Yup. We have moved back with the dogs and all. I’m pleased to announce we are thriving. Thankfully having relocated internationally before we’re becoming PRO’s at this now. Honestly found it a lot less stressful this time around. Don’t get me wrong the last three months have been *busy* but not terrifying.
The hardest and most stressful part was definitely sending the dogs. Popping your precious babies on a 9 hours flight without you is very scary. Tears were shed. They managed absolutely fine and have settled in brilliantly. The company we used really exceeded expectations which was absolutely lovely.
We managed to sort a house out fairly easily on our last visit here and now just setting up a new business to run along side our current one. Fun fun fun.
How scary is it making friends as an adult? I think it might be the hardest thing we have to do. After a certain point in our lives, we’ve all had horrid experiences with people, bad friends, who have let us down or hurt us in some way, so letting someone new in? Terrifying.
I’ve recently moved and most of my old friends are an hour away, so I decided I must ensure I make a couple of friends who at least live in the area. I honestly pulled out the pre-school move of ‘Hi! Lets be friends’ and you know what, it worked! Something about being honest with your intentions means you’ll either get a good result or save any confusion (even if you do get slightly rejected).
Anyway, she’s fab, I’m so pleased I made a (for me) bold move and approached her. So if you know someone who is likely to be your friend, go ahead and just ask because they might just also be looking for a new best friend.
I made a vlog! So don’t judge my filming/editing etc, it is very much my first attempt. It’s much harder than it looks. I had a pretty chilled day, just riding and hanging out by the pool before starting my work. But wanted to see what I get up to? Go watch 🙂
Hope you enjoyed! Give my youtube a subscribe and instragram a follow (@harrietkristina)
Vlogging is strangely addictive and editing is fun – much harder than I expected. Time to get learning! Who doesn’t love having to learn a new skill.
Moving to a hot hot hot climate meant I was super short on summer clothes. In the UK we only really need a four weekends worth of summer wear *weep*. I did a fairly quick online shop at Forever 21 and was super pleased with all the bits I recieved.
Forever 21 Shirt & Shorts
I really struggle to buy summer clothes, especially in stores in the UK – I feel like there is never enough choice. I was super pleased with how all the bits I bought fitted and looked.
Want to see everything I bought? Head to my youtube to watch my haul.
Thanks for reading and please go check out my other social media:
I’m an adventure seeking explorer at heart. I love new. New hobbies, new sights and new experiences. I love to explore the world either physically or even mentally through a good book or movie. Due to this regular exploring and also living in different countries I’ve got a few good travel tips:
The trips below are mostly aimed for a city break type of trip but can be applied elsewhere.
Book (EVERYTHING) in advance
Seems obvious but really do book in advance as much as you can – airport parking, restaurants, hotels, taxis, tours etc. This saves as much last second panic and gives your trip some structure. It often works out cheaper to book in advance.
Book a suitcase
I know it’s cheaper not to and to just travel with hand luggage, but it’s stressful. To me trips are supposed to be enjoyable and fun, having the wrong shoes or coat is always the worst and having to buy a new coat /shoes/toiletries is more the £40 checked bag fee. If you can then sharing a suitcase and maxing hand luggage is the most money saving way in my option.
Edinburgh – Royal Mile
Have a plan
Similar to the first point, but have a list of things you want to do and even a flexible schedule to ensure you make the most of your time. Also this can stop cities from feeling daunting and overwhelming.
Get a map/your data sorted
No-one wants to get lost, no-one wants a £500 phone bill to come home to – enough said. Most phone companies do a good bolt on package now 🙂
Be aware of scams
Different cities have different things – black ubers in New York, ‘lost’ jewellery in Paris and shop traps in Jamaica. Read the horror stories of your destination and be wary.
Prague
Overall, be prepared and keep safe. Check your travel insurance for any requirement to have injections etc if you are travelling somewhere ‘excotic’. Most of all – have fun!
I’m getting super excited for my next city break – Paris. I will be heading off in a week and I really can’t wait. If you want to see what I get up to and follow along then please follow me on Instagram (@harrietkristina).
So April started with my Mother visiting which may have slightly affected my fitness regime, but that’s okay, that’s life, it gets twisted and changed around. From this month I’ve very much learnt just to make it work where and when you have time.
What is my fitness goal – please see my first Fitness post for more information on this.
What went well:
Beach rides
Riding lessons have probably saved the day this month, as a ‘new’ hobby I can tell it’s worked some parts of my body that haven’t been challenged in a while. This definitely includes my hip flexors and core, plus as its a sport I can see myself improve every week which is super enjoyable. An increase in swimming – both in the ocean and pool, mostly thanks to my Mum visiting and this being a novitality for her.
Getting my boyfriend back into the gym has also helped as we all know training with a friend is much more fun!
What could have gone better?
I struggled with getting into the gym or doing any ‘hard’ physical exercise at the start of the month, which was a little frustrating. I really do miss running but the climate here is just too hot for me!
Stats:
Get me to the gym!
