Glastonbury Essentials | Glastonbury 2014

So I have nearly finished packing for the biggest festival of the year but what really is essential that you pack and what should you just leave at home?

First and foremost, no festival is complete without a good pair of wellies. Yes - with it being England you can't rely on the sun making an appearance even in the middle of summer so don't forget to pack these beauties or you will seriously regret it! I think mine are from ASDA but any sort of wellies will do. I think rain is forecast for over the weekend (typical Glastonbury style) so even more reason to prepare!

My wellies are very similar to these 

Secondly in addition to a good pair of wellies, you will probably need some sort of wellie socks or in my case footy socks. Due to the fact that I was a little bit behind on my packing, I didn't have the time to go out searching for wellie socks so I decided to use my initiative and head to good old Sports Direct. Good job too as my friend said she paid up to £20 for hers - ridiculously overpriced. I managed to grab two pairs of football socks for just £4 - bargain!

Next on my list has to be a good waterproof coat or rain mac. Again mine is from Sports Direct and it may not be the most flattering of coats but as long as it keeps me dry I am not too fussed. Hopefully I wont be needing this too much... I say this as the sun is beaming down on me whilst writing this very sentence... 

This waterproof from Sports Direct is sure to keep you dry

I think a hat and a pair of sunglasses have to be next. You have to be prepared for every type of weather scenario as they say and this includes the glorious sunshine (I hope this doesn't jinx it). I am going to be taking a pair of sunglasses and a hat from the wonderful Primark (no festival is complete without a Primark haul). Remember it's not recommended to take your best clothes to any festival, never mind Glastonbury. You're bound to lose something along the way and whether this is a pair of sunglasses, a hat or a can of cider I don't think you'll be too bothered if it's not worth a lot.

Next is of course alcohol. With this being the only festival that allows you to take alcohol into the arena, I think its fair to say you should stock up well - you would be silly not to. I purchased two crates of cider for just £18 from Tesco along with some vodka which I will be taking in plastic bottles along with a mixer of my choice (cranberry in my case). Remember glass bottles are strictly forbidden on camp so don't make the mistake of turning up with a litre of Smirnoff unless you want to get it confiscated.

Food-well this comes hand in hand with alcohol especially on those mornings when your'e feeling worse for wear. If you're anything like myself, going away and not having your home comforts can be quite a daunting experience. What am I going to eat she screams... Well luckily Glastonbury has a whole range of food outlets so at least I won't have to face the greasy burger vans every morning like you do at some festivals. However, if you want to prepare for the worst and save some cash in doing so then it's always good to stock up on snacks (one of my favourite words). My list so far include cereal bars, bread, apples, banana bread, beans, bananas, crisps and noodles. Of course if you like to think of yourself as one of the more experienced campers, then of course you can take all this in a cool bag and even throw in a stove to do some cooking on.

One of my favourites - Nature Valley

Money and ticket - well you wouldn't get very far without these two crucial items. I think I am going to take about £200 just to be on the safe side but with my alcohol already sorted I doubt I will end up spending all of this. Of course it's good to have ID too just to prove that beautiful photo of yours is you on your ticket. Glastonbury is very strict with it's ticket policy so it's best to be on the safe side and have more than one form of ID if you can. In my case this is a must as I have changed my hair so many times none of my photos tend to look like me any more! Quite embarrassing when you're 22 and get questioned about your ID at every bar I must add.

I don't know why I left this one until the end but baby wipes -  any sort of wipe in fact that you can have a good cleanse with will do. I am a clean freak so going without a shower for 5 days will probably leave me in tears. However with my baby wipes at hand I am sure I will get by somehow...

You don't want to be forgetting these in a hurry

Antibacterial gel - I cannot stress how important this is ladies!!! I carry this around with me in my handbag on a daily basis so I am sure it is bound to come in handy at this notoriously unhygienic festival. I am going to stock up on some more of this tomorrow just to ensure I don't have any emergencies.

One of my favourites but any hand gel will do

A cheap phone - I am taking my dads as I have misplaced my old Samsung one but any sort of phone will do as long as you don't mind losing it. Remember the older it is the more likely it is to stay alive! You don't want to be running around having to find somewhere to charge it on the first day. Having a phone handy is crucial if you are to get lost or lose your friends. Take it from my own personal experience, searching for hours for a tent that looks the same as the last 100 you past isn't the most enjoyable. 

This not only smells great- it also gives your hair a new leash of life!

