This post is an interview with Robyn Moss, third year Psychology student at the University of Lincoln. Before her degree, Robyn was living in Salisbury, Wiltshire, but decided to move 3 and half hours away to Lincoln for university. Read on to learn about her experience of moving away from home.
1. Why did you want to move far from home?
Originally, I wanted to move far from home for university to have a fresh start and push myself to be independent, not having the option to easily escape my problems and go back home. Of course, I also wanted to reinvent myself and explore a totally new place.
Lincoln, however, was a very unexpected choice of mine as I only picked it to fill in my last choice for university. I couldn’t think of anything else and I’d never actually heard of it before, but when I went to visit all of my uni choices, much to my surprise Lincoln happened to be the only uni that really felt like it was for me. If you have never visited, read all about how to spend 48 hours in Lincoln.
2. Were you worried about moving and why/why not?
I wasn’t really worried, I was more excited. The only thing in the back of my mind was, if there was an emergency, I wouldn’t be able to get home easily. Other than that, I didn’t really have any worries. I already knew I vibed with the city and any doubts I had were overruled by excitement.
3. How long did it take you to settle into your new place?
I was pretty much settled the moment I moved in. Of course, it was hard for the first five minutes of watching my parents walk away, and not knowing when I'd see them again. However, you snap out of that pretty quickly due to not having time to dwell on it. You have to unpack, decorate your room and get to know your new housemates, so there’s no time to think about anything else.
You and your housemates are all on the same boat and it’s exciting for all of you and you support each other. I got on really well with most of my housemates to begin with which helped my feel settled initially but after a few days living with them, I realised they weren’t for me which was a struggle and did lead to me needing to change apartments. However, as soon as I found my group and created my own uni family, I felt settled again.
I believe that the people you surround yourself with at uni are the key to settling and you won’t always be lucky at first, but there’s no harm in moving apartments if you don’t vibe with your initial flatmates. Most people manage to get on just fine though, it’s unlikely that you won’t get on with at least one person in your apartment.
4. Is there anything you would have done differently?
Not really. I’m grateful for the lessons I have learned, and any issues I had were out of my control. I do wish I’d been to more parties and gone to freshers events, but that wasn’t possible due to my job. I feel that I would have benefited a lot more if I’d have socialised more during freshers week as it took me a while to find my group of friends. Once I’d found them, my uni experience became 100x better.
Where to find Robyn
Instagram: @robynmossx
Thank you so much to Robyn for sharing her story. Have you ever moved far away from home? Let us know your experiences!
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
Related Read: Top Tips for Starting University
Wool of the King
This post is a collaboration with Planning with Em. This post also contains affiliate links so I will earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Please see my disclaimer for more information.
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
*Image 1 from Pixabay.*Image 2 from Engin Akyurt on Pexels.
Just a little update on me - I have now finished my year marketing internship ready for starting my final year of university in September. I am trying to get a little bit of a summer by doing things before I go back to studying. The first thing I did after finishing was visiting one of my friends, Robyn, who lives up in Lincoln and goes to university there.
It was very hot there and I had to put sun cream on because
of how pale I am so it kind of felt like a holiday, we’ll call it a staycation
as that’s where it’s at at the moment! If you want to read more about travel,
see my favourite travel destinations. I am living in Wiltshire at the
moment so it took about 3 hours and 20 minutes to drive there, but I felt like
it went pretty quickly.
Day 1 in Lincoln
After arriving in Lincoln, we had a walk along Brayford Waterfront
and took some cute pictures. We then walked up the steep hill to the cathedral.
There is a reason why it’s called steep hill and it is not an exaggeration! But
once you get up there the views are pretty good, and there are lots of cute,
independent cafes on the way up.
It was quite a hot day, so we had to go back to shower and
get ready before going out for the evening. We booked into Zizzi for dinner and
it was a Monday so we got that Eat Out to Help Out discount! After that, we
went to the Slug & Lettuce for some cocktails. That was the first time I
had been out for drinks since the lockdown and it was actually a lot less scary
than I thought it would be.
Bars do seem to be closing earlier now than what they used
to. So, after leaving Slug & Lettuce we got some end of the night food from
a chip shop. I had to try the cheesy chips and gravy because I’d never had it
before being a southerner and they were so nice even though they looked kind of
gross. Proper comfort food. I have to say, the north does takeaways better.
