First and foremost, apology bloggers for my recent prolonged absence. Indeed, I have been caught up in the volcanic ash chaos.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was planning to make a whistle-stop visit to Madrid, Spain, to see a family friend with my parents, but this certainly did not happen.

Everything was paid for. Flights, booking charges, travel, tickets, a night or two accommodation and pounds to euros were exchanged for the short five day trip.

Due to set off last Friday, I awoke Thursday morning sharp to a text babbling on about this burst of nothingness into the sky and I didn’t know whether to believe it. Was someone pulling my leg? No, they weren’t as Sky News woke me firmly up with the news that no more flights would be heading into or out of the UK indefinitely with the Icelandic volcano eruption making it dangerous for aircraft to fly.

As I sighed overtly, there was nothing I or anyone could do.

That day, it felt like a lifetime I spent watching rolling live news. Don’t get me wrong, as I’m a journalist student I love televised news but watching the same reoccurring theme for hours upon end which ultimately puts the spanner in the works in regards to my trip, was a tad nauseous.

Of course, you could not find a more brazen reason under the sun then an ‘Act of God’ bringing the UK, among plenty other countries and continents, to a grinding shutdown but at the same time it is difficult for people to comprehend the magnitude of financial loss, travel deficiency and inconsolable disruption.

There’s no way of altering the course of nature as we know. I mean my parents have lost a few hundred pounds (probably), and I've lost a fair chunk of money too as a result of cancelled flights among other components of the journey, but millions of people are in the same boat.

Anyway, I didn’t venture abroad and I’m now preparing for the final semester of my second academic year at the University of Winchester.

On top of this I'm really looking forward to producing more content on my Hampshire Chronicle blog in the coming weeks.