Riding lessons: 7
Gym sessions: 6
Yoga sessions: 3
Swims: 5
Mays Goals:
In May I’m going to Paris and back to the UK for a few weeks. My fitness is probably going to be more walking around shops and cities. I have seven riding sessions booked in and hopefully I’ll be able to get to the gym a little!
As always if you want to follow along with my life day-to-day please follow my instagram (@harrietkristina)
I turned up to the stables on a Monday morning to have my usual private lesson, it went really well, practised my rising trot and even a little sitting trot (I’m like five lessons in). When washing off my beautiful horse my riding instructor asked if I’d like to help collect the horses after a trail ride that had gone out that morning, I’m a yes girl, so I said yes.
Trail views over Atlantic Ocean
We drove down and collected the family who had just had a wonderful stroll through the countryside to the beach on horseback. They were as happy as could be and couldn’t stop saying thank you. Then they were in awe as they watched two of the horses be let free and gallop back to the stables. They then got in there air conditioned taxi and headed back to their hotel.
At this point I was mounted and luckily in control of my horse so he didn’t follow those galloping into the distance. We set off walking back up hill with the odd trot, which I was super happy about (getting in that practise), then my riding instructor asked how I would feel cantering a little up the hills (darn me being a yes person). So off we went….
So beautiful
Bloody hell this is fast
My sunglasses are definitely going to fall
My bones might shake apart
I’m not falling off though
THIS IS AMAZING
It was scary but so amazing, I trusted my horse and as my instructor loves to say ‘went with the horse’. The hack back was insane, beautiful and incredible fun, we walked on long reins, trotted and cantered up hills. We made it back in about 45 min (it was a two hour walk down). It made my Monday!
The more time I spend around horses and in the saddle the more I want to be, its turning into quite an addiction. Anyone tried a trail ride while on holiday? What did you think?
As always please go follow @harrietkristina on Instagram for more 🙂
Health and fitness. Its one of the UK’s biggest industries, every January gyms get swamped with people trying to lose weight, tone up and get fit. Sadly these motivations often burn out as normally they are fueled by aesthetic reasons which is quickly forgotten on a cold, dark, drizzly Monday morning.
Personally I’ve always been into my health, I notice a huge difference in my mood, my mental and physical health with a direct correlation to how much I move and what I eat. Probably not at all surprising considering that food is our fuel and our bodies are designed to move daily and a lot.
My Goals
Riding Motivation
I’m not here to be a fitness buff, I don’t want bulging muscles or to be able to run faster than everyone else. I do want to be able to not get out of breath on a jog, strong enough to snorkel for a long as my attention span, have a perky butt that I’m proud of in a bikini and have a strong enough core to master trotting #ridinglife. I want to be fit enough to live the life I love and find fun!
How am I going to achieve this?
Morning tennis!
My personal stance (and full disclaimer – I am not a trained PT in any way) is to do a wide variety of movement, exercise and sport as often as you can, ideally daily. For me this means yoga, riding, swimming, going to the gym and walking. When I spent most of my time in the UK I loved running, but it’s simply too hot out here for me (the melt is real). This really does vary for everyone, I’m sure some people hate the idea of going to the gym or spending an hour on a yoga mat!
Gym Selfie
When looking at your movement I would advise looking at incorporating different types of exercise to ensure you have something to work on your mobility (e.g. Yoga), your cardiovascular (e.g. swimming or running) and an exercise that is high in osteogenic capacity (builds bone) such as dance, resistance training or running. The most important thing is moving regularly so chose activities you enjoy – its okay to change things up and start something new.
How to keep accountable?
Happiness Planner
For me, I like to write things to down. I use my Happiness Planner (https://thehappinessplanner.com/) to keep track of my months goals and plan things out – aka my whole life. I literally go nowhere without my planner and my wonderful matching pen I found! I’m also going to start do a little fitness update each month on here to log what I did and what went well and what was a challenge.
What are your fitness goals? What do you love doing to get your body moving? Let me know in the comments 🙂
As always please follow my Instagram for more and to follow what I get up to day to day (@harrietkristina)
Recently at the stables I got roped into playing ‘3 things about you’ with the Easter Pony Camp. This in theory should be the easiest game ever because who knows more about you than you? Yet its strangely difficult to come up with a quick three things repeatedly that others maybe want to know about you.
So here goes –Â
I’m 25 and from Dorset, England, which is where I grew up. I am often am told I look to be 17-20. I was lucky enough to go to private school which I enjoyed immensely. I am the middle child, with a genius older brother and a beautiful little sister. My favourite things are animals, food, travel, fitness, a touch of fashion and mostly my wonderful boyfriend. I currently spend most of my time in Barbados, where I’m trying to get to grips with driving a huge truck but I have also lived in London and Edinburgh. I have the most gorgeous German Spitz (think big Pomeranian) called Bear at home.
This blog is mostly going to be reviews and a little window to my world. If you want to see more please follow my Instagram (@harrietkristina), and this blog! 🙂
Side note: Those under 13 years old preformed much better than I did at this game.
Blonde Traveller 