Personal Post: Moving to England, living on a farm, packing more books than clothes and the Bath Kids Literary Festival!

I'm flying to England this Sunday and I'm so excited!

I actually lived there before for nearly 3 years but I didn't really enjoy it. The weather got to me and all I wanted was to come back to South Africa and we did and it was so good being home. But now that I'm older I realise that there's so many more opportunities for me there, so many things I can do there related to books/blogging/science. South Africa also seems to be declining, load-shedding is occurring more frequently, there may be water shortages and there's a lot of drama happening at the universities and I realise now that it's probably best to be in England at this age, so that I can study there and get the best education possible!

I'm extremely nervous to go back in case I really don't enjoy it, but I'm trying to have a positive outlook. I'm trying to focus on seeing my friends again, of exploring the little villages, of the bookstores and Amazon's great-priced books and the literary festivals and being so near to other countries that I've been dying to go to!

I'm going to miss my beautiful home so much but there will always be holidays and I'm pretty sure that, if things don't decline further, I will return back home to stay.

But anyway, I'm super excited for what lies ahead! Our furniture is leaving tomorrow and then on Wednesday we'll be living in a guest house RIGHT ON THE BEACH for 3 days (until we leave) and then once we arrive in England we'll be living on a gorgeous farm for 2 weeks (like something out of a book - squeee!) and I'll be seeing my friends and going to the library and exploring, which is super exciting! I also found this list on Buzzfeed of cute second-hand bookstores that are dotted around the UK and I want to visit as many of them as I can!

I'm incredibly nervous for the flight though because, as I've said before, I get severe panic attacks and although I enjoy flying, I don't enjoy the fact that if I have a very bad panic attack there's no where to go to get away from all the people and the suffocating claustrophobia you feel when you're in a small space and you can't breathe. So I'm not looking forward to the flight. Especially with planes disappearing and being shot down and whatnot. I WANT TO LIVE OKAY.

Besides that, I'm SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER excited because I'll be attending the Bath Kids Literary Event! I'm hoping to see Patrick Ness, Derek Landy (MY FREAKING FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER I LOVE HIM SO MUCH), Jennifer Donnelly, Sarah Crossan, Holly Smale (ALSO ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS EVER), Virginia Bergin and Robin Stevens (ANOTHER FAVORITE AUTHOR) - I'M SO FRIKKIN EXCITED.

It was quite tricky though, as I'd packed all my books away and sealed the boxes and I had SO MANY BOOKS of the authors who I'd be seeing and I really really really wanted them signed but I packed them away, but being the courageous, noble book warrior I am, I decided to rip open all the boxes I'd so carefully sealed and rescue my beloveds. It would've been fine if my books were coming on the boat, but my parents are keeping our stuff in storage until we've bought our own house as it's quite tedious (apparently) dragging around 11 boxes of books each time you rent a place. So I'll only be reunited with my babies much later on. It's painful and I've cried many a tears but my parents insist that there's libraries and Ebay and

Amazon BUT STILL. Anyway, I needed those books. So now I have like, 10 books in my suitcase and several on my carry-on luggage BUT IT'S WORTH IT. No mom, I don't care if I can only fit a couple of outfits in there as long as I have my books. I'll walk around in plastic bag if need be.

Because you guys obviously want to see which books I'm taking *cough*, here is a picture of my travelling preciousssss: