Slipping

Me in Bath...summer school was awesome!

Im back from my Open University summer school in Bath now - had a great time.  Just had a 14 hour sleep (yes...fourteen) to catch up on some serious sleep deprivation due to rubbish university accommodation and too much fun.

However, this trip, and my recent trip to Turkey and Greece, have got me thinking about how certain elements of my life on the road are most definitely not sustainable long term.  As my master plan is to embark on long term travel, I really need to get these issues resolved before I go.

Beautiful Bath

1. Diet.  At home I eat super healthily - when Im on the road I eat pretty much anything that is offered to me.  While Im great at not buying rubbish food from supermarkets at home, when Im away I eat food that I would never dream of eating at home.  And so much of it!
2. Skincare.  I have badly behaved skin, so it is really important that I look after it.  This is partly linked in to item one as my skin likes me to eat well.  But it also involves taking the time to cleanse it properly, do face masks, exfoliate etc etc.  It will forgive my abuse for a couple of weeks...but over a longer time period I need to get this sorted.
3. Exercise.  At home my workout schedule is pretty much sorted and I am very good at committing to it. On the road...not a chance.  Im not that keen on doing yoga or situps and stuff in front of other people, it can also be hard to find a suitable surface to do things on.  But I rapidly start to notice the difference when I dont work out daily - and its not a great difference.
4. General girl stuff.  All the normal stuff like doing my nails, shaving my legs, taking makeup off at night, taking vitamins, plucking my eyebrows etc just slowly start to slip... until by the end of a few weeks I do kind of start to look as if I lived under a bush.  Not great.  Especially as I would like to find my future husband out there one day!

The not-so-beautiful Bath university campus

 I guess everyone has things which slip when they are outside their usual schedule, but I know that nailing these sustainability issues will make my long term travel experience a lot easier and help me transition into a nomadic life without losing myself along the way.