Notes from a Neurodivergent Mind

Hello from Euston Station, where (as of 7am on a Saturday morning) I currently am after a night on the Caledonian Sleeper.  The main pull for me was to see what it was like to actually sleep on a train without having to share a compartment with strangers (like I did on the Serbia-Montenegro route last year). Whilst the scenery on that train ride was undoubtedly going to be better than a sleeper train ride in complete darkness (like mine was last night/this morning), the prospect of not being woken up for a border check on the Caledonian was appealing. After I left my "five hour" hotel room last night, the train had conveniently just turned up to the platform- some service, hey? I wanted to maximise my time on board, and intended to hit the sack as soon as I boarded. Anyways, I boarded and unsurprisingly, like most of the YouTube videos I'd watched beforehand about the experience, the corridor was narrow!- the same could be said about the room itself. Nevertheless, it did ...

Hi all- it's half-term for me, so typically, I've decided to go away. I've been in Scotland for the past few nights, seeing family and doing some sightseeing. I will be leaving tonight, arriving in England when I wake up come tomorrow morning (which is a possible giveaway as to the mode of transport I'll be using). More on that later...   I've been in Glasgow for the past 24 hours, but commenced my sightseeing today, after a very leisurely morning prior to check-out. If you've not guessed by now, I am taking the Caledonian Sleeper in a few hours time. But, assuming the train arrives on-time, I won't be able to board it for a whole eleven hours after leaving my hotel. I felt that I had the first 6-7 hours or so covered by going to some places that I've never been to before, and after an evening meal, I banked on being able to spend the final two hours or so in the lounge at Glasgow Station before boarding.   But, as often is the case with travelling, thi...

 Hello from chez moi, where I have intentions to do sod all, after arriving home on Saturday. Since starting these entries, I knew that I wanted to do some sort of reflection of how things have been from my perspective. Like every trip, some things go to plans, whilst other things do not, and I think coming into the trip, my mental health was in such a good place (in comparison to previous years), that I had finished therapy (which I had been in for for the past seven years). I had- perhaps overconfidently, thought that the issues that used to affect my anxiety and mood levels could all be dealt with a toolbox of techniques. So, when I began to experience that panic (probably on Day 2 of the trip), and couldn't get my usual strategies to work, the panic exaggerated itself even more. I did experience similar in Latvia on my 2nd night of the solo trip I did at the beginning of the year. The symptoms I experienced then were comparatively more heightened, but that was the first time I ...

And so, it was the last day. Emotions were mixed- I didn't really want the trip to end, but I was similarly ready for a bit of normality. After vacating my apartment, I headed down to the lovely fishing village of Cavtat: reminiscent of  the Grecian village from the Mamma Mia films, but without the hordes of tourists.                                                                 Cavtat from the sea With my mind intent on spending a good chunk of the day swimming, I headed for a beachy area. I couldn't find one, but did find an enclosed area with lots of loungers with umbrellas around it. Seemed like a good option. I pitched up after paying 17 euros (!) for both (although to be fair this does grant you all day access), and headed for the (cooler than expected) water. "This is the life", I thought, as I was swimm...

Good evening from Zvekovica, outside of Dubrovnik, where I am about to devour a good (well, quite average in hindsight), cob-oven pizza. I had a chill one this morning, trying to catch up on my early rise from the day before. Nothing much occurred other than writing the blog for Day 15 (ish). .                     Old Town thoroughfare. After a Belvita for brekkie, I caught the bus into Dubrovnik for some museuming- first stopping off at the Maritime Museum. It was a bit of a change of scenery as far as museum visits on this trip have gone. The museum was good, and was set in a beautiful setting, right by the Old Town port. After leaving the museum after a few hours, I felt a bit drained, and in hindsight, I probably should have gone back to my apartment. I definitely need to have rest days during my next holiday! Nevertheless, I still wanted to see more sights, so I went to get some ice cream (that cost €10 with a lemon...

Morning folks from outside of Dubrovnik, which is my last stop on this trip.  I got up early to catch the train from Sarajevo to Mostar. My grandparents were singing Mostar's praises when they visited 30 plus years ago, so I felt that it would make for a good stop off prior to getting the bus to Dubrovnik. I only had about 2 hours to spend in Mostar, so headed to the rebuilt bridge that was destroyed during the Bosnian war. I was told that people would pay men on the bridge to jump off (in a diving sense, of course!), but I didn't see any of that this time around (health and safety gone mad! 😂). Getting through the bazaar was a bit of a squeeze due to large tour groups simultaneously trying to get to the main sites.  This did bother me, to be honest, but then I realised that I too am a tourist so I'm probably adding to the problem for locals.  After seeing much of the same as what I'd seen in Sarajevo in terms of the bazaars, I managed to do something that ...