Wild Romania

My school was very good at planing trips for the students to go on. Having heard about what this trip entailed I was all for it and lucky, as my friends we’re up for it too. It was a 10 day trip, working with the charity People Against Poverty, building a ‘Sanctuary House’ for a family in need.

People Against Poverty:

People Against Poverty is a local charity which specialises in helping those across seas in need. They work with the local schools, businesses and churches sending teams to create sanctuary and safe places for families who don’t have that. Click here to find out more about what they do and how you can get involved.

Our Family:Family

The team was assigned a family that we would primarily be doing our work for. Our family (not that I can remember the name of this family, they were Romania, it was a hard name) consisted of 3 children and the mother and father. The father was suffering from a heart defect that meant he had undergo heart surgery every 3-4 years. The 2 oldest children were living away from the family with grandparents. They would walk 6+ miles to school and back everyday. The youngest, 6/7 years old and the parents lived in a tent for the entirety of a winter in temperatures below freezing. They needed our help!

Fundraising:

To get to Romania we needed £690 to pay for flights, accommodation, food, transport for the entirety of the trip and a further £400 for supplies, equipment and materials to build the sanctuary house. For a 16 year old girl, working one day a week, that amount of money wasn’t going to be easy to get. We did bake sales, car washing, bag packing in supermarkets and a 52 mile sponsored bike ride, all with the support of two amazing teachers!

Whilst in Romania:

After a long flight and drive to our hotel, we were briefed with what the rest of the week had in store for us: Early mornings, long and hot days and lots and lots of work to be done. Without going into a boring amount of detail, the project consisted of working together to build 4 walls, a roof, a floor, basically the components of a house and with all of us having little/zero experience of DIY, the task seemed almost impossible… Yet somehow we managed to finished the build in 3 and half days.

After completing the house with 3 and a half days to spare, we helped on some other projects in a nearby shanty town. The charity had done work in this area before and had some unfinished projects which we helped with, a micro-farm and shower and toilet facilities were completed.

After all the hard work we went exploring the country. We visited some of the countries major cities, including Transylvania (Dracula was born here, did you know?). We even climbed a mountain and canoed across a lake.

Coming Home:

After Romania, personally, I came home with a different perspective on life. After seeing people with literally nothing still walk around with smiles on their faces, it forced me to appreciate what I had around me, what I take for granted. I have never gone without food, water, a roof over my head, clothes, the basic necessities of life because my parents have always ensured that I had what I needed. The family couldn’t do that for their kids, they needed help. And we gave that to them and I will always be proud.

Have you ever thought about volunteering? Maybe you should. It’s a wild experience. 

 

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The Wild Bucket List

After my first post, the logical next step is to tell you what’s on my wild bucket list. I’ve always been the type of person to have big dreams, someone who isn’t afraid to take chances but I’ve actually never had a solid, hard copy list to look at. When I started planning this blog I started my bucket list properly, writing down everything I want to do, see and achieve before I die and I want to share this with you.

But what’s the point of having a bucket list? Personally, since writing down what I want to do in life, I have become more excited about things I could actually achieve. It actually isn’t as difficult as people may think and my list is comprised of things as small as being able to touch my toes to seeing the 7 wonders of the world. Having a hard copy of things you want to do is such a motivation booster because you are constantly reminded of it, so if you have a list hidden away in a draw, go get it and put it on your wardrobe or your fridge, somewhere you will see it regularly and inspire yourself to get those things done!

Now, it’s time to reveal what’s on my bucket list, maybe this will inspire you to write one or to add to your own. It’s not the full list, because that would be ridiculously long and probably bore you to tears, but these are some of the things I have done, I’m most excited about and things that are little more far fetched. A girls got to dream though, am I right?

The Wild Bucket List:

  • See the 7 Wonders of the World
  • Go to Winter Wonderland in London
  • See Niagara Falls up close
  • Watch a beach sunset/sunrise
  • See the Northern Lights
  • Bake everything from a cookbook
  • Work on a summer camp in America
  • Go to Glastonbury
  • Go on a road trip
  • Take part in the Colour Run
  • Go on a girls holiday
  • Go on an African safari
  • Get a tattoo that means something
  • Run a marathon
  • Be able to touch my toes
  • Go to NYC
  • Live abroad for 6 months +
  • Go to the beach in the middle of January
  • Go backpacking across Europe
  • Learn how to surf
  • Learn how to skateboard
  • Learn a different language
  • Win the lottery
  • Be confident
  • Live a care free life
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Niagara Falls

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Safari in Africa

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Girls Holiday, Greece

What’s on your bucket list or what you’ve done that I could put on mine? Let me know in the comments below!

Wild Ideas

Hi and welcome to The Wild Bucket List Blog.

So, I had this wild idea about 2 years ago to start a blog. Originally I was using the blog as a way to vent, an online diary if you will, however, it was total rubbish and luckily for me, no one read it. I needed to figure out what I actually wanted to come out of blogging and that’s when it clicked. I realised I am just bored. Life is boring when you don’t make the most out of it and I’d forgotten what it feels like to be out in the world, experiencing it. But what did I even have to say to the world? Well, I think I’ve finally figured it out.

Having had many amazing experiences for a girl of 19 I thought it was about time I share some of those; even if I can encourage just one person to go to just one new place, I’ll be happy. In 2013 I went on my first wild adventure to Romania, followed by a trip to South Africa and more recently, New York, America (oh, and a cheeky trip to Malia, Greece for a girls’ holiday). But I am desperate to go to more places, learn new things and make the most out of the time I have on this planet.

The end of the build
Romania 2013

Moping around and bad habits are getting me no where so it’s about time I sorted it out. Don’t you agree? I tried running (I’m very very bad at it) which lasted about a week, then decided to try and eat healthier (which is not fun for a fussy eater) but I was losing motivation rapidly.

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South Africa 2014

So, I had this wild idea. why not share what I’ve done and inspire people to get the best out of life? I want people to experience the things I have and understand that life isn’t easy, but with a little hard work and determination, it can be exactly what you want it to be.

And I plan to make mine wild.