dreaming of better days through my travel journal

During lockdown, I was meant to be on holiday for a few weeks, traveling Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Obviously, this never happened. But if it had, it would all have been planned in this notebook. This notebook has been with me to a number of places already and my hope is to fill it before long.

My most recent holiday was a long weekend in Lisbon back in October. It was a reward for passing an exam and it was also nice to get out of the country for a bit!

Planning the trip, I always start by noting a rough guide for each day. Sometimes things change depending on my mood which is fine - but I do like to have a skeleton plan for every holiday I take. I'm not the type to fly somewhere spontaneously and just make plans on the day. Maybe that will change one day!

The next bit is an outfit plan so that I know what to pack. And then comes the packing list. This helps to ensure I don't leave any essentials behind here in the UK and also helps for when I pack to come home (to ensure nothing gets left there too!).

I then write a brief list of things I want to see. I work with a some lovely Portuguese nurses who were amazing in giving me a list of 'must-see' attractions. I went to every single one of their recommendations!

Every night, I wrote a journal entry detailing the events of that day and also what I ate (very important information). I don't usually travel with a fountain pen just in case they leak. Therefore, a Muji gel pen accompanied me on this trip.

In the top right corner, you'll see that there is a circular sticker I have folded in half in line with the page. This is a marker for the end of that 'chapter' of the notebook and the beginning of another trip.

I'm not sure where and when my next trip will be but it'll definitely be planned in this notebook. Australia is on my bucket list so that is a possibility if I can get a stretch of annual leave long enough to make the most of a trip there. Fingers crossed!

planning a summer holiday: how I planned Vancouver

As a compulsive planner, I started planning my summer holiday to Vancouver back in February before jetting off in July. To do this, I borrowed my sister's guidebook and opened up a fresh new notebook: this Pantone beauty which was bought many years ago.

To begin with, I needed to figure out which dates I could go, a budget and also the essentials for this trip. This is all on the front page seen below.

Next: a packing list! I split this list into separate categories to ensure that nothing essential would be left behind when packing for the holiday and also when packing on return.

To help plan which clothes to bring with me, I planned each day's outfit on the left hand page and because I love recording absolutely everything about a holiday, I then wrote what I actually wore on the right hand side.

Next, planning my itinerary. First, I sat down and wrote a list of places and things I definitely wanted to do/see/eat. I have a few friends from Vancouver so this list was made up of recommendations from the guidebook seen earlier on and their recommendations. Then, these things were separated into the days of my holiday to ensure that there was a rough plan for the whole trip.

Finally, each day was recorded in the following manner: number of steps, distance walked and how many flights climbed. I then recorded as much of my day as I could remember. These entries can be really long or really short depending on how tiring the day was as they tended to be written before falling asleep.

Obviously, this means one holiday never fills a notebook but that's ok - this notebook can be continued the next time I go somewhere on holiday.

my summer holiday in canada: vancouver highlights

Last month, I went to Vancouver for a week's holiday. I booked it back in February using some air miles and it was a graduation present to myself for finishing medical school after goodness knows how many years of having this dream. (Though I know that the hard work only begins now...!)

I packed my Instax camera but kept forgetting I had it with me (doh) so only took a few pictures. Here are a selection of them: from the day I left home, to the neighbourhood I was staying in to some amazing views (and botched selfies) on Grouse Mountain.

Tourist Hotspots

My sister leant me her 'Top 10' guidebook and I used it with a pinch of salt. When I went to Stockholm last year, I used it to the T and regretted not doing some random exploring instead. Instead, I only allocated a few days to the guidebook. On one of these days, I went to the Waterfront where Canada Place (the photo above) is. You could see over to North Vancouver from there and little did I know I was also looking at Grouse Mountain - a trip planned for another day.

After wondering around Waterfront for a while, I headed up Granville Road and towards Robson Street where the major shops are. After a spot of food, more walking was done and towards Gastown I went!

Gastown

Gastown was streaming with tourists and tourist shops. It was a pretty part of Vancouver but I was on the hunt for more hidden gems in the city so it felt pretty underwhelming to me. I'm glad I took the time to visit this part of Vancouver though. 

Stanley Park

I have a few friends from Vancouver and they all said the same thing: Stanley Park is a must-do. A detour was taken into the Aquarium where the dolphins, otters, penguins and sea lions were the highlights! 

The park itself is extremely tranquil. Opting to walk the sea wall, the views were incredible. None of the photos I took did the views justice so there are none in this post unfortunately. 

Because walking the park wasn't a long enough distance, I then walked to English Bay Beach. 

