Looking back at September in hindsight, it has definitely been one of the best months of the year. It was a mad rush to finish up for work, organise things at home, pack my bag and do last minute research before leaving for overseas mid way through the month with my bff. It has been the first time I have travelled overseas since the pandemic in 2020 and its been a long time coming. Other than my dread of flying and the pain it causes, once we landed in Paris a good 26 hours after leaving Australia, I could finally celebrate. It was good to be out in the big wide world again. No cares, no responsibilities, no stress other than to consider which is the best place to get our next meal. It felt good to be amongst it again.

I loved our time in Iceland. It is a safe and easy country to travel. There is plenty to see along the way and so much natural beauty; waterfalls, canyons, beaches, glaciers, rainbows, geysers. It was cold though, we saw a range of temperatures between 0 and 13 degrees, however that doesn’t stop you. Its a place that could look different as each season passes and would be something to experience. Hope to write and publish my Iceland post shortly.

Listening to - 

* Emiliana Torrini after hearing her being played at breakfast in Iceland

* The Lively Show - always have my eyes peeled looking for new episodes as soon as they drop

* Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel - Esther always brings the goods

 Read - 

* The Money Club by Fiona Lowe - an awesome book that keeps you thinking throughout

* Terms of Inheritance by Michelle Upton - really liked this one. Highly recommend. Dying mum sets her four daughters a challenge they have a year to complete in order to receive their inheritance.

* We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu - the life story of a Canadian actor. Surprisingly well-written and interesting in parts.

* The Year Of The Fox by Merren Tait - light romance. Easy and nice read.

* This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan - wasn’t a fan of this one. Flicked through it just to get through it

* The Hike by Lucy Clarke - started off with potential and then just went in a different direction than I anticipated.

Splurged on - 

* going to Sky Lagoon in Iceland - the geothermal pool. Was pretty special but we were bored after an hour so gave ourselves an hour and a half and left.

* Northern Lights tour - caught a bus and drove around for a couple of hours in the middle of the night and managed to find a few green lights. Apparently they were spectacular the night before. It really is the luck of the draw.

* went to see the orchestra perfom at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik in Iceland on our last night. Was impressive!

Watching - 

* Outback Farm - I like this one. Reminds me of my time out at the Coally station when I was a governess

Went to - 

* Father’s Day breakfast with the family at Alison’s new house - super morning

* Car Boot Sale at Kiama - drove Mum and Dad down to check it out and spent time with Luc - bought three tops for travelling

* Preloved Clothing Market at Castle Hill - bought a dress and three pairs of earrings

* Lola Cocina Spanish Restaurant for bffs birthday

* Paris as a stopover (break from being on the plane) for a day/night and then Iceland for nine days/eight nights

Booked - 

* one of my dads neighbours to install our timber flooring at home for mid October. I so can’t wait. Hopefully the flooring will be in by the time I arrive back home

Cooked - 

* Falafel Grain Bowl, Mango Chicken, Sticky Peanut Chicken Tortillas, Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli, Jamaican Beef Rice

* Choc-chip Oat Cookies - not a fan so feed them to the birds

What's new - 

* house reno - got a couple of quotes for flooring installation and booked it for mid October. Bf cleaned out all his gear from under the house to be able to fix the floor and he spent a good two days under there levelling and straightening the floors. We choose our appliances for the kitchen and the colour Lexicon for the kitchen cabinets. Yet to decide on the Caesarstone for the bench. We pulled up the tiles in the kitchen so just bare boards at the moment. I packed up all the kitchen cupboards into boxes and my bf pulled the kitchen out. He set up a cute cooking kitchen scenario out on the back verandah. The new kitchen goes in at the end of October so by the time I’m home it won’t be too long without the real deal. The renovation is at a really exciting stage.

* blog - few posts went live this month and have a few more to work on, including an Iceland itinerary and an Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia itinerary.

* feeling free to travel again so starting to plot some trips for next year during the school breaks

* been doing so much walking this month. Just whilst travelling I have done at least 10-15,000 steps a day. Feels good. I did get over it but now back to enjoying pounding the pavement. I bought hiking boots for Iceland and sooo glad I did. Even though I didn’t like them at first, they are growing on me. They were very necessary and I would have been cold and whingy without them.

* flowers in the garden have just started coming out at home and the garden is looking swell. It's so exciting to see the house all coming together both inside and outside.

 Looking for - 

* Nikon mirrorless camera - I have missed not having my DSLR camera with me this trip. It broke down last year after a good 15 years of lugging it around the world with me. So thinking its time I invested in another.

 Sold -

* boys suit and tickets to the Supercars Championship at Bathurst I had won but can’t go to

Started - 

* taking better care of the front and back grass. I have had it weed sprayed twice now by the guys at Coochie and it already looks so much better. Now just to keep water up to it.

* playing Candy Crush again. It’s only something I do on holidays and its been awhile.

Attempting to -

* read more. I have only read 33 books this year, with a goal to get to 52. So I have made the most of sitting around at airports and whilst on flights and read some goods ones. I am catching up on all the kobo books I have downloaded over the past two years.

* drive on the opposite side of the road. I pick my rental car up tomorrow to drive for five days around Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Here they drive on the right, not the left. I am sweating a little about it as well as the parking and the narrow one lane roads within the towns. To top it off my sim card isn’t working so I am relying on maps.me to get me around. This could be interesting.

Still another couple of weeks to go before I am back to reality. I will be soaking it up and making the most of it. If you're in Australia and enjoying a long weekend, then I hope it’s a great one! Was September a good month for you? Any new learnings to share, realisations or anything you would change in hindsight? Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below.

For other months in hindsight click here