GOMO - Getting Out More Often

Check Twitter. Check Facebook. Check Instagram. Check SnapChat. Check Twitter again. Check Facebook again. Check Instagram again. Check SnapChat again. Check Twitter ag- Sound familiar? Do you ever spend the vast majority of your day checking your social media accounts over and over again for an update no matter how insignificant? Do you ever sit there and watch TV and just channel surf trying to find something to watch and end up watching something completely ridiculous but end up lifting your phone to see what everyone else is doing? 

Well that is the fear of missing out talking. FOMO has become such an integral part of our lives that we have to know what everyone is doing and letting them know what we're doing. It's taking over our lives and potentially ruining what could probably be the best days of our lives, especially with summer now in full swing. So put down that phone or tablet and close that laptop (after reading this blog post) and get out more often - GOMO.

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• Become a tourist in your own home

Have you ever talked about your own home country and recommended this place and that place but have never actually been there yourself? Then get out, get in the car and go. Alternatively, if a city nearby offers Hop On, Hop Off touristic buses, then take the opportunity to hop on and see where it will take you. I love going for a walk with a camera and seeing my home town or Belfast in a whole new light.

I love Game of Thrones and a lot of it is filmed in Northern Ireland. There are tour buses that go around the country. Why not take the opportunity and get out on one of those buses and see where you favourite characters may have roamed, fought or died? 

• Climb a mountain

I'm not talking Everest. Go for a hike on a nearby mountain range or group of hills You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want. The Mourne mountains offer a beautiful and relatively easy walk. You'll be tubed the first time but take it easy as go as far as you want. The views are worth it so be sure to bring a camera.

• Become a kid again

Take a trip to an amusement park or arcade and become a kid again. Hop into a dodge'em car or try your luck at the Crane machines. Or if you're energetic, those Dance Dance games. I am beyond useless at all of those. 

• Go for a drive

There's nothing better than jumping into the car and just driving. It doesn't matter where you go (as long as you don't get lost). There have been many times where my brother and I have gone for a drive along one of the Mourne coastal routes with the radio on. We would just chat and laugh and we would see a lot of the countryside. We have the chance to catch up ,quote this show and that movie. We're both guilty of having our noses stuck in our iPads and not paying attention to each other. This way, we get to talk about our lives without learning about it on Facebook. 

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• Go to a museum

A museum? Yes, a museum. But not the kind that you think. Titanic Belfast has such an interactive and interesting approach to telling its visitors about the infamous steamliner that tragically sank in 1912. Within the bowels of the building, you see a scale model replica of the ship yard before going up several floors in a lift that was constructed to look like one that would've been in use at Harland & Wolff. Then you take a trip in a cable car around a section of the ship yard, hearing all the hustle and bustle and seeing what it would've looked it to the workers. Also, in the gift shop you can purchase your very own, La Coeur de La Mer necklace. I have one.

Alternatively visit the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra. You can wonder round the countryside within the city limits and go back in time. Explore white washed cottages with thatched roofs, try your hand at using stilts and don't forget to collect a peat log before heading into the school house. Then on the other side of the park there is the transport museum where you can see tractors and steam engines of the olden days. 

• Visit the zoo

My brother and I always say that we should go to the zoo someday. It has been years since we've been. I was probably still primary school age when I was last there. I love animals and I've always loved being able to see them. I'm always appreciative of how the keepers watch over them and care for them. Belfast zoo is quite small but a good day out. Dublin zoo is something else. 

• Visit a new restaurant/cafe.

If there is anything that will get me out more often, it is food. I love going to new places and eating something different. If there are sweet potato fries on the menu and Hop House 13 on tap, I'm there. Okay, maybe not the point of it but try somewhere new to eat instead of going to the same Chinese takeaway all the time. 

• Go to the beach

I'm not much of a beach person but on a nice and bright day, I can be coaxed to the beach and for a little dipping of the toes in the water. Also, if you have a dog, it's a good excuse to take them for a walk. They'll love it. 

• Attend an event

Always a good excuse to get out, right? There always events going on in and around any city at any given time but half the time, I never know about them until the last second or after the event. Typical. To see what is happening in and around your city, check out Eventbrite. Enter your city or location and it'll bring up a list of what is planned. I checked out Belfast here. I had no idea so much was happening in and around Belfast. If you can't find an event where you live, Eventbrite has tons of tools to help you host your own like an Online RSVP feature or customizable pages. 

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• Tour a local brewery

Guinness Streohosue, anyone? Bushmills Distillery? I have toured wineries in Greece and Italy yet have never thought to take in the sights of the most iconic places in Ireland. For shame, Kazzie! You need to get out more often, girl. HA! 

• Go to the theatre

Whether it's a stage theatre or a cinema theatre, get out there. There are a number of blockbuster releases over the summer. I cannot wait for Star Trek Beyond being released this Friday and Finding Dory at the end of the month. My two main fandoms right there. Star Trek and Disney. I love going to cinema and to the theatre. I don't go to the theatre as often as I would like but I'm going to change that.

• Download PokemonGO

Seriously. PokemonGo has been getting people up and out on quests to find Pokemon. Practically every YouTuber I follow is Snapchatting their quest to find an elusive Pikachu or Squirtle. People are going out and discovering places in their towns that they didn't even know existed before. They're also meeting other people from their town that are also hunting Pokemon. You get out and potentially make a new friend. 

Now, get out there. Forget about FOMO and just GOMO!