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Giethoorn

Moss & Meadows: Kids On The Run

Bohemians may be wanderers, adventurers, vagabonds. They live an unconventional lifestyle, often surrounded by like-minded people with few permanent ties, involving creative pursuits.

Adventurer

Monday Muse: Magic, sparkle and fun

A Chance To Escape

Surfs Up: Newquay, Cornwall

Places To Visit: The Magical City of Nara

The Indian Markets in Camden

You are all aware by now of my wanderlust and places that able to cure it for a moment. Well, as me and my flatmates wandered the maze of Camden Market I was lost. Transported to the beautiful, vibrant country of India. 

There are several little hidden shops filled with vibrant, embroided textures. I had a moment of pure awe as I entered them. I feel like this is the feeling Carrie Bradshaw would have had in Sex and the City 2 when she wanders the markets in Saudi Arabia and gets distracted by the stall of slippers and forgets where she is for a moment as she is filled with giddy excitement (and leaves her airport documents behind). The prices in these little market shops are quite cheap and they vary in each shop you go in. However, like foreign places you can haggle in Camden and the shop owner will always give you good offers and deals. 

Whilst I was in the markets I picked up a beautiful, light tunic with amazing oriental patterns on it. Also, got myself two little travel notepads that I can carry round with me in my bag wherever I go, a vibrant, patterned throw covered in embroidery to add a touch of colour to my new bedroom, some bindis to add some sparkle to my face when its drained and dehydrated at Reading festival at the end of the month and a slouchy bag that I can also take with me. If an inanimate object could look or be lazy then this bag would be the epitome of it. All of this for a mere £30! So good! My bedroom will end up reassembling one of the Indian markets sooner or later. 

I highly recommend that if you are ever in London that Camden Market is on your itinerary for your stay! You can get wonderful, unique pieces you'll never find anywhere else. 

King Of The Rodeo

 

 

What I'm wearing: vintage fringed jacket, zara slip dress, ebay boots

 Texas and the stereotypes of Dallas and the rodeo has always appealed to me in some way. Whether it is the style or their way of life. The concentration on denim, studs and fringes. The patriotism. The free spirit, misfit way of life. Lets just say I want to be King of the Rodeo.

Everyone Has A Different Way Of Approaching The Wave

Lets Go Surfing by The Drums has been in my head for days now. It is such a feel good song, one I like to listen to first thing in the morning to get me up out of bed and dancing. Starting my positive vibes off for the day.

The surfing culture has always been one that I am totally obsessed with. The endless amounts of days and hours spent at the beach and in the sea. The sea-salt, beach waved hair. The films such as Soul Surfer and Lakey Peterson: Zero to 100. The free-spirited vibe that comes across whenever you see somebody surfing. Everytime you go into the ocean, ready to surf, you're hit with unpredictability as to whether you are going to be able to catch any good waves. That sense of the "what if" is what I enjoy; who knows what is going to happen and the outcome is coming to be? You may as well still go ahead and do it anyway as it could be the most wonderful decision you have ever made.

Now it's just a matter of time before I get my bum to Australia, or hopefully Devon before then and finally live out one of my dreams of learning to surf!

Diving In Deep

Take vacations. Go as many places as you can. You can always make money. You can't always make memories. 

This appeared on a social media news feed and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Vacations are so important to me and my lifestyle. I have grown up being fortunate enough to go on a vacation at least once a year and being able to experience so many different cultures from such a young age. This is probably why this little (huge) wanderlust bug is still in me and forever will be. It is the best kind of bug to have. 

To travel is to live. And those who don't travel only read one page - over and over again - for the rest of their lives. Travelling is something that makes you rich through the experiences you have whilst traveling, as you meet new people, new countries and new cultures. You also get rich on memories which are so valuable. I am one to just dismiss opportunities to create new memories, I feel like I have done that a lot already this summer but this is going to change effective immediately. 

I want to be full on life and love, every single day.

Time to start creating my bucket list to start ticking off. You should go and start yours too. 

