Wednesday 28 June 2017

Gap Year Guide Part 1: Planning

I really don't think I've mentioned it yet (note the sarcasm) but throughout the entire month of May I was travelling around Eastern Europe. In hindsight there was a lot of things I wish I knew before I went travelling. But it's the sort of things you only learn from doing it. So if any of you are thinking of going travelling, here is my advice...


Brasov, Romania

I'm doing this "Gap Year Guide" series in 4 parts, and will be posting them every Thursday. The first part is all about how I planned for my gap year. These are all the things I made sure I had sorted out before I packed my bags and departed from Birmingham airport. 

1. Who I was going with- This was easy since I knew that my best friend Georgie was also on her gap year and we had already agreed that we'd go travelling together!

2. How I was going to finance it- Since September I had a job and I was putting a large portion of my wages into my savings to make sure I had enough to go travelling. I'll be doing a separate post in detail on how I managed my finances for travelling.

3. How long I was travelling for- We set a realistic goal for travelling for a month. Any less than that wouldn't feel worthwhile for a gap year travel experience. But any more than that would be difficult to finance and we probably wouldn't be able to get that much time off work. The exact dates we went away for was 2nd of May until the 1st June.

4. Where I was going to travel to- Me and Georgie both wanted to focus mainly around Eastern Europe so we spent the majority of our time there.

5. How I was going to travel around- We looked it up and realized that interrailing would be the cheapest method of travelling. I'll be doing a more detailed post about our route and how we traveled.

6. Accommodation- We needed cheap places to stay so in the end we decided to go for AirBnB's. I'll be writing a more detailed post on how we actually sorted our accommodation soon.

7. Making sure I had all the relevant documents- This meant I needed to insure my passport was in date, I had all booking confirmations printed out, I had my European Health Insurance card in case I was ill abroad, my travel insurance, my fx card, my provisional driver's licence and my bank card.

8. Insurance- I sorted out two types of insurance for my travels. First I had my European Health card which you show at the hospitals if you get sick so you don't have to pay upfront there. Thought I'd make the most of this card while I can because... you know #Brexit!

And next I had my travel insurance which I brought through moneysupermarket.com and you can get different types of insurance from there depending on what you need. I managed to get some that covered health and gadgets and it was as follows:
          Provider: Alpha Travel Insurance
          Product: Alpha 100 Longstay MSM
          Cover: Backpackers
          Cost: £22.44
          Destination: Europe
          Period Of cover 02/05/17 to 31/05/17

9. What I needed whilst I was away- I made a list of everything I needed to take while I was away which was:
  • Passport
  • Bank card/ Fx card
  • Provisional driver's licence
  • Interrail tickets
  • Currency
  • E-card 
  • Phone
  • Confirmation emails
  • Shorts
  • T-shirts
  • Leggings
  • Jeans
  • Long sleeve tops
  • Raincoat
  • Pj's 
  • Underwear
  • Pads and Tampons
  • Hairbrush
  • Hand sanitizer 
  • Rucksack
  • Shoes
  • Medicine (both prescription and paracetamol just in case)
  • Manicure set
  • Plasters
  • Razor 
  • Makeup
  • Umbrella

So there you are, that's the start of my gap year advice. The song of the day is Complicated by Avril Lavigne. I hope you enjoyed reading,

Izzy K xxx

Sunday 25 June 2017

Weekly Summary Post: 4th Week Of June

I'm so glad I can post another one of these blog posts because it means I'm actually posting videos on my youtube channel again!
5 Tips To Stay Motivated

The first video I posted this week is my top tips to stay motivated at this time of the year. These are all definitely things I'm trying to get myself to do too. 

June Sunday Shoutouts

And every last Sunday of the month I shoutout 5 of my friends on my channel so that people can appreciate their videos too!

Thank you very much for reading/watching. The song of the day is What Do You Mean by Justin Bieber. I hope you all have a lovely week, 

Izzy K xxx

Thursday 22 June 2017

This Or That Summer Tag

If you live in the UK you will know, and have felt the effects, of this gigantic-ass heat wave we're currently enduring. I for one cannot stand the heat or Summer, so I thought there's nothing better than to be inside where it's cooler and simply sit down and type words. Anything else would just require too much effort at this point. So here is a Summer related "This or That" tag!


