What a month! This has been one of the busiest travel months for me to date. I started the month on a trip to Northern Ireland, had a week in Finland, and managed to squeeze in a visit from a friend and some daytrips as well. Here’s what all I got up to in November!
Where I Went
Bushmills, Binevenagh, Derry/Londonderry, Belfast, York, Hole of Horcum, Goathland, Whitby, Malton (United Kingdom)
Oulu, Rovaniemi (Finland)
Best Moments
I PASSED MY UK DRIVING TEST!!! I’ve been taking driving lessons for three months now, as my Minnesota driver’s license is no longer valid in the UK. The UK test is so strict and so difficult to pass. Driving has been such a huge struggle for me—it’s been one more way the UK has made me feel good enough. I’ve been driving for 11 years but I’m not good enough to drive in the UK. I’ve spent a lot of money on driving lessons, and spent a lot of time doing lessons. So it was such an amazing feeling to PASS my test! What a relief!
I got a big pay raise! (And my biggest paycheck ever!) I’ve been expecting a big pay raise after the end of my company’s financial year (end of October). It all came through this month, and thanks to a huge commission from October, and a company-wide bonus, I had my biggest paycheck EVER!!! While having money isn’t everything, having a stable income has made my life so much better in the last year and a half. Two years ago, I was juggling two part-time jobs, one of whom I hated so much I had panic attacks going to work every day. So for me, this was huge. And proof that good things take time and hard work.
An amazing trip to Finland and seeing my best friend! I planned my trip to Oulu and Rovaniemi in Finland all around getting to hang out with my friend Kula. I hadn’t seen her since my trip to Zambia in 2016! She’s doing her masters in Finland and I knew I had get over to visit her at some point while she was there. It was so much fun getting to see her and hang out! I had the best time—we went up to Rovaniemi for my first trip to Lapland, and spend the rest of the time hanging out in Oulu. It was a great trip and so much fun.
Crossing the Arctic Circle at Santa Claus Village. When I was planning my trip to Finland, I knew that I wanted to go to Rovaniemi so I could cross the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle is located at Santa Claus Village, outside of the center of Rovaniemi. The entire place is a bit kitschy, but it was so magical in the snow. I sent a postcard from Santa’s Post Office, and even met Santa himself! Crossing the Arctic Circle was so surreal, and such a cool experience. It was a real highlight of November!
One of my best friends visiting York!! One of the best parts of the month was when my friend Andrea came to visit York! She stayed for just under a week, and I had so much fun hanging out with her and showing her my city. I was actually able to get most of the time she was here off work, and it was so good to see her and catch up. Living abroad is a constant stage of missing people, and it meant so much to be able to see some of my friends again.
I had another article published for Thrifty Traveler. I’m writing pretty regularly for Thrifty Traveler now, a site that I love and have been following for ages. I’m so proud to be writing for them, and I’m especially proud of my latest post! I wrote all about Georgia, and why it should be your next destination. This is a huge step forward for me—and get ready for more articles written by me!
I had such a good time in Belfast. Belfast is a really fun place, and a great destination for a city break. I had an awesome time going around and visiting places I went to on my first trip in 2011, and checking out new things as well. I ate some really good food (hello, boxtys!) and went to some really fun pubs. Rarely do I go back to places, so it was really fun to re-visit a destination that I first went to so long ago. It brought back a lot of memories, and I had a great time making new ones!
Worst Moments
Being homesick over Thanksgiving. Of all the holidays, I definitely think Thanksgiving is one of the hardest holidays to be away from home—especially when you live abroad. It’s especially tough since being in the UK, I had to get up and go to work like normal, knowing all my family and friends back home are all together with people they love. Luckily, it’s just a day.
I didn’t see the sun for 14 days. The sun set really early in Finland—it would set at about 3:00pm, and then it wouldn’t be light again until about 9:00am. It was cloudy every single day that I was there, and then it was cloudy for over a week when I got back to the UK! I saw the sun at Helsinki Airport on Friday the 15th of November, and saw it again on Friday morning, the 29th of November. Going that long without sunshine was really difficult for me, and I don’t want to have to do that again!
I struggled visiting some of the murals in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. I’ll be writing about this more in my blog post on Belfast. But it was difficult seeing the murals in Belfast (and Derry/Londonderry too). Partly because the neighborhoods in Belfast felt very unsafe at times (even though I was with Adam). I would not recommend doing this on your own, I’d highly recommend taking either a taxi tour or a walking tour. But also just because it was difficult seeing so much tension and strife, and feeling the weight of the history. The Troubles technically ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, but the politics and the tensions still affect peoples’ everyday lives in Northern Ireland today. It was hard to see and hard to experience.
Posts Published
I had planned on getting on a roll with publishing posts… Then I lost my motivation for writing part-way through the month, and had a lot of different priorities with my free time. Here are the posts that I published this November!
Hiking Catbells In The Lake District
Hostel Review: Tirana Backpacker Hostel, Tirana
A Daytrip From Shkoder To Blini Park And Lake Koman: The Crazies Day In Albania!
Everything You Need To Know About Hiking Arthur’s Seat In Edinburgh
Why You Should Visit Shkoder, Albania
Staying At The Kirkstone Pass Inn In The Lake District
Instagram Top 3
Instagram took likes away this month—the app no longer shows you how many people have liked a photo. I can still see it on my “insights” as I have a business account. But it meant that I felt like there was a lot less pressure and comparison from my end. Which I loved! Here are my most liked photos of the month.
Coming Up In December
Most of December will be pretty quiet. Now that I don’t have driving lessons, it means I have a lot more free time with my time off. I’m planning to buckle down with and get stuff done with the blog. I’ve got a lot of content I want to get out before the end of the year! I’m hoping to get out for a good hike or two. And then I’m off to Rome for a week over Christmas! I’ve never been to Rome before and I can’t wait—the only place I’ve been in Italy is Venice. I’m really excited to finish off the month with a trip like this!
What did you get up to in November? Any fun plans for December and Christmas time?!
Incredible blog, I just loved reading it, what a wonderful journey you have had in November I wish, I too can cherish this amazing journey anytime soon, this journey that you shared is so awesome that I wish I just back my bags and on this adventure all alone.
Thanks so much for reading! 🙂
[…] 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 […]