Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Beth, I’m 19 years old and I’m currently on a gap year with a deferred entry to study Politics and Sociology in London in September. I run the blog “A Lovely Cup of Life” and I blog about a range of topics such as lifestyle, travel and mental health, with my main topic being about Bullet Journals. I currently live in East Sussex somewhere near Brighton and I have a ginger cat called Oscar who is 8 years old and the love of my life!

How did you get into blogging?

I was originally blogging on and off constantly between 2015 and 2018. I studied English Language at A Level and one of the exam questions was entitled “Writing about a topical issue.” Essentially, you were given a statement surrounding English Language such as “All Language is biased” or “Technology is ruining the English Language” and you had to write about it. The mode in which you could write in was always specified and it included modes such as a speech, article and of course, a blog post. I found I really excelled in this question and it’s what inspired me to start blogging because it inspired me so much! In 2017, I made a new blog which is the blog I have today and blogged occasionally on it. I then developed a schedule towards the end of 2018 and I have been blogging regularly since.

Tell us about your favorite blog post.

I think my favourite blog post has to be “The Bullet Journal Debate.” If I were to summarise the debate, it’s basically about this idea that doing art in your Bullet Journal is waste of time. I put a lot of time and effort into this particular post as I wanted to talk about it in a professional way. I conducted some questionnaires on my bullet journal Instagram (@bujowithbeth) to see what my followers thought and I felt it added a lot of weight to my post. I’m very proud of it and I still stand by my opinions that I made in that post.

What are you doing when you’re not blogging?

When I’m not blogging, I’m probably doing something like watching Netflix or I’m out at the theatre. (although the latter is significantly less often.) I also use my Bullet Journal during that time as well as prepare for university in September, whether that be making lists of things I need or doing some little bits of preparation in regards to my degree. I’m also probably petting my cat because my cat is my life.

What are some pros and cons you experienced on taking a gap year?

The pros and cons of taking a gap year are probably going to a lot different from my perspective as opposed to other people who may have gone travelling on their gap year. The pros definitely outweigh the cons in terms of my experience on a gap year. A massive pro of being on a gap year is the fact it’s given me a chance to improve my mental health to the point I feel comfortable moving out and going to university. Equally, I’ve been able to have jobs and therefore earn money in preparation for university. Another pro is also being able to spend time with my family, my cat (he’s being mentioned again) and my friends which I’ve enjoyed so much. The only con I can think of is feeling a little bit lonely as all of my friends are either far away at university or they’re home and extremely busy so I don’t get to see them as often. It was more of a con towards the beginning of my gap year but now I’ve grown to accept it in a way and it doesn’t bother me as much!

What are you most looking forward to starting university?

Hmm. There are quite a few things I’m looking to in terms of starting university. I’m looking forward to having some independence and being able to live away from my family (although please don’t tell my parents that!) I’m also looking forward to the degree I’ve chosen to study as it’s two subjects I find extremely fascinating, especially with the current events going on in our world. Finally, I’m looking forward to living in my favourite city in the world. London.

Where else can we find you?

Twitter || Instagram (blog) || Instagram (BuJo) || Pinterest

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic.