Getting A Visa

Yesterday someone told me that looking down at your phone all the time causes you to get a double chin. It's called a 'text neck'. Guess how I'm looking at my phone from now on? Like I'm searching for signal.

That was off topic. Anyway..

I got up this morning and went to my GP. Apparently there's a shortage of Hepatitis A jabs in the country so the nurse didn't have any. She just told me to wash my hands often and be careful of the food I eat. Right.. Not sure how I'm going to be careful of that when I'm going to eat out all the time but anywho. I didn't need a Hep B jab cause I had to have that for work four years ago, you get it every five years so I'm still covered. She gave me a Tetanus shot and advised me on malaria tablets.

Jabs? Check.

I didn't have two photographs of myself so when I got off at Warren Street I found a pharmacy that took them. He didn't show me the picture before printing and I couldn't be bothered to ask. He printed them and... I definitely look like I've seen better days. It was only for the visa anyway so I didn't care. I put the address of the embassy on my phone and made my way there.



I made sure I printed every single confirmation email I had. I felt prepared. The lady called me up and looked through all my papers. Then she handed me one back.

Where's your name on this? Your name isn't on it.

Huh? I looked at it and it was my confirmation for the place I'm staying in Vilanculos. I just printed the email they sent me, I didn't realise my name had to be on it.

Contact them and ask them to send you another email with your name on it. Go print it.

Where can I print it from?

Left, left, left.

Her ability to give directions was amazing. I didn't ask her anything else cause I didn't want to piss her off, and to be fair to her it literally was left, left and then left again. I found the shop pretty quick, it was the next bit that was the hard part. I only had an hour and a half left until the embassy closed, so it would have taken too long to email them and wait for a reply. So I called them. A man picked up and started talking in Portuguese.

'Hi can you speak english?'

More Portuguese.

'Can you please pass me onto someone who speaks English'

He carried on in Portuguese but this time it sounded like he was talking to someone else. I waited for about three minutes then a lady came to the phone. She had a strong accent but her English was perfect. I explained to her what I needed and she said I'd have to email her my full name and passport number so she can write up the email.

Shit, the lady at the embassy had my passport.

I walked all the way back, got my passport and sent her the email. (The email was also a guessing game cause I couldn't understand what she was saying when she was spelling out the words, so I was worried if she was even going to get the email at all)

I waited 20 minutes. No email back.

I called. No answer.

Called again. Nothing. At this point I thought this wasn't going to get done today.

Guys, I called eleven times until someone picked up again. I don't even want to look at my phone bill at the end of the month. The man picked up and I asked for the lady, she came to the phone and she said she hadn't checked the emails yet. She asked for another five minutes. I gave her ten. Still nothing. I called back, she said she doesn't know my dates - even though I told her on the phone. I told her them again and she said she will send the email in two minutes. I waited.

My patience was wearing thin. Then finally 'Rabeca' came throughhhhhhhh! I printed it then took it to left, left, left lady. Paid the fees, got the receipt.

Visa? Check.

Everything's done. The whole trip is planned. This is really happening.

I walked to Starbucks, got a latte and had a mini argument with myself about getting a muffin. The angel on my shoulder won this time. Get a grip Ads, you're going to be on a beach in a month.


Spelling is spot on.

I sat in front of the window, put my phone down and just watched people walk by. A few of them stared at me and I realised I was smiling from ear to ear. They must've thought I was a creep. Have you ever been smiling and not even realised? I didn't stop though, I didn't care. I smiled until my cheeks felt stiff.

Man, I feel happy.

Cheese is crack?

The devil was working hard yesterday. I had a shit day. It did end with some Homeslice though, which turned things around. Pizza obviously solves everything. Or is it cheese?

.. Okay I just googled if cheese releases endorphins and it apparently triggers the same part of the brain as drugs. So eating cheese is basically like smoking crack. I knew it. Now I know why I'm addicted. So, cheese made me happy again and now I feel like a new woman.

I've got the day off tomorrow. Getting my jabs done at 9:30am then heading off to the embassy to get my visa. I'm really excited but nervous at the same time. I'm not sure why but they require proof of everything, where you're staying being one of them. So I've had to book everything before even getting a visa. I've got my accommodation booked: apartment in Maputo, hotel in Tofo, hotel in Vilanculos, then another apartment for when I come back to Maputo. (It's not really a hotel but I don't know what else to call it, a motel?) I've booked two other flights because I needed all my dates to work out, if they didn't have flights on the day of my check out I'd be pissed. So I've paid for everything. Imagine my face if they tell me my application has been denied. I rebuke it in Jesus name.

(I'm not religious but if I could ask for anyones help right now it would deffo be Jesus. Or Allah, I'm not fussy.)

