An Epic #LDNTourist Journey: My Life Changing 2009 & 2010 Goals

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My 2009 was quite simply, epic. And therefore, so is this post!

This time last year I chose “get results” as my New Year’s resolution.  I ended up changing my life around within a month. Here’s where it all began:

How it started

2008 I took exams and continued building solid career experiences at a web design company in Nottingham. I was working as a web marketing consultant there until February 2009 when they told me some gutting news; they had to make me redundant. As devastated as I was to leave, I’d had a niggling urge in the back of my mind for a few months about travelling or relocating. Being made redundant made me turn those ideas into a reality and I started to explore travel options and research living and working in London, leaving my quiet countryside life behind. One of my leaving presents was the book The Yes Man by Danny Wallace (aff)  – one of the best gifts of the year as I followed in his footsteps and ended up changing my life around and having some phenomenal experiences in the months that followed.

Gathering momentum towards the Big Smoke

In the month between finishing my job in Nottingham and moving to London, a LOT happened!

Firstly, I had a lot of luck and serendipity along the way to moving down. For example, I had already planned to attend the first ever Think Visibility conference in Leeds when just a week or so beforehand Dom Hodgson asked me if I’d like to be a speaker! I was honoured of course and jumped at the chance to talk about one my many passions, web analytics – so I said ‘yes’ in true Yes Man style. I’d done many small web marketing seminars previously, but this was my first conference speaking event. Here I met many inspirational people that weekend who would each encourage me to follow my ambitions, including Dave Chaffey, Dave and Becky Naylor, Chris Garrett, Kieron Donoghue, Tim Nash, Patrick Altoft, Al Carlton and many more. [Oh and let’s not forget guys how I beat most of you at pool the night before! ]

At this point I have to say a huge thank you to Mike Nott for initially inviting me down to my first LondonSEO. It blew my mind meeting so many inspirational people, many of whom I have grown to be great friends with even now. I’ll never forget getting one of the warmest welcomes by Lisa Myers, being shown how not to smuggle bottles into a free bar by Rishi and meeting one of my best friends, Martin Goode.

Somewhere between Think Visibility and LondonSEO I had my first blog published on Search Engine Journal about web analytics which went hot on Sphinn.

I also decided at about 11pm on the day the Google Analytics exam was launched to sit it right there and then with no preparation, but managed to pass! (I don’t recommend that method!)

Once I found somewhere to live (thank you Gumtree!) I upped sticks and moved down. I think this was especially hard in a way as I’d unexpectedly become full-time, live-in carer to two injured family members – they’re all mended now but my brother had a badly broken leg and my mum had an operation that went wrong on her right hand. I worried about how they’d manage cooking, cleaning, shopping and just generally getting about when I left, but clearly my worries were unfounded as they’re still in one piece! It made it interesting coordinating trips to London, though, what with preparing meals for them and prepping the house for when I was away, but that process forced me to become independent and was just what I needed to introduce me to hectic London life.

And a #LDNTourist was born

Whilst working for a top London agency, with some amazing blue chip companies, I also set myself a mission to make sure I do one London tourist activity per week. And so the #LDNTourist hash tag on Twitter was born! In fact the hash tag has actually generated its own buzz along the way and I’ve really enjoyed interacting with my followers while exploring my new hometown – you guys made the experience even better!

In July I got not one, but two iPhones. Yes – I moved to London with a real life, paper map initially and actually carried it around with me! Stylish. But from then on I could pretend I wasn’t a tourist with the help of my beloved iPhone 3GS.

Twitter never knew what hit it.

Events, events and more events!

London is well-renowned for its events and I’ve since been to some amazing ones such as the TechCrunch Europas 2009 (was great to meet Robert Scoble), SMX, LondonSEO, International Search Summit, Web Analytics Wednesday.

But the most notable for me will always be A4U Expo 2009. Thanks to the encouragement of Kieron Donoghue I spoke at this fantastic 3 day event. In the process I was also interviewed on Search Cowboys by Bas van den Beld about my slot and also the A4U blog. Yet again, I met so many inspirational people; the list is just endless!

I was asked once who I would like to meet – alive or dead – if I got the chance. I answered Sir Tim Berners-Lee as I’ve been a self-confessed Internet addict since I was about 14. In 2009 I got the chance to hear him speak at the Science Museum in London about the history of the Internet – another great moment I’ll never forget!

The second Think Visibility, combined with Tim’s seminar the day before and another fantastic ‘Drink Visibility’, was another great success and was where I was thrilled to meet Yoast, a fellow SEO, web analytics and developer nerd, and SEOIdiot, a fellow wasabi pea lover, among many others.

Giving back to Nottingham

Back in December 2008 I’d volunteered to take a set of seminars at the CIM annual event in Nottingham on SEO. I absolutely love the CIM events in Nottingham and was thrilled to bits to have this chance to give something back after gaining my award the year before. Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic, was also to give a talk about being an entrepeneur that has stuck in my mind ever since.

Becoming a Doctor

Just prior to A4UExpo, I was honoured to join the Affiliate Doctors! The Doctors form a community whereby we review websites and offer our advice and expertise for free through the site.


Other notables

With so many life changes, I conquered infinite personal goals as well. Some of these include battling asthma to take up jogging with the help of some Nike Plus trainers and a personal trainer for the first time ever. This has been a goal of mine for a long time as I really hope one day I can do a 10k run or ideally a half marathon. Watch this space!

Had my first trip to Ikea …and probably the last!

Won a book about Australia from @STATravelBuzz.

And learning to say No, too

I learned several life lessons during 2009, too. Most importantly I learned that I simply must say No sometimes, exactly how the Yes Man story goes. 2009 unfortunately involved almost driving myself to burning out and a, thankfully brief, hospital visit. I’ve definitely learned the hard way I am not a machine and I must look after myself more! London’s fast pace is so exciting it’s so easy to get carried away with it. But I was also reminded that I really am a country girl at heart as a few visits back to the countryside in Nottingham did the world of good and has put me back on the right track.

2010 goals and New Year’s resolutions

So 2009 for me was about:

• saying ‘Yes’ to opportunities
• meeting inspirational people
• experiencing more
• and tackling challenges – both personal and professional – head on.

My main 2010 New Year’s resolutions build on what I learned from and started in 2009:

• to ‘have faith’ (in myself most of all, but also in life in general)
• and to ‘take control and drive my life’ in the direction of my ambitions.

Other goals I have for 2010 include travel…

I can’t forget my wanderlust and desire to see the world, so this year simply must include travel somehow. I must also learn to put the brakes on my hectic London lifestyle on a regular basis and take care of myself a little more! I took no holidays in 2009 and didn’t even book more than 2 days in a row off work, so that has to change in 2010!

Phew. What a year! If you read this far, leave a comment so I can congratulate you!

Bring on 2010!

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