VLOG | Magaluf.

Hey boo thangs. 

If you haven't already read my travel story on this trip you can do so here. Enjoy this vlog - something new I want to start doing more of. Let me know what you think in the comments! ♥

travel stories | MAGALUF.

I’ve recently arrived back from a girls trip to the Balearics, which also happens to be my first vacay of the year - feeling well overdue for the travel bug in me. My two best friends and I headed to the party destination of Magaluf in Majorca for 5 days at the end of April, arriving just in time for the start of the season. 

In all honesty, the decision on where to go was purely based on where we could find the cheapest deals on dates that fit all of our schedules; much less fussed about the destination or heading to some exotic location. We all just wanted to get away since our last trip together in 2017 (to the same place, mind you). 

Still, we had a whole lotta fun; drank PLENTY of alcohol, ate good food, laughed loads, twerked a little (by a little, I mean a lot), sung to the high heavens & drank plenty more alcohol. There was a lot of bonding, conversing, confiding, shared advice & even a few tears. In almost 13 years of friendship, it still felt like we all learned something more about each other. So basically it was Mission Girls Trip: a success.

The timing of our arrival was perfect too; avoiding peak clubbing season but right at the beginning so there was a significant amount of happenings, and all the local shops & restaurants were open for business. The weather was decent, sea temperature - not so much, but all to be expected for the time of year.

Top Tip: it’s important to research season openings when heading to Mediterranean destinations, as some businesses/attractions close during off-peak periods. OR, stay at an all-inclusive hotel like we did, which offers all the amenities and activities you might need.

We hit the strip on the first night that we arrived & caused absolute carnage. Very much “Brits Abroad” I’ll admit, but I’ll spare you the details! [Watch the VLOG here.] Another bit of advice to anyone going on a holiday, in Europe especially, do NOT buy alcohol in duty free at the airport. Save your coins ’til you arrive sis, I assure you! Find your nearest Aldi or Lidl and thank me later ;)

On the first day, we spent about 60 euro in total between the three of us on several bottles of alcohol, a crate of water, mixers AND food/snacks for the room (although we drank ALL c alcohol in one night, lol) then just topped up as & when we needed. A total win.

Although we did go out that night, we found ourselves back in the room before midnight. It was like 5 hours of complete madness, and at this point it’s all a blur. We went so hard, that we never went out again. Every single night for the remainder of our time was spent in our hotel room; despite our plans to “f*ck it up” & party hard. Maybe we just can’t do it like we used to?!

Pre-drinks in the room became night caps before bed (less hangovers on the plus side), swapping our party dresses for PJ’s and indulging in midnight feasts - always nachos & dip - enjoying sunsets from our balcony overlooking the mountain view.

This isn’t the sort of stuff anyone would expect of a trip to Magaluf; which typically includes non-stop partying, shots, shots & more shots. Instead we found more time to enjoy a little cultural activity, hiring pedal bikes from our hotel and riding along the beachfront, a day trip out to the capital [Palma de Mallorca] & visiting sights such as the Old Town, Bellver Castle & La Seu Cathedral. Our time was filled with some much needed R&R; sun-lounging on the beach before starting our own parties back in our room.

Of course there was some misbehaving (it is me we’re talking about, hello!), and perhaps the noise levels we’re a little inconsiderate, which resulted in awkward encounters with hotel security every time we walked through the lobby! But see the reality is, any holiday can be what you make of it. Don’t let a generalised reputation of any destination deter you from going, especially if you are limited based on a budget, schedule, etc. 

And if you need any tips on avoiding those pesky promoters that practically pounce on you as you walk down the street or the beach, I got you! It did grow tiring crossing the road EVERY time we saw them coming. Some tactics that worked for us included speaking (or attempting to) another language as we walked past - our language of choice was French…and no, I cannot speak French. Other times we just simply ignored them, or declined the conversation the second they called us out. It wasn’t long before that got old so in the end we resulted to telling everyone that we were going home that night…and every night until it was actually true! A little white lie never hurt nobody. 

We had a great time, and the flu/chest infection I came back with is proof of that, but having done the Spanish isles many, many times now, it's beginning to feel a little played out. My bucket-list is starting to look a little more exotic these days. The Caribbean, Bali, Hawaii, and the list goes on. But the question is…where to next?

[Please comment, share & subscribe]  ♥

Now Playing.

She Shares is a monthly podcast hosted by myself and my sister-friend, Maleece. Hey, Girl!

The basis of it is two 20-somethings on their journey from girlhood to womanhood, where we aim to share our personal experiences, mishaps, advice & everything in-between...did someone say #WingingIt?! 

Available on iTunes & Soundcloud every first Monday of each month (although Mercury Retrograde had other plans for us this week and it was a day late due to technical issues *rolls eyes*), but nonetheless we outchea & Episode 04 Girl Talk is officially live! You can listen back via the clickable link down below from Episode 01 Quarter Life Crossroad, a conversation where we reclaim the word 'crisis' and look at turning our L's into Lessons; to Episode 02 which is all about displaying acts of gratitude, titled Tokens of Appreciation; and finally my personal fave so far, I Like My Coffee Black - a cheeky chat about sex, love & relationships featuring our first ever special guest - this one is definitely not PG-13, you have been warned!

