One of my favourite things about living on an island is the fact that we have a sister island. Yes, an even smaller island, called Gozo, which is just half an hour away from us by boat. Spending the day in Gozo is possibly one of the most relaxing and fun things to do here. You feel as though you can get away from everyone and everything when you're there. Not to mention the fact that you're surrounded by incredible scenery everywhere you go. It's honestly breathtaking. So today I thought I'd share a few photos from last weekend, when I got to spend the day going around our little island on a segway; and I actually got to visit some beautiful places which I had never even heard of before!

xo

Being away from home can be tough sometimes. Before I left, I was worried about so many little things like living alone, dealing with the cold weather, being in a foreign country in general - but all those things haven't phased me since I've been here. The hardest part of it all is being away from the people you love, and that you're used to seeing every day for the past few years of your life. I obviously miss my friends and family a lot, but needless to say, I found it extremely hard to be away from my boyfriend for so long as we've never gone more than two weeks without seeing each other.

So my friend and I decided to book a surprise flight home and spend a few days there. It also happened to be both my mum and my dad's birthdays in the week I was there which was obviously even more special. I basically spent a few days enjoying sunny Malta and spending as much time as possible with people I hadn't seen in two months. It was obviously amazing seeing my boyfriend and getting to spend some quality time with him.

I must admit, it was a bit weird going back home though. It was weird because I now refer to my house in Coventry as my 'home', so being back in Malta felt like I was just on a short vacation. I'm curious to see what it feels like when I go back to Malta for good - I'm expecting a very bittersweet feeling but I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

2016 was a very hard but also wonderful year for me personally. I can genuinely say that I had some of my lowest moments and also some of my happiest moments during last year. I experienced things, both good and bad, that I never thought I never thought I would have to deal with. So overall, I'd say it was a pretty great year. Although there were some tough times, 2016 helped me grow and allowed me to learn more about myself. 

I'm excited for 2017. I have high hopes for this year and I already have some amazing things planned. So like every year, I want to set some goals for myself and hopefully I'll manage to keep them up all throughout the year.

1. Cook more: Since I've lived alone for a few months on Erasmus, I obviously had to learn how to cook for myself. However I know that when I go back home I will automatically go back to relying on my mother to cook every day. So I want to carry on cooking meals and trying out new recipes even when I'm back home. I actually enjoy cooking and I want to keep improving, so hopefully I can keep this up!

2. Read more books: My aim for the year is to read at least one book each month. I absolutely love reading, and when I get a good book I won't put it down until I've finished it. So I want to try out different genres, different authors, and allow myself the time to get lost in another world for a few hours.

3. Be more productive: Gosh, I am so lazy. I could spend days in bed on my laptop and not even be bothered to meet anyone or leave the house. So this year I want to work my hardest at getting up early and doing something with my day. Whether it's going to university, going for a walk, or meeting up with my friends; I just don't want to waste my life away in bed haha.

Those are my three main goals for the year, let me know if you have any new year's resolutions that you hope to keep. I hope you all have a great year, and I'm excited to see what 2017 has in store for me!

xo