I escaped winter in Berlin in November and jetted to Curacao in the Caribbean. My highlight was, straight after the obvious blue skies and palm trees, talking to a lovely couple about their farm-to-table restaurant and sustainable farming in general. Two weeks later, Tokyo got me a crazy and absolutely overwhelming 48-hour trip where I had the best ramen, used the best phone (Google Pixel) and was handed the best medicine by a Japanese angel when a really, really, really bad cold came my way. I also enjoyed every autumn day there was in Berlin (man, that was a lifetime ago) and breathed in colours and fresh air whenever possible. I went back to London, became a little nostalgic over the life I had there and then left behind, had Brick Lane bagels, took long walks in Hampstead Heath, went over to Brighton and discovered the Lanes for the first time.
Back in Berlin, I hosted three Christmas dinners, cuddled with my friends who I hadn’t seen in so long, made plans for the new year and then threw them over completely because that’s what plans are for. My family came to Berlin for Christmas because they fancied a change and I fancied my own bed.
After a fairly quiet New Year’s Eve and a couple of weeks in Berlin, I went to Iceland with four artist friends from the US. And I can’t possibly think of a better way of kicking off a new year. It was a little strange to only have a couple hours of daylight but that gave us all the more opportunities (and time) to recharge all batteries we could find. Oh, and Northern Lights of course!
In February I went on what was one my favourite ever press trips. Airbnb took me and a group of other European journos and bloggers to Mayrhofen, Austria. We spent a weekend skiing, exploring, drinking Schnaps and cuddling with a lamb (me). It was such a lovely and homely atmosphere down there and I came back home super refreshed, inspired and grateful that this whole thing is a job.
And then it was time for Tel Aviv. The city has been at the very top of my bucket list for years and I decided pretty spontaneously that now would be a good time to just go and see what the buzz (and hummus) is all about. I was there for a whole week on what some people would call a “workaction”, there was a lot of reading and writing in cafes involved… so really, it was more like a vacation.
I then spent most of April and May in Berlin, soaking up the first signs of spring, celebrating that winter’s finally over and dancing until the early morning hours (missed that a lot). My teeny tiny sister who really isn’t that tiny anymore graduated from high school and her and our mum did a road trip through Andalusia, Spain straight after to get her thoughts off the whole future confusion. My sister wrote more about it here. So it’s definitely not easy to be 19. But oh so exciting.