The price of travel?

ITV2 has recently announced a new TV show in which Tom Daley goes backpacking around the world. Now, don't get me wrong, I do love Tom and it is likely I will end up watching the TV show, but I am a bit peeved about this concept.

What bugs me about it mainly is that these celebrities already have a significant amount of money behind them from previous things they have done, yet they are being paid by TV stations, in this case ITV2, to do something that many people have to save years for.

This is something that has really ruffled my feathers recently because travelling is something that I really want to do after I graduate next year, but after a massive reality check I realised that there is pretty much no way in hell that I will be able to afford to do this until a few years after graduation. Some of you may think that I should be patient and stop complaining, but as someone who will come out of university with debt exceeding £50,000 and a degree that I probably won't be able to start a profession in for many years due to budget cuts in the Ministry of Justice, I want to get as much life experiences under my belt as possible before I have the opportunity to settle in to a full-time job. 

Travelling is something that many people tend to do on a gap year, or normally when they are a little older further on in life. However, due to the shit nature of the industry I want to work in, there is a possibility I can get a job straight from university or I could go back to working in a cafe and have a grueling few years job hunting. Travelling offers life experience and the opportunity to see the world that is otherwise almost impossible to get - and travelling is something of a bit of a passion for me, and I love nothing more than seeing new places.

Don't get me wrong, the program will probably be a good watch and I will watch it to see the places they visit. The trailer for the program shows Tom and his friend experiencing many adrenaline-fueled activities including bungee jumping, skydiving, off-roading, camel riding and many more activities that the average person would have to pay hundreds of pounds for to be able to enjoy. They also get the cultural side of travelling, with something different in each country. The ITV2 website states that it isn't all "VIP packages and hotels" and that they "rough it backpacker style" - what is wrong with that?! I would absolutely love to do that, and definitely wouldn't call it 'roughing it', it's all part of the experience and would be incredible!

The show sees them go to 6 countries over six weeks including Japan, Australia, Thailand, Morocco and New Zealand - which happen to be some of the most expensive places to visit. It costs on average approximately anything around £10,000 to travel similarly to what they have done in this program. It will take me around 5 years to save up to be able to achieve that sort of level of travelling, and I would also like to travel Europe on top of this.

What I don't understand is why ITV2, or any other television company, doesn't pay a normal bunch of friends to go travelling and experience these activities and opportunities. It would be an authentic reaction and probably pretty good viewing on television, and would provide that group with an experience they could probably only dream of. Or even allocate a budget to the group and follow them as they plan, book, and embark on their own journey, without the interference of anyone else. This would definitely be something I would watch, and could turn in to something that inspires many people to go travelling! 

I am definitely volunteering myself and my friends for this if anyone wants to take up my proposition! 

I am expecting a significant amount of backlash from this where people are saying I am ungrateful, or that I should have done a different degree, or not gone to university at all if I want to do all these things. I went to university to better myself as a person - it has significantly changed me for the better, and I went to hopefully get myself a better career in a few years time than just being stuck in waitressing all my life. Travelling is something that has always been on the agenda for me, and I didn't take a gap year because of the sheer fact I knew I wouldn't then go to university and I would regret it for the rest of my life. The opportunity to travel will probably be very small, or I won't get to do it at all, but it is my goal whether it takes me 5 months or 5 years to save for.

So this is my rant over, for any of you wishing to watch Tom Daley Goes Global it starts Thursday April 10 at 9pm on ITV2.

As always thank you for reading, don't forget to follow me on all my social media over on the right, and I will see you next time!

I can show you the world

Hello there, buddies.

If you didn't sing that to the song from Aladdin we can no longer be friends....I am kidding....Much love. 

I am not sure of the direction that this post is taking....this literally could go anywhere. It could turn in to one of my typical rants, a random post telling you of my failed attempts at doing maths, or we could really go off on a tangent and start talking about purple flying pigs with unicorn horns....I don't know.

Well you all know how much I am dying to do some travelling after my 3 years at university. With my little bunch of friends, we planned out an entire list of about 200 places we wanted to visit. We got all excited and whatnot for it when we realised the only way that it would be possible in anything less than 50 years would be if we all won the lottery. Which deeply saddens me as it won't happen. So we brainstormed a few other ideas. Travelling is something the 5 of us are all seriously wanting to do as none of us took a gap year between sixth

We then went on to plan a 2 week holiday (vacation) to Florida to stay in Disney World as we thought it would be considerably cheaper and more affordable. So we figured it all out and we would all be able to afford it by July 2015. So we got planning and got our dates settled, a quote for a rough price and we got saving. I even made a chart with over 2000 squares on that I could colour in for every pound I saved. Now, the only way we would afford to go to Florida was with Thomas Cook as they are considerably cheaper than the likes of Virgin. When I fly to Florida with my family we go with Thomas Cook - we used to go with Virgin Atlantic but it is far more expensive now. Thomas Cook have since decided that they are no longer flying out of Gatwick airport to go to Florida and the only places they are now going from is Manchester and Glasgow. This I found really fucking irritating due to the fact that most of us live within a close proximity of London (I can be in London in just over 1 hour 15 minutes) so it would be cheap for us to get there. Since Thomas Cook have decided to stop flying from there, our prices would have sky-rocketed another couple of hundreds of pounds to get to the other airports to fly out. Long story short, we have abandoned those plans.

