Here, there and everywhere.

Here, there and everywhere. My new life.

(Stirling – Edinburgh – Bath – London – Sigulda – Oslo -) Lillehammer – London – Isle of Wight – Bath – Edinburgh – Stirling – Edinburgh – Bath – Edinburgh – Stirling – Edinburgh – London – Frankfurt – Winterberg

That pretty much sums up my life since the 28^th September 2015 until today, the 14^th November 15.

I am a packing pro, airport security whiz and hotel dweller. It is exhausting!! But it is obviously a total privilege at the same time and ultimately the life of dreams. Full-time athlete, travelling the world, chipping away at my goal from whichever city or place I happen to be in that day.

Last night I stayed overnight in a Yotel at Gatwick airport. It was a new experience; a tiny pod which you rent for 4+ hours, aimed at people transferring between flights. I flew into Gatwick as a means to be in London for my flight from Heathrow today so it was an ideal set up, if a little weird (compact to say the least). Although I started my travels yesterday (well technically Wednesday when I left my flat to stay with James) today is our official travel day. So I am on my way to Heathrow; currently having a small panic over which station the train is stopped at and hoping it isn’t mine as I am sat typing away!

But what else has been happening?

I had 3 weeks at home between camps (Lillehammer and Winterberg). And you can see from the listed places at the top of the blog I have sure got around! First of all I got to go home and see my friends and family which was an unexpected bonus of leaving Lillehammer early. It coincided with my aunts 60^th birthday party and a conker competition (separate events) and meant I got to see almost all my (large) family J

On my way home to Scotland I stopped off in Bath to catch up with the skeleton support team and set a plan for the next few weeks. I also got to see fellow talents Craig and Ellie as well as some friends that live in Bath. An expensive flight later and I was reunited with James after almost five weeks apart (long!).

Then it was time to turn 27 (eek)!! My birthday was the 1^st November and I spent it with James in Edinburgh. I was totally spoiled and had an amazing weekend that including 2 nights in a 5* hotel, a huge bed and fluffy white dressing gowns, a lot of AMAZING food, clothes shopping, pumpkin carving, lovely cards and presents and of course a gin or two.

Birthday high over (for now) it was back to business and life. Training, and of course another trip to Bath. Can you see where all my money goes?! I reckon I keep the Edinburgh – Bristol EasyJet flight in business! I did make a good trip of Bath though actually; as well as training I met with a sponsor (project to be revealed in a few weeks!) and gave a talk to the current undergraduates on the Sport and Exercise course that I did. The talk was about my journey since graduating in 2011 and I think it is important to pass on the messages to students about how they can make themselves employable beyond having a degree.

Just prior to the trip to Bath I launched my crowdfunding campaign with PledgeSports. I’d been threatening to crowdfund since deciding on going full-time with skeleton and taking an unpaid career break. As I’d not secured any sponsors the traditional way and my bank balance was ALL expenditure I had to bite the bullet. I did a fair bit of work prior to the launch, spending time on my campaign page and deciding on my rewards as well as spreading the word amongst friends, family and contacts I’d made. BUT nothing prepared me for the success it has (so far) been and the generosity of people I know and interest of the local Isle of Wight media. It is currently sat at approximately 91% of the £2000 target I’d set. It was really tricky to set a target as I didn’t know how popular the campaign would be; I thought £2000 was ambitious! I need to raise enough money to fund myself fully until April 2016 and £2000 whilst significant will not cover me for 6 months so any additional support I receive beyond £2000 will be fantastic. I am enjoying the crowdfunding campaign though; it is making me be creative with rewards and also I am learning more about the use of social media as I strive to keep on top of it all! Luckily I have discovered HootSuite for scheduling posts which is useful; especially when we are on the move and have erratic wifi!

So that leads me to this week. For the first time in about 7 weeks I had a week with no travel planned (well almost!). I do tend to dart between Stirling and Edinburgh but apart from that I had 7 days with no travel. I managed to drag my birthday out over the week too J many people had posted gifts to me so I got to open them as they arrived or hunt them down as I’d given out the wrong postcode (blonde pass please). And then on Saturday I saw two of my best friends for celebrations; we are all always busy so it was good to catch up and spend some time together.

Birthday and crowdfunding high aside; training was going well and I’d started preparations for the next camp; Winterberg. This involves buying essentials (ankle guards, sanding block and ibuprofen) packing, arranging travel to the airport and of course learning the track and committing the steers to memory. This helps significantly when you arrive as you can focus more on the finer details rather than the basics.

Finally, I am at today. Travel day. I didn’t have the smoothest journey to Heathrow today. Obviously the attack on Paris happened last night and has left a bitter tinge on the trip; thoughts are with all of those affected and the City. The idea of travelling today off the back of the monstrous acts didn’t sit well with me but the flight was booked and I had to be on it. Just as I was on the (delayed) train from Gatwick news spread that a man had been held because of a suspicious package and North Terminal had been evacuated. Ominous..

But apart from delays, engineering works the general hustle and bustle of London (I never wish to live there) and standard airport security newbies I made it to Heathrow and found the team. There are five of us sliding this camp; it is a short one but we all like this track and are looking forward to it. Once we land there’s a 2 h drive ahead (I’m driving) and the aim is to not get a speeding ticket (got 2 last year) and to not get locked in the track (this also happened last season). It’s always #subjecttochange.

p.s I just got given a scrambled egg and cheese sandwich on the plane (we are flying with Lufthansa)… I’m unsure!