Clapham Common, London

London is humid, the heat sickly and clinging and the rain still frustratingly absent. Even deep in the earth on the tube, rattling along inside the mysterious iron tunnels the air was warm and foul, like I had been sucked down into some giant maw. It was my first time in London since the dreadful bombings and things felt slightly different in the tube, like a cloud of mistrust was lurking underground. It was with relief then that I arrived at my stop, flung my bag onto sweaty shoulders and climbed the stairs to the street.

Being in London is a wake up call for me, my last few days in Britain and on holiday for three months. In about 48 hours I will meet my friend and tutor Steve, board a plane and be in Spain by nine a clock that night. In Spain we get to work, studying high school curriculum with the aim of graduating me by Christmas. Shackleton may have closed and, although I have not graduated I have not failed either. So instead of studying at school Steve and I will be cast loose in Spain. We will therefore set up our own place of learning in Es Puig, my families summer house that will become our school

We will be based in Cadaques, a town perched by the mountains and fronted by sea. This artistic community should provide us with a base and the chance for me to improve my writing and enrich my future posts and entries. Everyday I will learn, from cooking traditional food to riding challenging paths on my mountain bike to studying poetry to algebra.

Now I am still in London. I hear sirens and glance outside, staring at the lush green of plants and the hazy spire of some church next door. Already I have left behind my usual innocence and am ready for the change in schedule a city trip demands. Instead of walking through wheat fields I will dodge pedestrians in crowded streets, instead of eating at home I will eat out. I will have to keep doors locked and watch out for pickpockets, things rarely done in Aberdeenshire. And then in two days when I am just settling down I must swap London for Barcelona and the known for the new and frightening.