We then re-evaluated and thought that we might be able to do a bit of backpacking and travelling around Australia. Now I can imagine that you are raising your eyebrows at me as Australia is considerably more expensive than Florida. Well shockingly, you are wrong. We did the maths and travelling around Australia for 6 weeks was a bit cheaper than going to Florida for 2 weeks. So we got planning for that also. Now this was a solid plan up until about 5 days ago when we sat down and had a serious chat. We decided that whilst travelling around Australia was affordable, it was not realistic for a bunch of recent graduates with 3 years worth of debt behind them. It turns out we would need about 6 months to do all the stuff we wanted to do. We thought that we could narrow down our list of places we wanted to visit and cut out some of the experiences so that we could do it in two months, but it just wasn't happening as there is so much to do. Basically we have had to completely scrap that idea, too.

Several different conversations followed this shitty realisation. We considered buying an old truck/van/camper van and go on a road trip through America. This turned out too expensive.

Then we thought about literally slumming-it through anywhere abroad including Thailand, Australia and China, but we thought that it might be too dangerous. This is all turning out to be a bit of a bit let down, really. I am still genuinely considering giving up on the idea that I will go travelling until literally I am 50. You may think this is an exaggeration, but believe me, it is not. Especially since I struggled to even get a job this summer, which I am starting like two months late so I will get only four weeks worth of work - and it is casual hours so I might not even get any - despite this, I am extremely grateful for this job as it might have just saved my ass a little bit (a lot). But I am having to start to reign in my exceedingly high expectations of travelling *sob sob*.

So after it all got a bit doom and gloom, we then thought of something a little closer to home....why don't we look in to travelling around parts of Europe? So after some extensive research, we came across the fact that we can get a rail pass for some funky train that goes round the whole of Europe - how awesome?! Turns out it is only like £350 ish for a months unlimited pass, which is pretty cheap. So I made a list of all the countries and cities we want to visit and sort of complied them into a route (which is really awful, by the way...). I have since found a website that does it for me...but it keeps fucking up which is irritating me. So now we are doing a bit of maths (gah) to figure out how much money will have to be saved to travel. Hopefully it won't be too much as my loan is just getting smaller and smaller :( So you never know, you could be reading all about my awesome travels in a couple of years. So all keep your fingers crossed for me. Damn you, government, for lying about tuition fees. Fuckers.

On a slight side note, yet still weirdly related to this post, have you heard that Tom Daley and his friend Sophie are travelling the world with ITV for what I am guessing is free......?!!?! So apparently you now have to be a medal holding Olympic diver to travel the world. I am slightly annoyed at this to be perfectly honest. Sorry, Tom, you know I love you really. It takes normal people like me years to save for travelling, but some people get handed it. Seriously, ITV, you could have had an awesome bunch of desperate students travelling where you would get proper stuff from. Gah. Rage. I think ITV should pay me and my friends to travel the world. That would be nice. 

Hey, Richard Branson, if we traveled by Virgin planes the whole time would you sponsor us to travel and do a documentary on it? Plus crazy promos on my blog? I wonder if he ever would read this. No. No he would not. Was worth a shot though.

I do think that there aren't many options available for students to go travelling after uni. Yes, there are various gap year companies which offer these opportunities, but they seem to be aimed towards people who have had the chance to earn a fair amount of money as I think that they are still slightly expensive...that might just be me, though. I'd like to see more graduate travelling opportunities. I mean, we have spent 3 or so years studying our asses off to get a degree, so I would like a bit of a break to get some experiences under my belt, you know? I have a feeling that I am going to get a lot of negative comments on this about my money situation/people telling me to get a job. So before you post something like that read this: I applied to over 60 places for a job. I had 3 replies from them. One company, which I shall not name, turned me down after an interview as I was a student. This is so unfair!!! I will be spending my first few days back down in Plymouth looking for a job for the next two years, so if you know of any then let me know. Getting a job is hard; there aren't many of them about. So please do not tell me I am not doing enough because that is bullshit and I do not take kindly to those comments.

