December has been a very busy month! I had some fantastic walks in between work this month, before jetting off to Rome to spend Christmas there for a week. Then I jumped straight back into work with an insane few days that have completely exhausted me. Here’s what all I got up to in December!

Where I Went

York, Castle Howard, Hutton-le-Hole, Lastingham, Wildboarclough, Three Shires Head, Buxton, Bakewell (United Kingdom)

Rome (Italy)

Best Moments

Exploring Rome!! Rome is a destination I’ve been dreaming of visiting for years and years, but it’s just never worked out. I absolutely loved visiting Rome. It’s a beautiful city and SO full of history. Everywhere you turn, there’s some building or church that’s literally 1000 years old. Adam and I had the absolute best time exploring the city—there’s just so much to see and do. I’d love to go back again someday.

Seeing the Colosseum for the first time. One of my favorite moments in Rome was on our first full day we arrived. We set off first thing in the morning to go to the Colosseum—and all of a sudden I turned a corner and there it was!! I couldn’t believe that I was actually there, seeing the Colosseum! It was such a bucket list moment for me. If you’re going, definitely buy your tickets in advance to skip the line!

Walking Three Shires Head in the Peak District. We had a fantastic day in the Peak District, where we walked out to Three Shires Head. It’s a beautiful part of the Peaks, and such a unique area. It’s the point where the three counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire all meet. It was a gorgeous hike and definitely somewhere I want to go back to!

A fun event at Castle Howard. I was invited to Castle Howard at the beginning of the month to their Gin and Cheese Tasting event! It was so fun to see the house decorated for Christmas, and we even got a short after-hours tour! I haven’t been to Castle Howard at Christmas since I first moved to the UK, and I love it. I may have had a bit too much gin (and I don’t even like gin), but I really enjoyed the event. It’s still exciting for me to be invited to these events and I love feeling like I’m actually Away With Maja.

Getting blessed by the Pope at the Vatican on Christmas Day! One of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had was seeing the Pope at the Vatican on Christmas Day for Urbi et Orbi, his Christmas blessing. So many people were so overwhelmed and overjoyed to experience it, and it was so meaningful to see it. I’m not religious but it was a truly special experience.

Some really fun Christmas get-togethers. I had my Christmas party this month, and it was so fun to get together with everyone, get dressed up fancy, and have a nice meal all together! Unfortunately it meant that many of us were a bit worse for wear the next day. I also went to our pub with Adam and Lisa for our Christmas meal (before we flew out to Rome), which was excellent! There were lots of really nice times with friends!

Worst Moments

The UK Election. On the 12^th of December, the UK had a general election. Unfortunately, the Conservative party was voted in with an overwhelming majority—meaning their disastrous Brexit will almost certainly happen, they will continue their vicious policy of austerity, and unfortunately the under-funded NHS (National Health Service) could very well be privatized. For me personally, it means that there is an anti-immigrant government in power who hates foreigners, and hates people like me, and I can no longer trust anything they say or any policy they create. (Not that I really did before anyway, but now I don’t literally at all.)

The election for me was another slap in the face as an immigrant in this country. I have loved England for what seems like my whole life, and since moving to study abroad in Nottingham in 2013, I have given so much to this country. I have given it my everything. This election has made me reconsider a lot of my life choices. And has made me realize that perhaps I won’t have a long-term future in the UK after all. I’ll still be here for a few years to get Indefinite Leave to Remain and citizenship. But after lots of discussions with Adam, we don’t necessarily plan on living in the UK after that. This is a direct result of a country that voted overwhelmingly for a political party that has made my life hell here. And I don’t know if I can spend my whole life doing that.

Losing my voice and fighting the flu. I completely lost my voice following the Christmas Party and working non-stop, which wasn’t fun at all. As my job requires that I literally talk all day every day, it was pretty difficult and painful to do without a voice. So many people from my work got sick, and I also thought I was about to come down with the flu like the rest of them right before we left for Rome. Thankfully, I managed to just about escape the plague, but just barely!

Being so incredibly busy at work the past week. My job normally ramps up in January, which is our busiest time of the year. Since coming back from Rome, the last few days I have worked have been my busiest ever at this job. The phone was ringing off the hook, we just didn’t have enough people in, and I constantly felt like I was drowning. I came home from work completely drained and exhausted. Luckily, I should get a pretty nice commission in next month’s paycheck, but it’s been a brutal snap back to reality.

Posts Published

I’ve finally published all of my content up through my trip to the Balkans! Here’s all of the posts I published this month:

Exploring The Peak District On The Pure Outdoor Navigation Course

Hostel Review: Shkodra Backpackers (Mi Casa Es Tu Casa), Shkoder

On Passport Privilege

Exploring The Giant’s Causeway At Sunrise

How Much Does It Cost To Travel The Balkans For 2.5 Weeks?

