I have decided I’ll start a new feature on here; every Monday I’ll talk about five random things I’ve been thinking about over the last week. So, here’s a bit of insight into my weird and wonderful mind!

1. My generation was the last to enjoy an Internet-free childhood 

I’m currently back in my home village of Ora, which is always a ‘grounding’ experience for me. There’s something lovely about returning to your home town and being surrounded by the people who you grew up with (and it’s also scary to know that some of my friends now have kids who are in high school – whaaaaat?!). It’s also always a nice, gentle reminder that none of us are getting younger, and it makes me realise that the years are flying by – I remember playing volleyball over a string that we’d tie across the street with these people, and now we’re all in our 30s?!

I was sat talking with some of my brother’s friends the other night, and we were all discussing how we were the last generation to enjoy an Internet-free childhood – and damn, was it better than now! We lived in a village of no more than 250 inhabitants, which meant we had to find our own ways to entertain ourselves – summers were spent going on long walks, watching shooting stars, and playing cards on our verandas. Happy, care-free days.

We didn’t have the Internet as a distraction; there were no smartphones and tablets, no Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. The only limit to the entertainment we would find was our imagination, and I’m deeply nostalgic for those times. It also makes me sad and happy in equal measure that we were the last people to enjoy a childhood like that.

2. Life without travel plans is bo-ring!

I realised this week that the only upcoming travel plans I have are as follows: Sweden in May, when I’m scheduled to drink Champagne in a gorgeous country house with some lovely friends that I made in Skyros, and Amsterdam later on this year to visit a very close friend of mine who’s moving there next month. THIS ISN’T ENOUGH!

Hence, one of my biggest tasks of this week is to make some more concrete travel plans. Yes, I need to work hard over the next month or so to save some more money, but I need to have something to look forward to. I’m very much looking to stick to Europe for now, although I know winter is upon us, which will make some destinations less attractive. I’m itching to return to Greece to scope Athens out as a future base and I’m also hoping to finally make it to Italy – the food, the culture, the charming men!

3. Living in Dubai and dealing with the heat from the comfort of your air-conditioned home is not the same as…

…surviving a scorching Cypriot summer without AC. ARGH! My house is like a damn oven and I have three showers a day just to keep the sweat at bay – YUCK. I’m seriously considering doing what my stepdad does sometimes and sleeping outside – it’s far cooler out there. If only mosquitos didn’t view me as an open banquet. Sigh.

4. Visualising your future is the way forward

One of the many things we did in our Skyros sessions was to visualise a happy future for ourselves – Dina, our ‘teacher,’ would totally get us in the groove with the visualisations, and while I was sceptical about this kind of exercise before, once I went with it and tried it out I realised there’s A LOT of merit in it. I could really see myself in this future, and it felt good. It also then helped me to backtrack over the years and see what steps I need to take in order to get to the future I want.

One picture I keep in my mind is of me, at my book launch, sipping Champagne. I don’t even care if my publisher isn’t paying for it, I’ll tell you right now THERE WILL BE DAMN CHAMPAGNE AT MY BOOK LAUNCH. Loads of it. So if you want to get in my good books, do it from now – perhaps you’ll get an invite 🙂

5. I miss Skyros…

Speaking of Skyros, I can’t stop thinking about that magical little island that stole my heart, and the wonderful people whom I met while I was there. I’ve been keeping in touch with many of them and I miss them dearly. Those two weeks were so transformative for me and I will never forget a moment that we spent there.

What are your random thoughts of the week?

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