What are your thoughts on the options available for students to go travelling after graduation?

Anyways, I think I should stop writing because no one wants to read my annoying thing about the poor student who has no money.

There are plenty more posts like this in the pipeline, and some awesome original work from yours truly, so click "Join This Site" to see them before anyone else gets to!

I am also starting to take suggestions for things you would like to hear me rant about, so chuck them my way by any way you want and I will rant and rave about them!

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Off to Neverland

Hello there, buddies.

After the crazy success of yesterday's rant, I thought I would treat you to another one! This one definitely won't be as verbally aggressive as that one, but will probably be along the same lines.

I have come to the conclusion recently that growing up really does suck. I am starting to think that Peter Pan was seriously on to something with this whole never growing up thing - it would definitely be easier. Now I don't want to hear how I sound really spoiled by writing something like this, because I am really not. I have seen some people write about this sort of thing all over the internet and have loads of people older than them call them brats and whatnot. I am not like that! This is just my uni student brain being all ranty by saying life was easier as a kid. I am not saying that growing up is shit or anything because I am pretty happy with my grown-up life, but it is fucking difficult!  

So sit back, relax and enjoy my rant.

First of all, you have to pay bills and rent and everything and it fucking sucks, dude. I have to pay rent out of my student loan at the moment, but I still have to pay bills and whatnot. They don't prepare you for this shit in school, do they? No, no they do not! There are so many things that you don't get told about life when you're at school. No one tells you how much money gets spent on bills - it is crazy! 

Then there is the fact that you have to do your own food shopping. If you have never lived on your own you are probably thinking that I am stupid for getting annoyed about that. But I literally have no idea how my parents do food shopping because I never know what I want to buy when I go shopping. In my head I think that I want to eat these sort of things to eat, but then I don't buy the shit I need to make them. Why do I do that?! I never know what to buy anymore. Food shopping is so hard! 

I haaaaaaaaaaate cleaning so much. I really don't like it. Cleaning your own house is so much work and oh my God it makes you tired. Hoovering is so much effort, too. I like to live in a clean house and whatnot, but seriously, when you are on your own you just don't want to clean all the time. I am lucky enough to be able to live with people who aren't majorly messy, thank God! 

The worst part about growing up is that I now need an excuse to watch kids stuff, or do childish things! Like watch the Disney Channel or go to somewhere like Legoland.....Luckily for me I have younger cousins so I am just going to use that as an excuse. But I really do wish that I was younger so I could do these all again without feeling that I am being immature!

Then there is the money situation. This is not something that I will go in to because people just get shitty all the fucking time. But growing up means that you need to seriously manage your money. Gone are the times when I can willy-nilly buy something like a gig ticket, or a new DVD, or a magazine. I now have to think about what I am buying and what things the money could do towards. Which in some ways is really good but it means that I am not treating myself to little things as much as I would like to. I even have to budget for things like going out for a £2 coffee...that is terrible.

A downside about growing up is that all the things you believed in when you were little are all thrown out the window. Things like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are gone - all these things that made being a kid magical. Which sounds really stupid coming from an adult, but being a child was so exciting, there were no responsibilities for anything and the worst thing that could happen was that I would lose a Barbie doll. I miss those times.

Then you have to start thinking about what you want to do with your life, where you want to be in 5 years, and what sort of things you are interested in. This seems like a piece of cake, right? Wrong. I changed my mine 5 times in the space of a year before going to university. I could never decide on what I wanted to do. I have always had a keen interest in crime and stuff (studying it, not committing it!) so I decided on Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies. I am still happy with this decision, but look at me, I am a criminology student writing a blog about completely unrelated things! I keep getting told I should have gone in to journalism, or worked in teaching or something. Bit late to be telling me that, people. 

Also, life becomes ten times more real, which sounds ridiculous. But when you grow up and get past the age of about 17 you have to start thinking realistically about everything. If you haven't got to that point yet then I am very jealous. You have to start making realistic plans for your life, not that you want to be an astronaut and create a new species of dinosaur on the moon...Then everything hits you hard and you realise that life is difficult and that you are never handed anything in life. If you don't work for it then you will never get anywhere in life. I really hate people who think they can just sail through life and get handed everything on a gold plate, because it really doesn't work like that. Life is a bitch.

I have also found that things don't excite you as much as when you were a child. I used to get crazily excited about going on holiday and stuff, but now it doesn't interest me as much. I want to go travelling and things, not sit on a deckchair on a beach. I think I am just becoming really anti-social or something, but I start to dread contact with people that I don't know. I literally have no idea why....I blame the internet. Things like Christmas and birthdays and things really don't excite me anymore either. That makes me sound really sad....The things that I like are things such as going on day trips to museums (I am getting old), or seeing the world and doing challenges and stuff. 

