New Year’s resolutions

Condor Properties find some alternative New Year’s resolutions that students might actually keep.

Tedious old business New Year’s resolutions; stop smoking, lose weight, study more. Boring and predictable; by February you’ll be justifying that crafty fag and by June you’ll be back to the blissful denial of 20-a-day.

But what if you actually set some realistic New Year’s resolutions? Something that was more rewarding than celebrating say, the loss of a few pounds of flab? Well, Condor Properties have spoken to some students who are doing just that. Perhaps they will inspire you to follow suit?

Travel more...

It might seem about as student friendly as dinner at The Ivy, but gambolling around foreign shores is getting cheaper. Aviation fuel might be rocketing (gerrit) but the internet has opened up the world to the smallest of budgets.

“My New Year’s resolution for 2012 is to travel more,” says James Teagle, a student at Cardiff University.

“Earlier this year I spent ten days travelling in Europe and didn’t pay for one night’s accommodation. I signed up to a website called Couch Surfing, where members let other travellers crash at their place for free. It’s amazing, you meet so many cool people and get a free place to stay.”

Useful website: www.couchsurfing.org

Drink more...

Home brew that is. As students face a squeeze on living costs, some of the more industrious boozers we spoke to have taken to brewing their own booze.

“My New Year’s resolution is to make my own wine and beer,” says Adam Thomas, a student in Swansea.

“People don’t realise that there’s so much stuff for free out there, you’ve just got to forage for it. My gran makes dandelion wine and it costs her next to nothing. It tastes amazing too and gets you fairly hammered.”

Useful website: www.byo.com

Date more...

For some, the stigma of online dating wore off long ago and signing up to a dating website can be an ideal way of meeting new people while you study.

“I’m in my final year and I can’t go out on the town as often, which is where I used to meet most boys,” says Michelle Crompton.

“So my resolution is to swallow my pride and sign up to some dating sites. I know some people turn their noses up at it, but life is too short not to give these kind of things a go.”

And finally (because there has to be a sensible one), wrap up...

Not just for the cold weather either, says a promiscuous Bristol student who’d like to remain nameless.

“I had an incident last year which involved a nurse freezing something off my, shall we say, nether regions... not pleasant,” he says.

“So my resolution is to still play the field, but play it a little safer.”