Spontaneity is the BEST kind of adventure.

Well, I've just come back from a lovely little break in Spain after only booking it a week in advance. After spending months looking for holidays and things getting delayed, avoiding booking things, money getting in the way and time running away from us... I didn't think I'd get the chance to go away at all this year and it was driving me insane. So basically, I went on a load of last minute holiday websites and I said to my friend, who also had the same travel itch as I did,

'I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going. Are you coming with me?'

And of course, the answer was 'Yes. YES. YES!'. Within a couple of hours of looking, we found a brilliant deal and just booked it. Nothing planned, just 4 nights in Spain near Barcelona. Finally. going somewhere new, creating new memories and getting a well deserved break after finishing University this year. It was so exciting to book something and only have a 7 day countdown. We started trying to plan things to do in the short amount of time we were there but we just decided to plan to be spontaneous, as contradicting as that sounds. Obviously we knew that on one of the days, we wanted to go into central Barcelona as we were staying about an hour away from there. But other than that, we had no idea what we were going to do, knew nothing about the area we were staying in, but just turned up and just explored, and discovered the nicest little places in this Spanish town. When we first arrived, our thoughts were 'dingy, washed up, tourist destination that people have forgotten about' but that wasn't the case at all. We found where it was all happening and when we were sat out for dinner and sangria dining al fresco, we happened to be front row to some kind of 'drum-off' fiesta! There were groups of drummers doing their little routines, passing by us, and just making us feel really happy about our decision to come to this holiday destination.

Now, this may have been because of the Sangria... but either way, we had an amazing time. We then just sat on the beach and watched the sun go down, and it was just lovely sitting there, finding the prettiest stones and shells. It's moments like those I enjoy the most. That whole day was so completely unplanned, it started off with swimming in the hotel pool, sunbathing, eating lunch at the hotel bar, sunbathing and swimming some more, then a stroll around new parts of the place we were staying in, finding the cutest little restaurant and accidentally stumbling across the fiesta, then the sunset on the beach. It was just wonderful.

              The best times in life are usually random, unplanned and completely spontaneous.

I could go on and talk about how many memories we made, and all of the new culture we experienced, but I'm afraid it would take way too long. Travel is something that every single person should experience. When was the last time you did something for the first time? That's something that travelling can offer you. Every single day, you can try something new, whether it's food that originated from that particular country, an original landmark that you won't see anywhere else, or even just a sunset over a beach you've never walked across...

"Travelling's not something you're good at. It's something you should do. Like breathing." 

- Gayle Foreman

"In the end, we only regret the chances that we didn't take."

I have had two audition invites in the past couple of days. One in London, and the other in Wolverhampton. They are both very exciting opportunities, and I'm so happy that I've been asked to audition.

The first one I received was the London audition, and I was over the moon because it was the first one I put myself forward for and they actually wanted to meet me. I didn't have to think twice about going, I got on Megabus and booked my ticket straight away. I love London, and I'm on familiar territory when I'm there, so I felt completely comfortable just going for it. (Although, I did ask a lot of my actor friends to send off applications too, because hey, a little company wouldn't be a bad thing.) Anyway, I'm very excited about this audition as it's something I've not really thought about doing until I read the description of it. I found myself grinning, thinking to myself, 'HELL YEAH'.

The next one, however, I found a little more daunting. I have never been to Wolverhampton before, everything felt completely alien and after looking at the 5hr 22 minute one-way train journey and £30-£40 return ticket, I started to doubt myself and why I would even bother going that far for an audition that may not even last more than two hours. But then I thought, "Hey. Why don't you try something that puts you out of your comfort zone? Take a risk?", the thing that I've been saying is the biggest thing I've learnt from my time at UWTSD. Why not put it into practice in the real world, and not just with my craft? It's time to grab life by the horns, and take control of my own future. Who knows? This could be the job I get! How will I know, if I don't even try? The train tickets are booked.

So, I am going to go to these auditions and try my absolute hardest and give it all I have. That's all I can do. No matter what happens with these auditions though, the point is, as the title of this post says, "In the end, we only regret the chances that we didn't take." Everything in life, I believe, is a learning experience, and there will be, without a doubt, things I can take away from both of these experiences.

But most importantly, I will remember;

If it's meant to be, it will be.