Pray for me guys.

26 things to do before I turn 26

This picture is really ugly, I know. But its the only relevant one I found. Let me live. These are the first things that came to my head, so I stuck with them:

1) Visit Bali.

2) Travel, travel, then travel some more. Travel your fucking heart out.

3) Sky dive. Try not to piss yourself whilst doing it.

4) Drop all forms of dogma in your life, don't live with the results of other peoples thinking.

5) Be present throughout. You spend most of your time squandering the present moment by reminiscing about the past or worrying about the future. Live in the now.

6) Heal your past. I'm not sure how but figure it out.

7) Pay off your credit card debt. Then stop using the bloody thing.

8) Forgive yourself for mistakes. Embrace them. Regret is pointless. Life isn't about making few mistakes as possible, learn from them.

9) Do something that scares you. Scuba dive but don't get killed by a stingray.

10) Sort out a pension. You don't want to be old and broke.

11) Learn a new skill. Apart from being able to bend your thumb backwards you have zero talent. I'm sorry. (I know thats not a talent but its my talent and you can't take that away from me, people have gone on BGT for worse things)

12) Pick up a hobby.

13) Buy food for homeless people whenever you can.

14) Start saying yes to dates. It won't kill you to go to dinner with him for gods sake.

15) Be honest with yourself, then be honest with others.

(Ermmm I'm running out of ideas)

16) Learn the importance of moderation and sustainably. Develop balance.

17) Recognise which rules are meant to be broken and which aren't. Drink driving is never a good idea. Neither is driving like you're racing Lewis Hamilton. Slow down before you run over someones nan.

18) Stop walking around with a frown. No one has cussed your mum.

19) Save your money. Count the pennies. Stop spending like your dad will bail you out one day. He is broke.

20) Be content with the life you have. You'll never get these years back. But don't settle, never settle. Accomplish those dreams. "From the moment you're born, you start dying. Don't waste it"

21) Get your head out of your goddamn phone. Put the thing down. It gives off radiation, you don't want cancer.

22) Make exercise a lifestyle and not a chore. Get those abs you've dreamed of girl. Train for Tough Mudder. Finish it. Get the t-shirt.

23) Think with your head and not your heart. Otherwise you'll be here trying to mend it again.

24) Stop worrying about getting old. You will be 50 and fabulous.

25) If you're going to argue, argue kindly. Control your emotions. Never be spiteful. (Or petty, we all know you're good at that)

26) Be lonely. Learn your way around loneliness. Sit with it. Entwine with it.

I wouldn't really call this a bucket list, cause most of the things I said aren't just a one off kind of thing. But start as you mean to go on..

Feeling Positive

I've never travelled alone. Honestly, I'm quite terrified. Not many things scare me but I think its because I don't know what to expect. I've done research and have come across a lot of horror stories. People getting robbed, police being corrupt, backpacker getting killed, the roads being too dangerous. On top of all that, it's one of the top 5 countries affected by malaria. Like, not to be dramatic or anything but I could die. But then I thought about it some more and to be honest theres people getting stabbed to death on Bounces Road every five minutes and thats within a one mile radius of me. A poor old lady got decapitated with a machete in her garden a few years back, 10 minutes from my house. There's shit happening everywhere. So if its my time to go then its my time to go. I've already been labelled as a risk taker and even reckless, so I might as well get the badge for it too. If I'm going to die I'd rather it be on a white sandy beach in Vilanculos anyway. But enough about death, what a bloody drama queen. I'm going to ignore everything and go with positivity and an open mind!

I didn't plan to go alone. It wasn't meant to be this way. I was supposed to meet someone there but life doesn't always go the way you want. Things don't always work out.

We had a connection I could feel down to my very core. There was a magnetic pull I couldn't resist. I went into it with my eyes closed, my heart on my sleeve and fell flat on my face. It hurt, I can't lie. But everyone goes through heartbreak and this time it was my turn. I realised I was fist fighting with fire and it was just a lost cause. I made mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes. I told lies that didn't need to be told and downplayed the situations I was wrong in. Instead of holding my hands up I kept making excuses. I was at fault. But nobodies perfect, we have to embrace the glorious messes that we are. All I can do is take it as a lesson learnt. Actually learn from it. Hold my head up high and move on. I'm at peace with it now.

There's a quote by Elizabeth Gilbert that I didn't understand a year ago. I read it over a couple times but it didn't make sense to me.

I understand now. Minus the spiritual master bit. She went a bit overboard there.

Anyway, back to my travels. Solo travelling is something I've always wanted to do. It's something I always thought to be quite liberating. I mean, I like my own company. I could imagine myself sitting down at a restaurant in Naples, drinking wine and eating pizza, watching people go by. But to throw myself in the deep end and travel to Mozambique for my first time? This is scary.

