A bit about me...

Hello and welcome to my blog! My friends have been telling me to start a blog for ages and in the spirit of the New Year, I thought I'd finally give it a go. And what better way to kick it all off than with some background on me?!

I'm Michael, I'm 29 and I live in London. I was born in Warrington and whilst I do consider myself a Northerner, I actually only lived there for the first 8 months of my life; I grew up in Oxfordshire until I was 9 and then moved to Greece with my Dad's job where I stayed til I was 18. I returned to the UK to study Pharmacology at UCL in London in 2006 and never left. London is my home and I really struggle to imagine that changing.

I'm from a fiercely close family; my sister is my best friend and I can talk to my parents about pretty much everything which is really very special. Sadly, my parents are divorced but are both now remarried to lovely people with their own kids so we've gone from a 4-person unit to an 11-person one. My mum is my heart, my dad my resilience and my sister...well she's my colour.

I'm gay; I came out when I was 21 which some of you will know is a really difficult and defining moment. No one was surprised - haha! Over the years my confidence and acceptance about my sexuality has vastly evolved and improved and today, I am happy to say that I am surrounded by friends and family that accept me for me. I'm also happily recently-engaged to my Canadian boyf-, well I guess now fiance, Dan. We live together in Greenwich.

I'm a Corporate Event Producer in the fashion technology and innovation space. The title is so ambiguous no one ever knows what it means, so I'll tell you: I work alongside the fashion, apparel and footwear industry to keep abreast of technology trends. I then translate these into 2-day conferences, create the content and acquire the speakers. These days I also get involved in sales, marketing and operations too. Our events to date take place in Europe, the US and in Asia and so I am very lucky to get to travel extensively. My company is the anti-professional environment which suits me perfectly.

I have a mild stammer; I cannot remember now when it developed but some time around the age of 4 I'm told. I was a very nervous child and teachers

scared me so much it must have triggered it. I don't ever talk about it with anyone and have grown to live with it. That being said, it's something I am conscious of every time I open my mouth and I'm not sure people could ever understand what it's like...it gets worse when I'm tired and/or stressed and on the bad days I can feel like I'm trapped in my own head. I haven't let it stop me.

I'm a Time Out Tastemaker; as a passionate Londoner, I applied and was accepted to volunteer review for Time Out. It is important to stress that I am not a TO employee; instead we get perks and access to VIP events/shows in exchange for our honest word of mouth of everything London has to offer. I have been doing this now for over a year and it drives me to get up and get out; I'm not one to take my city for granted! Being part of this community has led to some new friendships which at 29, is not always easy.

A few last things to mention:

• I LOVE travelling; I make maximum use of my work travel to see new places and to explore, and travel is, in general, one of my top priorities. Everyone should do it - pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning about other cultures gives you new perspectives and new levels of tolerance.

• I LOVE food; when I'm not sleeping I'm probably eating or wait...I'm probably taking pictures of my food and then eating it!

• I am not a fitness person naturally but am very proud of the two Tough Mudders and the one London Marathon I have under my belt. I keep telling myself I'll get fit but...well there's loads of much more fun alternatives.

• My 2018 resolution is to transform my life into one that is as zero non-recyclable/non-perishable waste as possible without me becoming a nomad who lives in a tree in the mountains.

And that's me in a nutshell; I hope it gives some context as to who I am and what I'm all about. I will be writing about everything from travel tips to food to general life and invite you to comment, get involved and to challenge me!

I hope you enjoy!