Affiliate links are marked with [*] and gifted items marked with [gifted].What. A. Month. August is mostly put aside for travel and this year, I spent just shy of 4 weeks away on holiday in Portugal with my family which was so lovely! In previous years I've let the fear and worry of work take over and I was at a point where I became quite scared of being away from home because I worried that my content would plummet as a result. This year I decided to just let it go - which is easier said than done admittedly - and I couldn't be more pleased with how the month went.
Summer in Portugal
4 weeks in Portugal went by in the blink of an eye! I've been spending my summers in Portugal for as long as I can remember and I realise just how lucky I am to be able to continue doing this as I grow older. This year I travelled with my boyfriend, whose family is also Portuguese, and we spent our summer split between both our families (luckily both our families are from northern Portugal) and we managed to spend a few days in Porto too!
Despite a slightly cooler summer than usual, we had a few rainy days and a thunderstorm towards the end of the month, it was one of my favourite summers to date. As I grow older, I'm really enjoying my time in Portugal so much more. I think it comes with the freedom of being able to do more and explore the country. I'm so used to spending my summer in northern Portugal but one thing I really want to do is explore more places. I loved the few days we spent exploring Porto and I can't wait to discover more of what Portugal has to offer.
I have a few blog posts I want to put together and photos to share of my summer but I don't have a lot of content planned. Like I said, I really tried to take the time to chill and take a step back from everything work-wise. Honestly, the way I'm feeling now is the complete opposite to how I was feeling this time last year, which just goes to show how much things can change.
4 weeks in Portugal went by in the blink of an eye! I've been spending my summers in Portugal for as long as I can remember and I realise just how lucky I am to be able to continue doing this as I grow older. This year I travelled with my boyfriend, whose family is also Portuguese, and we spent our summer split between both our families (luckily both our families are from northern Portugal) and we managed to spend a few days in Porto too!
Despite a slightly cooler summer than usual, we had a few rainy days and a thunderstorm towards the end of the month, it was one of my favourite summers to date. As I grow older, I'm really enjoying my time in Portugal so much more. I think it comes with the freedom of being able to do more and explore the country. I'm so used to spending my summer in northern Portugal but one thing I really want to do is explore more places. I loved the few days we spent exploring Porto and I can't wait to discover more of what Portugal has to offer.
I have a few blog posts I want to put together and photos to share of my summer but I don't have a lot of content planned. Like I said, I really tried to take the time to chill and take a step back from everything work-wise. Honestly, the way I'm feeling now is the complete opposite to how I was feeling this time last year, which just goes to show how much things can change.
Books
Last month I chatted about the books I planned on reading whilst on holiday, read my blog post: July 2019, but I didn't manage to read all 5 books I packed away with me. I fell in love with reading last summer and despite wanting to read more this summer, I found myself too busy at times. I finished 3/5 books on my trip and I'm currently on the fourth one now.
I thoroughly enjoyed Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler and The Lido by Libby Page, I got through both of these fairly quickly. However, the book I was probably most excited for was The Secret Barrister and I really struggled with it. It was just such a heavy read. I expected it to be somewhat similar to The Prison Doctor and This Is Going To Hurt (two memoirs I absolutely loved reading) but it was far more intense and so I really struggled to get through it.
Content
Of course I have to chat a little bit about content too. I've thought about removing this from my monthly roundups because it may not be the most appealing to read but I find it quite therapeutic to write about to be honest so I'm keeping it in!
Despite a fall in the level of content I produced this summer, I noticed a pleasant change on Instagram (the only platform I actually updated whilst I was away). Coming back from Portugal last year, my content was doing really poorly and I had ended the month with an overall loss in followers. A year later and things couldn't be more different. I gained a heap of new followers, my photos all performed really well and one of them became my most liked photo ever, with over 10,000 likes.
After a lovely summer, it's been hard to get a routine going again but I'm slowly getting there...
Last month I chatted about the books I planned on reading whilst on holiday, read my blog post: July 2019, but I didn't manage to read all 5 books I packed away with me. I fell in love with reading last summer and despite wanting to read more this summer, I found myself too busy at times. I finished 3/5 books on my trip and I'm currently on the fourth one now.
I thoroughly enjoyed Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler and The Lido by Libby Page, I got through both of these fairly quickly. However, the book I was probably most excited for was The Secret Barrister and I really struggled with it. It was just such a heavy read. I expected it to be somewhat similar to The Prison Doctor and This Is Going To Hurt (two memoirs I absolutely loved reading) but it was far more intense and so I really struggled to get through it.
Content
Of course I have to chat a little bit about content too. I've thought about removing this from my monthly roundups because it may not be the most appealing to read but I find it quite therapeutic to write about to be honest so I'm keeping it in!
Despite a fall in the level of content I produced this summer, I noticed a pleasant change on Instagram (the only platform I actually updated whilst I was away). Coming back from Portugal last year, my content was doing really poorly and I had ended the month with an overall loss in followers. A year later and things couldn't be more different. I gained a heap of new followers, my photos all performed really well and one of them became my most liked photo ever, with over 10,000 likes.
After a lovely summer, it's been hard to get a routine going again but I'm slowly getting there...
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