Despite all these downsides of growing up, there are some pretty awesome things, too. It isn't all doom and gloom!

For example, growing up means moving out! Some people may find this daunting, but I moved three hours away from my family home and I love it - it is the best decision I have ever made! I have the experience of living on my own, and I have met the most amazing group of friends I could ever ask for. They are all going to get such an ego boost from this....

You also get more freedom as you grow up, you get to do more things with your life. This is like university, going out, driving, staying out late, going on holiday, everything. It means you can be independent from everything else and organise your life how you want.

Sort of leading on from this, you get offered way more experiences as you get to around my age. I am planning to go travelling after university - something that I could not have done on my own before I got to this age.

Life is very short, and although growing up does suck, there are some awesome things. People need to remember that everyone grows up. Shit will happen and there will be some really shitty times that you will have to go through. But take every opportunity that you can, and be independent! Embrace life!

Well that is me done with sounding crazily old.....

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Things I'd tell my teenage self

Hello there, buddies.

Today I thought I would share with you my little nuggets of wisdom that I would tell my teenage self if I could ever go back in time. It has been a stressful day as I have only just got my internet back after 24 hours that it has been down!

I have to say, some of these may not apply to you, and some of them may only apply to my female readers. However, I will be tagging +James Martin  (BlogGod) to do this also for you male readers out there.

I am going to include all sorts of things in this from relationships all the way to money and friends, so you can see that this is going to be a looooong post. This is also going to be a more serious post in comparison to my normal ones so I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear about the things that you would tell your teenage self, so comment below in the comments box or tweet me @LovelyChubly with #NuggetsOfWisdom.

Without further ado, here we go!

Ok then, well the first thing involves money. I would tell my teenage self to not buy all that useless shit that you will never ever use, and save it towards something more productive. I had a bit of a habit when I was a teenager of spending money. As soon as I got a job when I was 16 I was all like “ooh my own money…I can do what I want and spend it all”. Erm no, teenage Danielle. That will come back to bite you on the ass. Which it did. I went to a lot of gigs and had loads of ridiculously expensive days out etc. and splashed out on meals out, cocktail nights, the works. As much fun as this was, it didn't leave me much money for things that I probably could have done with more than a simple day out. This I think it my biggest regret as it meant that I couldn't go on holiday when school finished, and I couldn't pay for all my car insurance which really sucked. It also meant that I am now screwed for my second year at uni because I didn't save all those years ago.

ADVICE: think carefully before you spend your money. Think: do I really need this? One day you may thank yourself for it.

The second thing revolves around friends and whatnot. I would tell my teenage self to be way more wary about who you befriend as it turned out I have had several “fake friends” over the last 7 years or so. But on the other hand, I would also say to stick close friends with certain people as I have got a few people that I am like “I wonder what they’re doing now?” Although I do speak to them every now and again, it isn't as often as I would like. I would also say to watch my own back rather than completely look after other people as that obviously didn't get me very far. Secondary school was quite a difficult time for me as a teenager; I was in and out of friendship groups and had issues with a few people which actually ended in my moving schools at the end of year 11 as I really just started to hate school. This ended up in me getting quite ill and whatnot so I would say to watch out for that as I would have avoided a lot of shit by being more attentive to what people are saying. Finally, I’d tell my teenage self to not give a shit about what people say. I was very much a “people pleaser” and hardly concentrated on myself. I have now changed my ways and am 100% happier because of it.
ADVICE: stay true to yourself, don’t listen to shit other people spread, and always have a close-knit group of friends – less is definitely more.

Now we approach relationships. I was in a relationship from when I was 15 until I was almost 18 (I think: it was a very long time ago now) and even until this day, I would say it is the best one I have been in (if you are reading this, don’t get too much of an ego boost!). I would say to my teenage self this one thing: DON’T BE A FUCKING IDIOT. I think that speaks for itself. After that I was in a relationship with one guy for about a year (this will be interesting if he does read this, which he probably won’t) but I changed myself for that as I felt that I wasn't enough. My teenage self was still an idiot there and I would say to never change for anyone because it is never worth it. Relationships as a teenager are difficult things to both keep and maintain as there are so many different things going on, so I hope you do take note from me!
ADVICE: don’t change for anyone, but also realise what you have got when you have it.

