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New Adventures
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Things Sophie learned about herself travelling, that helped her ease into the Bristol life.
Knowing that you can always come home, do you ever really move out?
Moving out is always a big step, isn’t it? Does travelling the world count as moving out? Does university suffice moving away? Like an adult? Knowing that you can always come home, do you ever really move out?
But, finally, you are getting out there in the world to find your own path in life and gain the independence you have spent your whole childhood yearning for. Excited. Apprehensive. Scared. Cloud nine. A bit like a healthy smoothie I guess; the sweet taste of freedom and new beginnings like the strawberries and bananas, but the bitterness of the kale, sadness of leaving everything behind, knowing that it will be good for you. Waving goodbye to everything that is so familiar to you. Driving away from everything you have ever known. Out into the unknown. Wilderness. I’ve changed my mind let’s just go home and I’ll stay there forever. Pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone, the zone you know so well that pushes you to do things you wouldn’t normally do. It’s where your creativity stems from. Like a budding flower. Opening up for everyone to see the inner you. And where better to be to get your creative juices flowing than Bristol…
And where better to be to get your creative juices flowing than Bristol…
Life in Bristol differs profusely from what I have been used to over the last three years. Getting up every morning to go to work 70hour weeks to afford to go anywhere in the world I wanted to go; Canada, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, South East Asia, Malaysia, Singapore and the longer the list gets the longer my bucket list gets. Seeing places just makes you want to go and see more places. The concept of travelling from one place to another, lost in time, time you don’t usually have. Movement. Sometimes unaware of where you are going to end up. Reflections. Seeing yourself amid the scenery speeding by. A mirror of this life. A sunrise. A sunset. All in a day. How grateful we should be for this beautiful world. It makes you realise how much is actually out there to explore and how much you are missing out on by staying in one place.
From volunteering with elephants, to skinny dipping in the oceans of the most alluring islands, sun-seeking, soul-seeking, friend-making, independent backpacking, trekking the most beautiful places this ‘oh so delicate’ world has to offer. Just me and my pen (and all the essential items I require to live for four months.) It changes you as a person, it makes you better, more aware of what is around you, the person you are and the person you want to become now, other people’s lives, lives that they live every day and how they differ from yours. Opening your mind to all these possibilities. I was lost until I went travelling. I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted, but when every day I found myself writing and reading endless amounts of English Literature to fill my journeys with life, I realised I wanted to get a bit of a place in the world. Coming to Bristol is a massive commitment for me but what better place to be doing an English degree. Bristol itself is such an exciting, vibrant city that encompasses all walks of life, from Banksy to Brunel, Cabot to Coleridge. These diverse, inspirational figures mixed with a constantly evolving cultural, artistic and scientifically progressive city, stimulate a world of wonder that makes Bristol the perfect environment for writing.
I love Bristol and I love travelling, but if I hadn’t been travelling I wouldn’t appreciate Bristol nearly as much as I do and if Bristol wasn’t in my life now I would not appreciate my travels as much as I do. From all of my journeys and miles trekked, sunrises and sunsets, I have come to realise one thing; to travel is to educate and to educate you must travel, and with that you can always come home.
Head to the Rife Guide to find out places in Bristol you can improve on yourself and be well.
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About the author
Sophie Keywood
My name is Sophie. I am 22 years old from a little seaside town in Dorset called Lyme Regis. I am studying English at UWE Bristol because I love to read and write. As well as reading my way through the history of English Literature: I would consider myself an avid traveller. I also love food and everything about it and would one day like to travel the world and write about food.
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