Dry shampoo - another must have for you ladies out there who worry about looking half decent at this muddy festival. I love dry shampoo and will be getting through plenty of this during my stay I'm sure. 

Hopefully the ones nobody will forget - a tent, a pillow and a decent sleeping bag. I have decided to pack two sleeping bags this year as I hate being cold and no doubt I will be moaning if it is. I am relying on my friend to bring our tent along with some chairs in case it gets wet. Hopefully I won't play any part in setting this up either as I am useless when it comes to building things!

Is it a tent or is a house?

I am sure there are many many other items which one would class as 'essentials' but these are the main few I can think of at the moment. I am even more certain that I will return with a whole new list after experiencing this festival for the first time. But for now it's time to finish packing and start catching up on as much sleep as possible - I am sure I will be grateful by the start of next week on my return! For more information on what to pack and what not to, head over to the official Glastonbury page. See you all soon!

L.A

xox

Insomnia | Counting Sheep

In a hope to find a niche so to speak for my blog, I want to get talking more about health related issues as this is something which I am really passionate about; health, fitness and well-being. I thought this would also be a great opportunity to get some further insight into other's opinions by seeing what you wonderful bloggers have to say on some of the issues I will be tackling. In this particular post I will be talking about insomnia, something I suffered with at university for quite a while during my final year. The cause? Who knows. I know this is an illness that can persist for months or it can occur in frequent bursts like it often did for me. It's not pleasant and it can totally mess with both your mind and your body.

After countless nights of trying to count sheep, taking deep breaths and finally coming to terms with the fact that I would not be sleeping that night, I decided it was time to get down to my local pharmacy. At first I was afraid to go to my doctors with such an issue. I would be laughed at I thought, but I have realised since having this illness that a lot of us take for granted how important sleep is and this is a matter we do need to be addressing more.

I was often left feeling lethargic after a sleepless night due to my insomnia which led me to napping in the day. Yes, I know I was a student so napping was technically allowed, however I wouldn't just nap for 10 minutes, this would turn into a few hours sleep which let’s face it is only really okay when you are either sick or hungover! Napping for this amount of time would only make me feel worse and saw me repeating the no sleeping cycle all over again that same night. Along with this my work at university would also take a beating. I was unable to concentrate in lectures and produce the quality of work I usually would. I put it down to stress now but at the time I would have done literally anything to just drop off to sleep like any other normal human being. The thing with insomnia is that you do feel tired and ready for bed but your mind decides to stay awake whereas your body is ready to relax. It’s such a bizarre feeling and I have had times where I have had sleep paralysis because of this. If you were wondering, this is where your mind wakes up but your body doesn't. Weird I know!

So what kind of treatments are available? Well as I said I tried everything in my path to start with (yes I did even try counting sheep). It was then that I decided I would need some sort of medical treatment and opted for calms herbal capsules which unsurprisingly failed to work. When I finally got round to visiting my doctor they were reluctant to give me any sleeping tablets as I hadn't been properly diagnosed as such, and at my age it was rare to be prescribing such medication. So back to Boots it was, this time opting for a stronger form of medication available over the pharmacy counter. 

Nytol was the solution to all me problems it seemed. Just one capsule a night an hour before sleep and I was guaranteed a good night’s sleep. However, a word of warning for anyone who buys these tablets, make sure you are very careful as I found myself starting to rely on these tablets. It was essential during my exam period that I was getting enough sleep but after this hectic period was over I found myself worrying about getting to sleep without the use of these tablets. Remember insomnia is not a lifelong illness and the excessive use of such medication is not recommended.  

Ways to avoid insomnia? Well I happen to think about everything and anything whilst lying in bed at night and this is when the stress builds up. What if my alarm doesn’t go off? What if I am late for work? I think writing a list does help but during this time whilst writing my dissertation and preparing for my exams it seemed as if no list was big enough to comply with my extremely busy schedule. It is also recommended that you avoid caffeine and eating late (generally after 8pm) as this could provide with you that extra energy that your body simply doesn't need. I am a tea addict so this was never going to go down too well for me. I now drink camomile tea which has no caffeine in and is said to aid sleep. I think this is a great way of winding down along with my lavender candle which infuses my room with wonderful soothing scents. Another classic is of course reading a book or relaxing in a hot bath...

I hope this article has helped to inspire any of you out there who have suffered or are suffering with this illness. I would love to hear what you think about some of the ideas addressed in this article and remember if you do need any further information please don’t be afraid to ask. Until next time...

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