Well those are words I never thought I’d say. And I don’t really mean them. Click-bait? Maybe a little. I know it’s going to kill me leaving Liverpool in a few months and I’m trying to gear myself up for the big moment.
I’ve written quite a few posts about my love for this city that I’ve come to call home and my last week here will be extremely hard. Leaving for London was hard enough, even though I knew I was coming back. I’ll never forget the first time I returned on placement year and almost cried with happiness walking out of Lime Street Station.
I’m writing this list to help myself prepare for that fateful day and to look on the bright side of leaving. I know I’ve exhausted Liverpool and all it has to offer and I’ll miss spending my weekends in Lanigans and McCooleys, but that isn’t what my future has in store. As much as I love it, I don’t want to live for the weekends and visit the same bars with the same people. I want to experience new things, make new friends and make new memories.
Liverpool will always be home and it will always be here. I won’t be gone forever but I’m excited to see where I end up. Here are five positive feelings I have about leaving Liverpool.
1. Restoring my liver back to health
Oh I cannot wait to stop going out until 6am every weekend and eating takeaways for breakfast. It feels like I’ve been going out more in my final year than I did when I was in second year, but that might be because I was away from it all during my placement. However, I’ve been piling on the pounds since placement and since returning because I’ve been drinking every weekend and not being able to say no to food on the way home.
I can’t wait to have a detox and to stop feeling that I’m missing out when I opt to stay in at the weekend (which isn’t too often). I definitely think I’ll be on track for a fitter, healthier and skinnier Orlagh when I leave this city.
But will I be making the most of my remaining weekends in Liverpool until then? Absolutely.
2. New job opportunities
Wherever I end up, I’m going to have to get a job. Well, hopefully. Whether I end up an intern, in a junior role, back waitressing or working on a farm in Australia, I’m hoping for something new in a new company. I’m not setting my hopes high to end up with something along the lines of Coty as I don’t think any job I have will ever compare to my placement year. However, I do hope that the job is something I can learn from and will pay the bills.
If I choose to go traveling instead of entering the PR world, then I wouldn’t mind going back to work in hospitality in order to get by. If I am able to travel and still work in the PR world, then even better.
As I will only be fresh out of university, I would be very open to trying new industries and sectors. The more experience I can get in different industries the better as I’ll be able to make a better choice when it comes to deciding on how I want to spend my future. Who knows whether that will be in beauty, tech, publicity or corporate affairs? I’m just hoping to be employed by September.
3. Living somewhere new
My leaving date for Liverpool is creeping ever closer, and right now, I don’t have any plans in place for after this. It’s currently looking like I’ll be moving back home in July but I’m hoping to make that for a few weeks, a month minimum before I’m off to live somewhere else.
There are a few places on my radar that I would like to move to and I’m going to look into them more once I finish final year. One thing I know is that I don’t want to be living back at home in September. If my first choices don’t come through, I’ll be packing my bags and moving back to Liverpool or booking a one way ticket to Australia for a year.
Can you all cross your fingers and toes that my first options work out, because I don’t want to find myself living in Lurgan in six months time.
4. Making new memories
Ok, this one is based on the hope that I end up living somewhere new and employed in a secure job so let’s roll with it. But, wherever I go, I hope to experience new places, new people and make as many new memories as I possibly can. I want to tick places and things off my Bucket List, learn about other cultures and experience different ways of life.
There are so many occasions in Liverpool and London that I look back on with fond memories and will never, ever forget. The people that I’ve met, the nights out I’ve had and the pictures will remain with me for a lifetime – even the videos of me singing in Woodies and Lanigans. I’ll never forget the parties, the pre-drinks, the mornings after or the nights that went from 0 to 100.
I’ve made friends in Liverpool (and London) that are friends for life and I hope to make more wherever I end up. And you can bet wherever I go I’ll be making a Bucket List and acting the tourist as long as I can.
5. So I can find reasons to go back
Someone’s birthday? Let’s go to Liverpool. St Patrick’s weekend? Nowhere better than Liverpool. Christmas? I need to see the tree in Liverpool. A hen party? To Liverpool it is. Craving avocado on toast from Leaf on Bold Street? I guess it’ll have to be Liverpool.
No matter the occasion, I’ll always find a reason to go back to Liverpool. Whether it’s because I’m craving a chicken stack from McCooley’s, a pitcher in Concert Square or a Sunday in the Liffey – there will always be a reason to return.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder and this was especially true when I lived in London. I went four months before I had to make a reappearance so I don’t know if I’ll survive not being in the city for longer than six months. If I move abroad for a year, I’ll need to somehow make the new place my version of Liverpool. *Googles ‘Places Scousers move to’*
Maybe I’m a little premature with this blog post but it’s April next week and then, four weeks later, final year will be over. After that, I’ll have two months left of Liverpool and it will go by in a flash. Expect soppy blog posts like this for the foreseeable until I’m off living my best life as a digital nomad in Bali and have forgotten Liverpool ever existed (not likely).
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