Outside the confines of concrete and Costa signs: coasteering in Pembrokeshire

When it comes to having talented, social media savvy, and quite frankly LOVELY guests Preseli Venture appears to have struck lucky – even if I do say so myself

When Monday morning came around this corker of a post found its way into my inbox:

“Copenhangin’ in Copenhagen, and Cliff-jumping in Wales“

With a headline like that – who wouldn’t click ‘read more’?  I put on my super sleuth hat and tracked down Kate Miller, who is a self confessed city living afficionado who found herself in need of some fresh air and green grass, outside the confines of concrete and Costa signs (I love that bit).

To cut a long story short I asked her if she’d be happy to put together a guest blog post for Preseli Venture.  She was lovely enough to say yes, so without further ado, here it is…

I have a love affair with cities. Granted, I grew up in rural America, but I’ve always found myself gravitating to urban life. This love of the metropolitan lifestyle is what made me choose to study for a semester in London. I’ll never tire of the bustle of people, the great food and the endless options of things to do, I thought when I found out I’d been approved to study in London.

And for the most part, I haven’t tired of it. I find the diversity and energy of London intoxicating, and those in the UK are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. I love the accessibility of travel and (in an apparent effort to be a one-woman boost to the airline industry) I’ve taken advantage of as many travel opportunities as I can. But, in the way that living in a new place tends to do, being abroad has taught me about myself, too. Two months in, I was starting to yearn for some fresh air and green grass, outside the confines of concrete and Costa signs.

Fortunately for me, I had signed up for an adventure trip at Preseli Venture in Pembrokeshire through my study abroad program. The flier said we would be able to sea kayak, hike, surf and coasteer. I’d never heard of coasteering before, and I must admit that after a quick read of the Wikipedia page, I was rather intimidated. But on the sunny March morning, in an absolutely skintight wetsuit—I think I now understand what corset-wearing women must have felt like—we embarked on our adventure, and those three hours were some of the best I’ve spent since my arrival in the UK.

There were many factors that made coasteering easy to love: the Pembrokeshire coastline is stunning, and my instructors Neil and Jon were hilarious (“The ass is the fifth limb of coasteering”). But more than that, Preseli Venture offered me the chance to do something I had never done before, to step out of familiar territory into the chilly waters of the Atlantic and discover something utterly new to me.

“I wouldn’t say the trip converted me to a full-fledged outdoorswoman, but the serenity of Pembrokeshire’s rolling hills and the beauty of its coastline has turned me into a convert. I think it might be time to tell cities that we need to break up for awhile; I have a new coasteering crush.”

About me: I’m a journalism student at Ohio Wesleyan University and I’m studying in London for the term. Check out mindthegaplondon.blogspot.com to read more about my time in London and elsewhere or follow me on twitter @kate_mose_mill

Thanks Kate!  We wish you all the best in London and in what we’re sure will be an awesome carrer in journalism.  Come back and see us in Wales some time soon