January Diaries: Sophie from 'The Littlest Things' Guest Post

My friend Sophie; she's a gorgeous girl. I am very fond of her and follow, through her blog 'The Littlest Things', her daily pursuits. Sophie stayed true to her heart and joined her beau George, here in Britain. Meanwhile she often travels back to her native Sydney to see family and friends. Sophie takes the most amazing photos of everyday things that make her happy, so it's easy to see the world through young Sophie's eyes. Oh, and should I also mention that she has that kind of stop-in-your-tracks, to-die-for personal style? To me, Sophie is like a favourite niece who I want to help shepherd through life. However she doesn't need much shepherding as she is so very switched-on and savvy. She is one of the most grounded people I have come across in the blogging community and I am thrilled she has written me this guest post (burning the midnight oil, whilst jet-lagged, having just flown in from Australia). Over to Sophie...

...gorgeous girl...

I am so happy to be here on Lou's beautiful blog. We started blogging around the exact same time and instantly became friends. I see her as one of my closest friends, even though we haven't met. Someone who has so much wisdom and is so easy to talk to (via email). I feel so lucky that we stumbled upon each others blogs two years ago.

I write 'The Littlest Things'. I'm an Australian from Sydney but living in Cardiff, Wales. I want to share the adjusting of different lifestyles and cultures...honestly. I have never really written anything down on my experiences of both countries. So I thought sharing it with fellow 'Lou, Boos and Shoes' readers would be the best place to start.

...beach loving...

OK...so let's start at the beginning. My parents lived and grew up in Sydney their whole lives. They lived in the same area of the city and eventually went to the same high school (the same high school that my brother and I ended up going to). They brought us up in pretty much the exact same area and around a lot of friends they went to school with who happened to have kids around the same time they did. This meant a childhood filled with big barbecues around family friends' pools, going to family friends' holiday houses, playing out on the big wide streets until dusk.

A childhood spent falling asleep with sand in our beds, running around in bare feet and living outside. It was around the time of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when I realised just how incredibly lucky I was to live in such an amazing city. I was 11 and became extremely patriotic.

This upbringing lead me to believe that I would never live anywhere else but home. Sure I would travel, but it didn't even cross my mind that I would leave home. That was until November 1st 2007; the day I finished high school and met George; an English guy who is now my boyfriend - the reason.

...and he's the reason...

It wasn't until around September last year that it began to feel like I really lived here. Even though I lived in London for the whole of 2009 and flew back and forth for all of 2010, September changed my perspective on everything. George and I moved into our apartment in Cardiff and I got a job in the city. It began to become day to day life routine without me even noticing. This was when the comparing of the two countries and cultures started. It now felt like I was able to. Although, I don't like the fact that I compare them since I know both have good points and both bad but sometimes it's impossible not to.

...the girl can cook...peppermint brownies...

With my experience, it feels like Sydney is the easier city to live in. Everything feels brighter (even in the winter), maybe even happier and a lot more relaxed and easy going. When I'm home, I still fall asleep with sand in my bed, run around in bare feet and spend majority of the time outside. The food is fresher, feels a lot easier to lead a healthy lifestyle. There's not the exact same cafe or restaurant on every second corner. It feels like there is so much more emphasis on eating things which are good for you. Getting outside.

sand footprints...photograph by Sophie

From my experience, living in the UK, specifically Cardiff, feels like the harder city to live in. It feels like there isn't as much zest for life, it feels a lot darker and way less relaxed. It might be the fact that I feel like people who live here don't really seem to know why they do. Whenever I tell people where I come from, their first reaction is "oh, why the hell are you here then?". It feels like there is no where near as much emphasis put on leading a healthy lifestyle. The unhealthy options seem to outweigh the healthy ones ridiculously, from what I can see anyway. I do hate comparing them, but it just feels like, from my experience, that Sydney has got life right.

girl about town...photograph of Sophie by George!

Obviously, I am bias. You can see that from the whole introduction. To me, everything in Sydney is so familiar. I bump into friends and family wherever I go. I have unforgettable memories from countless places all around the city. Therefore, my analysis may be faulted. However, the funny thing which has seemed to gradually happen is that whenever I return home, I feel like an outsider. For the first couple of days anyway. It sometimes kind-of feels like I have become less Australian. It reminds me of a quote in a book I read called "Almost French". It was "...his life is a constant dilemma: in Australia he feels Greek; but in Greece he feels Australian. It's a bitter sweet thing knowing two cultures".

closeness...photograph by Sophie

One thing I know for sure is that I would never pass this experience up for anything. As much as I miss Sydney, and my family, and even though I don't think I will ever get used to that fact that I go home for "holidays, I know this is the best thing for me to do. I know I will look back and think of these days extremely fondly; of George and I starting out our life together. Of living on the other side of the world. Trying to find our feet, independently.  I love the challenge and everything I am gaining from it, even if it can make me homesick, like crazy sometimes.

But, it does make me incredibly happy knowing, that we will end up in Sydney for good, come a few years time. It is my home, after all.

...love this...impossibly blue photograph by Sophie

Congratulations Lou, on reaching two years of this beautiful blog. I'm so happy you started it, and I'm sure many people feel the same. Looking forward to so many more years of blogging together xx