Our April 2023 Travel Diary

This is a brief look into our month and what we’ve been up to. As long-term travellers/digital nomads time often passes us by so quickly. This is our time to reflect on the month and what lessons we’ve learned, how we’ve spent our time and how we’ve been feeling.

One of the things we love most about long-term travel is the community and how everyone supports each other. We’d love for you to share what you’ve been up to in April and answers to any of our ‘what’s’ below.

Let’s get going…

What we’ve been doing

Since we’ve been back in the UK we have been working part-time at Amazon, working at one of the local sorting centres. It helped us save some cash but it was incredibly tiring on top of our usual day jobs and we often felt like we had no time to do anything as we were always working. Our last day at the warehouse was 31st March so we’ve had a full month of travelling around the UK to visit friends and family.

Brighton

First up, is our home town of Brighton for Easter weekend (6th – 9th). The sun was shining which always makes everything that little bit more beautiful. It was a fantastic weekend spent with friends just eating and drinking our way around the city. We miss our little home by the sea, but it’ll still be there when we eventually hang up our flip-flops and there’s something really quite special about being a tourist in your own town.

Hertfordshire

Home. It’s been so nice to finally have some lighter evenings and drier weather. Spring seems to finally be springing. Finally! Which has meant a lot of Spring cleaning, DIY, dog walks and sorting our things ready for our travels next month.

Sheffield

Carl has a big family and lots of them live up in Sheffield. We actually spent a week house and dogsitting for one of his cousins. We managed to squeeze a lot into our time in Sheffield, a football match & corporate day for Carl (Sheffield United v Cardiff City), a family party, plenty of trips out with the little dogs, a few trips to the pub, lots of visits to family and we even managed a visit to the office/studio for the photography business that Carl is working with.

Soon… Thailand

This last week we’ve finally sat down to talk through our future travel plans, we’ve been toying with the idea of heading back to Croatia for the month, but have decided that we just really want to get back to Thailand and have some more adventures in SE Asia, so we’re going to make it happen.

What we’ve been eating

In an attempt to save some money for our travels we’ve avoided going out for too many meals this month, we’ve eaten a lot of homecooked meals; roast dinners, grilled fish and steaks, spaghetti bolognese and lasagne.

During our trip to Brighton, we did splurge a bit, visiting some of our friend’s restaurants including Vel which serves up the most delicious and rich Southern Indian cuisine and Nanima, a family-owned Asian kitchen with a daily changing menu.

At a family party in Sheffield, it was a BYOD (bring your own dish). I rustled up a tarka daal and chickpea and spinach curry which both went down a storm. It was utter chaos with more than 40 people tucking into the buffet so I didn’t manage to take any photos but it was a real mix of great Indian and Burmese dishes and everything was utterly delicious.

What we’ve been watching

Succession

We’re definitely late to the party with this one, but we’re really enjoying the dynamics of this crazy family. The deceit, the drama, the wealth, it’s got us hooked. We’re only mid-way through season 1, so no spoilers, please.

Great British Bake Off – Celebrity Stand Up 2 Cancer

As an avid baker, I’ve watched every episode of GBBO since it started back in 2010. Highlights for me this year were David Schwimmer, Gemma Collins and Joe Thomas. Who else is a Bake Off fan?

Beef (Netflix)

The hype around this was huge when it was released at the beginning of the month so we had to give it a go. To be honest it just felt a bit bland, what’s the storyline, two people living completely different lives, meet because of a road rage incident and then what, seek revenge, for what? Just not really feeling it. Has anyone else watched this? What did you think? Are we missing something?

How about you? What have you been watching lately? We’re always looking for recommendations for good TV shows and movies.

What we’ve been reading

With our crazy busy month of meetups with friends and family, my nightly reading has completely gone out of the window. We’re either out too late or I’ve just been too tired. I’ve also had some pretty intense reading over the past few months and like to switch it up so I don’t feel too overwhelmed with information, for reference I’ve been reading a lot of articles and books regarding AI and the future of AI technology, it’s heavy going, so promised myself some fun and lighthearted reads for April.

The Little Venice Bookshop – Rebecca Raisin

This was a purchase for my Kindle, cost 99p and seemed lighthearted and cutesy. I’m about two-thirds of the way through and there are lots of references to Thailand, travel, Italy and books, some of my favourite things. It’s definitely got all the elements of a good romcom but it’s not super cheesy, I’m loving this one as something easy, whimsical and sweet.

Murder on the Brighton Express – Keith Miles

I picked this up from a charity shop in Brighton about two years ago and just never got around to reading it. Murder mysteries don’t often feature highly on my reading lists but with references to Brighton I had to give this one a go. It’s set in 1854 and starts with a journey from London Bridge to Brighton which all goes horribly when the train comes off the tracks, but was it an accident or was it something more sinister? There are some great backstories and detective work at play and a few twists and turns for good measure.