Day 2 in Lincoln
Day 2 was a chill one after a busy first day. We had a lie
in and went to McDonald’s, classic after night out food. After that, we went to
Boultham Park, which was really nice. We sat by the river and saw lots of cute
ducks and swans. Again, I had to put on sun cream for this.
Once we had sat there for a while, Robyn wanted to show me
round her uni so we walked around Lincoln University which was quite cool, it
was really quiet though due to it being summer and Covid-19. I like nosying
around other universities so I can compare them to my own.
In the evening, we just chilled and watched some TV because
I was getting up early to leave the next day. It was one of the hottest days
when I had to leave and my car has no air conditioning so I left at 8am to try
and get home before the hottest point of the day.
I really enjoyed going to Lincoln and really want to visit
more places in the north as I haven’t been to that many places up there. It is such
a pretty place and I hope to go there again soon.
Where is your favourite place to visit in England? Let me know in the comments! Special thanks to Robyn for letting me
stay with her and looking after me so well.
Join my mailing list for exclusive content an resources here.
Looking for more day out ideas in the UK? Read all about my trip to Sculpture by the Lakes in Dorset.
Wool of the King
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
Guest post from Liz Loves. This post includes affiliate links so I will earn a small commission if you buy through these links. I have put asterisks next to the products linked. Please see my disclaimer for more information.Hi, my name is Liz and I am the blogger behind Liz Loves Blog! I am so excited to be writing for Lauren’s blog. I wanted to share a post on books I wish I read sooner. These are the books that I have read and immediately told my friends they NEED to read them, books I will read over and over and books that really have changed my outlook on life.
Guest Post from A Girl with a View.
It’s probably common knowledge to think of a student and to think of someone struggling financially. Students aren’t necessarily known for being the most money-savvy of people but your university years are some of the best times to start practising good money habits that will set you up for life. It’s always nice to have money left over at the end of the month to either pop in savings or to treat yourself, and by implementing these tips at university you’ll be well on your way to having a few extra pennies in your bank account!
Photo credit: Skitterphoto on Pexels.
Meal Plan
This is something I sometimes fail to do successfully and the appeal of a takeaway or meal out when you can’t be bothered to cook is always tempting. However, meal planning is one of the biggest ways I manage to keep track of my finances and not go overboard when food shopping. If I’ve made a conscious effort to look for recipes and things to cook for the following week and then made a shopping list with only the ingredients I need I am much less likely to overspend and buy excessive amounts of food that I won’t use. Some good meals to think about making are spag bol (a student classic), a curry, pasta bake, fajitas or chilli. Most of these meals can also be made in batches that you can freeze, making them, even more, cost-effective as you can return to them weeks later and thank your meal-prepped self when you don’t feel like cooking again!
Put aside a certain amount each week
This is something I started doing more regularly and it’s made a big difference to my savings. Last year, by doing this I was able to visit Berlin, Naples, Prague and Seville by travelling cheaply and using this method! I made a separate ‘pot’ on Monzo (more on that later) called Holiday so I could start saving for a trip later in the year. Monzo automatically adds £5 every week to this pot so at the end of the year me and my boyfriend could go away somewhere nice without having to take a chunk out of my other savings. Sadly, the holiday hasn’t happened this summer due to COVID but I’ve kept adding to the pot throughout lockdown so that we can, hopefully, have a few nice holidays next year. £5 is a manageable amount, for me, to save every week. However, you can add in as much or as little as you want or make your saving bi-weekly or monthly to make it work for you. Putting just small amounts away can add up to a big amount of money by the end of the year.
Get Monzo
Monzo has been a huge help in keeping track of my finances and helping me to save money. Each time you buy something Monzo will place your purchase into a specific category which is so useful for being aware of where your money is actually going and, at the end of the month, it shows you which categories are your biggest spends. It can be quite shocking at first to realise how much you’ve spent on eating out or shopping in a month initially but the app allows you to set budgets within each category to help you cut down. You can set up a loose change pot which will round up to the nearest pound your latest transaction and put it into a savings pot. I find this feature really helpful as you don’t even realise how much money you’re putting into savings and suddenly you have a few extra pounds that you didn’t know about! I think it’s such a good bank and app that really helps you keep control of your money and where it’s going.
