Managing Homesickness part 2 // Halloween

I booked a little trip to Cardiff to see if it could cure my bout of “Grass is Greener” syndrome. It looked to be just what I needed. Out of all my roommates, I seemed to be the only one trapped in our Halls – not having any family to visit on the weekends. Also living with 9 people can get a bit overwhelming for someone who very much values privacy and space. But as I type this out now – post trip, I can honestly say I feel a lot better.

In high school, Cardiff was the place I most wanted to be. Torchwood was set there after all. My heart shattered into a million pieces when RTD *spoiler alert* killed off my beloved tea boy, Ianto. He did look good in a suit.

So going to Cardiff really fulfilled all my nerdy teenage dreams. As I walked towards the Bay my heart was pounding with expectation. Four years of my life I spent obsessing over the show, and now, as the Millenium Centre was right in front of me I felt completely speechless. Not even going to lie, I was shamelessly crying in public. It only got worse when I found the water tower, followed by Ianto’s shrine.

As far as the rest of my trip went, Cardiff was amazing. The only reason I wouldn’t live there was the lack of cafes. This is probably just an English thing, but it seems to be more of a pub kind of place.

Let me quickly interrupt your viewing to tell you the tale of Cardiff Castle’s Keep and I. 

I would class myself as a fairly adventurous person. With that said, whilst exploring the castle, I didn’t think climbing the Keep was going to be too outrageous. Never have I been so wrong. Fun (slightly embarrassing) fact about myself: I have a fear of falling down stairs. Usually it doesn’t faze me, I can still function like a normal human in public when having to climb stairs. But for some unknown reason, on this particular day, I couldn’t handle it. Got to the top, freaked out completely. I don’t just mean, “Oh ha, this is high and slightly scary”. I’m talking cold sweats, shallow breathing, dry mouth, tingling in my fingers, type of freaking out – also known as a panic attack. Then the fear of making a scene hit me. Trying to act normal while you feel totally out of control is harder than it sounds. And yes, I was failing miserably. I caught sight of a little boy staring at me, his face confused as he watched tears freely flowing down my cheeks. So what does one do in this situation? Sit down. They say to challenge your fear – realize what you fear isn’t real and that it will pass. Nope. It wasn’t passing.

I spent half an hour sitting on top of a roof trying to calm myself down before I could even think about standing up. I still have no idea why I reacted in such an extreme way to something that should have been so trivial.

Moral of the story, I will never climb Cardiff Castle’s Keep again. 

Oh, do you know what else is cool about England (apart from the weather – ahh, dad joke). They actually celebrate Halloween. 

Never been the “party hard” sort, but dressing up is totally my thing.

Should give you a quick run down about the people in the photo, considering some of them have already popped up on previous pops and will continue to do so. These are my housemates. Lets start from left to right. We had Curtis – Undead Mafia, Jack – Creepy Mime, me – Undead Little Red Hiding Hood, Maisie – Mummy, Bryony - Bellatrix Lestrange, and Robyn – Undead Maid.

Would you believe me if I told you I’ve been in England for 48 days, and only another 38 until the true adventures start? Crazy times.