It's been a six months since I started documenting my life in the US. I love sharing all of the new things I learn about living here. A lot of it is seen through my monthly vlogs and my Instagram stories. Although living across the Atlantic comes with all its opportunities there are also drawbacks.
Every year I grow and charting my progress has made me realise just how much I do grow. I chart my progress by journaling my life events and how I am feeling about them at the time. At the end of the year I look back at my year and on those entries and read in bewilderment at just how much I have grown. I also did this by starting a document called Problems in My Head where I wrote down my current worries I did not know how to fix. Writing them down helped as a kind of therapy. Instead of instantly trying everything to fix them like a pinball machine and stressing myself out I allowed for these 'problems' to pass.
#1: Don't make permanent decisions on temporary emotions
Even if you don't act on the permanent decisions you'll end up saying it to someone else and that can make you look unsure or make you miss out on opportunities.#2: Live more intentionally
I want to live even more intentionally. I want to focus on one thing at a time and give myself to it wholly. Even the smaller things we consider meaningless like eating lunch. I don't want to be scrolling through my emails over breakfast. I want to eat mindfully.#3: Trust the process
Stop trying to make things happen all the time. trust the process. A lot of obstacles have come in the way of my goals but I learnt that these were just detours leading me to a better direction. A direction I had never foreseen but one that will ultimately bring me closer to my goals. Nothing good ever came from being rushed.#4: Pain demands to be felt
To not try to escape everything and know that this too shall pass. This goes well with trusting the process. Sometimes we have to go through the pain.#5: Let it go
I want to let things go more easily. I hold onto my dreams too tightly and when something does not go according to plan all hell breaks loose in my head. There is no such things as a dream life and I want to stop striving for perfection.
Before my long distant relationship with my now American husband I hadn't been that very well travelled. When I booked my first trip to the US I searched up every single 'what I'm packing video'.
Living between two countries has not been easy. I found myself having to leave behind a favourite jumper or forgetting I own something and repurchasing it. I have made it work by having a pre-written packing list template on my trello. I have put together a list of essentials I must carry with me between the UK and US as well as on holidays.
Travel pillow
I particularly love the inflatable ones because they hold up strongly and can be packed away really easily.Double wall insulated water bottle
This keeps my cold water cold. I usually fill up halfway before a flight and drink the water by the time I get to security.Backpack
Backpacks are great to travel with because it means you'll be handsfree. My favourite is the Fjallraven Kanken backpacks. They open up completely, fit so much in them and are ergonomic for people with back pain.All in one place purse
I call this my all in one place purse because I don't to be unnecessarily carrying my Tesco clubcard with out in Sub-Saharan Africa. Keeping a separate purse for foreign money and a couple of debit cards means you're not rifling though different currencies and different cards.
Monzo card
Monzo is a debit card linked to an app. You can use this card anywhere in the world for free. They don't add fees to the exchange rate. It's always best to check the exchange rate because they do make money from this if not from charging a fee. Always compare the rates with your usual bank. You can get £10 when you join Monzo using this link.Socks
I used to carry fluffy socks but they took up so much space in my backpack. I now carry thin thermal socks that keep my feet warm on the cold plane.Jumper
I always need an extra jumper because it gets so cold in the plane.Scarf as blanket
Despite the weather I always carry a thick scarf that doubles up as a blanket. Unless you're on a night flight the airline won't provide blankets.Earphones
I always carry my earphones to watch a pre-downloaded show on my phone. I love the dramas on BBC iPlayer, I'm currently watching Trust https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p06g885w on BBC 2. I can't access BBC shows in the US so I always download as much as I can to watch offline when I'm there. Perks of living between two counties.
