What on earth happened to August, one minute the month was just starting and the next it’s just finishing. A lot has happened this month including packing up our home in Glasgow and driving some 400 miles across the country. Considering the UK isn’t that big, that is a long way. If we go right back to the beginning of the month then there was Commonwealth Games fun and a rush to get everything on my Glasgow to do list done. Edinburgh Fringe Festival visits started mid month as well as winding up my jobs and beginning the big move. The end of the month saw a mini Scottish holiday in Fort William and the Isle of Mull, the actual move and a festival. All in all it has been a hectic month of fun and change and I cannot wait to tell you about some of the awesome things I’ve been up to. Firstly here is a little round up of it all with a little change to the previous months.
What I’ve Been Blogging About:
Edinburgh Fringe – I was so excited to head over to the Fringe this month and before I had even planned when I would be going, I had put together a list of my top picks. After actually getting to the Fringe I then put together a photo post and a review of each show I saw. I still have a few more posts about the Edinburgh Fringe to come yet.
Glasgow – August was my final month in Glasgow and I finally got around to exploring the city a bit, my favourite activity being a trip up the Lighthouse Tower. I also rounded up my Commonwealth Games experience with a photo post and a written post.
Australia – I love Australia and cannot stop talking about how much I love the country. This month I decided to chat about my favourite things to do in Sydney as I was missing the city terribly. I also worked together with the Backpacker Job Board to talk about working in Australia and what alternative jobs you can do out there.
Product Review – I have been reviewing a few products this month which is always exciting. I have just finished testing the Water To Go bottle and am excited to tell you about that next week. However the review I published this month was for the Three travel pack goodies, which coincided nicely with me actually changing my phone contract to Three.
Festival Packing List - In The Woods festival took place over the last few days of this month and I put together my packing list for the festival. Silly thing was I actually put this post together a week or so before I packed and then had to use it to actually pack because moving across the country had made me forget what I needed!
I also carried on with my Sunday’s Little Thing feature and told you all about my travel plans for the end of last month and beginning of the next one.
My Month In Numbers Infographic
Highlight(s) Of The Month
Our mini Scottish holiday near to the end of the month was awesome. I had put a lot of planning in to the holiday, where we would stay and what we would do. Unfortunately I didn’t quite realise all the driving distances so a few things got missed but on the whole it was a fabulous trip. What was even better was that the sun came out to play and we enjoyed Scotland at its best. There will be a lot of write ups on this trip so I don’t want to give it all away… but we stayed in some amazing places, took the Jacobite steam train aka the Hogwarts train, ate gorgeous seafood, explored the Isle of Mull and it’s beautiful beaches, visited the colourful buildings in Tobermory and drove through the wonderful Glencoe. If you have been keeping up with my Facebook and Instagram updates then you’ll know just how beautiful this whole trip was!
In The Woods festival also has to be a highlight from this month. The festival is as you would expect: in the woods, with fairy lights and straw lining the paths, art installations all over the forest, awesome music which isn’t very main stream and a chilled out atmosphere. The whole weekend was awesome from the barn dancing to the silent disco to the yoga with the wrong teacher. Plus some amazing bands by the likes of Kyan, Kate Tempest and Laura Marling. It was a brilliant weekend and although there is never anything great about festival toilets the rest of the weekend was flawless.
Lowlight Of The Month
Leaving Glasgow, leaving Scotland and leaving my jobs. I never expected to feel so sad leaving our life in Glasgow but after 10 or so months of calling it home, I did feel sad. Leaving a nanny jobs and families you have come to feel part of after 8-10 months is hard, especially when the children are telling you they don’t want you to leave. I’m going to be writing more about the move so I’m leaving this explanation short and sweet.
Favourite Photo
I haven’t actually edited many photos I took this month on my DSRL so this months photo comes from my phone and it is edited with VSCOcam.
Blogs I’ve Loved this Month
The Culture Map: 14 Most Colourful Towns and Cities in Europe – I absolutely loved this post, so many photos of some of the most beautiful places in Europe. I pretty much want to visit every single one! She covers places all over Europe from the cold north to the sunny south, it will certainly get your wanderlust going. This was also my first time reading The Cultured Map and it is certainly a blog I will be reading more often now.
Be My Travel Muse: Reflections on Nearly Two Years of Solo Travel – I remember stumbling across this post on twitter, it had a pretty picture with the tweet and I wanted to read it straight away. The post was as good as the picture and it had me wanting to jump straight on a plane for some solo travel myself. Again this was the first post at had read on this blog and I will certainly be going back for more reading.
Helen In Wonderlust: Tips for Women Travelling Alone in Africa – I love Africa and have a sweet spot for any post about the continent. That is probably why I love Helen’s blog so much. This post was just another one to add to my long list of reason to return to Africa. I could really have done with reading something like this before I left the first time around. It was so helpful, informative and had me itching to go back as soon as I started reading.
Most Used App of the Month
I haven’t been using any new and exciting apps this month but I have completely fallen in love with the vscocam app. In case you haven’t caught up with this app it is an artistic photo editing app. There are two part to this app: the filter editing section and the photo editing section. I love the filters and the option of downloading more (some free, some paid), you can also decide how intense the filter is. The photo editing part allows you to make those simple enhancing changes a long side the filter. It is arty, creative and about making ordinary things look beautiful, but as a creative photographer I just love it.
Coming Next Month
September is a big month for me, I will finally start university… well maybe. You know that English test I have spoken about plenty of times in my monthly summaries well I resit that test this week and all my plans rely on me passing that test. If I don’t, well I’m still not sure but providing everything goes okay I will start at Roehampton University on the 15th of September. I need to find a flat in London like ASAP and really start preparing myself for this big change but that will wait until Friday when I know my test results. Other than that I am spending a few days in Devon with my brother and his best mate on a motorbike trip. I have only been on a bike a handful of times but I’ve loved every minute so a road trip with a difference sounded perfect. I even think the weather might be nice, please England.
There will also be a big change for The Little Backpacker this month as I am finally getting myself sorted and moving this whole thing over to wordless.org (or at least starting too)… I should have done so a long time ago, but better late than never I suppose. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly at least I will be in the safe hands of Chris from RTW Labs!