*Contains adult humour and sexual references*

The ideal soundtrack for your daily commute, chilled moments around the house, during your lunch break...whatever it may be, we hope to bring you laughter and lessons through shared, relatable content while we figure out this thing called life since we're all in this together. Take a listen and as always let me know what you think! 

Love always, Miah xo 

She Shares Socials:

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/shesharespodcast/tracks

iTunes: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/she-shares-podcast/

IG: @shesharespodcast 

Email: sheshares@mail.com

Growing Pains.

Hey, it’s been quite a while. I mean...I hardly even made it out of the blocks with this blog before completely falling off from it. Over the months, I questioned whether to just erase this platform and forget about it altogether (despite writing numerous drafts, travelling a few trips which never made it to content and fighting the many urges to share this journey through life), but then I would remind myself of the courage it took for me to start in the first place and that I owe it to myself to at some point pick it back up. Someone once said something along the lines of you haven’t failed until you’ve given up (I believe it was Einstein, no?) and one thing I dread immensely is failure. So here I am. Back with a sort of explanation as to why I went missing in action and bit of peace for anyone who may relate to what I’m about to say. 

*Disclaimer: the following contains sensitive content*

The truth is simple, life is sometimes bloody hard. It’s questionable, at times difficult to get on with. It’s taken me this long to even feel comfortable admitting to it, being the “strong-minded” girl I’m often praised to be. Amongst striving for success and the general worries that come at this age (such as life after uni, gotta build a career, got to save for a house, when will I marry, wait...I'm single af aka ‘the quarter-life crisis’) I faced many other challenging obstacles in the form of love & heartbreak, a loss of pregnancy, uncertainty of my full-time job and the sudden death of a relative due to cancer; all in the space of 6 months. Fair to say I hit an all time low; emotionally drained, confused, frustrated. Depressed, actually. Many nights I cried myself to sleep and many days I woke up wishing I hadn’t, but I fought through and put on a face to the rest of the world. 

These were the type of events that had me questioning the meaning of life, my own purpose more specifically; generally dealing with an overwhelming state of worthlessness & pangs of worry. During this time I also found myself constantly looking back & romanticising on the past, the good old days…because its ever-so easy to forget any of the challenges we’ve faced previously as we navigate our problems today. The issue with looking back is we will never move forward, and so my intention for this post is less about dwelling and more about healing. As my therapist told me last week, it’s about how we cope. We can look at everything happening in our external world and too easily internalise it all, but it is only within our power to decide how we cope through these difficult times.

I will start by saying that I do recognise how fortunate I am to have a strong support system around me, but for those who get where I’m coming from depression can for the most part feel very lonely. I have an amazing family and bunch of friends who I know are all there for me, but what do you tell someone who thinks they have all the answers? And how do you battle the inner-conflict between this perception as ‘the strong one’ and true moments of vulnerability?

Coming into the new year, I made a conscious decision that I did not want to ride the wave any longer, ultimately I was just feeling sorry for myself and became attached to these feelings and negative thought processes, losing all sense of who I am or who I want to be. What I’ve since figured is that we have to learn to separate ourselves from our problems and not allow them to define who we are. 

My healing process has consisted of taking a detox from Instagram (because we know that we sub-consciously consume and compare ourselves to everyone seemingly living their best lives), I’ve had a few counselling sessions through Forward-Thinking Birmingham because talking definitely helps and even more so with an unbiased professional that guides you to make sense of your emotions, and finally I’ve made more of an effort to do more of the things that I love and that make me happy (i.e. this blog). In a matter of a few days, I am leaving the same job mentioned above, as it’s unfulfilling and has for some time been a contributing factor to my low moods and anxiety, although I’ve not yet found my dream job to transition into. This may sound crazy to some and yes, I am somewhat anxious about what will come and how long it could take but it’s a risk I was willing to take for the betterment of my mental health and overall happiness. 

So many of us suffer and feel as though our battles are the end of the world, but the fact we woke up this morning is a chance to make a life worth living. I find peace in knowing that whatever I may be dealing with there is always someone else going through better or worse and so now I take these struggles as an opportunity to grow. I’m here to say that no matter what you are going through, always stay true to yourself and be the peace that you deserve. 

For flowers cannot grow without rain and with growth often comes pain. <3

This post is dedicated to “the strong ones”, those like me who others view as such and perhaps we portray ourselves as this too. But we’re human and we're allowed to have moments of vulnerability. This is your reminder that vulnerability isn’t weakness and to please allow yourself to feel. Because take it from me, it only gets worse the more you try to fight feelings of discomfort, grief, confusion, anger, pain. Be kind and compassionate with yourself and take the time necessary to heal; no one is asking you to be strong all the time. Life as we all know is not a straight and narrow and we may get lost along the way; but sometimes to lose yourself is to find yourself.

Rest in Eternal Peace Aunty Doreen x

Flying Solo.

