JustPickOneUK

 Well today...28th January 2025 is the day I have reached the amazing milestone of 100 subscribers on my YouTube Channel. Yes, I did that.  I picked up my camera.....multiple times and said what I was thinking. I chose an editing software that I can work with. I posted the videos. I wrote the titles. I made thumbnails. I wrote descriptions. I made changes where I felt I needed to. I made something and people like it. I created this and people are responding and showing up for ME! How amazing is that?  That is a lot of I. But it is true. 100 people have shown up for me and it isn't perfect, it doesn't fit with a specific niche. The thumbnails, titles and descriptions are messy in places. So is the editing, the lighting, the sound etc. But it is mine and I love it and clearly some other people do too.  I am terrible at self promotion because I usually feel unadequate, unworthy and never good enough. Tears streaming as I type this out, but honestly this time they a...

 I was making a video which I hope will be sorted and published soon, but I was feeling stuck. I couldn't edit it properly and I didn't know what to do.  At the time of recording I had decided to try something different with a new camera angle and set up and was happy during the recordings etc but when it came to to edit I had no clear direction with it. I felt some of the script was not what I was thinking about and it just felt all round wrong. I couldn't put my finger on why though. What was wrong? If nothing then why am I stuck?  I was just sitting messing about with the edit and not getting anywhere so I decided to park the project. For a while. I wanted to get something uploaded though and the next day an idea popped into my head from nowhere! I have used some of my pre-edited footage of the White Party on MSC Cruises. It is a standard sort of thing that occurs on many if not all of the ships in the fleet and I just popped some YouTube approved music underneath it a...

 When you start a YouTube channel you do hope for success. You hope that your version of art or entertainment reaches people and you get "seen". You hope that you reach people and somehow make their day better than it was before. Even a few minutes of light entertainment in today's world is a relief that we all need from time to time.  One of my 40Before40 items is to get monetised on YouTube and in order to achieve this I need my videos to be watched. But the feeling you get when people actually do is kind of .......weird. I feel a sense of pride, embarassment, joy, anxiety and relief. Its a big jumble of emotions.  When my husband watches the videos, I feel such a big cringe that he is. Its such a strange feeling because he knows my best and worst. I trust him wholly and he is my best friend. So why the cringe? I imagine this is what the top film and tv stars talk about when they say they don't watch their own work back when its finished.  YouTube requires a channe...

 I was on board a train going to London when tragedy struck. The guard put out the announcement that noone wants to hear. "If there is anyone with advanced medical training on board. I mean a doctor or a nurse please come to carriage 7 immediately". The tone of voice shows all passengers on board that this is no ordinary call. This is an emergency. This guard needs help and needs it now.  I do not have any training beyond basic parent level  first aid and so it was a waiting game for me. I sat in a full train carriage looking nervously down out of the window waiting to see anything that could give us news of what was occurring. Humans as a species are quite morbid and have a need to know what is going on. Staff members running to gather equipment and make decisions on what was best to do while they themselves were waiting for news and then the paramedics appear running down the platform.  I found out later on that there was nothing to be done. A suspected heart attac...

 This blog has now reached 1500 views! When I started JustPickOneUK I had no idea whether anyone would read anything I wrote. I had no idea whether I would keep going with it. But now over 40 blog posts and 1500 views, plus a YouTube channel, an Instagram page and a TikTok account I think it's doing rather well. I'm still learning the ropes of all of the above platforms as they are all completely different. But I feel like I'm getting there and I have to be content with baby steps as I am still very new. Of course everyone who creates hopes that the thing they make is going to do well. Art is subjective and writing anything or producing a video fills one with anxiety that it will be received in well and that someone else might like it or think the same way you do. But this is not guaranteed and it forces you to grow a thicker skin.  Some people will not like anything you write others will never see what you've written and I have to be okay with that.  For now though 150...

Well that was a lovely day. Well......morning. I got off the ship at around 10am in the end. I had no shuttle bus to take me into town but it isn't too far so one isn't needed unless you are less mobile or want to save your legs for wandering around. I had seen a horse and cart pulling out of a place close to the port heading off for a days worth of tourist entertainment. I thought nothing much of it as I walked past the dowdy looking buildings and a car park full of camper vans. Along the crunchy gravel path I went and came to a small bridge over which lies Cherbourg town. As soon as I got there I found the horses again, 3 large and beautiful animals, attached to two metal carts with 5 or so bench style seats. There was a sign next to them saying £5 for a 30 minute ride. That isn't bad at all! One of the times when being a solo came in handy. So I waited the 15 or so minutes when enough people boarded, paid my fare, was given a ticket and off we clopped around the town ce...

 Well I have done it. I took the leap, I've committed 5 days of my time to...... MSC Cruises. I would have never thought I would do this but, I am going solo on a 4 night cruise from Southampton to Cherbourg and Zeebrugge. My husband sent me a (sort of) joke about a longer cruise to the USA but that lead me down a rabbit hole to the Seascanner Website. Seascanner is the totally online arm of Cruise.co.uk which is a reputable travel agent here in the UK.  On a chance, I decided to have a look and see if there were any cruises going in the next couple of months for seven nights or less and for a cheap deal. I found one I'm going on the MSC Virtuosa leaving from Southampton on the 16th October yes that's less than two weeks from now.  I've booked an inside cabin on a guarantee basis this means that I am guaranteed at least an inside cabin grade but I could be upgraded in the future to an outside or balcony cabin. It's not likely to happen but nice to dream.  The total ...