Solo Adventures: Washington D.C., USA

Whilst many plans for long-distance travel may have be put on hold for a little while, I decided to reminisce on my solo adventures in the USA. If you didn’t know already, I chose to do a study abroad year in 2018/19 as part of my degree, ending up in Florida where I had the most AMAZING time! But during my Spring Break holiday, instead of hitting the beaches like many other students across the USA do, I decided to head up North and visit Washington DC and Chicago, taking some time for myself to explore these culturally rich cities. I’ll start off with my top 5 places in DC, the first stop on my trip, and a city that I already knew pretty well.

DC has been the capital of the US for 230 years and is home to some of the most iconic landmarks in the country, including the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and Arlington Cemetery, so if you’re an American history/politics buff like me, then DC is the place to go. But with its blend of trendy neighbourhoods and high-end shopping districts amongst the typical tourist attractions, there really is something for everyone to enjoy.

Having been twice before with my family, I’ve seen most of the major tourist attractions which won’t be featured in this post, but I will list some recommendations at the end for first-time visitors. 

Top 5: Overview

Image provided by Google Maps

1) U.S. Capitol tour

The U.S. Capitol is a defining feature of DC’s skyline, so taking the chance to look around this iconic hub of American politics is a must. On the 45-minute guided tours, you’re taken around the main rooms of the Capitol, starting with the Rotunda and its intricately decorated ceiling featuring a mural that could’ve come straight out of the Sistine Chapel. Next door, the Statuary Hall features various bronze statues of the greats, and the Crypt reveals underground passages to offices held by important members of State. Even if the history of federal government is not your thing, the building itself and its décor is impressive enough to warrant a visit. 

Booking a tour is very easy to do online and is completely free, so there’s no reason not to check out this iconic landmark! 

• 

• 

L: Front of the Capitol; R: Ceiling of the Rotunda (my images)

2) National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)

This museum is the newest addition to the Smithsonian family and, in my opinion, one that’s long needed to be established. The museum tells the story of American history from the African American perspective, detailing their experiences through key historical moments. The main exhibition starts three floors underground with the Transatlantic slave trade and the rise in plantation slavery in the South, gradually winding upwards through the Civil War, Reconstruction and segregation to the Civil Rights movement, ending with the rise of hip hop culture, Obama’s legacy and the future for African Americans in the US. The exhibition truly allows you to think about race relations from a historical perspective and understand why it’s so prevalent today, as well as immersing yourself in a powerful and emotive story that needs to be heard and shared.

If you only plan on visiting one of the Smithsonian museums along the National Mall, make it this one! The museum is free entry, and you can claim timed entry passes online. 

• 

• 

• 

L and R: the main exhibition; Middle: The NMAAHC building (all Alan Karchmer/NMAAHC)

3) Georgetown

This quaint, historic neighbourhood is a slice of colonial America within the modern city and has become one of my favourites in DC. The cobbled streets and the timber-structured houses are so beautiful and incredibly well-preserved considering their age, and the main shopping street is filled with a blend of boutique and high-end stores; I could happily spend hours shopping here! Also, as Georgetown sits on the bank of the Potomac River, the waterfront is the perfect place to go if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of downtown DC.

As Georgetown is one of the oldest parts of the city, there’s no metro station in the neighbourhood itself, but is only a short bus/uber trip away from the GWU/Foggy Bottom metro station.

• 

• 

L: Colourful Georgetown shops (MonicaVolpin at pixabay.com); R: Colonial-era buildings (my image)

4) Chinatown

Another one of my favourite neighbourhoods is Chinatown; I loved it so much that I spent my last few hours there before travelling to Chicago. Many Chinatowns in cities around the world look similar, and to be honest, DC is no different. But having spent more time in Chinatown than I usually would, I realised that this mix of cultures is something quite special and often overlooked, which is why I loved it so much in DC. The huge, standout arch in the middle of the street is beautifully decorated, and is accompanied by colourful, diagonal crossings that spans across the whole intersection, with animals of the Zodiac adorned all four paths. I even love the Urban Outfitters here, as it sells Asian-inspired knick knacks that you wouldn’t see in other stores, which makes it so unique! 

