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So on my "nerd" blog, for want of a better name, I decided to combine a haul with a favourites post about a recent YouTube convention I went to called Summer in the City. Whilst I was writing it, my mind expanded and I started thinking about how I could commandeer that post idea and adapt it for this blog. Eventually I worked it out so below there be my top 5 travel favourites of August 2015! Enjoy.
1) Country
This holiday I went to Italy for 2 1/2 weeks, visiting both the Amalfi and Abruzzan coasts! I go to Italy annually because my family owns a house on the East coast but this year we spent the first 5 days of our trip in Sorrento, exploring the local tourist attractions such as Pompeii and the aisle of Capri (these will be talked about more in my Travel Italy series - coming soon). This was a great new experience that allowed us to further explore a country that we as a family love.
This holiday I went to Italy for 2 1/2 weeks, visiting both the Amalfi and Abruzzan coasts! I go to Italy annually because my family owns a house on the East coast but this year we spent the first 5 days of our trip in Sorrento, exploring the local tourist attractions such as Pompeii and the aisle of Capri (these will be talked about more in my Travel Italy series - coming soon). This was a great new experience that allowed us to further explore a country that we as a family love.
2) Reading material
I have three for this particular subject: the first being a book that all of us read on our kindles whilst abroad called 'The girl on the train'. I've only recently got into murder mystery/thriller types of books but seeing as I guessed the murderer in the first few chapters (#almostnotquitespoiler) I think that my brain enjoys the challenge not just in the literary sense but also logically.
The second is a bit different because it is a magazine! Now I've never really been a constant magazine reader who gets every issue and reads thoroughly from cover to cover but that changed on the plane journey. Before we'd left I'd persuaded my dad to buy me an edition of the Lonely planet traveller which I'd spied in Tescos. He'd complained at first, insisting that it would be a waste of money because I'd never read it but eventually he caved. Part of me thought that my Dad might be right and I wouldn't ever get the time to read it so to prove him wrong I decided to use it as calming material during take off (having not yet found my holiday book) and that's the moment I got hooked! All the stories are so interesting and the photography absolutely inspiring. When I got back from holiday I purchased the next copy and it was just as good as the first. Now all I have to do is work on getting my parents to pay for a monthly subscription so I don't have to trek to Tesco every time.
The third is another book, yet this is of the horror genre by world-famous author Stephen King. Under the dome is good simply because of the scale of characters contrasted with the short time span the actual story takes up. King completely enveloped me into his story, engrossing me with the characters and their well-being. In over 800 pages he manages to tell a tale of 5 traumatic days where the population of a small American town decreases drastically from more than 2000 to as little as 25. I usually don't read horror however this particular literary masterpiece has changed my view on the genre and hopefully I will explore more of King's work (blogging whilst I go on Obsessions, Review and OTPs - link below) in the near future.
I have three for this particular subject: the first being a book that all of us read on our kindles whilst abroad called 'The girl on the train'. I've only recently got into murder mystery/thriller types of books but seeing as I guessed the murderer in the first few chapters (#almostnotquitespoiler) I think that my brain enjoys the challenge not just in the literary sense but also logically.
The second is a bit different because it is a magazine! Now I've never really been a constant magazine reader who gets every issue and reads thoroughly from cover to cover but that changed on the plane journey. Before we'd left I'd persuaded my dad to buy me an edition of the Lonely planet traveller which I'd spied in Tescos. He'd complained at first, insisting that it would be a waste of money because I'd never read it but eventually he caved. Part of me thought that my Dad might be right and I wouldn't ever get the time to read it so to prove him wrong I decided to use it as calming material during take off (having not yet found my holiday book) and that's the moment I got hooked! All the stories are so interesting and the photography absolutely inspiring. When I got back from holiday I purchased the next copy and it was just as good as the first. Now all I have to do is work on getting my parents to pay for a monthly subscription so I don't have to trek to Tesco every time.
The third is another book, yet this is of the horror genre by world-famous author Stephen King. Under the dome is good simply because of the scale of characters contrasted with the short time span the actual story takes up. King completely enveloped me into his story, engrossing me with the characters and their well-being. In over 800 pages he manages to tell a tale of 5 traumatic days where the population of a small American town decreases drastically from more than 2000 to as little as 25. I usually don't read horror however this particular literary masterpiece has changed my view on the genre and hopefully I will explore more of King's work (blogging whilst I go on Obsessions, Review and OTPs - link below) in the near future.
