the forest. Never had anyone told me that I should wear dresses or play with Barbies and thank God for that because as a child those were the two things I detested the most. Instead my mam would dress me in leopard print leggings, doc martens and my brother's old clothes while I played outside all day with my brother and his friends. I remember spending days and days playing football, rugby, cricket and our own DIY versions of hurling and gallic football and just thinking that this was what every girl did. This belief was probably made stronger by the fact that most of my girl friends at that time were similar to me in that we would all go mountain biking or swim in the river. Best time ever!

Even in secondary school, especially with my close friends, the topic of not doing the same as the boys never came up. Myself and Carwen played rugby and would regularly play with the boys, there was never that conversation of 'is it really our place to play?'. University is where I saw how limiting believing that you shouldn't do what the boys are doing is for the first time. In mixed Lacrosse training girls would be scared to go and tackle the boys or they would giggle and have hardly any confidence in their own abilities when the male sex were within a 100 meter radius which, baffled me to say the least. Even when it comes to lifting weights in the gym I would see girls peering over as if they wished to be able to step into the weights area. 99% of mornings when I hit the gym I would be the only girl in the weights room and it's not something I really thought about until some of my friends were asking if they could join me and lift some weights - a question that made me very confused. Of course they could, there is not a sign in the area that reads 'only boys aloud'. There is no such sign in the majority of society so why then do girls feel like they can't do what the boys can do?

Actually, thinking about it, I really don't think that they don't believe in themselves I genuinely believe that they are just conforming to a social construct that separates what boys should do/wear and what girls should do/wear. A load of bull if you ask me. Maybe it's a result of growing up with strong female figures in my life who do what they want to do and don't let anyone stop them. My grandmother and my mam were the ones that went to watch the rugby every friday night while my dad and granddad would stay at home. Thus, this whole constricting gender ideal is something that I thankfully was not exposed to when I was younger and I truly hope that in the future every girl and boy can choose what they want to do without being told that that's not what they should be doing. 

Here's a video I watched last night which sparked the idea for this post. It's a Ted talk by gnarly female skater Cindy Whitehead who I absolutely look up to and I think you should have a listen to what she has to say. 

SUMMER PLANS & STUDENT WORRIES

My Italy posts will be up as soon as possible. While in Venice we endured a day of torrential rain, so much rain in fact that it broke my camera thus I now have to wait for my friends to sort out their pictures and send them to me before I can actually get to posting them. Ohh the joys of rain and not so waterproof coats! 

After an awesome 2 (very hot) weeks travelling around northern Italy I am home for summer for a few weeks before I am off once more back down to Windsor/Egham with my family for a few days, Reading festival and then to the South of France to surf :D All of these things I am really excited for.

However, I am home and despite sending a gazzilion e-mails searching for work experience I have heard nothing thus far although I only sent some off recently so their is still some hope. Sometimes, actually most of the time, I feel really guilty for not having anything planned in terms of work/experience over the summer but to be honest, neither have my friends. I feel as though I should be doing something productive which will benefit me in the future. Despite this feeling, being at uni is incredibly stressful and tiring. Throughout first and second term which lasts from September to the end of March I had an essay a week to complete as well as seminar work and readings. Even through christmas holidays I was tapping away at my laptop writing essays while all my other friends from home were chilling and enjoying the break. I am not complaining because I love to learn and I like (although not always) being at a hard university because I really think (hope) that it will benefit me in the future but it does sometimes get a bit much.

I can not sit and do nothing and I think this is my biggest downfall. My friend Ruth was amazed by the questions I would randomly ask while we'd just be sitting in a cafe somewhere in Italy. She would say to me "Lisa, you think way too much in depth about everything. Just stop thinking for a bit". When I look into the sky I immediately think about space and planets and where does it all end - does the blackness just go on forever, surly it has to stop somewhere. Even while typing this my mind has drifted into attempting to figure out the unknown.

