About Me — Alison Brook
A Scottish quine.
In the beginning
Since the best place to start is usually the beginning, I will go from there. I was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1970. I have had extended trips overseas but, generally, I have lived here my whole life (so far!).
I do feel lucky to live here, most of the time. It is very beautiful, with a strong sense of identity and culture, and it is easy to get out into nature and enjoy the stunning landscapes here. In Scotland, you are never far from the sea or the mountains. The winter though, my goodness. It is long, dark, and very cold.
Medium and me
I watched a YouTube video with Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestly earlier this year. In the video, Daniel spoke about finding your passion by thinking about what you enjoyed at around the age of 10. After some rummaging around in my memory, I remembered how much I enjoyed writing stories. I used to enjoy the lost art of letter writing too, so I thought I would have a go at setting up a blog. After some research on the best place to put my blog, I came across Medium. I love that this is for readers and authentic writers. I don’t have to worry about site design, security, and marketing. It is all here, neatly packaged for a small monthly fee. Now I am sure there are plenty of limitations, but for where I am at, Medium is the perfect platform. I want to learn by doing and by seeing what other writers are doing.
I have a lot of ideas for what I would like to write on Medium, these are mostly based on personal anecdotes. They will tend to be lifestyle, health, travel, or work-related. I will also write about education, from my viewpoint as a qualified teacher with 10+ years of experience.
I look forward to receiving feedback on my writing, as this is the best way to improve. So, if you have any helpful critique on my writing, please leave a comment.
Getting personal
I am a single woman, with one son and a granddaughter. My favourite people in the whole wide world. I raised my son on my own from when he was 5 months old and that boy was the making of me. I have written more about this in The unexpected benefit of becoming a single parent. My son became my little travel buddy and we travelled to many places, such as Egypt, Jamaica, Canada, the USA, and many places in Europe. One of my son’s teachers called him a liar when he said he had been on holiday to Egypt. I guess it was too much for some people to imagine that a single-parent family could be doing such things.
I have a twelve-year-old ginger cat called Olive. In 2017, she was Miss May in the Cats Protection calendar. She had a professional photographer shoot that involved an unhealthy amount of cheese to get her to participate.
I have a small group of friends and I feel I could do with some more friends, but I am a bit flighty in jobs and hobbies, and in the past, I have moved on before I have made any meaningful connections.
Yet, it is my varied life and experiences that give me fodder for my writing. I am a free spirit and I have struggled with being contained by circumstances. See my story Marriage — an undesirable institution for more on that aspect of my life.
To 2020 and beyond
Until the pandemic, I worked as a Primary Teacher (elementary education), but I have worked in education since 1999. I’ve done my shift though and am looking to move on to a new phase in my working life. I have never been massively ambitious. I am not looking to make a fortune. I just want to make enough to enjoy my life and do the many things that I want to do, such as travel, attend classes, and spend time with loved ones.
Adventures in mid-life
I found the empty-nest experience very difficult, having dedicated so much of my focus to being a decent parent, but I found some new joy in solo travel. It came about by accident after a friend bailed on me in planning a trip. So, at the age of 46, I took my first solo trip and went to Peru. Despite being hospitalised with salmonella and altitude sickness within the first few days, this trip was life-changing. I don’t know how much of a factor the lack of oxygen in Cusco was, but the whole experience was spiritual and completely changed my view of life. I may look like a regular woman in that dangerous Karen age range, but I am a total hippy at heart.
Since then, I have travelled solo to Spain, Ireland, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Mexico.
I became vegan in 2020, and this summer I will attend my first-ever festival, The Vegan Camp-Out. I’m very excited to hang out with other plant-based folk for a weekend in a field.
And finally, friends…
Finally, friends…
Thank you for taking the time to read my About Me story (hopefully for 30 seconds or more 😉). Please leave a comment if you have any feedback or any questions.
