January has been a bit of a whirlwind, but not exactly in the best way. This month is the busiest time of year for me with work, and I’ve only had 4 days off the entire month of January. So this recap will be pretty short, since I honestly didn’t have much time for anything this month! Here’s what I managed to get up to in January when I wasn’t stuck in an office.

Where I’ve Been

York, Pateley Bridge, Coldstone Cut, Hole of Horcum (United Kingdom)

Best Moments

I drove to the Hole of Horcum BY MYSELF!!! If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve really struggled with driving on the wrong side of the road. I finally committed to taking driving lessons last year and passed my driving test at the end of November. This January I went out for a hike and I drove for just about an hour to the Hole of Horcum BY MYSELF! I am so proud of myself and it was such a huge accomplishment for me.

Fun explorations around Yorkshire. Since I’ve had only 4 days off this month, I haven’t really been able to do much. But I had a lot of fun on a daytrip to Pateley Bridge, which is such a charming little town. We also stopped by Coldstone Cut, a huge art piece built into a quarry. And of course, I loved doing the Hole of Horcum walk—even better since it was a gorgeous sunny day!

Lots of good food. While I haven’t had time to do much outside of York, I’ve treated myself to a few meals out this month which was a really nice treat. I had brunch at the Pig and Pastry, one of my favorite cafes in York. I indulged in pies at my local pub when Adam’s brother and his girlfriend came to town. As part of York Resident’s Festival, I got a discount at Fancy Hanks—the mac and cheese was incredible! I also got to check out the new location for Barbakan (now the Blue Barbakan), one of my favorite restaurants in York.

A free round at my local pub! One of the best moments of January was after I updated and re-published my big guide to the best bars and pubs in York. Of course, my local pub the Rose and Crown is in the post. Adam and I went for a quick pint that evening after I had shared the post on Facebook. The manager, Jonny, gave us a free round on the house “for your review” !!!! It was the sweetest thing ever, and I was so touched that my work mattered to them so much that they wanted to thank me. This is why my local is the best around!

Worst Moments

SO. MUCH. WORK. I’ve been so mentally drained and completely exhausted this month as I’ve worked almost every single day, with only 4 days off all month. How I did this last year after Adam’s car crash when I spent all my days off taking care of him and getting him to and from various hospitals is beyond me. Because this month has absolutely killed me. I know that working so many days this month meant that I got a week off in November when I went to Finland, which was amazing. But it has been so incredibly stressful. I’m beat. The next time I have two days off in a row will be the weekend of 8-9 February. The last time I had two days off in a row was 26-27 December when I was in Rome. I am READY for a weekend.

A long time between paydays. Most companies in the UK pay monthly, so you get just one paycheck every month. For some reason, most companies also decide to pay people early in December, “to be nice,” so that people have money to spend over Christmas. Pretty much everyone hates this, as it means that you have to go even longer in-between paychecks, yet for some reason Brits seem to accept this and normalize this even though all they do is complain about it?!?!? I got paid on 21 December, and then didn’t get paid again until 31 January, so I had to go 40 days without a paycheck. And I worked nearly every single one of those days!!! I’m (thankfully) pretty good at budgeting, but this was pretty stressful even for me. It was a huge relief finally getting a paycheck come through.

Posts Published

This month I posted some of my most popular posts of the year: my yearly recap posts! I also shared a lot of my Rome content, and finished up most of my posts from my Northern Ireland trip. Here are the posts I published in January:

My Top Travel Experiences Of 2019

My Worst Travel Moments Of 2019

The Best Places I Visited In 2019

Hostel Review: Blue Hostel, Rome

Interview: Hiking The Appalachian And Pacific Crest Trails

A 3-Day Itinerary For The Causeway Coast In Northern Ireland

How Much Does It Cost To Travel Finland For 1 Week?

20 Photos To Capture The Magic Of Rome, The Eternal City

A City Guide To Belfast: What To Do, See, Eat, And Drink!

Instagram Top 3

To be completely honest, I’ve barely had any time to share on Instagram this month. I do genuinely enjoy posting sometimes, but with so much work and so little free time it just hasn’t been a priority. Here are my most popular photos from January!