Snacks
I recently learnt that you can bring food from outside the airport all the way through security and onto the plane. This helps save money on expensive airport prices and exchange rates. If you have a particularly long journey with a layover it's important to bring snacks with you.Kindle
I have rekindled my love with my e-reader. I love it. Now that I am living such a nomadic life I can't be lugging books across the Atlantic every time. I do have a book shelf in both my home filled with my favourite physical books but having an e-reader means I have instant access to the books I miss.ab4128b60b475685de1ad0f9c0c2376efef622287119395675


The first time we visited NYC we drove from Northern Virginia. It was a four hour ride with multiple stops. I love a good road trip but we felt we weren't able to fully experience NYC because driving around meant we didn't need to use the subway. Now if you're a Londoner, or have lived in London like me you probably wouldn't think of the subway as an experience in itself but it is much different to London's underground. For one, it is air conditioned and so much simpler than London's complicated tube system which after six months of living there I have only just got used to.
New York epitomises everything for us as a couple. It was the first place we visited together and it seemed fitting that we go for our anniversary. We're both so in love with New York we're planning our next visit. There's so much to see and do that you can't do in two visits.
Should I stay in Time Square?
As we booked last minute you can imagine hotels were expensive. They went up to the $400's per night. We stayed at DoubleTree by Hilton. Hilton is a company we are quite loyal to and you'll probably see us staying in their hotels in future trips. We love the modern feel and they do rightly label themselves as a luxury hotel.
We had the room with a view on the 134th floor and I'd always hear my ears popping every time the lift went up. The hotel had complimentary warm cookies and ice which we absolutely loved. There's a miscrowave in the lobby, perfect for when you've ordered in a massive pizza the night before and want to enjoy the next day. I loved our cosy, dark and broody room, very NYC in style.
Day One - Our Hotel, NY Sea Port and the Financial District
We were at walking distance to the sea port. On the first day we got a taxi from Port Authority station to our hotel. Which, if we meticulously planned out, we could have taken the subway to a station right outside our hotel. We unpacked our stuff, showered and took a breezy walk to the sea port. Since this trip was in the summer the evening air was the perfect temperature. On the way back we grabbed some street foot marvelling at the sky high buildings where financial professionals would be rushing through the swinging doors of to get to work on Monday mornings.
Day Two - Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, World Trade Centre and the Empire State Building
We loved the sea port so much we bought breakfast from Dunkin Donuts and had it outside at the sea port. We had plans to go to Central Park that day but we fell for an offer to get on a Yacht for a tour of major parts of the city including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, World Trade Centre and the Empire State Building.We then got back to our hotel for lunch and a refresh. I switched my sandals up for trainers for a scroll through Central Park. For this we took the subway. We learnt that in New York cash was king. The man at the information desk at the station would only accept cash. Central park is truly something. It is so vast with so much to explore.
Joe's Pizza and Times Square
On the way back, we walked through Times Square to get to Joe's Pizza. It's one of the most recommended pizza places in New York and it was on my list. We got the cheese and tomato pizza and brought it back to the hotel with us. I don't know what it is about pizza in bed after a shower but it's my favourite thing to do on trips.Day Three - Manhattan

There is so much on the internet about Instagram being damaging to our self esteem. I just feel that social media gets a bad rap. If you think about it Instagram is simply a tool. As with every other tool, you decide how you want to use it. This tool we call social media can either be used to cause damage by actively choosing to consume negative content or to feel inspired and positive.
This post was inspired by a few requests from viewers to share the Instagram accounts that inspire me. Instagram has not only been an aesthetic inspiration for me or an outlet to share my artistic side. On a deeper level, a lot of the people I follow have influenced the way I choose to live. I love travel photos, captions with the longest life update and outfit posts and here are my favourites. Click their image to be directed to their Instagram page.
Raya Was Here
Raya's been travelling for three years now, and although she's decided to settle in sunny LA her stunning travel pictures haven't stopped. I love her thoughts on the world and her perspective of each country she visits.
Think Grow Prosper
Up there as one of my all time favourite motivational Instagram accounts, Ruben Chavez who runs the account, also has a podcast called The Think Grow Podcast which covers his thoughts and ideas about personal growth and improving yourself to be the best version of yourself. I loved it so much I listened to every single episode in five days. I often find myself saving and revisiting some of the thought provoking quotes he shares on Instagram.