1.Ocean or Pool?

Can you even beat walking down a beach, feeling the waves crash against your toes, and then swimming out as far into the ocean as possible? Urrrm I don't think you can! 


2. Beach Vacation or Wilderness

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not too into the whole wilderness lifestyle! Beach all the way.


3. Watermelon or Strawberries

Watermelon, because I'm allergic to strawberries and I actually value my life to some extent.


4. Bikini or 1-piece

Bikini because how else would I be able to show off my all time favourite piercing which is my belly piercing?!

5. Lemonade or Iced Tea

This is definitely the hardest question to answer because I honestly have a full blown addiction to both. If it was a proper, sweet but sour, hand made and cool lemonade then that, but if not an iced tea is one of my guilty pleasure.

See what I did there?!

6. Hat or Sunglasses

Neither!

7. Windows Down or AC all the way

AC because that way you don't mess your hair up in the wind lol.

8. Tanning Lotion or Suncream

Suncream because that spf is very very important.

9. Baseball Game or Concert

Deffo a concert. I'm English so I think it's safe to say I'd be very confused at a baseball game.


10. Ice Cream or Popsicle

Ice cream, with lots of sauce and toppings.

Germany's specialty, Spaghetti Eis, is my all time fave ice cream


11. Fireworks or Fireflies

Fireworks have always fascinated me and I could watch firework displays all night long.


12. Flip Flops or Bare Feet

Bare feet, the sound flip flops make just annoy me too much!

13. Water Balloons or Squirt Guns
Squirt Guns because they're refillable so you can use them for as long as you want to have a water fight for.

Thank you very much for reading my first summer post of the year. The song of the day is Do It Again by Pia Mia because it's one of my ultimate Summer jams. What have you been loving this Summer, let me know in the comments,

Izzy K xxx

Sunday 18 June 2017

Weekly Summary Post: 3rd Week Of June

Well it's been a little while since I wrote one of these posts hasn't it...

You may know that I'm now back from my month of travelling around Europe and I've finally posted another video on my youtube channel. So if you want to check out my adventures and what I got up to while I was away then please check it out below:

Spring Snapshots (2017)

I still can't believe that I'm back after an entire month and I wish I was back interrailing around the continent. Nevertheless, I'm glad I have these video clips to be able to cherish the moments and that I'm back to my regular uploading schedule.

The song of the day is Love Me Or Leave Me by Little Mix because it happens to be what I'm listening to at the moment. I hope you've all had an amazing month,

Izzy K xxx

Thursday 1 June 2017

Back To Life, Back To Reality

Sooooo it's been a little while since I posted on my lil' blog, and as my fingers are touching my keyboard I've realised how much I've missed my little bubble of the internet which is my blog. Needless to say I hope to be sticking to my regular blogging schedule again.

Where have I been you might be wondering? I think I mentioned it a couple of times but me and my best friend traveled all around Eastern Europe for a month which was an incredible life experience that will stay with me forever. 

I've posted a couple of photos of the trip on my instagram @izzyk1998. But I'm hoping to post a montage of my travels on my youtube channel (Izzy K) as soon as I get my new laptop to edit on. And my blog post will be filled with gap year related posts from now on so watch out for those!

But for now it's back to the reality that is life. I'm going to miss sitting in a little apartment, eating dry cereal with Georgie whilst watching conspiracy theories and looking at beautiful views out the window. But hey ho, I can't really complain being back because it's wonderful seeing everyone again. And now I'm sooooo motivated to get on the grind and spend every day being crazy productive. Don't know why, but I'm just in one of those moods now.

Thank you for reading my little update post, and now I can guarantee that I'll be a lot more active on my social media accounts including my blog. The song of the day is We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth because that was the tune of the holiday. I hope you've all had a lovely month, and I can't wait to catch up with everyone and everything that I've missed!

Izzy K xxx