Hi! My name is Viktoriya Pavlykivska, I am 19 years old. Although ethnically I come from Ukraine, I was born on the South Coast of Portugal and lived there for the first 10 years of my life before moving to London.
– Algarve, Portugal
Portugal just might be one of my favourite places in the whole world. I feel a huge sense of calm when I come back there every year or so. Maybe it’s because it is so different from the constant hum and busyness of London that I am used to. That’s not to say that I don’t like it here! This city really grew on me, so much so that I decided to pursue University here as well.
My other reason for not moving away from home was that I could save money…to then use it to travel outside of the country altogether!
I love a trip! I will find any excuse to book one! No seriously, my friends are starting to hate me for it. Birthday, Half Birthday, Exams Passed, Exams Failed – there is always a reason to switch up the scenery.
Anytime they mention ‘booking a holiday’, even if I know they didn’t actually mean to go there right now, (so really it’s their fault for not taking me seriously), I will still have a whole plan drawn up in less than 2 hours. And despite claiming to be broke, we will end up going and having a great time. So at the end of the day, it is an investment in our happiness, isn’t it?
I would say that this year my favourite trip was to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was my first time visiting the Balkans, and it left a very lasting impression. I loved the turquoise water, despite it not being very warm for August.
– Dubrovnik, Croatia
Aside from traveling every couple of months, I also enjoy going to concerts just as often. The latest one I went to was the ‘Meet The Vamps: 10 Year Anniversary’ concert in late September. I managed to get tickets to the Imagine Dragons tour next Summer and I honestly cannot wait for it to come around.
– Artists I’ve seen over the Summer
But when there is no event or trip planned, there is always a book shop to go to. I love reading, and I will forever thank my English Teacher in Year 9 for making us read the Hunger Games. It showed me that not all books are complicated to read or old or boring or theoretical, some are just as fun as the movies I see in the cinema (because those movies in the cinema are based on books to begin with).
This year I set myself the goal of reading 50 books, and I am proud to say, I am fairly on track. So far I am at 41.
I would say that my dream job would have something to do with writing and books – it could be a literary agent, an author, a book publicist, I am not too picky about it. I chose Digital Media and PR as my pathway because I felt like this would open the most doors for me and give me plenty of time to decide what exactly I want to do in the future.