It's because of this relentless mind spinning that I have been throwing myself into reading a lot over the last week or so while also exercising everyday and working on my fitness blog - theimportanceofbeingstrong.wordpress.com . Working on this blog is something that I am really into at the moment and I hope that it will grow into something bigger in the next month or so. So really I am getting work experience, the experience of writing on a daily basis (with Lisi Loo and Importance of Being Strong) it's just that I am working for myself rather than a magazine or newspaper. Over the next few weeks I have also got to start reading and planning for my final year dissertation which is a bit scary but that's all I can do is my best and if that isn't good enough then I can't do much more than that.

So here's to relaxing, writing, working, exercising and enjoying summer.

BACK FROM ITALY & 21 MILE WALK

I'm back from Italia and back on the grind. I have a few posts to catch up on!

On the 22 of June I walked, along with 8 other people, 21 miles from Carmarthen to a town called Pwll just outside of Llanelli in West Wales. It was all in the name of the National Eisteddfod that is arriving in Llanelli in August.

We set off just after 8am with everyone, especially me, still wearing their rather puffy and confused morning faces. The first three miles flew by as we walked through the centre of town and after a short bus ride across the dual carriage way (it was too unsafe to walk) we joined the Welsh coastal path which follows the whole cost of the country from its most northern point to its most southernly, its most West to its most East and everywhere in between. With great views entertaining us from Ferryside to Kidwely we quickly stopped so more walkers could join us. By now we were at around mile 10/11 and everything was going to plan. My legs felt fine and mentally I wasn't bored - I felt good. 

The 6 miles from Kildwely to Pembrey that were to follow were the hardest few miles of the day. Not only was the sun beaming down on us making us feel as though we were being roasted in preparation for Sunday lunch the next day but it was 6 miles of monotonous trees, long roads and uneven gravelled country tracks. We passed fields of cows and bulls with no fence to protect us and a horse fly decided to sting me on my wrist which almost immediately blew up to twice its size. 

Eventually we arrived at Pembrey where we sat on the grass to eat our lunch and having refuelled, rubbed antihistamine cream into my sting and placed blister plasters under my food I was ready to hit the road once more. The last few miles from Pembrey to Pwll were beautiful with the sun soaked sea keeping us company the whole way. With a mile or so to go my legs began to get very heavy and tiredness kicked in. I'm not sure if this tiredness was a result of walking for eight hours or if it was a result of walking 8 hours under the incredibly hot sun. Either way we were all getting very tired. 

The next day (Sunday) I was off to Italy for 2 weeks and I really wasn't that sore. The only things that were bothering me were my swollen and rather painful ankles. I really need some properly fitted trainers because running is becoming quite painful now. That is on the top of my to-do list - get properly fitted trainers to prevent injury!

RIVAL SONS [SCALA, LONDON 9/6/14]

Last Monday my friend Katie and I headed over to Scala at Kings Cross, London to watch one of my favourite bands, Rival Sons and it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to. Just incredible.

I first heard the band play on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show last April and I was instantly hooked. Jay Buchanan's voice is just magnificent and if you haven't listened to any of their stuff please do. For the last year I had been playing their stuff non-stop on Spotify and I had bought a few of their CD's. Basically my music listening was taken over my this band from LA so when I saw that they were playing down the road in London there was not two ways about it, I was going.

Scala is a great venue as it's so intimate which makes for an electrifying atmosphere. Jameson opened the show as the Rival Sons' support act and he was great. As well as being devilishly handsome his bluesy guitar playing and raspy vocals worked together flawlessly and I would honestly pay to go see him headline his own gig - so good!

The band opened with five songs from their newest album, Great Western Valkyrie. The first being the unmistakable Electric Man which was accompanied buy some awesome guitar playing from Scott Holiday. From the get-go the crowd was head banging, shouting and dancing. After every song the applause was almost deafening. Good Luck, Secret, Play the Fool and Good Things followed before an amazing rendition of my personal favourite, Jordan, from their 2012 album Head Down. It was spine tingling stuff.

With the high tempo Gypsy Heart and the newest single Open My Eyes the crowd was sent home with an amazing and equally emotional rendition of Face of Light. 

Wow. When we walked out of the gig towards the tube we couldn't believe what we had just witnessed. Two weeks before, both of us were at Finsbury Park for the Arctic Monkeys gig and I can honestly say that the Rival Sons gig was better. Controversial? Maybe. Truthful? Definitely.