Oh hello. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.

My name’s Katy but you may know me as the Backpacking Bridget Jones, although I have slightly better taste in knickers.

I love old libraries, rummaging around in mothball-smelling charity shops, reading a good paperback whilst curled up in a chair with a mug of tea. I have an unhealthy addiction to cakes. I wish I liked to drink green juice for breakfast and wake up at 5.30am for a yoga session but I’ve come to peace with the fact that will never be me. I just love my bed too much and I’m too lazy to give that up in return for posting smug #lovinglife #blessed selfies as I attempt the downward facing dog at the crack of dawn.

I hate being late. I hate people who eat with their mouths open, have no table manners and belittle others. I also hate all the big major stuff like terrorism, racism, bullying and people parking in disabled car parking spaces when they aren’t disabled. Having a younger sister who needs that space that’s being taken up by selfish drivers really makes me see red. Why can’t we all just get along like we used to in middle school? I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy.

I quote lines from films and TV shows ALL. THE. TIME, to the point where I annoy myself. But it’s also a good test as if you don’t get my Friends or Mean Girls references then you can’t sit with us.

My family are my world. I may not have that many close friends and sometimes I wish that I did have a tight knit group of bosom buddies but I’ve got my family and incredible online pals for that. Plus, those that are in my inner circle are there for life.

I’m an Aries – passionate, loyal and determined but also stubborn and sometimes childish. I’ve heard that they do make the best lovers though…

I’m too gullible for my own good – see previous point. I try and see the good in everyone and sometimes that doesn’t always work out for the best. If you’ve read Destination Thailand then the scene with Dillon is a good example of this (although, legal note – this book is a work of ‘fiction’ but I’ll leave you to decide for yourself).

I’m clumsy. It’s probably safer for me to drink out of a child’s plastic beaker than a fancy wine glass as it will somehow end up smashed. It’s like my limbs just go on strike sometimes!

I worry and over-think waaaaaay too much. Even after everything that happened to me that proved you never know what is just around the corner I will still work myself up about money problems, what sort of life future Katy will live and how it will all work out. I worry about my family, about strangers in sad news stories that have me blubbing on my sofa, about friends online I’ve never met IRL, I worry about worrying too much!

I’m still learning to like me. I used to hate my own company but going travelling on my own was the biggest leap into discovering things about myself that I never knew. It is still an ongoing process and with age comes the confidence to accept that this is who I am and that I will never change for anyone else. Hell yeah!

I think I’m hilarious but not everyone gets to see that side of me. I need to feel comfortable around you to be cracking out my classic lines.*

I hate being in large crowds. I may be getting more confident the older I get but I will never be the gobby one or the one who has the room eating out of her hand and I’m ok with that. What’s that saying about never underestimating the shy and quiet ones?

I still pinch myself that by the end of this year I will have had three novels published. Three. It blows my mind that this is real and that it is happening to me. I’m not sure it will ever sink in. (Speaking of books – If you have a Kindle and fancy a bargain summer read, my debut novel Destination Thailand is currently on offer at the bargain price of 99p on Amazon. Check it out before the deal ends!)

I have so many places on my travel to-do list left to tick off. From being a backpacking virgin a few years ago I now find I’m happiest when wandering the streets in a foreign land, on my own and making up my own rules. The old Katy would never have believed this is what current Katy enjoys so much. I also need to try and stop referring to myself in the third person.

I’m still figuring this thing called life out but I’m bloody loving the adventure.

*Classic as in naff christmas cracker style jokes that crack me up every time.

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Books by Katy Colins