About that time my nightmare turned into a Prada handbag

Last Friday I headed to Florence. On my own.

When I first saw this workshop advertised (I came across it by coincidence), I signed up within the hour. A writing workshop in Italy? HELL YES! I was peeing-my-pants-with-excitement excited and couldn’t believe my luck! I had never been to Italy before either and am a dedicated lover of all things quintessentially Italian: espresso, prosecco, pasta, pizza, gelato, dark-haired men, sunshine. This was a sure bet.

Until the date came closer and closer and I had to actually think of logistics and what to pack.

I started to get more and more anxious. I begged my boyfriend to come with me, because I didn’t want to go on my own. I suggested to my friend to get a flight and we could share the room. And then in the end, I was on my own as I scanned my boarding pass to go through to security at Heathrow and headed for the plane taking me to Italy. (By the way, I travel alone all the time, but had never before been to Italy...)

And - unsurprisingly - I had one of the best weekends of my life! I learned so much and met some of the loveliest people that I now get to call my friends.

I say unsurprisingly because this is a theme in my life: Before my first school trip, I cried for weeks and begged my mom to not make me go. As soon as I got on the coach at school, I was the one drying everyone else’s tears and had a week as good as it could be when you're nine and showering and changing in front of others is awkward as hell...

When I signed up to go to the USA as an exchange student when I was 16, I again spent weeks and months begging my parents to call it all off, because it was a mistake and “if they loved me, they would not do this to me” (bit of emotional blackmail for good measure). But off to America I went and - yes, you guessed it - had one of the best years of my life...

Back to Florence though, one of the reasons I was über-excited when I signed up was that the class was taught by one of my idols - a copywriter I had been following for years and whose newsletter I would open AND read EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. (Crazy, right?!) Her name is Laura Belgray and she is talkingshrimp.com

I have never had celebrity crushes (apart from my love for Eminem, which is not a crush, as us being together is fate - completely different), but follow successful entrepreneurs like my dog follows the trail of fox pee - they inspire me so much and remind me that anything is possible.

This is me and Laura having cocktails on a rooftop - as you do:

So, if you are reading this and there is something you feel equally excited and scared about…. DO IT! Ignore your mind and follow your intuition. DO IT ANYWAY!

Also, the Prada thing wasn't just to draw you in - I did buy myself a little Prada treat, because when in Rome.... no, FLORENCE.... damn. It's beautiful though.