Hello! 🌞

So, what is The Navigation? 🧭

This is a place for me to write about my musings on, meanderings through, and methods for, modern life.

I’m interested in exploring a wide range of topics related to culture, lifestyle, politics, work-life and travel.

As I continue to navigate the trials, tribulations and titillations of this thing we call life, I intend for my writing to be embedded in the themes of exploring who we are, how we want to live, where are we going and how are we getting there.

Who is Lauren Powell? 🙋🏻‍♀️

After many years of wanting to “be a writer” I’ve finally plucked up the courage to carve out this space to actually give it a go.

A Welsh native now based in London (though will always a Valley’s girl at heart) I currently work in education publishing.

I studied Politics, am a proud feminist, with a Taurus Sun and Scorpio Rising (though still trying to figure out exactly what that means). A fan of coffee shop lounging, brunching with the gals, and the more-than-occasional glass of prosecco, I fit a myriad of female millennial stereotypes. But I’m also a deep-thinking, socialist-leaning, would-be writer with an underlying sense of wanderlust, so arguably I could just as easily fit the mould of the guys from the beat generation.

I read a lot, watch little TV, try to squeeze in some Yoga with Adriene several times a week, and am a sucker for a long walk accompanied by a podcast - more on which I’m sure you’ll hear about.

I’ve published pieces in a few other places previously, perhaps most notably with Lazy Women. If you’d like a taste of what you can expect, please feel free to check out some articles here.

How often will new posts appear? 🧾

To start with, I will be posting twice a month. On alternating fortnights there’ll be:

• One short essay from me, sharing my musings/meandering/methods

• One round up of culture I’ve consumed through the month that has influenced, or made me think about, how I’m navigating life, and therefore how it might help you too

All posts will be freely available to any willing reader. Tell your friends.

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What next? 🌟

If this sounds like something you might be into, that might be up your street, that might be something you could dip into, please do subscribe. I’ll be leaving the comments section open on each post and so you’re welcome to engage as and when you like.

Or, if you’d prefer to be a passive reader for a while to avoid any more distractions from reaching inbox zero, that’s fine too - I know the feeling.

To be honest, I’m just grateful this free and friendly Substack space exists for people like me to do something like this, stepping out of the comfort zone and having a go. If it can bring something interesting, inspiring, or encouraging to your life too, then all the better.

For a bit more background info and to learn more about how I got here, head over to my inaugural post, Welcome to The Navigation.

A new addition is The Navigation Bookshop, where you can find all the fiction and non-fiction reads featured throughout my posts. For any books bought through links on this site, I may earn a small commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops - those local gems we all know and love.

Thanks for reading, and happy navigating.