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“It’s impossible to overstate how important my pets have been to me” by Caroline Abbott
At least one stranger on every walk will stop to admire Harvey or Alba or both, and enquire about their breed. It isn’t immediately obvious – Harvey is a Havanese and Maltese cross, while Alba is a Kokoni mix. During the week, we usually walk in our local area. We often see people we’ve seen before, and some I now…
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Why I Draw People Who Live Alone, by Jessica Billey
I draw people who live alone. For the past six years, I've been drawing portraits, gathering stories, and exploring this increasingly common way of living. It's an incredibly rewarding and inspiring project.
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8 Ways People Living Alone Are Tackling The Rising Costs of Living
This month my energy bill came in at £186 (~$228) – this time last year, I spent £95 (~$116) for the same month. I’m by no means unique - across the world, rising costs of living are impossible to ignore as household budgets become more and more squeezed. For solo people, rising costs of living have a disproportionate impact on…
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Learning to Live Alone In My 30s: How I Travel Is In My Hands (Most Of The Time)
When you live solo in your mid to late thirties, the experience is significantly different to your twenties. Twenties are a period of trial and error. In and out of relationships, perhaps, a time of flatmates and house parties, and the fact that you now have a paycheck (however questionably low it maybe) that you can do as you like…
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Starting Again At 62: A Solo Rollercoaster Ride!
Until just over a year ago, up to the age of 62, I had never lived alone. From leaving home at 16 to sharing a flat with a friend. To marrying at 19. Having a child, divorcing, marrying again, three more children. Ending up a single parent again...until I married for the final time! I’d spent my whole adult life…
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Why I headed for the Highlands just after Covid restrictions were lifted
I realised my entire system was overloaded. I’ve always had a busy social diary – before Covid I was out more than I was at home. But Covid forced a lifestyle shift. A change of pace, a slowing down. An appreciation of the smaller, gentler moments.
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5 Ways To Maintain A Drug-Free Lifestyle While Living Alone
If you are in recovery from a substance use problem, you definitely know how much work it took to start being drug-free. Maintaining a healthy, drug-free routine after experiencing addiction is not easy - but it IS achieveable. The right routines, regular exercise, and trigger management are all important components of a recovery plan.
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Looking Back: A Year Living Alone During A Global Pandemic
I remember the start of the UK lockdown vividly. I was in California visiting friends when the US shut its borders. I rushed home on a nearly empty flight, wearing a respirator mask from my friend’s earthquake preparedness kit the whole way. We’re only just starting to understand the full impact of a year under Covid. But one year on,…
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5 Problems You Face Only When You Live Alone
I’m such an advocate for solo living that I don’t like admitting it can have its downsides! But as with any way of life, it has good points and not-so-good. To get better at solo living, we need to get honest about the problems you face only when you live alone.
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Feeling alone this Valentine’s Day? Here are 4 ways to comfort your inner Bridget Jones
You know that scene in a romantic comedy where ‘the single person’ is sitting on their couch alone drinking wine, and feeling like garbage because they wish they had someone to sweep them off their feet? It turns out that lots of people who live alone and are single have felt like this in real-life, especially on Valentines Day.