A Quick Guide To Oulu, Finland

How Much Does It Cost To Travel Northern Ireland For 5 Days?

30 Days Annual Leave, 1 Year: How Exactly I Traveled So Much In 2019 With A Full-Time Job

Instagram Top 3

This month I rounded up some of my favorite experiences of the year, with my Away With Maja’s Countdown to Christmas! Here are three of my most popular photos from the month.

 

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How I feel after getting to spend a whole weekend outside!! 🙌 . Saturday I did a short walk in the North York Moors, and Sunday I did another short hike in the Peak District! This is Three Shires Head, where the counties of Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire meet. Adam is stood in Cheshire to take the photo 📸, I’m standing in Derbyshire, and across the bridge right next to me is Staffordshire! I gotta say I think it’s pretty cool 😍 . Getting outside always makes me feel better and happier. It’s an instant way to improve my mood and help me to take care of myself – I wish I could spend every weekend outside! Going forward I definitely want to try to make it more of a priority in my life 😊 . Do you feel happier when you get outside? Do you prioritize the outdoors?! . . . . . . . #threeshireshead #peakdistrict #peakdistrictnationalpark #visitpeakdistrict #uniquedistrict #peakdistrictphotography #peakdistrictphotographer #peakdistrictwalks #peakdistrictwalksuk #peakscollective #instabritain #visitengland #photosofbritain #photosofengland #lovegreatbritain #explore_Britain #gloriousbritain #thisprettyengland #ukhiddengems #ukhikers #mytinyatlas #dametraveler #girlstraveleurope #womenwhoexplore #womenwhohike #thewomenwhowander #womentravelphotographers #sheisnotlost #girlpowertravel #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Dec 9, 2019 at 10:27am PST

 

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Away With Maja’s Countdown to Christmas 🎄 Day 3: Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland! . . One of my absolute favorite memories of this year was my road trip through Northern Ireland! This is such an incredible part of the UK and I was blown away by how beautiful it was and how much there is to see. While yes, the Giant’s Causeway was of course a huge highlight, so was just driving along the coastline, enjoying the scenery, and jumping out for photos here and there. I loved it so much and if you haven’t planned a trip to the Causeway Coast, you need to! 💚 . . . . . . . . #AWMxmascountdown #magheracross #antrimcoast #causewaycoast #causewaycoastalroute #northernireland #discoverni #northernirelandtourism #niexplorer #visitnorthernireland #purenorthernireland #discovernorthernireland #thisisireland #discoverireland #loveireland #visitireland #tourismireland #best_of_ireland #inspireireland #ukhiddengems #ukpotd #mytinyatlas #wheretofindme #mydarlingescapes #dametraveler #womentravelphotographers #girlpowertravel #beautifuldestinations #passionpassport #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Dec 23, 2019 at 9:11am PST

 

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As this year winds down, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting and looking back at 2019. I’ve done A LOT and it’s been crazy awesome! . This year was the first year of my life that I had one (ONE!) single job, and a limited amount of paid time off – no spur-of-the-moment trips without checking how many holiday days I had. I made a huge effort to plan super far in advance and strategize to maximize every single day I had off work, and I think it worked! 💪 . I have a new blog post out all about how I used my days off work to travel (basically every single day), to show that you CAN still travel a lot with a full-time job, and tips for how you can do the same! Even if you have more limited time off than I do in the UK (I know just 10 days/year is common in the US) I still think you can make the most and incorporate travel into your life ✈️ Link is in my bio and I’d love it if you’d give it a read! 😊 . Here’s to 2020, I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring! 🙌 Do you have any travel plans for 2020 yet?! 🌍 . . . . . . . #rome #piazzadelpopolo #romeitaly #roma #visitrome #wheninrome #romeandyou #ig_rome #thehub_roma #loves_roma #roma_cartoline #vivoroma #volgoroma #yallersroma #topromephoto #perfect_italia #italiainfoto #italia_cartoline #exploring_ita #beautiful_italy #italialike #mytinyatlas #flashesofdelight #theprettycities #dametraveler #womentravelphotographers #girlpowertravel #beautifuldestinations #passionpassport #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Dec 29, 2019 at 9:10am PST

Coming Up In January

January will be crazy for me, as I’ll be insanely busy with work. I only have 4 days off the entire month, as I’ll be working every other weekend day. So any adventures I go on will be short daytrips closeby. Hopefully I’ll get my big yearly recap blog posts published in the next few weeks as well! After a busy few months of travel though, it’ll be nice to settle in and (hopefully!) earn some good commission. Then I’ll be ready for February!

Happy New Year! What was your December like? Any plans for January?!