7 Things I Love About December

Last year on the 1st of December I wrote this post all about the things I was looking forward to in December, like my birthday, a trip to Edinburgh with my bestie and my 3 year anniversary with David, among other more Christmassy things. 

So this year, when I sat down to write this post for the 1st of December, I figured I would do something along the same lines because it's fun, but try & change it up a wee bit from last year, while still covering all of the things that I love about December and the run up to Christmas!

So, here we go!

November 2016 Reads

It's been a literal age since I shared what I've been reading recently, which is a shame

because over the past lot of months I've read some truly incredible books! 

I might put together a post of my favourite books from 2016 closer to the end of the year, but right now I want to share what I've managed to read this past month. Sadly, I only have the physical copy of one of these books, the others have been read on the Kindle App on my phone, with the intention of buying a physical copy in the near future...it just so happens that I haven't done that yet, oops! 

Rediscovering Beauty with Itty Bitty Book Co.

I find that looking for inspiration can be difficult, even in this world that is saturated with timelines and Pinterest boards filled to the brim with quotes and slogans all designed 

 to keep us inspired & motivated & encouraged.

But, a lot of the time I find that those inspirational quotes fall a little bit flat.

There are too many contradictory quotes on the same boards, 

too many that actually manage to make me feel a little inferior,

a little bit less, if I don't want to #hustle or #girlboss it all the time.

And I'm pretty sure that is the opposite of their purpose!

But I do know how powerful true inspirational quotes can be, how much motivation, positivity, confidence & encouragement they can bring out in each of us, and that is why I want to introduce to you today the Itty Bitty Book Co.  

The Secret Garden & Stormont Estate

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that we are now a whole week into November.

It's practically Winter, but tell me this: what happened to October?!
I barely remember the last month, to the point where I'm not even really sure it happened.

It feels like only yesterday it was Summer and we were enjoying whatever meagre weather

Northern Ireland has to offer and now it's pretty much Christmas!

Sorry. Is it too soon for Christmas talk?

5 Tips For A Productive Job Search

Looking for a job can be one of the most soul-destroying, mood-shattering 

things on this planet, and it's made even worse if you're unemployed and looking for a job. 

Sometimes it feels hopeless,

it feels pointless, you feel like you're not good enough, or like you're never going to get any job, nevermind one that you actually like!

I know I'm not the only person who feels like this.

Hello Again...

Hi there! I'm back!

Travelling SE Asia // A Little Life Update!

Hey, how's it going?!

As it's taking way longer than it should for me to keep you guys updated on our travels, I thought I'd interrupt standard proceedings with a little rambling life update, as the title suggests, of where we are, how we're feeling and so on!

Travelling SE Asia // Sleeper Train To Chiang Mai

The next leg of our journey to the north of Thailand was made via sleeper train. Most people seem to get the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, but luckily for us it also makes some stops along the way, so we were able to catch the 12 hour train from Lopburi!

Travelling SE Asia // Lopburi and The Monkey Temple!

After spending 2 amazing days exploring Ayutthaya, we decided to get the train to our next destination, Lopburi. I'm pretty sure this is another town that people usually visit on a day trip, but again David and I decided to stay for a couple of nights! We didn't want to feel like we were rushing through these towns on our way to the north of Thailand, and even though there isn't much to Lopburi, we really enjoyed our stay here!

The train lasted about an hour and a half, and the tickets cost 680 Baht, which is roughly about £14. We were so confused when the train attendant starting handing us free juice and a packet of cookies each, but as it turned out we had somehow managed to buy 1st Class tickets without even realising! The cookies were so good though, and massively appreciated after an early morning with no breakfast!

Travelling SE Asia // The Ruins of Ayutthaya

So it turns out that keeping a blog updated while traveling, isn't the easiest thing in the world to do! David and I are almost halfway through Month 2, so I have plenty of stories to fill you in on!

Travelling SE Asia // 4 Days In Bangkok!

Sawadee-ka from Thailand!

We started our travelling journey a week ago today, which is so hard to believe! It's Monday evening here right now, the sun is going down so the sky is a lovely pastel colour and the heat is still intense, but not as melt-inducing as this afternoon.

January 2016 Reads

I don't think it's any secret that I love everything there is to love about reading. I love reading books, reading reviews, wishlists, sample chapters and I love reading about what books other people are reading! So I thought I'd share what books I read in January, because it's been ages since I wrote about books here!

Friday Faves: 5th February 2016

This week has been a relatively quiet one. It's that week of the month where all of my bills come out in one fell swoop and leave my bank account feeling barren and neglected and frighteningly low figures. Which, you know, isn't the best situation to be in considering I leave for SE Asia in like 3 weeks! So here's to saving like a madwoman for the next few weeks!

Travel Lessons Learnt So Far

Image from Unsplash 

Planning to go away anywhere for a long period of time can be stressful enough, but I have found preparing to go backpacking pretty difficult. There are so many more things to factor in when backpacking for a couple of months than with a standard 2 week holiday, things that I wouldn't normally consider or even know about!

Friday Faves: 29th January 2016

This Friday sees the beginning of Friday Faves, a new weekly roundup here on Simply Courageous! I actually really enjoyed doing these a couple of months ago but as always life got a bit in the way and my weekly roundup ended up discarded and forgotten!

6 Weeks To Go: Preparations For Backpacking SE Asia!

Image courtesy of Pixabay

It's officially less than 6 weeks until David and I make our way down to Dublin and board a plane for the biggest adventure of our lives to date! We leave home on the 1st March and on the 2nd March we will land in Bangkok, Thailand for the first leg of our 3 month journey!

One Little Word, 2016

Browns Bay, N.I

Happy New Year!!

Oh, wait, is it too late to say that now? We're almost a whole week into 2016 already, and here I am wishing you all a happy new year. But, it is my very first post of the new year, so I'm sticking with it!