Chinatown is an easy stop on the Metro (even the station’s well decorated!) but easy to walk to if you’re already situated in the downtown area.

• 

• 

L: The Chinatown arch (Jason Weingardt at Unsplash); R: Chinatown Intersection (Natalie Runnerstrom at Unsplash)

5) The Tidal Basin

Last, but definitely not least, is the Tidal Basin, which is a stunning setting for some of America’s most famous landmarks. Only a short walk away from the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the basin offers spectacular views of the Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the infamous cherry blossom trees are a particular focal point when in bloom. Walking around the entire perimeter of the basin takes around an hour, and it’s worth taking the trip at around twilight hours to capture some breath-taking views of these monuments and take in the peaceful surroundings.

If you want to experience the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the best time to visit is around late March to late April, but the days change each year, so check before you go!

• 

• 

• 

L and Middle: Views of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Monument (my images), R: Cherry Blossom trees (skeeze at pixabay.com)

Recommendations for first timers/places to go if I’d visit again:

• As DC was the first US city I’d explored on my own, I didn’t feel confident enough to explore further than the city centre, so next time I’d love to check out some neighbourhoods that the locals frequent (all whilst being safe and streetwise!) The H Street corridor particularly stood out to me as it’s an up and coming area with lots of cool restaurants, bars and boutique shops. 

• For first time visitors to DC, I would highly recommend many of the popular landmarks. My favourites include the Library of Congress, the National Museum of American History, Ford’s Theatre, and a stroll along Pennsylvania Avenue to see the White House.

• Lastly, I’d love to, and recommend anyone to, go up the Washington Monument. The monument hasn’t been open for a long time due to extensive maintenance, so a visit is a must when it finally opens to the public. 

Thanks for reading my top 5 DC recommendations, see you in the next one!

Fiona xx

Confessions Of A Quarantined Drama Queen: Why I Found Lockdown Difficult and How I’m Coping With It

COVID-19. I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record recently as I’ve mentioned it in all of my blog posts, but since March the virus has affected millions around the world. Before my university closed, I was adamant that COVID wouldn’t affect our lives as much as people said it would, primarily because my gal pals and I had a Dubai holiday booked and NOTHING was going to stand in our way. 

But boy, was I wrong. 

The restrictive guidelines came in thick and fast; travel bans were put in place, a country-wide lockdown was issued, and universities moved all end of year teaching online, encouraging students to head back home ASAP. Now, looking back on the past four months spent at home, there have been plenty of highs but also a lot of lows, and this isn’t uncommon. In June, around 4 in 10 adults in the UK felt their wellbeing was affected by COVID-19, and 63% said they felt worried about the future.^[1] This lockdown has been strange and new for everyone, which is why I wanted to talk about it in this post; by sharing some of my thoughts and feelings, hopefully someone can relate and realise that they’re not alone, helping them feel a little better about coping with the pandemic.

The last semester of university is, in my opinion, one of the best. The sun’s shining, everyone’s sat in the Square drinking snakebites (if you go to UEA, you know EXACTLY how amazing that is!), you’re enjoying the last end-of-year nights out with your mates, and for us final year students, we’re excited about graduating and rounding out our student lives, knowing that we’ve attained amazing results that we should be immensely proud of. But in true COVID style, all of those plans were dashed, and we were left with little choice but to pack up a suitcase and leave.

As soon as I returned home, I hugged my mum and burst into tears. This may seem a little dramatic, but my four years at university were near-perfect and I wasn’t ready to let go of it so soon. I’m eternally grateful for all the amazing people I’ve met during my time at uni and I’m so lucky to have made close, life-long friendships, as well as take opportunities I wouldn’t have been given otherwise; the countless memories I’ve made will be cherished for years to come. So, having to leave that perfect student bubble was incredibly overwhelming and difficult to process, as there was essentially no closure on some of the best years of my life. 

