legal documents such as my passport to arrive before I could start again.

Step by step my paperwork started to arrive. It took several weeks for the passport to arrive and my bank details, but I was so grateful that it did. I had already started to pack and had begun giving away my possessions if you can call it that to local charity shops. I knew I would be starting with very little, but I felt it was important to shred away parts of my old life and begin living my new life.

A fresh start was what was needed. No looking back; instead, I needed to look forward.

I had ordered a bus ticket to Devon and packed the few of my belongings that I had and that was that. I started my new journey not knowing what lay ahead, but I certainly had left my old life behind in the past where it belonged.