Now comes an interesting topic: family. This involves many aspects of family, so seat yourself comfortably. First of all, I would tell my teenage self to man up regarding hospitals and shit like that. My Nan was in and out of hospital for pretty much all of my memories that I have of her. Now if you know me you will know that I have a strong phobia of hospitals. This phobia really held me back from seeing her quite a lot (temporarily pausing due to tears: see I have a heart) and I have to say this is my biggest regret in my life. I do not have many memories of my Nan whatsoever, so I regret not having these memories for me to look back on now that she is no longer with us. Another aspect regards mums (my mum is going to get ever so smug if she reads this). I don’t have a majorly strong relationship with my mum as we have always seemed to clash. So I would tell my teenage self to swallow your pride and say sorry to all the things that you did wrong, of which there were many. Now that I am at uni, we do get on a bit better, but there are still clashes here. Unfortunately I think the damage is done if we are going by the psychological side of things, but you know.
ADVICE: don’t be put off by certain things that might prevent you from seeing your family as you will regret them when you can no longer do anything about it. Also don’t be such a horrible daughter/son and do what your parents say.

Now we come to appearance. I am not entirely sure why I looked the way I did several times throughout my teenage years. For example, I think EVERYONE goes through that emo/goth stage in their life? If you haven’t, you have still got it to come – enjoy! To my teenage self, I would say no. Just no. Also, I made the mistake of cutting my extremely long hair into a bob when I was about 15. I regret this so much as it has still not fully grown to the old length and I am now also 20, and it made it so thicker. So teenage self, don’t cut your hair because it will never be the same. I’d also say to my teenage self to not dye your hair as much as it will go all annoying when you are older!
ADVICE: panda eyes are not cute, never cut your hair short if you are a girl, be careful how much you dye your hair because it might never be the same after.

Now we talk about school – boring I know, but you will miss those days when you get to my age! I would tell my teenage self to not be such an idiot in school and ALWAYS try your hardest. This stems all the way back to primary school also. I got a level 4 in my maths in primary school and was ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED as I had got level 5’s in my English and science (the highest level you can get). I cried so much! Then I would not be so stupid in secondary school as there were times when I just messed about and didn't pay much attention. I would slap my teenage self around the head and be like “pay attention you idiot” until I actually concentrated, because you may think that geography or citizenship is completely pointless but I guarantee you that there will come a day when you need it in your life. Then I would tell my teenage self to swallow your pride (again) and accept that maths tutoring (I still have problems accepting help). To this day I struggle like hell with sometimes the simplest of maths. I get things like algebra and trigonometry but I can never grasp simple things – I don’t think I even know the 12 times tables….Yet I can write so much so easily (as you know).
ADVICE: accept help if you get offered it, pay attention in class and don’t think you are awesome because you don’t. Because you aren't.

Now we move on to those irritating things that are called exams. I did OK in my GCSE’s coming out with 2 A*s, 2 As, 4 Bs, and 3 C’s, and for my A Levels I got 3 B’s and 1 C. Although these are really good results, and I have one A Level more than the average but I am still not happy with them. Especially with my GCSE results as I feel I could definitely have got my A in French to an A* so much easier. Therefore, I would say to my teenage self to study 24 hours a day if you have to, because you will need these results later.
ADVICE: don’t think that things such as GCSE’s are not important because you will need to highest grades you can get later on in life.

Teenagers are known for making stupid decision, but I think I made enough for the whole teenager population who lived before me and who will be born for the next 10 years. I was a terrible teenager and I did SO MANY things that I now regret. I won’t go in to them but I would definitely tell my teenage self to not be such an idiot and not get your house trashed. Yep.
ADVICE: if your parents tell you not to do something, or that it isn't a good idea, then don’t do the opposite and do it.

As a teenager I turned down several opportunities that I really regret now. For example, I was asked if I wanted to visit Australia with my aunty as there is family over there. For some ridiculous reason I turned it down. Bearing in mind I was like 12 at the time (not quite a teenager) but I do regret turning it down. I also turned down several other things similar to this. So then, teenage self, don’t turn down any holiday or opportunity ever, ever, ever again.
ADVICE: don’t turn down opportunities to go abroad because one day you will want to go to that place, and you won’t be able to.

Now for a few smaller and less deep nuggets of wisdom because I bet you're bored!

1. You are going to make mistakes, things will probably be a little bit shit for a while. But learn from your mistakes because they will make you a better person in the future.
2. DO NOT PICK YOUR SPOTS. They will end up making your skin scar! My skin now is so scarred both from horsefly bites and spots, so don't do it!
3. Enjoy being young whilst you are, because things get serious really quick after school.
4. Do more nice things for other people - they will appreciate it. Even volunteering (which I do now with the Red Cross)
5. Be more self confident!
6. Don't leave all your homework until the last minute and pretend like you have done it.
7. Go out and leave your comfort zone - there are many things out there for you to do!
8. Be brave!
9. Persevere with everything that you do, because it will so be worth it after a while! A little effort goes a long way.
10. Don't panic - everything WILL get better

Well then, folks, those are the things that I would tell my teenage self. I hope that you might take some advice from those - learn from my mistakes!