In terms of travel companions, I have ticked many of the boxes when it comes to the variety; from girls trips, to family holidays, baecations & living internationally…but one thing I hadn’t done until this year was travel solo. 

I am definitely a go-with-my-heart-and-not-my-head type of person, and so many of my travels tend to be spur of the moment. The only criteria that really ever matters when I’m planning to go abroad are 1. Can I afford it? and 2. Can I get the time off work? If I was writing this let’s say, 6 months ago, the third consideration would be who I’m going with and do our schedules and pockets align?; which more times than none is the reason for delays in the booking process (but fear no more!) 

Let me tell you why travelling alone is one of the best things I’ve ever done:

One. In direct reference to the above - there is no dilly-dallying! No waiting around for others to agree on a destination, a suitable timeframe, a budget, etc. Everything is on your accord - and if you’re a bit of a control freak like me, nothing gets better than this!

This is also true once you’ve arrived. You can see & do whatever you want. On my first solo trip to Crete earlier this year, I set out with a basic itinerary (to which I barely even followed), breakfast - or brunch in most cases - was at whatever time I decided, I ate what I want, went where I wanted and all at my own pace. 

[Side note: girls trips are 99.9% likely to end in a fallout or some awkward tension between at least two of the parties, and probably on the simple basis of disagreeing on said things. Dramz we don’t need in 2018 ladies!]

Two. Plus, you never know who else you might meet. Travelling solo opens up the doors to interactions with others around you and perhaps other solo travellers which you probably wouldn’t pay any mind to if you was out with your boo or besties. I read this in many other blogs when I was planning my trip, and though I didn’t think the likelihood of this happening was very high, I can vouch that this did indeed happen while I was away. It’s a great way to make new connections (personal and/or professional) & may also provide future travel opportunities to the places you meet people from, now that you have friends across the globe!

Three. Mingling with the locals is a bonus - yes, it can be daunting at first but I can’t even express the satisfaction this brings. In the current state of the world that we live in, it’s quite a warming feeling to mix with people & cultures so different to your norm. Language barriers can create some difficulty in conversations of course, but a smile or a laugh is the same in every language and it does do something for my soul, I must admit. 

Four. There is no better time than now! I am the biggest advocate of your 20s being your selfish years and nothing makes me more shook than not doing all the things I wish for myself before I really have to grow up. Let’s face it, the concept of adulting isn’t that much fun at all and we’re at a point where we still have freedom to some extent, so imagine not living truly for yourself while you can? 

Five. My fifth and final point has to be my favourite given the current journey to my best self that I’m on…

**Self-actualisation** - you pretty much have to be someone who can really be content within themselves to be able to spend a sustained amount of time in your own company - across borders & away from any sort of home comforts. For me personally, time spent alone is the best time to reflect inwards. Being alone and abroad = stepping away from reality, and not having anything else to worry about. The whole experience is heightened by your surroundings and I can undoubtedly promise you growth the more you immerse yourself. I discovered so much about myself in just the 4 days that I spent in Greece, and I arrived back home with a fresh outlook & renewed motivation to simply live life to my own satisfaction. 

Being fully dependent on myself was such a liberating feeling, and it was one of many experiences that have shown me that the world is truly your oyster.

This is my testimony to say if you want to go somewhere…just go, make it happen any way that you can! The world is too big and beautiful to not explore, but if the idea of travelling 'xxxx' miles alone scares you, maybe start off small and go somewhere close to home or a destination that you’ve been before and have some familiarity with, or perhaps the thought excites you to seek out far away places?

I can’t wait to travel solo again in the future and would love to hear any recommended destinations you may have, also feel free to ask any questions or drop a comment in the box below!

xoxo

Miah  

Humble Beginnings.

Hi, Hola, Bonjour & welcome to my blog!

I’m a 23 year old Brummie with a passion for people & places, I guess you could say I’m a wanderlust but I was hoping to avoid the cliché! I’ve been extremely fortunate to have travelled to many places from a very young age (more destinations than years I’ve been alive) and I’ve definitely got the bug!

So, what brings me here? I’ve been procrastinating on the idea of starting a blog for some time now (literally, years!), and I suppose my perfectionist traits & fear of failure is something that has constantly held me back. There’s always the excuses & insecurities that; “It’s not the right timing”, “everyone's a travel blogger these days”, “is anyone even going to read”, etc. etc. and well, I’ve decided that it’s now time to stop being the enemy of my own progress; adopting the “if not now, then when?” mantra into my life. I have decided to just go for it and in true Miah style, I’m kinda winging this whole thing (with a basic idea of what I’m doing) and just simply hoping for the best!

Travelling has taught me SO much about life in all its essence and the experiences I have gained through interacting with the world are unmatched; and so from here on out I hope to share all of my globetrotting wanders & lessons that come with, from my hometown Birmingham & beyond.

♥

- "So I close my eyes to old ends, and open my heart to new beginnings".

Niagara Falls pictured above - https://www.instagram.com/p/BF-byIcoQOf/?taken-by=mjmbx

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