Sunday 22 January 2012

Travelling Alone


During the week, I'm in college in the city, and every weekend I travel back home. It makes for a lot of train journeys. When Kate is with me, we have so much fun. Some days we're exhausted after a long week, so we listen to my iPod and chat away happily. Other days we are bursting with energy, and we do something like this: 

 

And that's very bold, you shouldn't do that. 

I love traveling with Kate. But I am also getting used to taking the train on my own. I love climbing onto the train with my suitcase and rucksack. I love sitting down in a seat with a table to myself. I take off my jacket, stick on my iPod, take out my journal, and I retreat into my own little world. 

I feel like a fly on the wall when I'm on my own on the train. Nobody ever notices the girl sitting alone. They carry on with their lives, they have normal conversations. And I know this might sound very strange, but there is something quite soothing about observing other human beings living their lives. The old ladies talk proudly about the achievements of their children and grandchildren. The teenage boys laugh about the silliest of things. The mother cuddles her toddler, and points out every tree and bird we pass, before calling her husband to let him know when they'll be home. And the teenage girl with the iPod writes about all of them in her journal, and considers what a joy it is to be alive. 

Try it some time. Travel alone. Watch the people around you. You'll learn more about life than you could ever imagine. 



Travelling Alone Playlist: 
1. Say What You Need To Say- John Mayer
2. Blackbird- The Beatles
3. And The Birds Sing- Tyrone Wells
4. Your Song- Ellie Goulding
5. Long Live- Taylor Swift
6. Drops Of Jupiter- Train
7. Autumn Leaves- Ed Sheeran
8. New Soul- Yael Naim
9. Mountain & The Sea- Ingrid Michaelson
10. Happy- Natasha Bedingfield


Oh, and one more thing. Would you mind going back one post (or clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Y43z0CrlI&context=C35bb41dADOEgsToPDskKi6dbenAPN34lPMb2BapsN ) and telling me what you think? 


Have a lovely Sunday. :) 

7 comments:

  1. Hi, I like your blog!

    I just have a suggestion! Not trying to be rude or saying that you HAVE to follow it, I'm just mentioning something.

    To start with something positive, your background is beautiful! But it makes the text a little hard to read. The words don't fit into the white part in the middle, so there are a couple of words on the left side of each line that hang off into the darker part where the leaves and the stem are.

    I would just suggest trying a different background. Or if there is a way to move the text over (increasing margins or something like that) so that ALL of the text is in the white strip.

    Congrats on the nice blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rachel, thank you so much for the advice! I really do appreciate it. That doesn't actually happen when I look at it on my own laptop screen, so I actually wasn't aware of the problem, but I really appreciate you telling me. Is there any way you could send me a screen shot so that I could fix the problem for others? My email is harrington.orla@gmail.com. Thanks again!

    Orla.x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Orla!
    As you probably already know, I never ever remember to text people back and as I was reading through your beautiful blog I realized I never congratulated you on the youtube video ! WOW WOW WOW Its simply wonderful, but Mildred is kinda creepy :/ Anyway I probably shouldn't be ruining you blog with irrelevant blabbing but I knew if I didn't say it now I never would, that tiny tiny little head of mine cant seem to remember everything ! I love and miss you dearly <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aww haha thank you Mary! :) I love you too! x

    ReplyDelete
  5. ...And feel free to contaminate my blog with your comments whenever you want! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I absolutely love this post Orla! Trains are so inspiring! Glad the blog is going good and congratulations on your youtube video :) x

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy :)