another august in edinburgh

I love Edinburgh in August.

Here we go again!

edinburgh bucket list

So at this stage it looks as though I will be leaving Edinburgh in less than 8 months.

View from Grey Friars Churchyard

christmas in scotland

Last year I had a winter Christmas, for only the second  time in my life, in England with my best friends family. My first winter Christmas having been in Wichita, Kansas, when I was 17. I had an awesome time last year in England and had no responsibilities whatsoever. This year was a different story altogether.

With my family over for their first ever winter Christmas, I was playing host and going all out.

My cake!!!

winter is...here

- Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans - 

Autumn in Edinburgh

one year on

- This is the part where you find out who you are -

Goodbye to the GC!

cousins unite

My cousin Brianna has been over this side of the world for the last few months, which has been really nice in terms of having family to message in the same time zone! And in September she managed to come over for a weekend visit. 

View from Arthurs Seat

portobello: a day at the beach

The other weekend the weather was really awesome (for one day) and I felt like I hadn't been going many places lately and making the most of Edinburgh, so I took a trip to Portobello beach!



At the beach!

edinburgh in august

I decided not to go anywhere in August because Edinburgh has so much going on! Here is some highlights for things I did over the summer (I'm still not convinced I can call it that) in Edinburgh. 

Party time with red solo cups!

life goes on in edinburgh

I don't have anything particular to write about this time, but lots of little exciting things have been happening so I feel like it's time for a bit of an update.

Walking through Holy Corner at 10.30pm

springtime in edinburgh

I haven't had a chance to write lately as I've been settling into my new job (finally yay!). I won't say much about it other than that it should prove to be very interesting and the people are all lovely.

The Castle on my walk home from work.

edinburgh - home sweet home

- What is the world's greatest lie?... It's this: that at a certain point in our lives we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate - Paul Coelho (The Alchemist)

training about - north berwick

- I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. - Robert Louis Stevenson

I finished up my temp job a couple of weeks ago and found myself with some spare time on my hands. I decided to take the opportunity to make a couple of trips without breaking the bank, and get the use out of my 16-25 Railcard, which gives me train discounts, at the same time.

Yay for trains!

an update on life in edinburgh

I've been keeping myself pretty busy here lately! I'm feeling much more settled living here now.

Scots Monument on a sunny Edinburgh Day

cafe hunting in edinburgh

Since I have arrived in Edinburgh I have been on a bit of a mission. This mission doesn't really have an end goal however. The aim is just to find decent cafes around Edinburgh. Someone give me a good flat white!

Scones baked fresh daily and a flat white at Wellington Coffee

where would all the adventures be?

As always comes with a big life change, I have been having a lot of up and down moments.

Most of my entire Asia trip was a huge up. It was full of more than one of those moments when you actually stop to acknowledge that life is pretty awesome. One I distinctly recall was when we were riding in a mini bus through the countryside of Laos, en route to our next destination. I had the window next to me down, music playing and was writing in my travel diary, and I felt as light as the air, nothing could weigh me down in that moment.

I took a photo, so I wouldn't forget

Of course, it cant be like that all the time, or we would never appreciate when that happens. Since I have been in Edinburgh I have had a lot of issues trying to get things sorted, and have had some up and down moments while I'm looking for a job. I'm taking it all as it comes though, because that's the point of it all! Too often we get complacent with where we are, and long for change, but when it happens, we wish everything would go back to how it was before. I try to always be careful not to take things for granted, whether good or bad, and to remember that things are always moving forward, whether we want them to or not.

- If life was easy, where would all the adventures be? - 

another path forward

Well, here I am again.

New city.

New home.

New life.

I have been in Edinburgh for one month now and it's been a mix of emotions and experiences. Happiness at settling into a new home and life, the hellos and the excitement in the newness. This has been a dream for so long I can't even pin down when it started. But on the other side there is the sadness in the exchange of my wandering for a more settled life, the goodbyes and the niggling fear of what if it doesn't work out? This fear is pretty easy to allay, as it always works out in some way, whether it's how you thought it would or not. The more deep seated fear is, what if I don't like it? 

Fortunately I have decided for the moment that I do like it.

However, it is hard right now because I don't have a job yet so I don't feel completely settled. But I get the feeling  this is the kind of place that gets under your skin, that you might not realise how much you like it until you leave, and then you miss it with more feeling than you thought. At the moment I already feel like at the end of my two years I will be leaving. Not because I won't love my time here, and not because I'll be done with it by then, but because there are too many other adventures ahead. My love for Asia is too big to ignore, and I know I will have to indulge myself with an extended stay or I will forever regret it. But I can see how, day by day, I will fall more in love with it here, so that when that time comes I will leave with great sadness.

One of my goals for 2013 is to write in my blog more regularly. Nearly a month has passed so far without this happening, but I do have a list of things I want to talk about. So here's to the next year and the complete unknown that it is.

- Sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade wind in your sails - 

a wee bit excited

I arrived in my new home country by train on the 27th of December 2012. Sophie met us off the train and even though it was nearly 3 years to do day since I last saw her it was once again like no time at all had passed.

My bulging bag upon leaving England...not including my completely full Country Road bag!