So here I am, back from my little break of just under a month. Life has been pretty hectic the past month and it's frustrating as I was just getting in to the swing of blogging - however, it's just another challenge to overcome. This post is going to be a lot more conversational, and not so travel focused, kind of like Melinda Stevens' editors letters at the beginning of each Condé Nast Traveller (although I'm not that great).
So what's happened over the last month?
Well I headed back to Sardinia with my boyfriend, Napo, for his birthday and as a celebration for completing his Masters degree dissertation. Experiencing Villasimius in the high-season, as you probably guessed from my silence, isn't so great. In summary, the sea was dirty, the beaches a horrendous sea of scantily clad humans in varying tones of toasting melanin and it was far too hot both day and night. However, the people were incredible, as always, the food to die for and the lifestyle was gloriously lazy!
I caught up with friends and family, motoring back and forth from Essex and London, as I've missed everyone far too much and seen them far too little. We were blessed with beautiful weather, great food from all my favourite spots across both places and 'time' which most of us haven't had in a while and life has a habit of getting in the way.
Lastly, as of today I am sitting in a Milanese Suburb, in Italy, having achieved another dream to add my rapidly expanding collection of dreams come true. I am an expat, since 16 years old I have been planning an escape from Britain, the best way to do it, when to get away and how to perfectly execute said plan. Napo and I have made this a reality by moving to his birth-city of Milan. Primarily to work, but also to immerse myself in another culture, achieve fluency in another language; change my pace of life, my lifestyle and keep catching up with more dreams. It's been a long time coming, and has been cemented in my mind after spending two summers living abroad and falling in love with both Egypt and Greece, in two very different ways. Yet, it's not a choice to be taken lightly; moving out to the country is the upwards climb (the easy bit) and living, adjusting, assimilating and enjoying the moments is the descent (the hard bit). Having moved 3 times and counting in the last 6 months, upheaval is a constant but the exhilaration of being one step closer to the ultimate goal makes it all worth it.
Despite all this excitement and the current state of calm, which I know is somewhat deceptive, I also wrote this to tell those who read - whether friends, family or those I don't know - that since moving to the other side of a continent takes time and hard work, my blog posts will be a smattering of sporadic posts over the coming months (that hopefully will regain some consistency). So don't lose the love/intrigue that makes you read them and keep your eye out for those few, and far between, posts and hopefully you'll hear from me soon!
Thanks for reading, always!
Anouska x