Istanbul

Every time I have gone to Turkey (visited four times and counting) it has always been the beach resorts for a “relaxing” family vacation. Not too sure how relaxing it was for my parents, but they were pretty fun and fond memories for me. After reading the Istanbul feature in this months issue of ELLE Decoration it has made my wandering soul urge for more cultural experiences by visiting cities that are so rich in traditions, history and culture through their architecture and fashion. I have visited the ruins of an ancient Greek city in Turkey called Ephesus, which was built in the 10^th century BC. After just researching some information on the ancient city, I found out it is home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the temple of Artemis. Clearly I should have paid more attention when I visited the city, but I was young and in awe of all the ruins and imagining what it must have been like to live in the third largest Roman city.

Anyway back to the wonders of Istanbul (every time I type Istanbul, I have the urge to type Instagram, that’s bad right?) Istanbul was once the ancient Greek city of Byzantium and then later as Constantinpole, the capital of four empires: Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman. You can still recognize some of these empires in the city with the Ottoman palaces and Byzantine masterpieces. The city is a mixture of both old and new as old bazaars sit next to modernized designer boutiques and fragile, centuries old mosques stand beautifully next to the intimidating, rigid office blocks; all complimenting each other.

The city is a great visit for people who love architecture, art and fashion as it gives you all three exceptionally well. For architecture you have the Dolmabachè palace, which was built by an Ottoman sultan in the 19th century, and it is a symbol for their empire and their architecture. You have the Istanbul Modern Museum for your cotemporary art and various exhibitions held throughout the year. For fashion of course, you have the old bazaars filled with jewelry, fabrics and trinkets from years ago. That’s a way to make sure you don’t turn up to an event with somebody wearing something the same as you.

My soul has now wandered and is dreaming of summer nights filled with belly dancers, Turkish music and delicious food. Once I had a magical moment experiencing all this things in an old coliseum and at the exact same time a comet flew over the star-filled skies. It is these kind of moments that are priceless and worth the travel. My feet are now jealous of my soul and ache to wander. Let’s hope they get to wander soon.

The Art Of Travel

‘The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page’ – St. Augustine

The idea of travelling, learning and experiencing new cultures and discovering the hidden treasures of the world is high among young adults. The rise in youth travel has now made it a specialized tourism niche, according to research done by WYSE Travel Confederation and UNWTO. With this rise, there have also been some fantastic books that give you superb insight into what it is like to travel and how to make the most out of it. Making the books the perfect travel companions.

The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton is a book that teaches you the ways to get the most of your travelling experience. De Botton has written about travelling as a form of art and how you should look at the landscape you are travelling in. However, he doesn’t do this alone, he has help from many historically famous artist and writers such as Van Gogh, Flaubert and Edward Hopper to help paint a picture for you. De Botton guides you every step of the way, giving invaluable insights into everything and dividing the book into departure, motives, landscape, art and return. This book is bound to give you a different perspective on the idea of travelling and will certainly open your eyes to all the things you are missing out on during your journey.

'Oh! To be riding now on the back of a camel! Ahead of you, a red sky and brown sands, on the burning horizon, the undulating landscape stretches out into infinity...' - Flaubert

The second and last travel companion is Wild by Cheryl Strayed. This book is a reading experience that could change your life before you’ve even set off on your journey. Cheryl Strayed shows you how travelling can help you search for something you’ve been looking for or missing all along. It’s about finding yourself and also letting the travel become your identity, the feeling of being where you’ve travelled. Strayed explains the journey leading up to the decision of going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, alone, for one hundred days. She gives you explicit detail of what the experience was like. The daunting feeling of being alone in the wilderness with just your own thoughts as your only company for the majority of the time. The book teaches you how travelling may well be another memory but also so much more than that. Travelling allows you to grow as a person, to learn, to meet other people and to get in touch with other cultures. These two books are just a beginning step for you to find the way you want to travel and what you want to experience on your adventures. A stepping-stone to one of the most amazing experiences you could ever come across. Let your heart and mind wander just like you feet do.