Current mood: Homesick for salty water.

Pinterest

Every time I book a plane ticket home I start counting down the days until I am back and wonder why I hadn't booked sooner. Most of all I'm looking forward to being back near the ocean, so close you can smell the saltiness permeating through the fresh air. Yes, Sydney has beaches, pretty ones in fact, but they don't even come close to the ones I'm used to. The ones I'm talking about go on forever, curving throughout the shoreline creating quiet bays with individuality. And my favourite part, sometimes you can go for a swim and see no one around and feel like you have the whole ocean to yourself. Tomorrow is Friday and that Jetstar flight to the Gold Coast is not too far off.

London: Shoreditch.

If, when, I move to London I'll be living in Shoreditch, East London. Shoreditch was a melting pot of street art, grunge, sophistication and kitsch; aka my kind of place! Brick Lane was a haven of vintage clothes shops, cool cafes - most with a social enterprise purpose, bookstores and record shops. They hold a market on the weekend down the street which I unfortunately missed but can only imagine it would be epic! Once you're off Brick Lane and in to Shoreditch High Street you are met with super sleek cafes, gourmet food stores, boutiques and florists. I loved the high/low mix of the area. The people were young, carefree and oozed the ultimate London-cool. I had a case of FOMO as soon as I left!

London stole my heart.

These photos are from my first time and first day in London. It was also my first time travelling overseas on my own. London was the first stop of my sister and I's taste of Europe holiday however my sister ended up having some passport issues (make a note to always check your passport validity well in advance of going overseas!) and unfortunately wasn't able to join me for the first part of our holiday. I was thrown off by how sudden our circumstances had changed, especially because we had been planning this holiday together for months! I would be traveling and spending five days in London on my own before Ruby would join me and then we would leave for Paris. Being forced to go it alone reminded me of when I moved to Sydney on my own and how hard that was. Mostly for the part of not having anyone to share in the novelty of my new surroundings. I really didn't want to travel half way across the world for the first time and not have someone to share it with. I was so disappointed but that was the way it had to be and I had no choice but to be positive and trust that it was all for the best. I had an amazing time wandering the streets of London, working my way through my long list of places to go and things to see. It was like life wanted to give me some time and space to relax on my own and gently remind me that I'm capable of doing anything (which I tend to forget sometimes). I took my time, walked down random streets just to see where they went, ate whatever I felt like at the time and took a million photos to share here on my blog. My first day was filled with wonder, eyes wide open, head up to the sky and a smile on my dial. London stole my heart.