Ed Sheeran and One Direction Concert

Hey guys,

This post is also quite late. This summer I went to two concerts: Ed Sheeran and One Direction.

The first of these two concerts that I saw was Ed Sheeran. I had seen Ed once before at the BBC Music Awards in 2014 and was lucky enough to be front row when he was on stage there. It was so much fun and he was an amazing performer so I was super excited to go see his concert. Rixton opened for him and they were really good as well. I think because I lived in the UK for a while I knew them a bit better than some people at the concert. They were really good and were a good opening act for Ed Sheeran. When Ed Sheeran came on stage though the crowd irrupted in excitement. He was so talented and it was amazing how it was just him, a guitar, and a loop petal on stage. He did old songs, new songs, covers of songs, and mash ups. There were people of all ages there and it was just amazing to see how he could captivate an audience so well. Everybody was singing along and enjoying themselves and all in all it was a amazing concert!! I would love to see him again anytime he is playing close to me.

 

My next concert of 2015 was One Direction in July. They played in the same city as Ed Sheeran but a different arena. The Ed Sheeran concert was indoors and One Directions was outdoors. Traffic getting to the One Direction concert was horrible. When we got there Icona Pop was already on stage but had just started. Icona Pop was an okay opening act. Not very many people payed much attention to them or knew many of their songs. Once they went off stage there was a lot of stage set up going on and One Direction didn’t actually go on stage until 9 when they were supposed to be on at 8 if I remember right. The venue they chose as well was the biggest venue in my city and it was maybe half full. The whole top section was pretty much empty. The floor was full and the first level was 3/4 full. I had seen One Direction at the BBC Music Awards in 2014 too and they had everybody there, in London, singing with them and super hyped. I was a bit disappointed I wasn’t front row for them there but now was my chance to see them in concert and I was super excited. I love One Direction if you don’t already know that so I had really high expectations for this concert. I thought when I got there that the arena would be full, which it wasn’t, and that like in London there would be people from 10-30 years old there. When I got there it was mostly young girls (13-17) which I was expecting and then just parents. The age range wasn’t as wide as I thought it would be. When One Direction walked on stage the crowd went wild! They preformed “Clouds” first and it was still day light when they came out but the sun was setting. The crowd at the concert was about the same size as the BBC Music Awards, maybe a bit larger, but the difference in venue size was massive. The crowd throughout the concert though didn’t have the same energy level as the one in London. You could tell that the boys of One Direction knew this as well. They were a lot quieter and not as energetic throughout the show. It was still a good show it just didn’t have the same level of energy or captivation that they had in London. All of the parents just sat in their chairs on their phones. Most people were standing up singing along just enjoying themselves though. I felt quite bad for the boys though. The section straight ahead of them was pretty much empty other than the first few rows and when they looked at the second level it was pretty much empty. My sister and I were able to get tickets to their concert, with pretty good seats, two days before the concert. (When the concert was announced we weren’t sure where in the world we would be so we never got tickets.) Anyways I will try and keep this short. They are amazing performers and are great singers. Even though they were a bit more reserved and it rained they kept in great spirits and had they crowd in a good mood all the way through their show. I hope they are all having a great break and if they come back for another tour later I would love to see them again.

I love listening to live music. I think concerts/festivals are just something that make you live in the moment and forget about anything that makes you feel negative. You just get to enjoy yourself in the moment when surrounded by live music.

2015 in review

2015 was an amazing year for me. Just looking back on it I have changed so much and done so much since the beginning of the year. I started 2015 off in Greece with my family which was a lot of fun. My mom, sister, and I also took a day trip to Cardiff, Wales after Greece. After they left I couldn’t wait to go meet them in the Bahamas later in January. After the Bahamas I was back in London for quite a while before I was going to see any of my family again. I started booking courses to fill my time besides volunteering at Brownies. I took several courses: photography, anthropology, psychology, book keeping, comedy of YouTube, and more. I met with my family friends and got to go to discos. I also hung out tons with my cousin in London. February was a bit of a bleak month for me after the excitement of January and going back to London with little to nothing to do. In February I went on a day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon as well where I made my first real friend since I had gotten to London.

When March rolled around things started to pick up. All of the courses I had chosen started in March. My older cousin who I never see decided to come to London to go to a concert. The three of us cousins met up one day and went for Sunday roast besides going to a market, doing some shopping, sight seeing, and going for drinks. During this time I learnt more about who my one cousin really is as I have only met him a few times and he is about 15 years older than me. Later that month my younger cousin and sister came to visit me. It was my cousin’s first time in Europe so I got to show him around London and when my sister met us we all went to Dublin, Ireland. We all got to hang out with my older cousin, who lives in London, as well. I also took my younger cousin to Windsor before he left. Mid-March I also got a little job dog walking. I got to walk this dog named Pierre 3 days a week. This gave me something more to do making me happier.