The abrupt halt left me thinking ‘What now? What’s next?’, and COVID definitely sped up the process of thinking about the future. The jump from education into employment is something people don’t prepare you for; from the ages of five and six, all we have known is that September signals the start of a new school year. But having no new academic year to go back to after finishing uni, most grads are thrust into the normal working world, which can be a scary time when you have no concrete plans for what to do next. It’s incredibly easy to look around at others and feel like they’ve got their shit together whilst you’re flagging behind with no clue on where to go next, and this mindset quickly started to build up stress and anxiety over how to take those first steps into the world of work.

As well as becoming an unemployed grad, feelings of loneliness and isolation became normal for me. Combined with the anxieties over what I want out of life, transitioning from living with my mates to living at home was REALLY difficult, especially as the last time I’d spent longer than a month at home was before I went to uni. I love my family to bits, but the change from being an independent student, living life at my own pace, to being part of the family routine made me want to spend as much time on my own as I could. By spending time alone, I felt the need to reduce contact with my friends for a while and I thought this jeopardised my relationship with them, and the feelings of job stress, boredom and self-deprecation all swirled together into this negative cycle where I’d become extremely grumpy, sad, upset and lonely for several days at a time.

Also, the reliance on technology within modern society is already extreme, but during lockdown, this has truly been taken to the max. Lots of people I know would say that I can’t stay off my phone, but I found that being in contact through texting and group chats became really overwhelming sometimes, which didn’t help as I was missing proper human contact with my friends. As brilliant as FaceTime or Zoom is, it will never replace a good face-to-face interaction, which definitely contributed to those feelings of isolation and loneliness.

As much as lockdown has been a rollercoaster of emotions, I’ve found a handful of ways to cope with the new norm of being in the house, banishing boredom and keeping my mind off the negatives:

Cherish the support given from friends and family: This is the best piece of advice I’d give, and one I wish I’d followed. As much as you may feel lonely, isolated, or sad, there are people out there that love you and care about you, so try not to cut them out. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved, so talking about your issues with those closest to you can be extremely helpful – you’ll soon realise that you’re not alone in how you feel and the support may come at a time where you’ll need it the most.

Exercise: As gyms have remained closed for a hot minute, there’s been no better time to hop on the home workout trend. My go-to workouts are by YouTube fitness guru Chloe Ting and have helped me shed some lockdown weight, as well as boost my mood for the day!

Learn new skills: Throughout lockdown, I’ve found that doing online courses have been really useful for learning new skills and boosting the old CV. I’m currently working on two LinkedIn Learning courses for Excel and Word to refresh my basic IT software knowledge, as well as completing a virtual internship that you can read about here! This blog has also been a great outlet, not only for sharing my voice but for learning about online publishing and honing my writing skills for future careers.

Binge new films and TV shows: As many people have been left with more spare time than ever before, subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have truly taken advantage of this by releasing a myriad of films and TV shows to get stuck into. I’ve compiled endless lists of things I haven’t had the chance to watch, ranging from brand new dramas, to old cinema classics, and everything in between.  

Self-care: This has been one of my favourite ways to cope with lockdown; channelling my energies into perfecting a skincare routine and pampering myself has been super beneficial for staying zen. But mental self-care is just as important as the physical self-care; even taking five or ten minutes out of the day to go for a walk and clear my head has done a lot of good – reflecting on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives helps put things into a greater perspective. 

I’ll leave a link below to a list of recommended mental health charities that offer support for some of the issues I’ve described above; just remember that you’re NEVER alone, and that there’s always someone to talk to, whether that be a friend, a family member, even a counsellor or therapist. Sharing your thoughts and feelings is a positive step forward, and it’s something I wish I’d done sooner.

See you in the next one!

Fiona xx

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

---

^[1] Office for National Statistics, ‘Coronavirus and the Social Impacts on Great Britain’ (2020), https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandthesocialimpactsongreatbritain/5june2020, date accessed 19/07/2020.