why you should explore your town at night

Considering I've only lived in the student town of Aberystwyth for a couple of months, I'd say I've fallen in love with the place pretty quickly. Filled with history and stories and nationalism (and Vodka Tuesdays), Aber tends to draw you in completely. In some ways, it's relatively similar to my hometown of Swansea with its beaches and hills and castles, but something about this sleepy seaside makes it completely foreign. So far, I've basically only been out during daylight to go to lectures or to walk back home after a long night out, but I wouldn't have it any other way as I've had some of the best adventures at midnight. From stargazing to skinny dipping, towns like this are so much better when darkness falls.

Everything is quiet

At a small university town, during the evening you'll find that most people are either in bed doing some last minute reading, or celebrating having done some last minute reading with a few pints, rendering the streets relatively bare. I caught the flu a couple weeks back, and a friend brought warm soup for us to sip as I cwtched up warm in my big fleece jacket, and we sat on the edge of the pier. Swinging my legs off the side and gazing out towards the ocean, with only distant sounds being audible against the vast ocean silence, is both eery and calming. It's equally as surreal looking down over the town from a mini mountain as the sun falls down behind streetlights and background-lit windows, and with no one around, there's hardly any accompanying sound. It's weird, but awesome.

Everything seems more personal
One night last month someone took me out to the jetty to watch the stars, gazing up at the milkyway and pointing out which constellations were which. The only sound between our voices was that of the Irish Sea lapping against the shore, and the only things we could make out in the darkness were the stars, distant town lights, and each other. It was one of the most charming nights I've had in my life, and it would have been completely ruined had it been filtered with sunlight and tourists.

Anything is possible

Somehow, I imagine that had I clambered up the side of a castle to eat cookies with someone at 11am instead of 11pm, I would have had a different experience to the chill, undisturbed one I did have. Or, if I'd ran naked into the ocean with a society during daylight I'm pretty sure that the locals and holidaymakers would have had a thing or two to say to us. What I'm basically saying is, the second the sun drops down the horizon, the world is your oyster to explore and do things that daylight would otherwise unlikely permit.

Everyone's more comfortable
I've met some of the most chill people at night, as by the time the clock strikes 3am everyone's too sleep deprived to care about anything. You can have some deep discussions as you wander down to the beach as fireworks go off overheard on Bonfire Night, and people are always hazy with guileless glee in the arcade when all the windows overlook a pitch black town. Time moves slower, people are happier, and it's a pretty decent atmosphere to experience.

A sense of danger
So one day at Aberystwyth, we were all emailed warnings to not leave our flats to go to evening lectures because Storm Ophelia had hit and there were loose roof tiles and the like flying about everywhere. So naturally, one of my friends suggested that we go down to the ocean and watch the storm erupt chaos into the town. You could barely move in one direction due to the sheer force of the wind, and the waves coming up and hitting the streets were mental. As it got darker, everything felt less restricted and more ominous, and whilst I felt safe, there was a prominent question mark hovering over what would happen. It's exciting and I love it.

From eating candyfloss at a funfair to sipping soup on the edge of a pier, to even going dry slope skiing, some of my best experiences at this uni town so far have been during dark. They'e exciting and personal and honestly, it makes you fall in love with everything twice as quick and I can't recommend then enough.