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Thank you for reading!

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If I took over the world

Hello there, buddies.

So I recently came to the conclusion that I worry too much about ridiculous things, so I thought I could put all these worries in to one massive world domination post....don't judge me.

I started to think about things that I would do if I took over the world, and things that I would get rid of, introduce and whatnot. Expect some crazy things to happen if I took over the world, but there are some more serious things chucked in here because we don't want the world to fall apart, do we?

So first of all, and probably most importantly I would most definitely make universities offer a degree in Disney! Mainly because I would pass with the highest first in the entire world. Can you imagine a better and more fun degree to study? It could be all like the history of Disney, Disney in application, the future of Disney. OK, I am getting far too in to this. Maybe I should propose the idea to like the university board of education? Is that even a thing? Comment below if you would study a degree in Disney.

Then I would make it completely socially acceptable for people to spend hours on the internet. Considering I have only had the internet for like not even 10 years yet, it is a relatively new development in the world so is not widely accepted with every person. So by the time that I get to take over the world, maybe it would be more acceptable?

Having had my car for a few years now, I am starting to realise how bloody damn expensive it is to run a car and make it road legal etc. So I would make petrol (somehow) cheaper and have the likes of insurance and tax cheaper because I know it is all very expensive for some people. Mine was bad enough, all coming in at £1000 for the year. Not to even mention the fortune I paid for driving lessons after having to switch due to getting ripped off and taught badly by one company. Luckily I passed both my theory and practical test first time, but they come in together at £130 ish, which is very expensive. 

As a MAJOR rugby fan, I would make it a more popular sport. I know you're all thinking, ah it already is popular, but the difference in popularity between football and rugby is huuuuuge. So making rugby more popular would be awesome. Then I could meet all the Wales rugby team and make one fall hopelessly in love with me....yep sounds like a good plan.

I would make internet free. It isn't overly expensive now, but it should be free! I mean, we all use it don't we?

As the unfortunate student who has the joys of paying £9000 plus rent to be at university a year, I would reverse the STUPID idea to raise university fees and lower them again. I'd also want to give more options for students who are less fortunate than the likes of you or I so they could go to university also.

I would also ask to get paid to blog. I do love my blog a lot (as you can probably tell) and I put more work in to doing this and making it awesome for you guys, that I would just love to get paid for it. Maybe one day my blog will get published? Who knows? Then that means I would want to get any person who has a blog a little bit of recognition as there are so many awesome bloggers out there who are undiscovered. 

I am a little bit of an anime fan, so I would introduce anime to EVERYONE. People miss out on it because they just don't get introduced to it.

Then (as a bit of a selfish move) I would befriend YouTuber's which would be soooo cool. Especially the ones who I watch now. Do have a little bit of a soft spot for Joe Sugg (you can search his channel ThatcherJoe on YouTube). Deary me. 

Then I would have to lower house prices and mortgages because I know that I will be renting for a very long time before I will even be able to think about buying my own flat. This makes me sad because I would love to have my own house, but I know it is just going to be impossible for at least 10 years yet. Maybe this could help a lot more people become more independent? 

On a serious note, I would offer education to every single person. Whether they choose to accept it is up to them, but I think an education is the best thing you can ever offer anyone. It would then give everyone else such a better outlook on life and allow them to go further. 

I'd also make benefits stricter because there are so many people who just live off of them and don't bother to get a job. I understand that there are circumstances where a person has no choice, but in the circumstances where they do have the option to find work I think that they shouldn't be allowed to live off our money. Obviously child benefits would be kept along with disability benefits etc.

Then I would obviously be able to control the weather (duh) so I would make it warm and sunny everywhere always. Obviously not too hot because we don't want all the water drying up and crops dying and shit, do we? But would be nice to have some nicer weather everywhere for once!

To fuel my addiction to Pepsi Max, I would make it really, really cheap. Like 30p a bottle or something ridiculous like that. Yep that would make Mr Pepsi Max unhappy, but needs must.

Attractions over the world like theme parks and whatnot would offer a student discount. I have found that having not major amounts of money is affecting my summer, with me having to borrow money or just have to say no to things I really want to do. Disney World should do student discounts also, do you not think? Maybe a student discount on holidays? Too many discounts.

Prescriptions for EVERYTHING would be free. I dislike the fact that I am having to pay for my hay fever tablets (which essentially keep me alive at times). I didn't ask to have hay fever, so why should I have to pay for them? I miss the times when I was 18 and had free prescriptions. 

