A few years ago, my parents brought me a book that opened my eyes to the importance of self-care: ‘Self-Care for the Real World’ by Nadia Narain & Katia Narain Phillips. One tip from the book suggests noting down five accomplishments that make you feel proud of yourself.
Category: Travel
The 3 Peaks Challenge: My Story
It’s been 7 months since my last blog post! I’d love to sit here and tell you that this is me back to my weekly posts, but I’m not making any promises…although I do hope it won’t be another 7 months before I sit down to write a new post! Life has been crazy since…
A Look Back At October
Wow! What an epic month of adventuring October turned out to be! It’s funny how I can go months without seeing people, and then out of nowhere, I have a crazy month of socialising and going places. Being an introvert at heart, I find socialising tiring. So as much as it’s been fun, I’m ready…
A Look Back At September
In a month where we said our final goodbyes to my Auntie and the Queen, it’s been hard to get on with life as ‘normal’. Although it’s been a difficult month, it has gone by so quickly. It doesn’t seem like five minutes since the August Bank Holiday weekend, yet here we are in October….
My Italian Adventure – Part 2
After a lovely long weekend in Ferrara with my friend Magdalena, it was time to head south, back to Bologna, where I would spend the next four nights. Magdalena accompanied me to Bologna as she didn’t have to work until that evening, and as a newbie to travelling solo in a city, it was nice…
A Look Back At July
I started July in Italy, albeit on the last day of my trip. I had a late flight home, so I had a full day to explore Bologna before I headed back to the airport. I took the opportunity to climb to the top of the Towers of Bologna, eat some more pizza, and indulge…
My Italian Adventure – Part 1
I’d been dreading June since the beginning of the year. The tenth anniversary of my best friend’s passing loomed like a big dark cloud on the horizon. When my boyfriend’s parents booked him on a flight to join them on holiday at the same time as the anniversary, I found myself in a quandary. I…
My 2022 Goals in Review – Q2
A little later than planned, but I’ve spent the weekend reviewing my goals for this year to see where I am and to think about any further tweaks I need to make as we move into the latter half of 2022. I find that blogging about my goals helps me to: Check on my progress;…
We’re Going To Ibiza
Does anyone else always get a particular earworm stuck in their head whenever they hear Ibiza mentioned? For me, it’s the Vengaboys ‘We’re Going to Ibiza’. I don’t even like the bloody song! But ever since we booked our trip to go ‘back to the Island’, it’s been stuck in my head…on repeat! Last month…
A Look Back At June
So here we are, already in the second half of 2022. I’ve been appalling at maintaining my blog this year. It always seems to be the first thing to go on the backburner when life gets busy. The irony is, that’s probably one of the reasons I ended up seeking therapy earlier this year. My…
A Look Back At March
March has been a complete whirlwind. I’m not sure where the time has gone. But yet, here we are in April. Spring’s being its typically British self here in the UK with everyone out in shorts and t-shirts the week before last, and this week we’ve been back in coats and jumpers with a sprinkling…
Painshill Park
I’ve lost count over the number of times I’ve driven past the brown tourist signs for Painshill Park since I moved to London 6 years ago. I always felt intrigued by what it was, but it never seemed to be cross my mind when I was looking for something to do. That was until earlier…
New Year New Goals
Happy New Year! The end of 2021 flew by, and I found myself taking my lengthiest break from writing so far! I wanted to write, but time kept disappearing. In the past, I would’ve beaten myself up about this. This time, however, I decided to be kind to myself and accept that something had to…
Everything You Need To Know About Brean Down
There were two places I wanted to visit during our family trip to Somerset back in September – Cheddar Gorge (tick) and Brean Down. Whilst I ticked off Cheddar Gorge on my way to Somerset, Brean Down waited patiently until the last day of our trip. To give you a little bit of information about…
Burnham-On-Sea, Brean and Weston-super-Mare
In September, we went on a family holiday to the West Country and spent five days exploring Somerset. On my journey there, I’d been lucky enough to stop off at the incredible Cheddar Gorge. From there, I headed to Brean, where I met up with the rest of my family outside the holiday park that…
A Look Back At September
Every month throughout this year, I’ve written a blog post looking back on the month just gone. It’s been a helpful little reminder during some difficult times that amongst the shit, there have been plenty of good times and lot’s of new memories made. I have to admit, September feels like a bit of a…
2021 Goals Review – September
By the time you’ll be reading this post, we’ll be in October and heading towards some of my favourite events of the year. There’s something so magical about Autumn. I almost get as excited for Halloween and Bonfire Night as I do Christmas! With the New Year less than 13 weeks away, it’s time to…
The Best Way To See Cheddar Gorge
Last week I finally took a week off work. After nine months of freelancing and with limited breaks, I was bordering on burnout. Thankfully, my family had booked four nights in a caravan for mid-September, which would give us all a much-needed break. Somerset, which is in South West England, is one of the largest…
How Do You Know When It’s Time To Take A Break?
If you’re reading this blog post hoping to find the answer to this question, you might want to look away now. Unfortunately, it’s a question I don’t have the answer to yet. I haven’t had a week off work since Christmas, and the last couple of weeks have been a struggle as a result. Perhaps…
Mid-Year Goals Review
As we edge closer to the middle of the year, I thought it was about time I sat back and reviewed my 2021 goals to see how they are progressing. Mid-year is a good time to reflect on your goals and to check whether we need to make any significant changes to them as we…
The Law of Attraction
This post was originally published on 27th May 2019 and updated on 20th June 2021. Have you ever felt an overwhelming desire to go somewhere or do something you’ve never done before? I’m not talking about a desire to go somewhere just because it looks nice or because it’s different to somewhere you would ordinarily…
Old Fashioned Romance with a Modern Day Twist
This post was originally published on 9th June 2019 and updated on 30th May 2021. I love being single, but that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to being in love again. Although I have to admit, and if you have read some of my earlier blog posts, you may have already worked out, I’m…
My Top 5 Places to Visit in India
On 23rd December 2019, I found myself at London Gatwick Airport about to board a flight to India. India had been on my mind a lot in the few years prior to my trip. I couldn’t get away from this nagging feeling that I had to go. So on a whim, in May 2019, I…
Olhos de Água and Praia da Falesia
As we eagerly await Boris Johnson’s announcement tomorrow as he lays out the UK’s ‘Road Map’ out of lockdown, I thought I would take another look back at my solo trip to Portugal. Fingers crossed BoJo’s plans see us being able to travel again before the year is out. This post was originally published on…
My Top 5 Moments from 2020
We all know that 2020 hasn’t exactly been the best year. It’s had a lot of low points, but it’s really important to keep the good moments in our minds too. Thankfully, the year hasn’t been a complete write-off. Amongst the lows, there have been some highs and, if nothing else, plenty of lessons learnt….
The Mindful Gingernut 