 

 

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Hi everyone! 👋 Thought it was time to introduce myself again as there are some new people around. I’m originally from Minneapolis 🇺🇸 and have been living in York 🇬🇧 for the last 3ish years! Here are five fun facts about me: . 1) I run my own travel blog! Away With Maja is basically my baby and I’ve been blogging for almost 4 years! ✍️ My goal is to eventually be able to go full-time with it (just lots and lots of work before I get there 😅💪). Eastern Europe is my favorite region in the world but I still write about my other travels and about various places in the UK! . 2) I was invited to the VIP opening party of the Taco Bell in York two years ago and tbh it might have been the peak of my existence 🌯🌮 . 3) I once got so annoyed at my old job about people not cleaning the espresso machine right at night and flooding the cafe that I made a meme about it, printed it out, and put it up in the office 🙃 . 4) My favorite gif is the one where Snoop Dogg is dancing and toasting with champagne and I try to use it whenever possible 😇 . 5) I used to own 11 copies of the first Harry Potter book. I would buy them at thrift stores, garage sales, different countries etc. I didn’t realize how many I had accrued until I moved a couple years ago and saw how many I had! 📚⚡ . Tell me one fun fact about yourself!! 😊 . . . . . . . #rome #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 #dametraveler #womenwhoexplore #sheisnotlost #wearetravelgirls #womentravelphotographers #thewomenwhowander #girlstraveleurope #girlpowertravel #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Jan 19, 2020 at 10:57am PST

 

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I always love sharing my top travel experiences of the year! But it’s important to remember that, like life, travel isn’t always perfect. It’s not necessarily just the highlight reel and sometimes things do go wrong. . I try to keep it real and so in my latest blog post I’m sharing my WORST travel moments of 2019! Including my first encounter with bed bugs, cancelled trips after my husband’s car crash, and a bus ride to Albania that I wasn’t sure I’d survive in one piece 😂 . . It’s okay to laugh and share these now, I made it through the worst of it 🙈 and Adam’s recovery has been really good so far! (This was the main serious one in the post.) . This is always one of my most popular posts of the year, y’all seem to love reading about the fuck-ups 😂 travel isn’t necessarily as glamorous in real life as it may look online! Link is in my bio so go give it a read! ✍️💻 . What were your worst travel moments of the year?!? Please share so we can commiserate together 😅❤️ . . . . . . . #neistpoint #isleofskye #visitisleofskye #scotland #visitscotland #loves_scotland #scotspirit #scotlandsbeauty #scotland_greatshots #scotlandisnow #hiddenscotland #thisisscotland #scotlandexplore #scottishcollective #igersscotland #instabritain #photosofbritain #lovegreatbritain #explore_britain #gloriousbritain #ukhiddengems #mytinyatlas #flashesofdelight #wheretofindme #dametraveler #womentravelphotographers #girlpowertravel #passionpassport #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:12am PST

 

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2019 had a lot of ups and downs but it was a huge year for me! ✨ . . I traveled to 14 different countries, 4 of which were new to me. 🌍 . I flew on 15 total flights. ✈️ . I achieved one of my huge goals, which was visiting every country in Eastern Europe! 🙌 . For the first time I also visited all 4 countries that make up the UK in one single year: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland! 🇬🇧 . And I did it all while having one (one!!!!) full-time job! 💪 . I went to so many amazing places and had so many incredible experiences. I’ve got a new blog post out today, the first of my yearly recap posts: all about my top travel experiences of 2019! From helicopter flights over the Rockies to gorgeous daytrips in Albania, it’s all on the blog! Link is in my bio and I’d love for you to check it out! ✍️💻 . What were your favorite travel experiences of 2019?! 😊 . . . . . . . #skopje #skopjecity #visitskopje #travelskopje #skopjeinfo #ig_skopje #macedonia #northmacedonia #ig_macedonia #discovernorthmacedonia #macedonianplaces #exploremacedonia #thebestofmacedonia #mymacedonia #mysticmacedonia #sharemacedonia #macedoniatimeless #balkanstrip #discoverbalkania #mytinyatlas #flashesofdelight #dametraveler #sheisnotlost #womentravelphotographers #thewomenwhowander #girlstraveleurope #girlpowertravel #beautifuldestinations #passionpassport #guardiantravelsnaps

A post shared by Maja Proescholdt (@awaywithmaja) on Jan 5, 2020 at 11:01am PST

Coming Up In February

After such an insane January with work, I’m looking forward to going back to a normal work schedule and actually having days off. One of my best friends from Canada is coming to visit for the weekend, and I can’t wait to see him! I haven’t seen him since June 2018 so we’re well overdue for a reunion. I also have plans to see a few of my other friends this month, which I can’t wait for! Hopefully I’ll also get out on some daytrips and short adventures on the rest of my days off!

What was your January like? Any exciting plans coming up for February?