I would make it my priority to sort out this shitty economy. It is in one hell of a state, and someone really needs to hop to it. Hopefully it won't have to wait for me to take over the world for this to happen....

In relation to this....the UK needs someone like Obama to come along and sort everyone out. He doesn't take any shit, and he then gets shit done. That really does need to happen here, people...Then again, I'm not politician, so what do I know?

I'd also chuck some more funding in to youth rehabilitation. Considering the biggest cuts in 2015-2016 are going to the Ministry of Justice, this is an area that is most likely to be affected. That is really bad because I think it is one of the most important areas in the criminal justice system. I am not being biased because this is the area I want to work in either!!

Then I would give more options for students to get more opportunities. Like things such as working abroad, travelling, stuff like that. It is something that I really want to do, but I just feel like it is going to be years before I can even think about doing it. Then if I get a job I won't be able to give it up to go travelling as I won't get another job for a very long time after that. Sad times.

Everyone should be a Harry Potter fan. That would be something I would introduce! 


Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the things I would do if I took over the world. If you did please subscribe by clicking "join this site" at the top of the page!

Comment below the things you would do if you took over the world, and I will reply to them all! alternatively tweet me @LovelyChubly with #WorldTakeover 

Tune back in tomorrow (or maybe tonight) to see what I have in store for you! You won't want to miss it!

Toodle-oo, peeps!

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The rants of a student

Hello there, buddies!

DISCLAIMER: if you are noticing some things in this post that you might have said to me, I would like to inform you that I do not dislike you, I just need to vent my anger to someone who understands....aka the internet. This is an accumulation of things that have happened over the last year, and this rant is not directed at anyone in particular. 


In this rant, I shall be discussing things that have been said to me due to the fact I am at university. This literally ranges from things at uni, to things at home. All you students will probably have experienced the same....and people starting in September, you have all this to come! I have found that people who haven't been to uni (this can be friends, family, random people, anyone) tend to have a very stereotyped image of students, and simply do not understand student life, or do not understand your situation. 

I want to also say that unlike my other posts, this post is completely spontaneous and hasn't had my usual extensive planning, so it is likely to be really broken and written just as it sounds in my head. If you can make sense of it then we are clearly on the same wavelength! All of your comments are welcome whether they be positive or negative. I am fighting my corner and defending my opinion here. Remember that word....OPINION. This is literally my blunt and honest opinion. Enjoy!

Ok the first thing I want to talk about is people's stereotypical idea that all student's do is drink. Well, although it is true that drinking culture is a very large part of uni life, students do a hell of a lot of work. We have to do all our own research for our essays (of which we have about 8 a year), study religiously for our exams, all whilst making sure we attend as many of our lectures as humanely possible, along with seminars and any societies we might be members of. Yes there might be a few times when we miss one or two, but we do try. Life isn't all about going out and getting hammered every night (expect Fresher's week, but there are no lectures then). People are just daft if that is what they think really.

Many people say that people go to university just to prolong having to join the "real world". Well, I will have you know that I have gone to university to INCREASE my chances of getting a job that I want and that will benefit me the most. Would you rather I had no further education and was stuck in a dead-end job that paid me basically in buttons, therefore meaning that it would be likely that I would have to sponge money off the government, which then would mean you would be complaining that I wasn't getting my ass up and finding a better job? Yeah, I thought not. (I warned you this rant would get heated). People like this I believe are very narrow-minded. Although there are some people who go to uni simply because they think it is all social bla bla bla, but those people get a reality check at the end of their first year and tend to drop out. 

On an additional point to this, people tell me that I went to university by choice, so I shouldn't be complaining. There are two issues I have here. The first is with the word "choice". Yes I "chose" to go to university, but I did not choose to be fucked over by the government meaning it would be so hard to get a job, get on the property ladder and move on with my life without getting this higher education. Yes, it would be possible - I have been very fortunate to be given several summer jobs, but none of these are permanent and would be suitable for a career, nor pay enough for me to move out. So all you people who say this to me, I pose you a question. Did you "choose" to be complaining about everything from jobs, to money, to your social life, or did you decide to do it because it is better for you? The second part of this revolves around me actually going to university. Here is a newsflash for you: university is hard! You live on your own, motivate yourself, and if you don't get your work done then you are going to fail. Living on your own is bad enough without having to pass work that is so difficult. It is nothing like A Levels, if you don't do the work it will come back to bite you, and it is very difficult to get a good mark! I would love to see someone who hasn't been to uni to do my work!

