The end of this decade has really crept up on me. I can hardly believe that is now 2020!





This time last year, I wrote a piece on setting New Year Resolutions and how I'm not really a fan. Instead, I prefer assigning a word to the year as an intention.





With all that said, I want to take a quick look back at what has been an incredibly formative decade in 10 photos.





In 2010, I was 15. I had just received my dSLR (a Canon 550D that is still going strong to this day) and had just begun my journey into learning photography.









Despite being right in the middle of the dreaded International Baccalaureate, I was photographing throughout 2011!









In 2012, I finished up at my sixth form and started my undergraduate degree at the University of Stirling!









2013 was the year I founded The Travelling Quill!









2014 is hard to summarise with just one photo! I did so much travelling in this year, it was a bit exhausting. Asia in January, Africa in June and a semester in North America in the autumn.









In 2015... I actually did some uni work, but also managed a few trips here and there...









In 2016, I graduate and started my first job, which took me to some very exciting places in and around Scotland!









2017 saw me visit somewhere a bit more out of the way, Gibraltar, as well as some more touristy destinations in the US...









In 2018, I started working in the third sector, but still managed time to visit Bruges and manage another trip to the Highlands!









And lastly, 2019 was when I threw myself into art (but still managed a trip to Italy!)









It's a bit overwhelming to look back over all of these memories! I remember being a kid and working out that I'd be 25 by the time 2020 came around. It seemed light years away and I could hardly wrap my head around being that old. And yet, here I am! Mid-20s and trying to navigate all that comes with Being A Grown Up.





I'm not sure just yet what word I'll set as my intention for 2020, but I suspect it will be more academic than previous words as I'll be heading back to university to begin my Masters degree in September! Looking back over the years as shown me how different I am now to that quiet girl who fled London to Scotland aged 18, and how much I've grown in confidence as my own person.





Here's to many more adventures in the new decade.


1 - Into the Woods
2 - October
3 - Bonfire Night
4 - Flat Christmas
5 - Dissertation Lab
6 - 'Adventure'
8 - Balquhidder and Loch Voil
8 - April Showers?

9 - Bluebells in the Hermitage Wood


10 - Riverside

At the risk of becoming far too emotional (I'll save that for the graduation post!), I'll try to keep things brief! This year has flown by faster than any other academic year in my memory. I've lived with wonderful people, conducted my own psychology experiment, written a hefty dissertation, and somehow still found the time to explore new parts of Scotland. 

My room is all packed into boxes ready to be loaded into the car and it hasn't quite hit me that I won't be returning to this beautiful campus in September. I won't have another year of attempting to navigate the labyrinth of Cottrell, the weekly pub quizzes at the union, or narrowly avoiding an altercation with the swans when walking to the Atrium... 

All I'll say is people better watch out at graduation. There will be enough bittersweet tears to create Loch Airthrey three times over. ;)
It feels like just last week that I was writing my 2014 post but somehow I've blinked and another year has flown by!

1 - Perthshire/Trossachs and Sea Lochs Road Trip
2 - Edinburgh Zoo 
3 - St Andrews
4 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
5 - Kennedy Space Center
6 - Dolphin Research Center
7 - Harry Potter Studio Tour
8 - British Wildlife Centre
9 - Bridge of Allan Fireworks
10 - Winter
2015 had ups and downs like every year but I think I can say on the whole that it was very, very good to me. I returned from an incredible semester studying abroad to lots of lovely friends and family, took an impromptu road trip around the heart of Scotland, visited Edinburgh Zoo (twice), saw a solar eclipse, surprised my brother, visited the ancient ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, took a trip to Hogwarts (twice), walked around a rocket garden, melted on a very famous beach, found a turtle nest, achieved my childhood dream and got peed on by a gecko in the same day, dressed up for a day at the races, proved I haven't grown up at all by visiting an animal centre for my 21st birthday, became vegetarian, began work on my dissertation, started practising yoga, experienced VR for the first time in my life, celebrated my grandad's 90th birthday, got some arty fireworks shots, had a wonderful flat Christmas, and last but not least, celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday!

While I'm not one to make firm all-or-nothing resolutions, I have several daily journals I plan on keeping in 2016. I also want to get more into yoga and meditation this year and to find a job I enjoy after I graduate (with what will hopefully be a respectable degree classification!). Above all, I want to travel! There's still so much of the world to see and so little time to see it!

I hope 2016 is good to you too! May your health be good, your heart happy, and your travel adventurous!
I'm always left dumbfounded at how quickly these posts come around.
I won't lie. I don't really know how 2015 will beat this year.

1 - Bali
1 - Return to Loch Katrine
I can safely say this year has been fantastic. In 2013, I completed my first year of university, signed up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for AICR, got accepted to Study Abroad at the University of Victoria, started playing violin, read 50 books, and most importantly, founded The Travelling Quill. 

1 - Taking uni friends around a very cold London
I can honestly say, having been moved in to my new flat for almost a month now, that I have never missed internet access more in my life than in the past few weeks. However, the flat is now fully functional (and by that I mean it's student-functional so it's freezing, the shower is awful and everyone is freaking out about bills but at least we have WiFi now!). I've been busying myself by talking to scared freshers and joining clubs. I was out on the loch today giving kayaking a go which I supremely enjoyed. I can foresee many exciting trips with them if I join!

Normal service will resume shortly as I catch up on the internet, so in the meantime, here is my summer of 2013 in 10 photos! 

1 - Ólafur Arnalds at Leicester Cathedral
Two nights left in halls and I'm busy attempting to pack so here's a short post: my first year at Stirling University in 10 photos!

1 - Pranks in Halls