Hello hello hello! It feels like years since I last sat down to write a blog post, didn't that Christmas break seem to go on forever (in the best way possible of course)?! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Years, spent with the people you love the most because that's really what it's all about isn't it?
Today I thought I'd kick 2018 off with a look back on the year just gone and what I hope this coming year has in store. It wasn't until I was planning this post that I realised at the start of 2017 I'd actually written a post called 'What I Want Achieve This Year', and I'm happy to say I achieved just about everything I wanted to, so let's look back on 2017 shall we?
Travel
One of my main goals for 2017 was to travel as much as I could and I ended up visiting Amsterdam, Bruges, Murcia, Disneyland Paris and Belfast as well as lots of other staycation type breaks here in Ireland! My boyfriend and I decided that instead of getting birthday and Christmas presents, we'd go on trips instead because memories and experiences are much more valuable and it's worked out really well. If you'd like to see more of my travels, hotel reviews and places to eat in the cities we've been to, check out my travel section here.
Finding My Footing With Blogging
Even though I've been 'properly' blogging since September 2014, I'd always struggled to find my place with the whole thing. A lot of the time in the past I'd write blog posts that I knew would be popular rather than posts that I had a genuine interest and love for. I changed that in 2017 and started writing think pieces that I'm very proud of on topics like feminism, education and fast fashion (which you can find here). I've always had a love for writing and doing this has really helped me to fall back in love with blogging and remember why I started.
Stepping Outside Of My Comfort Zone
I was given some incredible opportunities in 2017, one of them being a trip to Disneyland Paris with Penneys. Whilst it was the trip of a lifetime, I have to admit that I was very very nervous the few weeks leading up to that weekend. I was worried that I wouldn't get the content I needed, or the content I would get wouldn't be good enough etc. Just silly worries that were totally irrational but we all have our comfort zone and that trip was definitely outside of mine. If you've read my post on the trip, or seen all of my Instagram posts, you'll know I had the best weekend of my life and so in 2018 I'm going to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone because it's always worth it.
Juggling Blogging & College
I don't want to sound like a moan, but blogging takes up a lot more time than people realise. In 2017 I found it a little harder to juggle blogging and college, especially since I'm now in my final year of college. It was hard to prioritise sometimes, especially since I was trying to give blogging as much attention as I could. I was very lucky to work with some of my favourite brands last year and also graduate from my ordinary degree and continue onto my honours degree, so here's to the juggling act continuing in 2018!
All in all, 2017 was a great year for me and it's one I'll always look back on fondly. With that being said, I don't think anyone can say 2017 was easy. There were so many unthinkable tragedies and innocent lives lost over the past year that while 2017 was a great year for me personally, it was definitely bittersweet. One of the strongest memories that I'll probably always keep with me about 2017 was waking up on so many mornings to terrible, stomach dropping news. My main hope for the coming year is that there won't be half as much mindless violence and acts of terror, because I think the world has had more than it's fair share.
The Year Ahead
So what are my hopes for 2018? Well I'd obviously like to be as happy and as healthy as I was in 2017, but there are a few specific goals I want to achieve and hopes I have for the new year.
1. Keep creating content that I'm proud of.
I want to keep up what I started in 2017 and continue writing posts about topics that I love and want to share with people. 2018 might also be the year I give the whole Youtube thing a go, and I'm very excited for all of the ideas I have to come to life.
2. See even more of the world.
I think travel is always going to be my favourite thing in life. I absolutely love exploring new places and learning all about different cultures. We've already booked a trip to Prague in March and I have a whole list of other countries and cities I'd love to go to, so I can't wait! I'm also going to be working on creating more travel themed blog posts since you all loved my packing tips and travel recommendations last year.
3. Work with brands I love.
Just like the list I've written of all the places I want to travel to this year, I've also got a list of brands I'd love to work with. I'm very fortunate that my blog has allowed me to collaborate with some of my favourite brands/companies and in 2018 I want to continue creating the same authentic content. It's very important to me that I only ever work with brands that I genuinely love and that I don't take on irrelevant collaborations purely for the financial gain. Of course I don't expect to work with every single brand on my list, but it's good to have dreams to aim for right?
4. Develop healthy habits that will stick.
In 2017 I developed a real love for going to the gym regularly. It helped keep me sane during very stressful weeks in college and I loved seeing my body getting stronger. This year I want to keep that regular exercise up, but also develop healthy eating habits to match. Right now I don't eat the healthiest diet, and I'm also not the best at cooking, so this year I want to work on that and finally be the complete picture of health.
5. Graduate college and (finally) get out into the big bad world.
I have just one semester left in college and to say I'm excited to be finished would be an understatement. I've had so many people say to me that college is way easier than having a job and to be honest I don't know what they studied but I definitely won't miss the 60+ hours a week that I put into my college work. I'm very much ready to be done and dusted with it all and while at the moment I haven't a clue what my exact plan is for after I graduate, I'm still very excited to get stuck into whatever comes my way.
Here's to the year ahead. I have to say I'm very excited for it all, even though I haven't a clue what it may hold! I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you've got any hopes or goals for 2018, I'd love to hear them.