April was when things started to slow down a little bit and I decided I wasn’t happy with how things were going and how I was trying to put in effort to make friends and have things happen but I still only had one friend. This is when I decided I was going to move back to Canada at the end of May/beginning of June rather than wait until August. During this whole time (end of 2014 on) I was also helping my cousin with his business. I can’t remember if it was the end of April or early May but I helped him prepare and went with him to film his advert which was fun. The same day I went to my family friend’s house to have dinner and watch a movie. Those full days where I got to see people who I knew cared about me and who I cared about were the days I looked forward to most.

In May my friend and I went to Ascot besides planning a small weekend trip with 2 more of her friends to the Isle of Wight. During this time I also met another friend while taking a class. Her and I got on well and she liked to write and make films. I went over to her flat to make some short silly videos after her and I had gone to a play and after party put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her, I, and a friend of hers went around London one day taking pictures to scout locations for her new film. It was so much fun just spending a day with people like them, who are so creative and friendly. One weekend in May I also got to dog sit Pierre which was fun and filled my days besides going to a craft making class were I got to make creams, scrubs, and lip balm. Later in May my cousin and I spent the morning of my birthday together for breakfast before I had to take off to walk Pierre and go to Brownies. That day in Brownies I was put in charge and was hosting a Canada day to teach the girls about Canada. I was also going to make my promise that day. The weekend after my birthday was the weekend we went to the Isle of Wight. The day before that I had helped my cousin with his business again and got to see his new office. The day of the Isle of Wight trip started early: a bus ride, 3 train rides, and a boat ride away. It was fun though. We explored the whole island and 3 days was enough for the trip. The last day we hung out in Portsmouth and I had gotten sick. By the time I got back home in London I was exhausted and went right to sleep. I had family friends who were my age come down from Scotland for a weekend that I met up with. We went for lunch as well as to a couple of art galleries, one including the National Portrait Gallery. We explored London a bit more, had some warm drinks, and headed home. It was a lot of fun to see them and just get to chat to people my own age who knew my family for a day. My mom came to help me move at the end of May. Before we started the hard work of moving we decided to go to Vienna, Austria for 3 days. I was meant to go on a big Europe trip with friends but that never worked out so my mom said we could go to Austria before we went back to Canada. Vienna was a lot of fun and since I had made a friend in London who was from Austria she had told me everything that I had to see and try. We got to see the Spanish School of Riding which was something on my bucket list. After Austria I got to see everyone one more time before leaving. I got to go to one more film party and get burgers after, get a drink and dessert while overlooking the river in Kingston, have one last Sunday roast and watch cricket in the park, have dinner with family friends from Scotland and England, and have dessert with family friends.

I came home the first week of June thinking that once I came back I would be happy with lots filling my days again. This was not the case though. I was happy to see my family and cousins but I had lost pretty much all of my friends except for one on/off friend in Canada. I was also missing London so much. I was so happy to see my dogs but the lifestyle, independence as well as my cousin and everyone I had met in London I was missing. In June I got to go to a women’s FIFA game, Japan vs Australia, with my dad and two cousins. I also got to see Ed Sheeran and One Direction in concert which was amazing! I love both of them so much it just made my June. I was really waiting for the day in July where I got to go back to the UK even if it was not for very long. June kind of rolled by as I got settled back in and got to go horseback riding a couple times.

When July hit I was so excited to go back to the UK. My dad and I went to the UK because he had a meeting in Cardiff, Wales. We flew into London and stayed just down the road from my old flat. We got to see my cousin for dinner which made me ecstatic to see him again. The next day we went to our family friend’s house for a BBQ and got to have some strawberries and creme as it was around the time of Wimbledon. After the BBQ we were off to Cardiff for 3 days. I was by myself most of the time in Cardiff other than dinner time. I did a lot of shopping and exploring. We met with another friend of my dad’s from university who lives just outside of Cardiff, he hadn’t seen her for over 20 years. She was really nice and we had dinner. After my dad’s meeting was done in Cardiff we drove back to London to catch an early morning flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We decided that since we had gone all the way to Europe we would go somewhere else besides the UK so I chose Croatia. We were there for 3 days before heading back to Canada. While in Croatia we drove to Montenegro. Both places were really lovely.

August was when my whole family went to Orlando, Florida. We went for a week and got to go to Disneyworld, Universal Studios, the Kennedy Space Centre, and more. It was hot but a lot of fun. This was our one summer vacation this year that was all four of us. We also met my cousin and his parents there as our trips overlapped by a couple days.

After all of this travelling I was staying in Canada until Christmas. Things were slow again. I got back in contact with and old friend I hadn’t seen for about 5 years and we met up for coffee one day. During this time I tried to get a job but wasn’t very successful as I didn’t want a basic job, such as grocery store or clothing store, but I wanted something more. I wanted something that I could use to find my interests in for university. I once again did not go to university this year. End of September/early October I ended up volunteering at a veterinary clinic. I am still volunteering there. I love it. Through volunteering there I have learnt that I want to become a veterinarian and I love surgery. I never would have thought that I would love surgery or want this as a career choice as I used to be so squeamish about blood but I have gotten over that completely.