Use student discount and cashback
Student discount is one of my favourite things about being a student and by quickly registering to discount sites like Unidays or StudentBeans you unlock so many savings. Most retailers will offer between 10-20% off for students which is not to be sniffed at, especially when it’s something you needed or were going to buy already. Sometimes it can be worth putting the extra 10 or 20% you saved into a separate savings pot so you can rack up how much discount you received over the year and put it towards something like a holiday or into your savings account. Cashback is another great way to save a few pennies and is something I started doing fairly recently. Topcashback and Quidco are my favourite sites to use and it’s very easy to register and get going. When going to make a purchase from somewhere online, check whether these sites offer you cash back for doing so. Even if it’s only 1% it’s still worth doing as it soon adds up, and if it’s something you need to buy then you may as well make some saving on your purchase.
Buy secondhand textbooks
As an English student, I need to buy a lot of books which, if I bought them all new, would cost me an absolute fortune so I’ve learnt to shop around. Places like World of Books or Abe Books offer very cheap books with big discounts and I often get the books I need from these places. It can also be worth looking at your University’s course Facebook page as often past students will be selling their old books at a discounted price so it can be a goldmine to get the exact editions you need at cheaper prices. Another tip I would say is that although courses often recommend you pick up the latest edition of a textbook, this isn’t necessary. More often than not, the book has exactly the same content (just different page numbers) and is half the cost - it’s not worth paying so much more for the same content just for page numbers! If you really don’t want to buy anything then your University library should have all the books you need for your course, you just need to make sure that someone doesn’t borrow them before you!
Those are my top tips for being a money-savvy student and to help you start saving whilst at university. I think the key thing from this list is that you don’t need to start saving extravagant or unrealistic amounts of money, little and often is the way to go and always make sure you’re aware of what you’re spending so you’re able to cut back on areas if you need to!
Related Read: Top Tips for Starting University
About the Author:
Tash is a UK based blogger and English student who blogs all about university life, travel, books and a whole host of other topics! You can find her over on her social media:
Blog: http://www.agirlwithview.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tash__evans
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/agirlwithview/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8507134-natasha
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
This post is a collaboration with Luci Barker. We will be sharing with you how we get the summer glow look. Read on to see my favourite summer beauty products and make sure you check out Luci's post to see how she gets the summer look. This post also contains affiliate links so I will earn a small commission if you buy through these links, see my disclaimer for more information.
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
I recently went for a day out at Sculpture by the Lakes in Dorset with my friend Kitty, which was organised by Bournemouth Bloggers and Darren Northeast PR. This was actually my first event with Bournemouth Bloggers and I'm looking forward to attending more with them.*Press Visit - all opinions are my own.
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
I’m Luci from www.lucibarker.co.uk which is a little bit of everything blog. I write about Beauty, Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion and Blogger Help posts too.
During the last few months I have been taking some time to practice self care because in my day to day life I don’t make enough time to do it. Some of the ways I practice self care is have a bit of a pamper. I have a warm bath with some ESPA Baths Oil, my favourite one is the fitness one. It relaxes the muscles and smells amazing too. Hair masks and face masks are so simple to do but make me feel a million dollars. I usually put my diffuser on with my lavender essential oil and put on of my audible books on to chill out.
Other ways I practice self care is doing a workout or some yoga, I usually have a massage at least once a month (I do work in a salon so this is very easy and also very tempting for me to have one when I’m giving them all day everyday.) I’m also trying to be a lot more positive and manifesting and I’ve noticed such a positive change in my way of thinking. Quotes are also a fab way to do this.
The Black Princess Diaries
Self care is so important! I believe that people need to learn to practice it more…including myself. I’m not the best at consistently practicing self care, but I try every so often to take some time out of my day to show myself some self love. It’s especially important now with all of the chaos in the world. Here are a few of my favorite ways that I love to practice self care!
Mini Spa. I love to almost have like a mini spa. I take a nice hot shower where I’ll wash my hair if need be, shave, etc. It feels so good to when I come out the shower all smooth and with clean hair. After the shower, I’ll put on a face mask. I love to use the Aztec clay mask. It works really well for me. I also put it on my hair sometimes. While my mask is setting, I’ll moisturize my body so my skin is nice and soft. Once my mask is done, I’ll moisturize my face and put on some lip balm. Lastly, I’ll do my nails and toes. Once done, I feel so refreshed and like a new woman!
Binging YouTube and TV. Another favorite way I like to practice self care is to step away from work for a bit and to just catch up on episodes I’ve missed or YouTube videos. Right now I haven’t been at my job since Covid, but typically I’m working there as well as working on my blog. My blog alone takes most of my days, so both really keep me exhausted and busy. Planning time to just relax and binge watch shows and video really help me to calm my brain and relax for a little bit.
