A bit late to post this month, hey, what’s new, but here is our monthly roundup for October, this is our time to reflect on the month and what we’ve been up to, what we’ve been eating and even what we’ve been watching.
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 October and answers to any of our ‘what’s’ below.
Let’s get going…
What we’ve been doing
Well, what a month! It started with a visit from one of my besties from home, she stayed with us for two weeks and we just had the most amazing time, visiting some of the beaches on the island, eating great food and enjoying an icy cold Chang, or two, or three. Then, on a random sunny Tuesday afternoon we headed to one of our favourite resorts, only to bump into one of Carl’s good friends from home… it was a complete shock and they weren’t expecting to see us either, they thought we were in Australia… or so they said. These cheeky pair had been planning a secret trip to the island, along with Carl’s cousin and his wife who were due to arrive later that day. It was the best surprise and they found it very funny that they couldn’t stay away from us for even 24 hours…goes to show you how small Koh Samui is. Queue lots of beers and a week of fun.
Aside from our wonderful visitors, we also moved apartments, fully booked out our social media management services and had three photo shoots for a diverse and inclusive stock photography company. I was super nervous as I’d never shot models before, only food, which is a little easier to control but luckily the models were all amazing and it went really well.
After a busy month, we were lucky enough to be gifted a two-night stay at Explorar – Adults Only Hotel in Maenam. It was such a beautiful experience and we felt so grateful for everything. We enjoyed a beachfront suite with a private pool, took part in all the daily activities and enjoyed so much great food. I will be putting together a full blog on the hotel and our experience, so stay tuned for that.
And then, on the very last day of October, we flew out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for three nights, where we stayed on the 31st floor of a new apartment block and had the most spectacular views of the Petronas Towers and the KL Tower. It’s a crazy city, very busy, lots of traffic, over 20 shopping malls, an incredible food scene and some great nightlife, so although we were working we also managed to explore and enjoy some of the city and as it was technically a November trip we’ll share more details at the end of the month – I might even do ’10 things to know before visiting KL’, so watch this space. Anyway, it was a lovely break away from Samui but we were so happy to be back on our little island.
What we’ve been eating
I quite liked last month’s format of numbered photos and a description below, so we’re going with it again for now. There are a lot of breakfast shots this month on our quest to spend less and eat healthier, so let’s get stuck in…
- The most incredible curry at a small Indian restaurant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s called Hyderabad Recipes and imports all of the spices from India, the tarka daal and butter roti in particular, were superb. Easily a contender for one of my top three favourite Indian restaurants I’ve ever eaten at.
- On a mission to be healthier this month and spend less money, we’ve been going out for healthy breakfasts to kick-start the day. These avo/egg toasts are from Beach Coconut Bowls in Fisherman’s Village, Koh Samui. It’s a great little cafe serving a selection of healthy breakfast and brunch options, including smoothie bowls and pancake stacks.
- A small selection of the breakfast buffet options at Explorar – Adults Only Hotel in Maenam, Koh Samui. We were lucky enough to spend two nights at this incredible hotel and the breakfast buffet was just insanely good, you had everything you could ever want and more!
- On top of this, the lunch and dinner options were so fresh and delicious, this is a selection of salads and small plates we chose for our lunch on Sunday, choosing salad and picky dishes over barbecue burgers that were on offer. The sea bass ceviche with mango was a particular highlight.
- Garlic shrimp at The Thai Tapas, Fisherman’s Village, Koh Samui. Easily one of our favourite restaurants in the village, The Thai Tapas serves up beautiful small plates of Thai food, with a twist. These super garlicky prawns are always my favourite… along with the Thai tacos. Delicious.
- More avo/egg breakfast toasts, this time courtesy of Pink Salt Samui, which is located opposite Bangrak Seatran Pier. If you’re looking for a great breakfast or brunch, you absolutely have to pay them a visit. Easily some of the best breakfast food we’ve had in Samui.
- Salad bowls from The Deck Beach Club, we shared the salmon salad bowl and the tuna & quinoa salad bowls, both were super fresh and delicious and the seared ahi tuna was incredible!
- The newest restaurant to Fisherman’s Village – Bacaba – we’ve eaten here twice and sadly the second occasion the food wasn’t the best, but I really did enjoy this fish dish with lemon butter sauce, it was the perfect light lunch. Even if you don’t choose to eat here it has a beautiful aesthetic and is centrally located in the village so a great place to stop for a juice or a beer.
- One of our forever favourites – La Brisa – these guys are always our go-to for Thai food, the pad Thai and fried rice dishes are unbeatable in our opinion.
