A Beginning Born of Fortune
So, what’s brought us here?
I took this image while on an evening walk during the summer. Of course, ‘summer’ is a loose term in Scotland but I remember this day being quite temperate. It serves as a reminder for me that seldom one gets to properly reflect on what’s passed. As a law student, with a part time job, and a social life, everything tends to move wildly fast. The summer of 2024 was no exception.
But before I get into all that, perhaps a little introduction is in order. Hi! My name is Archie Baxter. I grew up outside of Stirling in a small town situated against the foot of the Ochil hills, a pretty great place to grow up. However, after starting a Scots Law degree at the University of Glasgow, I now live in the Glasgow neighbourhood of Finnieston. I also have a part time job as a Litigation Assistant for a law firm. It is mostly through this job that I can fund my other ‘hobby’, as my friends enjoy saying condescendingly, is travel. It is not a very financially feasible hobby, but through immense fortune, and a bit of hard work here and there, it has become a massive part of my life. At the end of high school, I had plans to go inter-railing across Europe. However, through varying circumstances, such a trip never materialised. It was then I resolved to use this past summer to make up for lost time. “So, you went Inter-railing like you planned?” you ask. No, that would have made far too much sense. Instead, across the summer I took several trips, in very different ways, with very different people. Life often seems to work out in the ways you don’t expect.
Therefore, it is through reflection (and some thoughtful advice) that I find myself here. As a law student it's somewhat a novelty to want to write more, but one thing a law degree does not allow time for, is the expression of oneself. I refuse to let my enjoyment of writing become a chore. Thus here I am, to write about what I have fortunately come to know well: travel.
Through family holidays, school trips, and my own holidays, I have been immensely lucky to have travelled to and experienced a considerable amount of places, especially so early on in my life. However, it has not been till this last summer I have had the opportunity to plan my own trips, one that so many people my age have not been as lucky to have. However, in my view, there is no more effective method to build one’s character, expand one’s horizons, and satisfy the restlessness of youth than travel. No one should be deprived of the opportunity to have that.
It is therefore, my hope that by publishing this blog I will have played even a small part in helping someone to get out there, and see what’s on offer. I aim to provide helpful advice on locations for trips, with a strong focus on budgeting, and the balance of study, work, and socialisation. In a selfish way I also hope this blog provides me with an outlet to reflect. I have found the best way to get through difficult times is to draw strength from the cherished memories which have passed, to give me hope of what’s to come. My first series of blog posts will be the imaginatively named ‘Summer of 24’ series. It will consist of 6 parts, each one detailing a trip I took this past year: Aix-en-Provence, Austria, Scotland’s west coast, Berlin, Albufeira, and, lastly Belgium. I will detail the highs and lows, the triumphs and pitfalls of each trip, and how they rank in terms of affordability, transport availability, accommodation, and general atmosphere. This should hopefully act as a signpost for you future young travellers of how to maximise and enhance your trips away. The only other point of wisdom I will attempt to impart on you, reader, in this post would be this. No place is not worth visiting. We now live in a time where the world is closer than ever but I have found it has made me misguidedly think the world is rather small. It may be a niche reference but the wonderful Christmas movie, ‘The Polar Express’, makes a very applicable point (albeit specifically to trains).
It doesn’t always matter where you are going, the real decision is deciding to get on.
So, I look forward to starting this journey with you. The first place we will be venturing back to, is Aix-en-Provence, a gem of a city nestled amongst the rolling hills and lavender fields of the south of France. How exciting! I’ll see you there.