Granville Island

As I was staying in Cambie (a suburb south of the city centre), I opted to take the Sky Train to Yaletown and then walk the bridge over to Granville Island - with regret setting in about halfway along said bridge! It was super windy and super high, and as someone with a fear of heights, I spent the whole walk repeating 'don't look down' in my head to myself.

It was worth it though. Graville Island was, again, another tourist hotspot but it was big enough for it to not feel too busy (aside from the public market). There was also a lovely smell of fresh sea air; very different to the London air I'm used to.

I took the bus back to Downtown after though - walking along that bridge once was enough!

Richmond

Richmond is where all the East Asian foods and stores are and I'm not going to lie - it felt like I was in Hong Kong. Cantonese was the main language here, though most shop assistants were bilingual. The best part of Richmond? The many food outlets. My friend, who is a huge foodie, recommended countless places and none of them disappointed.

Grouse Mountain

Before I landed in Vancouver, my main goal was to see some grizzly bears. Whistler is the recommended place for nature but the foodie friend mentioned previously said Grouse Mountain is smaller but just as good in the summer.

I spent a good ninety minutes stalking these two grizzly bears (Grinder and Coola) and got a few cute shots, including the one above where Grinder is looking straight at me. (Grinder is the smaller one.) I did catch Coola having a little bathe in the pond too!

The views were incredible from Grouse Mountain - the Sky Ride up was a tense one but so worth it! I even managed to look down which made my heart pound a bit faster but with it only being a few minutes ride, I decided to take that risk of raising my heart rate ;) 

The view you see above is looking south, over the city centre and beyond. 

But the holy grail picture is the next one...

A photo with the lumberjacks! There is a thrice daily lumberjack show where two guys compete against each other. There was a fair bit of adult humour and quite a lot of kids in the audience which meant some of the jokes didn't get the recognition they deserved. One of my friends, who had visited Vancouver a few weeks' prior on holiday, told me that I really must get a photo with the lumberjacks so I did! 

All in all, the week in Vancouver was more than enough time to see everything, from the hidden spots to the tourist friendly locations. Other places I visited were the University of British Columbia campus, Yaletown and Queen Elizabeth Park. It was nice to get away from London and the hectic nature of my life here but at the same time, I was also happy to come home. Solo traveling is nice but there's nothing quite like being back with friends and family. 

packing for a weekend break: beauty and skincare

After my penultimate year at university, I made a resolution with myself to be more spontaneous and to live life a bit more. Though I have commitments in my personal life which mean that this isn't always possible, I analysed how I had spent my years until then and realised that, at the age of 25, I hadn't actually seen much of the world or done much in the way of spontaneity.

One way I've stuck with this resolution is to have spontaneous weekends away or just book impromptu holidays (like I did with my four day excursion to Stockholm in August). As a result, I always have my 'beauty pack' ready for any last minute weekends I book. Flying is a complete headache due to the liquids restriction, and as I try to only fly with hand luggage, this makes it all the more difficult. Travel sized things are a must and I also try and pare down my skincare routine as much as possible. With regards to make-up, if at all possible, I only pack mascara and lip balm with everything else in powder form so generally okay to go through security in my bag.

To read more about how I got my routine to fit into a tiny plastic bag that is flight-safe, here is a post from earlier this month.

My essentials are as follows:

- dry shampoo
A must for those long flights or days where your hair isn't quite dirty/greasy enough for a wash but you want to feel a bit refreshed.

- body wash
Most hotels supply this but I like to keep a back-up just in case.

- cotton pads
Again, some hotels will supply this but I'm quite particular about the ones I use. The best ones I've found are actually sold in Asda!

- micellar water
For those lazy days when you don't feel like double cleansing to remove your make-up.

- Murad cleanser
Not quite sure if this is completely psychological or not: but this cleanser appears to be the only one which can help keep my skin relatively clear.

- Avene Cleanance Expert Emulsion
I keep this in my travel pack because I'm not actually sure it does much for my skin? And it doesn't break me out so I'm basically only using it for the sake of using up the tiny bottle.

- Eye gel
As a contact lens wearer, my eyes can get terribly dry. I apply this gel after my lenses are out in the evening, just before bed, and once again in the morning, at least half an hour before putting my lenses in.

- Banila Co Clean It Zero oil cleanser
Sometimes, this comes with me, other times, it doesn't. It depends on how much make-up I think I'll be wearing. If a lot, I'll use this to take my make up off before using my Murad cleanser. It comes in a tiny travel sized tub which is so useful.