What we’ve been watching
Honestly, with everything going on this month, we really haven’t watched that much, even though my list of things I want to watch is growing longer by the minute. But one thing we, and the rest of the world, did manage to get through was…
Beckham
I myself, am not a football fan and know very little about David Beckham’s football career, however, Carl is football-mad and supports Man United so he was definitely more knowledgeable about Beckham’s career.
I actually loved the documentary, it was interesting to see how he was treated as a young player, and how he went from being the most loved player on the pitch to the most hated man in England. I was just a bit too young to remember all the headlines and bad press but looking back on it now I’m surprised at how he came through it all, lucky he had such a strong support network around him. One thing that wasn’t news to me is just how disgusting and brutal journalists can be.
It was also nice to see a different side of Victoria Beckham, how their relationship started and how she was a safety net for him during the worst of it all. It’s clear to see that it’s not always peachy in their marriage, but they are obviously still madly in love and support each other no matter what, and that was quite a nice takeaway.
If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s pretty good, give it a go.
What we’ve been reading
The Third Wife – Lisa Jewell
I know, I know, another Lisa Jewell, I’m late to the party with this fantastic writer and so I’m on a mission to devour everything she’s ever written… it might take me a while. I really do enjoy light thrillers, nothing to gruesome or nightmare-inducing and Lisa Jewell smashes it out of the park every time.
This one was a great story, with a few little twists and turns, so it wasn’t super predictable and lots of short, snappy chapters (my fave) but the ending lacked imagination… it was still a great, easy read, perfect for any upcoming Christmas/New Year holidays, where you’ll be laying in the sun, wanting a nice light thriller.
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Only made it halfway through this one so far but really enjoying the narration from the girl’s perspective. For anyone who doesn’t know, they did turn this into a movie about 15 years ago (I’ve never seen it) and was directed by Peter Jackson, the casting is actually brilliant as from the clips I’ve seen the actors really do play their parts well.
It’s based on a real-life event, experienced by Alice Sebold and tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who is murdered by her neighbour and tells her story from heaven as she watches over her family… and her killer.
I’ll catch you up on my full review next month… if you’ve read this, or seen the movie, let me know your thoughts.
What we’ve discovered
Paddleboarding is not as easy as it looks
We have been so lucky with the weather lately, October in Koh Samui is usually the start of the rainy season, but we had plenty of blue skies and sunshiney days throughout the month and whilst my friend was visiting we decided to head over to Bangpor Beach and try our hand at paddleboarding. I was the designated photographer so I didn’t have a go myself but did certainly have a good laugh watching Carl and Emma attempt to stand up on the boards. We only lost one pair of sunnies and a whole lot of dignity so it was a success all around I would say.
Have you ever tried paddleboarding? I might give it a go myself next time but need some solid tips otherwise I’m bound to end up with a mouthful of seawater.
What we’ve been struggling with
Stress
Social media and the internet, in general, would have you believe that full-time travelling couples who spend every waking moment together are always sunshine and smiles. In fact, you have a lot of very stressful things to deal with; missing family, friends and events, constantly having to deal with visas, trying to manage your finances from a different country, long days of travel, dragging all your worldly possessions around with you and yes, sometimes getting sick and tired, it puts a lot of pressure on a relationship. We have all of the above, whilst starting a brand new business on top of that and as it turns out, we find working together quite tricky, as we both have our own ways of communicating.
I’ll admit, I am a bit of a control freak and the Virgo in me wants everything done exactly as I want it done, rightly or wrongly and this has led to arguments. I definitely struggle to let go and to stop worrying when there really is no need, so it’s something I’m going to work on for the next couple of months. If anyone has any tips on how to manage stress and anxiety, I would love to hear from you…failing that, does anyone have a stress ball they can send me?
And also, as a disclaimer, we are absolutely fine, just adjusting to this new life and new business.
What we’ve been celebrating
Halloween Festivities
Halloween celebrations were huge in Samui this year, a lot of it coincided with venues closing for November for refurbishments – November is the peak of the rainy season and sees very few tourists. We headed over to Blind Tiger, it’s a relatively new addition to the island and serves up delicious Asian food and innovative cocktails, they also host a ton of events throughout the month, including DJs, live bands and foodie events. Check them out here.
What we’re looking forward to for November 2023
A weekend in Kuala Lumpur
I say we’re looking forward to this, at the time of writing we’ve actually been and come back so I’ll share more in November’s Travel Diary.
How was your October and what are you most looking forward to for November?
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Until next time…
travel eat sleep repeat 