What we’ve been listening to

Diary of a CEO podcast

I’ve listened to so many of these over the past few months, I’m still jury’s out on Steven Bartlett and his interview style but he always seems to find the most incredible guests for the show, they are always so open and honest. Three of my favourites this month were;

There are plenty of others I want to sit and listen to, so expect this podcast to feature heavily over the next few months.

What we’ve discovered

A renewed passion for cooking, this is definitely a me thing, Carl doesn’t often stray too far away from toast. One of the things I miss most about travelling is flicking through a cookbook, having access to all my kitchen gadgets and my cupboard full of spices, oils and vinegars. I know you can buy these things when you’re away but they are often expensive and last months, so it seems wasteful to keep purchasing over and over again when we get so little use out of them and sure, if we’re moving to a new apartment on the same island/place it’s easy to bring everything with us, but that is so rarely the case.

Since leaving our jobs at Amazon I’ve had so much more time in the evenings (our shift used to run from 4 pm – 9:15 pm) which means extra time to experiment in the kitchen. We’ve had a huge variety of foods over the last few months, grilled fish and steaks, traditional Irish dishes, Mexican feasts, Italian pasta dishes, a variety of cooked breakfasts and brunches, but the ultimate favourite is still the classic Sunday roast. I don’t think we’ve had a single Sunday since we’ve been home where we haven’t had a roast, it is tradition after all.

What we’ve been celebrating

Family party

While we were up in Sheffield we had a huge get-together with lots of Carl’s family which was amazing. 40+ people soaking up the sunshine, in the garden, drinking fizz, eating curries and barbecued dishes, dancing and ending the evening with lots of karaoke. It was a beautiful kind of chaos.

Football

Carl’s cousins are Sheffield United fans and lots of them are season ticket holders. During our visit, Carl went to a corporate day, where they received a stadium tour, boozy brunch and after-the-match presentations. They were hosting a big group of Norwegian fans, one of which was celebrating his 60th birthday, so it quickly turned into a bit of a party. I hear it was a great match with Sheffield United winning 4 – 1 against Cardiff City.

Travel plans

After six, cold, long months back in the UK we’re finally ready to get back to our travel adventures. We’ve been delaying leaving whilst we’ve been setting up our work online, but we’re finally at a point where we’re able to earn enough to support ourselves and our long-term travel plans.

Things will be a bit different this time around as we’ll look to stay in one location for a minimum of two months, we’ll also have to be more mindful of our restaurant and bar choices. We’re suckers for fine dining and luxury spots so we may have to limit ourselves to just two of these treats a month, instead of making them a weekly occurrence.

What we’ve been struggling with

The weather. Although it has been getting brighter it’s still so cold and so rainy and it feels like there’s no end to it. We’ve almost been home for six months and bar the odd day it’s just been so miserable. It’s such a contrast to the weather we enjoyed in Europe and Asia and there’s definitely something to be said about getting outside, soaking up that Vitamin D, being by the sea, and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, it just makes you feel better.

I’m sure the UK will warm up just as we leave but we have a feeling that it’ll be well into June before it’s shorts and t-shirt weather here and we just can’t wait any longer.

What we’re feeling grateful for

The support of our wonderful friends and family. We are quite literally living our dream, travelling the world and getting to explore different places, cultures and foods, but with that comes a lot of sacrifices. We’ve given up the majority of our belongings, we no longer have our own home and we miss out on a lot of events, I think that’s why this month’s family party was so special for us.

Our friends and family are always so generous, letting us stay in their homes, storing our things with them whilst we travel and in my Mum’s case, completely taking over her house for the past six months. It makes it so much easier for us to know that when we do come back to the UK whether it’s for a few weeks or more long-term we’ve always got somewhere to call home.

What we’re looking forward to for May 2023

Travel

We’re really looking forward to heading back out on our travels. When we arrived back in the UK in November we never thought we’d still be here in May, but we’ve spent a lot of time and energy setting ourselves up and building our businesses online so that we have a sustainable income which will allow us to continue our travel adventures for at least the next couple of years.

Packing

Weirdly we’re looking forward to getting the suitcases back out again and minimising our things, it really doesn’t take long for us to accumulate lots of stuff. I have to say that I am looking forward to putting the coats and winter wear back up in the loft and going through all the brightly coloured, floaty bits for summer and our travels.

Food

Whether we find ourselves back in Croatia or Thailand, we’re both so excited about the food. Being at home has been wonderful but it’s *so* expensive to eat out here. Looking forward to fresh fish, exotic fruits and dining outdoors.

How was your April and what are you most looking forward to for May?

It would be great to connect over on Instagram or on Twitter, we love building our little community of fellow travellers and travel lovers. And if you want to follow along on our travel adventures why not subscribe, we aim to post something new every week.

Until next time…

travel eat sleep repeat

Our April 2023 Travel Diary