December was when I went to Cancun, Mexico on a family reunion. It was a week long trip where I got to see everybody. It was lovely seeing family who I hadn’t seen for about 2 and a half years again. I was also really happy to see my cousin from London again to update him on how I’ve been and see what he’s been up to. We came home from Mexico on December 31 so I started 2016 back in Canada for the first time in a long time.

I hope 2016 is filled with joy, self-discovery, love, wisdom, and ultimately happiness. I hope you had a great 2015 and have an even better 2016!!!

Cancun, Mexico

Hey guys,

This one is a more recent update. Over Christmas I was in Cancun, Mexico with all of my dad’s side of the family. We were there for a week and it was so much fun!! I love it when all of my cousins get together and we can all just hang out.

During this trip we went to the Isla Mujeres where we rented golf carts and drove around the island. We stopped at a turtle sanctuary, went swimming in the ocean, and played beach volleyball. We had so much fun on the island swimming and everything.

We also went to Chichen Itza as a big group. My mom, sister, and I had been there before but nobody else had so we decided to go again. It was really hot that day and was the last day of our trip. We got to see and tour Chichen Itza as well as go to a water spring and swim in it. The day trip was a lot of fun.

Over the course of the trip we got to play on the beach, swim, relax, eat good food, and just have fun. One of my favourite memories of this trip is the last night. Almost all of us cousins went swimming after dinner and had the whole pool to ourselves. We got to jus float and talk and splash around. It was so much fun and will always have a special place in my heart. All of us cousins got to seadoo as well which was so much fun!! I had never done it before and was scared of tipping over at first but by the end I was speeding along just like everybody else having the time of my life! We got to play games with the whole family at night and all in all it was a super successful trip. I miss it already and I can’t wait to see everybody again especially all of my cousins!

Orlando, Florida

Hey guys,

So this post is really late. I started writing it then lost my post and then just got busy. In August I went to Florida! My whole family went as well as we met my aunt, uncle, and cousin there for a couple days. We were in Orlando for a week and stayed in a hotel were we basically got a huge apartment. It was a great place!

While we were there my sister and I went to Universal Studios as we really wanted to see “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”. We got to see both sides of the Harry Potter section of Universal besides going on the Hogwart’s Express. Honestly after going to the Harry Potter Studio in Watford, England the Universal version was a bit of a disappointment. Since we had already had butter beer in Watford we decided to try the frozen butter beer at Universal, as it was so hot. We ended up only going on two rides besides the Hogwart’s Express. One being the Hogwart’s castle ride, which was really well done, and the other Gringott’s Bank. Both were a lot of fun. After talking to somebody else on one of the rides I was told that the best ride in both sections was the castle. On that ride you get to feel like you are going through the castle as a student as well as experience playing quidditch. It was all a lot of fun but the train was defiantly not something I would recommend trying more than once.

Later in the trip we also went to Disneyworld. I had not been to Disneyworld since I was 2 so this was basically a brand new experience for me. We went with our cousin, aunt, and uncle. We went to the Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and the Magic Kingdom. We spent most of our day in the Animal Kingdom and Epcot as we have been to Disneyland many times before. We went on the safari first as I had heard a lot about it. It was good to see all of the animals and it was a good way for us to stay out of the rain. We then saw the “Lion King” which is a performance they do. We walked around the rest of the Animal Kingdom looking around before heading over to Epcot. In Epcot we went on a bunch of rides. One of these being were you go through time and see how electronics and such have evolved over centuries. We also went on one where you are in a simulator and it makes you feel as if you are flying a rocket ship. As the day went on the queues kept getting longer and longer. My aunt wanted to go on the ride which is an aeroplane simulator and the queue for that was massive. We must have waiting like 2 hours for that ride. We finished off in the Magic Kingdom as my aunt really wanted to go there. We took the train around the park and went on one ride, a small world, and then parted ways. That evening we met with our parents and went out to a really nice dinner at a local restaurant which was amazing!! I don’t remember the name of the restaurant but if I come across it I will link it in this post.

During this trip we also went to Blue Spring National State Park. All 7 of us went and we went swimming for a bit which was a lot of fun. At the park we also saw manatees as well as alligators. There were people paddle boarding there as well as canoeing. During our trip we also went to an orange farm. We went on a tour of this farm and they had animals that either roamed free or had a large fenced in area which was much nicer to see rather than a zoo. We got to feed these animals as well from the truck which was fun. This orange farm also did monster challenges (a muddy obstacle course). They also had a shop were you could buy different little things such as alligator. My dad bought a little bit of alligator to try and we got orange creamsicle ice cream drinks.

On this trip we also went to the Kennedy Space Centre. We went through the whole centre and got to see the different launch pads as well as rockets and more. It was quite amazing to see it all. Its hard to explain everything we saw. I defiantly suggest going to see the Space Centre though.

Overall it was a really great trip. I would defiantly go back to Florida but I would want to see different things again next time. Sorry this post is so late but there will be more travel posts coming soon!