I can't imagine myself in a chapa. I like my own space, I don't like it when people are too close to me. How will I handle a cramped minivan with everyone sitting on top of each other? Possibly with a chicken on my lap? (I didn't just make that up, someone actually experienced this). I googled how long the journey is from Maputo to Tofo. 9 HOURS! Tofo to Vilanculos? Another 4 hours. I looked into getting buses instead but apparently theres no bus that goes straight there. You need to change about 10 million times and even get a ferry. This is sounding like a disaster. I get lost in London, I have no chance. Not only do I need to travel there but I need to make my way back to Maputo.

I thought about it some more and then realised planes in Mozambique exist. Duh. It's not exactly a backpacking kind of vibe but better take it down a notch than get kidnapped and held for ransom. So, I could take a plane from Maputo to Tofo, stay there for a week, figure out how to get to Vilanculos, then take a plane back from there straight to Maputo.

UPDATE: I figured out how to get to Vilanculos. Take bus from Tofo to Inhambane, ferry to Maxixe, and then another bus to Vilanculos. Will take about 5-7 hours in total. Sounds pretty straight forward right? I've never researched something so hard in my life. If I put this much effort into my studies I would've become a heart surgeon by now.

I'm feeling positive. Everything's slowly coming together. Now to look into accommodation..

Life changes

Going to start a diary on here. Not sure where to start. I think I'm going to have an eventful few months and it's something I'd like to document so I can read back on it later in life. Why not write it in a book? Not sure. I don't like my handwriting, and every time I've tried to write in a diary I've forgotten about it or lost the book. So hey, why not make it public? Maybe someone will read this, maybe no one will. But if you do then I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing. Here we go..

I don't know whether 2017 has been the worst or best year of my life. I've experienced some real life lessons for sure. It's been blood, sweat and tears. I've had some of the best highs and some of the worst lows. I've laughed till I couldn't breathe and cried till my face swelled up. I feel like I was tip toeing on an icy lake and the ice finally cracked and I fell in. Now I'm out, I'm shivering and I can hardly breathe but I'm out. Am I okay? No. Will I be okay? Yes, definitely, I will always be okay. I'm strong and I'm wise and I'm going to get my shit together. I'm about to turn my life around.

I'm turning 25 next month and I have nothing to show for it. I've been thinking.. What have I actually done that I'm proud of? What are my greatest achievements? I'm five years away from 30 and I've done fuck all. Sure, I've got a job and I've got money and I can buy myself nice stuff. But in the grand scheme of things none of this matters. So, going forward, I'm going to write down 26 things to do before I turn 26. I'm not sure what they are yet, I haven't decided. But this is my goal. I want to travel. I want to go to Indonesia and sit in front of a Balinese medicine man so he can heal me. I want to meditate. I want to have long conversations with strangers that travel with nothing but a backpack. I want to wake up. I need to wake up. I've been strolling slowly through life. I feel numb, dead almost. I want to feel alive. 

So, first stop: Mozambique. You're probably wondering why I'd choose such a place to travel on my own for my first time. Well, it's a long story. That needs a whole post of its own. I'm trying to ease you into things and not throw you in head first. This is just an introduction after all, can't have you thinking I'm crazy so early on in our blogging relationship. It was a battle deciding whether to go or not. I already had my ticket booked. Do I say sod it to the money and stay in my comfort zone where I feel safe? Or do I go and have an adventure? Make real life memories. Meet new people. Feel alive. How bad could it be? If I feel unsafe I could always go to the airport and get on the first flight back. I'm going to be fine. I'm sure of it. What's the worst that could happen? (Oh nothing Ads, you could get kidnapped or raped or even killed in your sleep but its all good lol!)

I keep asking myself if I'm going for all the wrong reasons. Am I going in hopes of seeing him? Or am I doing this for myself? I'm more leaning towards the latter but to be honest I don't know the answer to this yet. It's too soon to tell, I need time. Could it be a bit of both? I'm pretty sure I'll know in a couple weeks when its closer to the date. All I know is that I'm not going to be wandering around the streets of Maputo belting out his name with Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you' playing in the background. This isn't the movies. (Now I've got that picture in my head and its bloody hilarious.)

 I have regretted a lot of things this year and I wasn't going to add one more to my list. No more shoulda coulda woulda's. No matter the reason I'm going to go just to say I fucking did it. Every single person I've spoken to has told me to not go. But I'm going to go with my gut on this one. I would rather go and come back and say it was mehh than not go at all and wonder what it would've been like.



Cashhh me outside one of these in a few weeks time.

Until next time x