Hanging with friends. For me, hanging with my friends is a form of self care because it gets me out of my house and because my friends always make me laugh so hard. We’re just so silly together and I forget anything I may be dealing with for that moment. Unfortunately, because of Corona, I have been unable to hang with my friends, which is why you have to supervise. Now, we talk in group chats to check up and maybe one day we’ll even do zoom calls or Skype calls.
About the Author:
Deandra is a blogger and podcaster. She is a lifestyle blogger with topics such as beauty, poetry, open discussion, and lifestyle in general. If you’d like to keep up with Deandra and read more of her work, check out her links below!
Music is such a huge part of my life and it’s something that I do every day. Usually I’ll listen to music as a background for whatever activity I’m doing, whether it’s writing a blog post, going for a run or while I’m cooking. But I think there’s something about actively listening to music (and not doing anything else at the same time) that’s so good for the soul. I love putting on a really chilled ambient playlist and listening through headphones in the evening. It’s so calming! Other times I’ll whack on an ‘old skool’ 00s hits playlist and have a dance. I just love how versatile music is, there’s something for every mood. It’s the ultimate form of self-care for me.
One of my favourite ways to practice self-care is to take breaks from the outside world and take time to myself. I love disconnecting from my phone and my blog every now and then and have time to myself to work on myself. This is the best way to work on your work-life balance. I take time away from work, from my blog and from social media means so that I can focus on myself. I normally do things like read my current book or go for a walk and get a bit of fresh air and just take a break from anything that would have been stressing me out. It gives me time to think things over and just breathe.
To some people putting on a face mask and having a bath is all the self-care they need but I believe we need to do more than this to truly take care of ourselves. Don’t get me wrong though, I do appreciate a good relaxing bath to melt away the stress of the week. Other external care that helps me feel better is my skin care routine. I have recently grown my skin care as it is something I am passionate about, and so love I researching it. Having some sort of routine in the morning and evening can be very calming whether like me it is skin care or for some working out or practising a hobby. However, more importantly, we need to take care of ourselves from the inside. Eating healthy and working out could be a start but we also need to have a positive mental attitude towards ourselves. Getting rid of any negativity in our lives is so important, including friends that drain you. I found reciting positive things about myself, to myself really helps. These little mantras, if said regularly, can really change your thought patterns. For more self-care tips that I have found helpful, look at my self-love blog.
Self-care is vital for each and every one of us as we often need reminding how important we are. There’s a variety of ways you can focus on loving yourself however, one of my favourite ways at the moment is waking up early. When I was at University I had a tendency of going to sleep around 7am and waking up at 5pm, constantly repeating the cycle all because them £1 a drink student nights reeled me in. Therefore, changing this bad habit will allow us to become much more productive, focused and motivated in our daily routines. Currently I wake around 6/6:30am, I lay in bed for a little while and DO NOT touch my phone until at least 7:30am. It’s said that jumping straight onto your phone interferes with your ability to prioritise tasks, thus you become easily distracted throughout your day and unable to attack certain tasks with the amount of productivity we would have if we didn’t go on our phone in the morning. Waking earlier actually improves your sense of concentration, memory abilities, provides you with more energy and reduces your stress levels. See how else I practice self care.
Alisha | Inside The Voyage
My favourite way to practice self-care, especially during lockdown, is to journal. I used to be terrible at keeping a diary, and never lasted more than doing it for probably four days in a row, but I absolutely fell in love with the concept of bullet journaling. I find that being creative is a great outlet for me, so when I’m feeling overwhelmed by things it’s great to pick up a journal and draw, scribble and get things off my chest in that little book.
Since leaving university, my head is always filled with ideas of what I want my career to be, how much money I should or shouldn’t be spending and so much more. It’s great to use a journal as a way of getting lots of thoughts out of your brain at once and onto a more manageable place; on paper. During the last few months, too, I’ve had so many plans for my blog and have still been working five days a week, so it’s fair to say my brain has been in overdrive!
For anyone that needs to have a little place to vent, plan, motivate – whatever – don’t be afraid to try journaling! You don’t have to be creative at all, just make it your own and enjoy having those pages to explore your mind and life. I’ve got more self-care tips over on my blog dedicated to graduates, students and young adults trying to navigate the world!
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
*Note - I am not an affiliate for any of these apps, I just find them useful and think they would be beneficial for you.
Apps for blogging
Apps for Lifestyle
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
Join my mailing list for exclusive content and resources here.
Our Bournemouth 7s Themed Party
Other ideas on planning a festival party in your garden
Social Icons