Another issue here is surrounding money. People seem to have this idea that students get all this money from the government to spend at our will. Well this is not true. The £9000 (yes, I have the joys of paying this after once again getting screwed over by the government) loan that I get for my tuition fees goes straight to the uni and I don't get to see it whatsoever. Then the X amount of money that I get for my other bits comes and goes just as quickly. My loan only just covers my rent for my house, so I end up with about £20 left over. Do not forget that I need to actually eat whilst at university, and I had to fork out about £1000 last year to live. Does this money come from the government? No. From my fucking back pocket. Then people wonder why students never have any money, and complain that they never seem to do anything. 

Carrying on from this is the fact that the tuition loans have been increase to 9k for all people who started in my year. Most of my friends are going in to their third year or above and pay only £3000 so they will have considerably less debt that I, or any person starting in 2012 onwards, will. To make this even worse, in the 2015 budget announcements, it was said that the interest for paying it back will be increased by quite a lot, therefore meaning that we will have to pay it back at a lot quicker rate, and more money will be coming out of my wages - sad times. 

Then there are the fact that people have issues over my after-uni plans. I want to go travelling after uni with a bunch of my buddies, which will cost around £10 000. Now, I have been TOLD that I should not be complaining simply because it is my "choice". Now, after having read the previous paragraph, can you see why I think this might be slightly unfair? Yes this is my choice, but people who don't go to uni get so many amazing opportunities to do so many things and by the time I have graduated they will have done so many things like that. I want to get some experience under my belt to make me as employable as I can be. Is that so bad?! I think I have the right to complain a little bit here, do you not?

Yes, I appreciate the fact that I am so fortunate to be at university, and have got the grades to get in. I also enjoy every second that I have there, and I have made the most amazing friends there who will not doubt be stuck in my life forever (sorry, guys). But university is so stressful, and there are things to complain about, just like I am sure some people who don't go to university. So if you want to write some comments about how I am unappreciative of what I have, and that everything I said is a lie, but this is all coming from first hand experience and is my opinion. I would love to hear yours, whether you are against what I say, or for what I say. 


VIKKI'S CORNER:
I think uni is a way of becoming more self dependant, you no longer have your parents to help you wake up in the morning, you have to cook your own meals daily (or use your own 
money to purchase a take away), you no longer have anyone to pick up after you if you happen to feel lazy, you do your own washing (which in the first year causes even more expense).



That is all for now.

If you don't agree with what I have said then sorry, but this is all just my opinion.

Toodle-oo.

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I have unrealistic expectations of life

Hello there, buddies!

Okey dokey, today I want to talk about life expectations. I don't know about you, but my expectations from my life are so unrealistic, but I keep thinking they will come true! This is going to be a full on rant cause I haven't planned this whatsoever.....so bear with me!

I dunno about you, but I had this little life plan formulated in my head. Recent events have essentially meant that said life plan has just gone completely down the drain. I am a lost cause.

Theeeeeeen, I decided I would just concentrate on university and getting the best grades that I can - also unrealistic considering I like to drink and go out.....Typical student to be honest.

It is more my life plans after university are unrealistic really. After uni I am going to Florida with my little gang of buddies for two weeks. The money side of this is extremely unrealistic given that I am looking at £2000....but this is happening 'cause it is Disney. You can check up on this in 2 years though.

My plans after uni are just ridiculous. I am hopefully looking at moving to London with some of my uni friends. I know what you are thinking - these are already unrealistic because London is stupidly expensive to live in. I know this already! Having said that, there will be like 4 of us so maybe it will be cheaper? Any good looking YouTuber's living in London? Well heeeeeeey :)

Then I wanna move to New York or somewhere similar after this which is already unrealistic.

In an ideal world I would love to travel the world with a bunch of friends, just seeing the sights and getting some awesome opportunities under my belt because for some reason that is just the sort of person I am. You can already see a trend forming here....essentially I need to win the lottery.....I don't even play the lottery....

I also want to get the job of my dreams! I would love to work in youth justice, and I sort of have these opportunities at hand which is helpful for me. So maybe this one can come true :)

I'd love to get my blog noticed too cause I love to write, but this is so far-fetched as million of people blog now. Oh well :)

Now is when I turn in to a romantic typical girl with the whole I want to get married and have kids thing. Now for anyone who knows me, this is just not going to happen. I have my standards set so high I wish anyone luck fulfilling them. Unless your name is Jack Harries (YouTuber for all those who don't know) cause he is like my perfect man. There is another unrealistic thing cause that is never ever going to happen. Sad Danielle. :(

I have no idea if anyone else can even relate to that really because I just went full on rant there. 

I know a lot of people have expectations from their lives, but to do all mine I need to become famous and win the lottery. Which won't happen.

So comment below your unrealistic expectations so that I don't feel as much as a loser.

Don't forget to use the social media buttons to your right and subscribe to my blog!

That'll do for now.

Toodle-oo!

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