3) Place to relax
Pretentious moment coming up - I love to read my kindle in a deckchair on the roof terrace of my Italian country house… That sounds so much better than it is I promise you! I mean I do love it and it is so cool that we have the house but it isn't a glamourous villa or anything amazingly fancy. In fact it's kind of a tip but it's liveable in and who cares about the state of the accommodation when you're only an half an hour drive from the picturesque Adriatic coast (which I actually prefer over Amalfi surprisingly). Most of my down time during this particular holiday involved reading/sunbathing of some kind whether it be on the roof terrace or at the beach although the best moment was waking up early and watching the sun rise over the distant ocean - a view only possible from that high vantage point!
Pretentious moment coming up - I love to read my kindle in a deckchair on the roof terrace of my Italian country house… That sounds so much better than it is I promise you! I mean I do love it and it is so cool that we have the house but it isn't a glamourous villa or anything amazingly fancy. In fact it's kind of a tip but it's liveable in and who cares about the state of the accommodation when you're only an half an hour drive from the picturesque Adriatic coast (which I actually prefer over Amalfi surprisingly). Most of my down time during this particular holiday involved reading/sunbathing of some kind whether it be on the roof terrace or at the beach although the best moment was waking up early and watching the sun rise over the distant ocean - a view only possible from that high vantage point!
4) Purchase
Slightly unorthodox for me personally as a holiday buy, my favourite purchase is in fact an article of clothing. Usually I hate shopping! I can't deal with keeping up with fashions and to be honest, if my friends are going to judge me because I'd rather wear jogging bottoms and flip flops round the house than a unsuitably short mini skirt and 12 inch stiletto heels then screw them and their so called friendship because to put it shortly… I simply can't be bothered. Anyway, the actual item in question is a beautiful black and white striped, strapless jumpsuit with baggy pockets and cling ankle legs. I think it would look so cool at a house party and I think its a year round wear due to it being strapless yet long legged and sleeved. Hopefully I will wear it soon and put up a picture on one of my blogs.
Slightly unorthodox for me personally as a holiday buy, my favourite purchase is in fact an article of clothing. Usually I hate shopping! I can't deal with keeping up with fashions and to be honest, if my friends are going to judge me because I'd rather wear jogging bottoms and flip flops round the house than a unsuitably short mini skirt and 12 inch stiletto heels then screw them and their so called friendship because to put it shortly… I simply can't be bothered. Anyway, the actual item in question is a beautiful black and white striped, strapless jumpsuit with baggy pockets and cling ankle legs. I think it would look so cool at a house party and I think its a year round wear due to it being strapless yet long legged and sleeved. Hopefully I will wear it soon and put up a picture on one of my blogs.
5) Photo opportunity
Here are my five top photos I took on this trip and a little explanation for each one:
Thank you all for bearing with me and all my half posts teasing proper reading material; hopefully this monster of an entry makes up for at least a small part of that. Similar entry was posted to reasonswhyiamanerd.blogspot.co.uk if you'd like to check that out.
If you would like to see more of my Italian photography look out for the beginning of my Travel Italy series coming in October/November time and make sure to like my page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jemmagoldtravels/ or just search Journey with Jemma. Also head over to instagram or twitter to get more updates on new blog posts and other exciting things!!!
See you soon, Jem xx
Here are my five top photos I took on this trip and a little explanation for each one:
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| Taken whilst looking over a roof balcony situated in the grounds of the Sorrento museum! |
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| Taken in the ruins of Pompeii. It was an impulse shot that I took to contrast the pink of the blossoms with the ancient styled masonry. |
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| Taken whilst walking to dinner from our hotel just outside Sorrento centre. I absolutely love taking pictures of Sunsets and the shadowy effects they correct. |
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| Taken whilst looking over the coastal road from Sorrento's main plaza. There were stairs going down the cliff face that led onto this road. |
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| Taken whilst waiting for our train back to Sorrento from Pompeii. This train was going in the opposite direction towards Napoli (Naples) and I thought that the shot would perfectly capture the abstract nature of Italian street culture. |
Thank you all for bearing with me and all my half posts teasing proper reading material; hopefully this monster of an entry makes up for at least a small part of that. Similar entry was posted to reasonswhyiamanerd.blogspot.co.uk if you'd like to check that out.
If you would like to see more of my Italian photography look out for the beginning of my Travel Italy series coming in October/November time and make sure to like my page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jemmagoldtravels/ or just search Journey with Jemma. Also head over to instagram or twitter to get more updates on new blog posts and other exciting things!!!
See you soon, Jem xx