Amelia Liana
I discovered Amelia through her beauty videos on YouTube but her instagram takes it to a whole new level with her beautiful travel pictures. She takes pictures in the style that I love taking my own travel pictures which is why I look to her photos as a source of inspiration.
By Mari Andrew
Mari (rhymes with Starry) is a self-started artist. She lives in NYC and shares art through words and illustrations that seem to perfectly depict feelings you never knew could be understood by someone else.
Amanda Oleander
Amanda is another one of my favourite artists on Instagram. She did a 100 days of drawing challenge where she shared her illustrations for a 100 days and asked her followers to guess what the intended meaning of the illustration was. Everyone always came up with different responses. If you love knowing the meaning being artwork you'll love Amanda's illustrations.
Not So Mumsy
I follow a lot of mummy bloggers on Instagram and YouTube and I love Marcia's candid chats about being a mother of two and running a business. She also shed's light to some very important causes making a difference with her following. I love her adorable pictures with her little daughter Poppy whose inspired my head wrap obsession.
There are a few other accounts that inspire me which I have gone on to talk about in one of my YouTube videos. You can watch this here.
I like to do a quarterly review on where I am in life and since we are in the last chapter I want to share some of the things I will be doing to ensure an even better 2019. The photos shown were taken from a trip to the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park which overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Going away just before the year is over not only allows me to recharge but it helps me assimilate all that has been and done. I find that at the end of every year, despite what has gone on, it has always been better than the last and I have always come out a more wiser and emotionally stronger person afterwards. Setting clear actionable goals are what have made every year that has passed the best one.
It is not 'despite' but rather 'because of' the hard times that I am able to be so in love with life. I love life, I love living in it, breathing it and waking up to another precious day. The thing about living through rough times is that once you have hit rock bottom the only way is up. There's no more going down. That to me is the hope and the reason to carry on. Read this when you feel that your year isn't going your way.
1 Reflect on the year so far
I chose not to share my 2018 goals and resolutions online as I have done every other year. Although I like to document my personal growth I love the idea of keeping my big goals to myself. I will be asking myself what goals I accomplished this year. What happened this year? Where am I headed?
2 Look at your finances
I do a financial audit every quarter but only take action on it such as changing my bank account, closing certain accounts or deciding to cut costs in my last quarter.
3 What didn't go well and why?
This isn't in response to whether you completed your new years resolutions but rather what you did this year but didn't go well, maybe it was your conduct, the way you handled certain situations that came your way, a decision you made that you regret. You can then work to improve the way you handle it the second time round and also gain closure and move on from that. Asking yourself this question helps you grow. You start to understand what is important to you and par down on what isn't.
4 Forgive yourself
The most important one. There's a little mantra I like to repeat, particularly when negative thoughts creep in, when I have been emotionally driven or when I simply need to re-steer myself: 'I recognise that I have chosen wrongly, I forgive this thought, and I choose again. I choose love.' I learnt this mantra from Gabrielle Bernstein's book The Universe Has Your Back.
5 Make new goals
This is the time to get excited. The prospect of a new year is a mixture of both an exciting and daunting time. Despite what has happened in the past year, it is important to turn a new leaf and make a fresh start. Remember that you are never too old to begin again.
6 Have a clear out
Most people have a spring clean in spring but I feel that there's no better time than now to have a good old clear out of your things. This is the time of year that I find most useful to do it.
I usually write a list first of the different areas of my home I either need to improve or categories of items I want to focus on purging. This includes clearing window sills, repairing blinds or donating books especially because these things get lost in the noise of living life.
7 Write a gratitude list
What are you grateful for in your life thus far? Maybe there are newer things to add to this list than there were last year.
8 Appreciate how far you've come in life
Ask yourself 'where was I in life this time last year?' or 'what was I doing this time last year' and you will surprise yourself.
9 Take care of your health
Do you need to book an opticians appointment, get your annual blood test?