Lori Carnochan

One of my very close friends at university is what you would call a ‘typical student’. She has hundreds of friends all over the city, she is more often than not absolutely broke, she parties about three nights a week and attends every party/event she’s invited to. Then you have myself. I enjoy the odd night out with my friends in Edinburgh, however I usually keep my socialising for back home. I have met a great deal of lovely people at uni, but there are only a few people I would classify as being my close friends.

I celebrated my 21^st in May of this year and my party-animal friend travelled back home with me to the little village I live in. There’s a particular point when driving along the road where the beautiful scenery hits you. We drove over the small crest and there it was…the whole of the Solway coast spread out below us, stretching all the way to the lake district where you could see the peaks of every hill. She turned to me and said, “Wow, I now understand why you come home every weekend”. I mean don’t get me wrong I love Edinburgh, it’s one of my favourite cities in Britain. Unfortunately nothing beats arriving back home where I can go for long walks along the beach, ride my horses all over the countryside or just completely relax in my garden where the only noise you can hear is that of the birds singing. I love the sense of community we have in the small village made up of only 60 or so people. My parents own the local pub and you would be shocked at what scandal I hear whilst pulling pints for the locals. It’s always great banter and as they say, ‘there’s no place like home’.