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Knowing you are in love
A few years ago I wrote about meeting a couple where a girl, Rosa, said she would often, without warning, burst into tears. When I asked...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 13, 202422 min read
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I Dropped Out of Uni With Depression Aged 19 and Restarted at 25: Five Things I Learnt
(Photo from Unsplash) 1. There’s a difference between ‘going for it’ and ‘rushing into it’ People often say ‘go for it’; take the plunge....
Josh Oldridge
May 6, 202210 min read
1,292 views
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Self-publishing a novel!
Below is a run-through of my self-publishing journey, including some of the key decisions involved and important things I've learnt. I...
Josh Oldridge
May 31, 202110 min read
189 views
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COVID-19 Short Story Series: 3. Getting Through
Light pitter-patter, rhythmic: rain on the fly sheet. Viewed from inside, the tent was a shade of blue like that midsection in the ocean...
Josh Oldridge
May 29, 202013 min read
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COVID-19 Short Story Series: 2. Imminent Tide
“We are gathered here to say farewell to Graham Wallace and commit him to the hands of God,” said the greying vicar, three huge,...
Josh Oldridge
Mar 23, 202016 min read
46 views
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COVID-19 Short Story Series: 1. Early Days
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sarah asked. Ryan froze, poised with a hand around his knife, ready to scrape his leftover green bean...
Josh Oldridge
Mar 19, 202017 min read
51 views
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13. Things fall apart and future plans
So came the last full day of the trip. It began at 7am with a round of Wii golf and an iced coffee with Sam, a Maltese guy from the...
Josh Oldridge
Feb 7, 20208 min read
58 views
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12. Avocados and LDRs
Do I still have time to join the avocado party? There’s late and there’s fashionably late. Maybe after that comes that really awkward...
Josh Oldridge
Feb 4, 20206 min read
38 views
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11. Elderly Sri Lankan men and sunglasses
Home away from home again. I absolutely love it at Spindrift. On the way to the bus station in Hikkaduwa to get back to Weligama, an...
Josh Oldridge
Feb 1, 20205 min read
34 views
1 comment


10. Real love and waves
After a crazy sweaty train ride, for an hour-and-a-half of which nobody could even lift a hand to scratch their nose and three or four...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 29, 20206 min read
82 views
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9. Writing and wrist scars
I am a writer. I am a writer. I am a writer. In his book of tips on how to become a writer in the twenty-first century, Jeff Goins...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 26, 20208 min read
106 views
1 comment


8. Alcohol deprivation and opulence
Adam nudged me awake this morning before his bus out to the Knuckles Mountain Range. We hugged and said goodbye. Sad, even if I was a bit...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 25, 20209 min read
53 views
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7. Loud noises and Milo
Ella is a lovely spot. I can’t help but wonder what the rolling hills of misty rainforest would have looked like before tourism, but the...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 23, 20208 min read
64 views
1 comment


6. Sweaty buses and Monopoly money
I read in a guidebook before the trip that it’s easy to get stuck in Weligama as the days and even weeks roll by. I can completely...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 21, 202010 min read
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5. Cinnamon and short-term friendships
I haven’t kept to the self-set schedule of posting a blog update every two days. Apologies to faithful readers. The last few days have...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 17, 20206 min read
79 views
1 comment


4. Parrots and online shopping
I’m consistently having some of the best surfs I’ve ever had. While for some people travelling is about never having two days the same...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 13, 20205 min read
67 views
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3. Surfing at dawn and Swiss fiction
I shuffle out from under my thin sheet and slide the big box with number 4 painted on the side – my bed number – out from under my bunk....
Josh Oldridge
Jan 11, 20205 min read
59 views
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2: Leaving the past behind and an Arabian night
Before I went to the USA on my own after dropping out of uni in Leeds, a very nice friend of mine, who I think sensed I was going through...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 9, 20207 min read
63 views
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Sri Lankan adventure. 1: Travel fears and Murakami
I woke up this morning to a mixture of giddy excitement and a dull feeling of anxiety. I still haven’t changed the alarm tone on my new...
Josh Oldridge
Jan 7, 20206 min read
127 views
2 comments
Book review: I Never Said I Loved You
Reading about depression can seem depressing. At least, at first. But there is something healing in seeing depression written down....
Josh Oldridge
Dec 9, 20195 min read
47 views
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