Where to begin…

Around this time last year I decided to take a year out of medicine. Quite honestly, the decision surprised myself. I had always been determined to complete the course as quickly as possible. I was desperate to have a career, stability and independence. I didn’t take a gap year. I went straight from college to Leeds and I struggled with university. I struggled to find a sense of belonging anywhere. I’ve since come to realise that there is no quick route to adulthood. My personal life had immense challenges and after a period of difficult events at university, I decided I needed to put myself first. I needed to look after myself before I could look after other people.

With surprising support from the university and, at first, with some resistance from my parents, over a few months I processed the decision to suspend my studies for one year. It is the best decision I have ever made. I have never felt so mentally and physically well. This year has given me time and allowed me to pursue help I had previously pushed aside when putting my studies first. I have been working full time, which has increased my maturity and experience of the ‘real world’ hugely. I worked as a phlebotomist, which allowed me to keep up clinical skills and work alongside some fantastic nurses. I have also worked as a receptionist in two GP surgeries. Never should the work a receptionist go unappreciated, the patient demand and problem solving that comes with the job is exponential.  Overall I have learnt more about patient contact, roles within the NHS and professionalism than I have at medical school and I hope I will be a better doctor and patient because of it. Never again will I insist on a prescription for antibiotics for tonsillitis.

Rather than rushing through my years in desperation to achieve happiness, I have changed my stance to enjoy the journey and see where it takes you. I have learnt to enjoy being young and wide-eyed and inexperienced and to enjoy being passionate and surprised by life’s adventures. I have learnt to view hard times as learning opportunities and value their lessons, as those lessons will eventually provide empathy and understanding with others.

Two years ago I experienced my first taste of travelling. I backpacked solo through Sri Lanka. This was a breakthrough for me, as a few months prior I would not have had the confidence to do this. But I felt a strong urge to do something amazing and to make it happen. All I needed to do was buy my flights, a cash passport, a rucksack, a few packing essentials and a lonely planet. I was amazed at how simple it was! The hardest part of travelling were not what I initially imagined, getting from A to B was fairly straightforward, in Sri Lanka there were always buses and trains to my next destination, and always someone happy to help you if you were stuck. The hardest part was the anxiety and fear of the unknown. And I learnt very quickly to only travel in daylight and with fellow travellers where possible.

I was taken aback by how beautiful and colourful this world is, how warm and welcoming people are where there are no social constraints or masks to hide behind, how I could meet true friends halfway up a mountain at 3 in the morning several thousand miles away from home.

So this brings me to today. I have had a fairly tough few months, working several jobs and pulling money together to clear a stomach-dropping overdraft I occurred from 3 years of senseless spending at university, and to save to travel to somewhere new. Those two friends I met at Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka have inspired this next journey, with a shared love of backpacking, adventure and surfing. I will be flying to Nicaragua in a few days time. I have butterflies in my heart and stomach and fleeting worries of getting everything ready and hoping all my connections go to plan. I am trying not to think too hard how much I’m going to miss Ben and how terrible my Spanish is. I have a desperate yearning to feel the sun on my back and to have that complete sense of happiness where the world cannot touch you, where there is no need to fear loneliness, social pressure, insecurities, my bank balance or expectation because as long as you have a bed for the night and a good meal inside of you, you are blessed. To see a world where sunlight sparkles against the sea and is shielded by canopies of rainforest you are privileged. That despite language barriers you can connect to others with a simple smile. To know that the world is only as scary as the fear we attach to it.

Writing gives me a sense of healing, and is my antidote to anxiety. Without conscious effort memories fade faster than we anticipate, therefore I am disregarding my half-hearted resistance to social media and keeping a blog of my adventures. I am marvelling at the prospect of keeping a journal preserved in the internet, rather than on scrappy bits of paper that eventually die a death after one too many rickety bus rides. I am very excited to be putting my travels into words and keeping you all updated. Wish me luck!

Imogen

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Dalhousie, Sri Lanka