- Deodorant (no explanation needed surely?)

- An AHA product of some kind
I swear by chemical exfoliation now that I've seen how much brighter my skin looks! I really notice a difference when I go without this step in my routine for a few days so this is an essential for me. This gets used once every day other at the moment as my skin seems to be able to take it.

- La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo [+]
I'll be raving about this product in a blog post next month but essentially, this is another product I can't do without.

- Benzoyl Peroxide
This makes an ideal spot treatment and traveling can often cause break outs.

- Travel sized shampoo
Like body wash, hotels will usually supply this but I like to bring my own back-up just in case.

- a moisturiser (not seen)
My moisturiser of choice at the moment for traveling with Dr Jart's Ceramidin cream because I find that it helps replace some of the steps I've cut out in my skincare routine.

So there you have it - my beauty products perpetually ready for me to grab for a weekend away. These items are all packed into a regulation clear plastic bag that is available at all airports so I know that they are fine for security and that everything is there so I don't have to spend a manic hour or two packing.

a stockholm scrapbook (finally!)

Over the Christmas holidays, I finally got round to making my Stockholm scrapbook. Back in August, I had printed a load of photos and had a few paper souvenirs ready to stick into this scrapbook. However, final year took over and this project was sitting, waiting, ready for me to do over the holiday season.

The notebook I decided to use is a spiral bound one from (you guessed it) Muji. It is cheap, minimalistic and the paper takes fountain pen very well. At the front, I've used washi tape to write the destination and dates of my holiday. Unfortunately, using a spiral bound notebook means I can't make a Dymo label for the spine but the spirals mean that I can stick photos in without the threat of spine damage!

Wanting to keep things as simple as possible, I let the photos do most of the talking with the odd bit of text detailing a story of something I wanted to remember. Tickets for tours and other random things (such as the Skansen map below) were also included.

When I was in Stockholm, I kept brief notes on each day of my holiday in an A6 Moleskine notebook and most of these were transferred to this journal. This meant that, although it had taken me almost five months to make this journal, no important details of the holiday were omitted.

Eventually, I'll have to go back to it to add in some colour (possibly through the use of washi tape and stickers) but for now, this journal captures my Stockholm trip pretty well. And I'm quite happy with how it turned out :)

a weekend in edinburgh for the rugby!

Back in November of last year, my sister and I took a weekend trip up to the beautiful capital of Scotland. Our sole goal was to see Scotland play Australia at Murrayfield and it was the first time my sister had watched any rugby ever (including on TV, etc)! Thankfully, the weather held up (which says a lot as we grew up in Scotland so we know how unpredictable Scottish November weather can be) and we both had an amazing time.

We decided to stay in a Premier Inn Hub Hotel a stone's throw from the Royal Mile and the central location was perfect. The room was tiny but we knew we would only be sleeping in it anyway so that didn't bother us. We loved how high-tech the room was and we could connect our phone to our room in order to control the lighting. Very gimmicky but also very fun (at least for us it was!).

Saturday was set to be a full day of rugby. We went out for breakfast and then did some diving in and out of tourist shops on the Royal Mile. After that, it was time to head to Murrayfield and we opted to take a tram there.

The match itself was heartbreaking - Scotland were leading until the 75th minute or so only for Australia to snatch the win by one point. Despite this, we headed back to the city centre afterwards and had a lovely meal in a pub called the Auld Hundred. Seeing that Edinburgh Gin was on the drinks menu, it would've been rude not to try it so we did (and it was actually pretty good!). We opted to chase it with the classic Scottish drink of... Irn Bru (again, when in Scotland...!).

The next day, we woke up and went for a Scottish fry up at The Royal McGregor. Polishing off both our plates, we dashed off to Edinburgh Airport to fly back to London and who did we bump into whilst there? The Australian rugby team! It was a total coincidence - we stepped off the tram just as we saw them disembarking off their team coach and my sister persuaded me to muster up the courage to ask my favourite Australian player for a photo. Luckily, he obliged and was really polite about it all (he's probably used to this!) and I spent the rest of that day grinning.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much sight seeing at all so we're already talking about going back at some point this year to do all the touristy things. One thing's for sure though - hearing the Scottish accent and just walking around in Edinburgh felt like home to both of us. Edinburgh didn't actually feel that different to Inverness and we both looked at each other and went 'feels like home' as soon as we got off the plane! I guess home really is where the heart is?

I'm already thinking about my next trip up to Scotland and all the potential sight seeing that will be done. All of this planning just makes my heart flutter (in a good way) and I'm super excited to see Edinburgh again.

