Being home for the summer is a breath of fresh air, taking a break from the hectic schedule I give myself in Edinburgh with uni, work and dance. I get to move back in with my family which means I don’t always have to go to the shop, clean my own clothes and cook my own food, although I do sometimes. It’s nice to spend some time with my family again because I do miss them while I’m away.

The other main benefit about being home is being around my home friends who I haven’t been able to see for quite a while due to the aforementioned busy-ness. To begin with, being home is one catch up after another and it’s really nice to reconnect with these people.

It’s interesting to be back in the familiarity of my wee home town Peterhead – which has its pro’s and con’s. The negatives come in the form of the typical small town woes, such as the frustration of people being over-involved in other people’s lives after getting used to the anonymity of the city. Being back here and being back in my childhood bedroom does also make me feel like a baby sometimes which can feel strange.

But being home also means being able to drive myself around again, it means being in driving distance to some of my favourite local places (mostly nature sites because we don’t really have a lot in terms of civilisation). It means that anywhere you go, you recognise at least 5 people that you haven’t seen since school. It means not having the stress of assignments and teaching dance classes and having extra stresses that come along with my life in the city.

My summer at home includes working full time at an embroidery, serving customers ordering school uniforms and operating embroidery machines which is pretty fun. The 9-5 life is enjoyable, although it feels pretty tiring to first acclimatise to the whole having something to do all day, every day thing. Even though I have to wake up early every morning, I suppose my body clock will be grateful for the regularity and I also have the joy of switching my mind off when the clock strikes 5pm and am then free to do whatever I want. In addition to working I try to gym and/or swim a couple of times a week and I am desperately trying to hold on to my dancer fitness, flexibility and creativity by moving as often as I can.

This summer also has some exciting moments to come such as volunteering at the Scottish and Northern Rock Challenge finals in Dundee and Grimsby which are some of my favourite events to work at. I am also going to TRSMT music festival with my friends in July to see Radiohead, Kasabian and the all time favourites Biffy Clyro which will be super fun. After that I’m then going to visit my uni dance love Marion at her home in Belgium, where she is gonna show me her home and a few other nearby cities! The perks of having European friends ❤

So overall it’s gonna be a great summer making a few dolla, seeing friends and doing some fun things before I’m back to Edinburgh for the festival and to start the 3rd year of my degree!