Meg's Adventures

Hi guys, so for the last 10 days I’ve been in Ensenada, Mexico with the charity SolKids . I’ll speak more about my volunteering in another blog. In the meantime here’s a few tips if you’re planning a future trip to Mexico! Money, money, money (Pesos) Before arriving in Mexico I changed all my travel money to US Dollars. You can exchange your money at a local ASDA or Post Office. This was good in some respects as you can pay for things in Mexico in Dollars. However, different places may uses different exchange rates to convert to Pesos. Many places ask if you want change in Pesos or Dollars, always pick dollars as the worth of the Peso once out of Mexico is next to nothing.  $1 MXN = 3p or 5cent! $100 MXN= £3.80 GBD/ 6 USD I also used the “XE Currency” App and it was a lifesaver for working out what kind of prices your actually paying for things. It was free to download too! (No sponsor I swear!) Don’t flush the toilet paper ...

This time last year I was landing in the beautiful Uganda and honestly I'm so jealous of the year below me that are making that same journey. They have so much to look forward to and it just flies by! Its honestly hard to put into words how eye-opening and all-round amazing the experience was. My heart and thoughts are out there and so often I wish I could jump back to that happiness and the fantastic people we met there.  The journey for us started off months prior with a hell of a lot of fundraising and a lot of kind people showing their support! Our four schools: The Ferrers, Huxlow, Rushden and Kineton. All of us in our little groups working our hearts out to help the children out in Uganda aswell as pay for the fellow Ugandan students to join us at the conference.  Fundraising ideas included:  George completed a Tough Mudder with friends! Caitlin abseiled down the National Lift Tower in Northampton! (...

(Even though it hasn't truly started yet) If you never get a little lost during an adventure is it really an adventure? — Dr. Simon Coupe (my papa)   Taking a gap year is one of those decisions that until recently not many have felt was an option for themselves during a time of stress , choice and of course the prospect of large cost . It sure has become much more popular but the negativity and doubt that can surround it still remains I feel. Certainly from when I first suggested that I wanted to go exploring for 6 months all anyone could say was “Well what about university?” “Have you got a plan?” “What if you never come back?” “Oh I couldn’t do that, I’d never go back to education .” Right, so no I didn’t have a plan, I thought wow I want to see the bloody world and here’s this whole year I can take with no big responsibilities yet, no kids, no mortgage, these last 7 years of school have almost killed me and I want a break! I thought, well I was born...