Have you ever been? :)

stockholm: my first time traveling solo

Earlier this year, I booked a last-minute trip to Stockholm and decided to go on my own. It was my first time traveling solo so I wanted to go somewhere safe but also somewhere that had been on my 'travel wishlist' for quite some time. Stockholm fulfilled both these requirements and I wasn't disappointed! I honestly wouldn't describe myself as overly street-smart but I seemed to manage okay on my own with no trouble at all :)

I decided to book a super early flight so that I would have half a day of exploring soon after landing and on that day, I decided to do as much of Normalm as possible (as my hotel was in that vicinity) and the next two pictures were from that afternoon.

Firstly: Sergels Torg (the first picture) - one of Stockholm's most famous squares. I ended up here after getting lost (don't ask, I'm just awful with map reading) and ventured down into an underground shopping centre which had various clothing and convenience stores in and also what seemed like a department store! After that, I kept walking without caring if I got lost (after all, that's the best way to explore a city if you have no sense of direction like me) and I ended up at Hötorget (the second picture) which had various market stalls selling fruits, vegetables and clothing and other tourist type things.

Day two was one where I ventured into Gamla Stan. I spent the morning exploring the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) and then walked through the cobbled streets of Gamla Stan looking for somewhere to feed my hungry belly at lunch. The buildings were absolutely beautiful and I also saw the changing of the guard that midday too. In the afternoon, I was torn between Sodermalm and Ostermalm and for some reason, I chose the latter. There, I went to the History Museum (which was free and actually really, really good!) and then went for 'fika' in the afternoon. Fika is a Swedish tradition where coffee, baked goods and good company are key ingredients. As I was travelling alone, I made do with tea and a nice cardamom and cinnamon bun (coffee makes me hyper and the crash is no fun!).

I spent the early evening shopping around Kungsgaten and it was here that I bought the perfect pair of skinny jeans from Acne. It was inevitable that I would end up returning with some Swedish fashion and these jeans are the perfect souvenir.

Day three was one which involved Kungsholmen and Vasastan. The morning was spent at the City Hall (Stadhuset) where I went on a tour. I really enjoyed the tour and it was the start of a good day. I walked all the way along this pathway by the lake and eventually turned right towards Vasastan. At Vasastan, I had the most amazing sandwich at cafe Vurma for lunch. They were super nice there as well because I was overwhelmed by the menu choices which meant I asked for a recommendation. They were totally spot on with it too :)

Day four - This was my last full day in Stockholm so I opted to go over to Djurdgarden. I spent the morning at the Nordiska Museet and found everything fascinating (but I do class myself as a total nerd...). I then trekked over to Skansen, an open-air museum, and had a tiring but very fun afternoon exploring everything. I probably only ended up doing about a third to a half of the open-air museum which means I'll just have to come back to Stockholm at some point in the future (completely fine by me!).

After Skansen, I decided to go to the Vasamuseet before closing time but I definitely didn't find this as interesting. It was a 'must see' in my guidebook and I kind of wish I'd ignored it!

Overall, I found Stockholm amazing. The pace of life seemed perfect for me, it felt really safe (and as I was holidaying alone, this was important) and it is just a beautiful city. I'm already thinking about when I can visit again and maybe I'll do Malmo, Gothenburg and Copenhagen at the same time too. It's also made me consider moving there for a year to work as a doctor there and I've already started learning Swedish to make that dream happen :)

documenting my summer stockholm trip

As most of will know, or at least will have probably guessed by now, I love keeping track of things and also writing things down. When I went to Stockholm this summer, I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what I did/saw/ate each day and that's where my obsession with pen and paper came in handy. I used an A6 Moleskine in pink because of the pocket at the back (ideal for receipts, tickets and all those little pieces of paper that would be great in a travel journal...!).

The pen used is a Kuretake Cocoiro brush tip in black.

Each day, I would write down the things I saw in bullet points. I even noted down how many steps I did and the distance walked (according to my iPhone's health app). If something funny happened, I would also note that down briefly.

I kept all receipts so that I could document how much I spent in Stockholm. This is important me on two levels - it helped me stay within budget and also check my credit card when I came home, just to make sure nothing unexpected appeared on my monthly statement.

This'll all come in handy when I finally make my travel journal from Stockholm. I got some photos printed and all I need to do now is to stick them in and write a blurb about each of them. That'll be a job during the Christmas holidays I'm sure, depending on how much free time I have! A post on that to follow at some point in the near future :)