5 Things I Learned in the First Month of Living by Myself

1. I'm actually a pretty decent cook.
When I was at home, I would obviously cook for myself, but I would really just want my mom to cook for me constantly. Since starting college, I've made so many incredible meals for myself and I'm beyond proud!

2. Being independent is a lot of hard work.
When I was still at home, I considered myself quite an independent person already, but I honestly had no clue about what being independent meant. I had never opened a bank account by myself or asked questions about public transportation. Now being able to do these things by myself has been scary but extremely rewarding in so many ways.

3. I can actually have a really fun time by myself.
I went out for coffee a few weeks ago by myself for the first time and for some reason, I was terrified. But then I realized how dumb of a thought that was because nearly 50% of the place was filled with people also by themselves. Since then, I went to an exhibition, went back to more coffee shops and walked around the city many all by myself. We forget how much we need alone time when we are constantly surrounded by people.

4. Not everyone will be friendly, but you just have to brush it off.
London is a huge city. Although I love it, there are days that I hate it because some people just always seem to be really unhappy and they will show this through being rude to other people. But what I have realized, is that these peoples actions should not effect me and my day.

5. Being homesick never really ends, it just gets a little bit easier.
My first few weeks here, I was absolutely miserable. I tried so hard to stay calm and enjoy being here but it was so difficult being in a foreign country and not having my friends and family here. But in those weeks I learned a lot about myself. Each day it gets a bit easier, but I still seriously miss California.

xx
Ashley

My Life In Suitcases

Hi everyone! I have been completely absent from this blog for quite a while because I made a huge and crazy life decision… I moved my entire life to London, England for college! For as long as I can remember, I have dreamt of living in London for a least a few years of my life and I decided that college was the perfect time. So I applied, got accepted and packed up my entire life into 5 huge suitcases (mostly filled with clothes, obviously.)

This past month and a half has honestly been one of the weirdest times of my entire life. I have experienced stress, excitement, fear, loneliness and hopefulness all at once. I have been feeling so homesick these past few weeks, missing my family and California like crazy. At points, I've wanted to quit. But when I take a step back and look at the journey that I have started, I can't help but be really proud of myself already. I'm only 18. I get mad at myself when I feel homesick because I know that so many people would love to be in my shoes right now. Then I remember that I need to give myself the benefit of the doubt because the way I'm feeling is perfectly normal. When you are taken out of your comfort zone, you tend to close yourself off and get upset. And it's okay to get upset but I don't want that to hold me back from enjoying the hell out of my 3 years here.

I have been extremely lucky to have already met some friends that I know I will have for a lifetime. Being in this city will only give me independence and experiences that I will forever be grateful for.

I just wanted to give you guys a little update on everything that has been going on with me at the moment. I'm going to try my hardest to blog, YouTube and Instagram as much as I can so you guys can go on this crazy journey with me. So stay tuned for some great stuff!

xx
Ashley

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Road Less Traveled

I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I want to go places, and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale.

I've always been an extremely deep thinker. Thinking and interpreting things that not many people of my age care about. My thoughts have always been out of the ordinary for anyone who has a suburban mindset. From a very young age, I knew I wanted to take the road less traveled. I knew I didn't want to play anything safe.

I recently came across an outline for a novel that I wanted to write about 7 years ago… 7 years ago? Yes, I wanted to write a novel when I was 10 years old. The main character was a girl named Beth who was 18 years old. The further I got to reading, I realized that I had modeled Beth as the person who I wanted to be in the future. She was curious, endearing, smart, independent and strong. She wanted to travel across the world to study journalism in London… Reading the outline made me emotional because it made me realize that I have had the same dream for years, and now I'm finally trying to make that happen.

As leaving home is getting even closer, more and more people I know are starting to believe that I am genuinely crazy for wanting to pick up my whole life and move to another country. But, it always leaves me wondering why they think I'm so strange. When people ask me why I want to move, I always answer with the same thing, "Why the hell not? I want to explore and experience a different culture, meet new people and have new adventures."

If I wanted to be comfortable my whole life, then I wouldn't have experienced nearly half of the things I have in my life so far. I don't want to regret not taking chances. I want to see things that open my mind to the rest of the world. I don't want to play it safe and have a white-picket fence life. I want to have a crazy adventurous life where I never know what exciting thing is going to happen next.

My parents have always told me never to stop dreaming. And I always tell them, "Don't worry. I never will."

If you have something you have always wanted to do, go for it. There is a lot more regret in not trying than in trying.

xx
Ashley