Saudi Living in London April Update

Hi everyone!

I am so happy my March update was received well. I didn't think you would be interested, but I am glad you are! That's why I am doing another one for April. As you know I travelled most of the month, so I didn't get to see much of London this month, but I managed to eat in a few new places and see spots that I haven't visited before! :) And we had three days of amazing weather as well and I am glad I managed to go out then! 

Food Spots I tried in London in April

Old Cottage Coffee Shop in the Park
Website

This is a really cute little cafe in Charlton Park, where you eat and see life goes by in the park. It's also where all the cute dogs hangout. The sandwiches are simple, but the desserts and scones are delicious. I can't wait to go back there again. 

Kimchee Restaurant & Bar
Website

I was craving Korean food, more specifically Bibimbap, which is a Korean dish made in a hot stone bowl with rice, vegetable, tofu (or whatever meat you want) and an egg to be mixed with some spicy sauce. I was in the area and the Kimchee restaurant was the first thing that popped up and since I haven't there before, I just went to it. It is not halal, but they have sea food and vegetarian options. I tried the veggie dumplings and had a tofu Bibimbap with a prawn starter. It was nice and the staff were attentive, but I will search further for my perfect Bibimbap.  

Afghan Kitchen
Website

This was a little family restaurant run by women with a small menu filled with big flavours. I really enjoyed the food and the service. The design of the restaurant is very cozy (read small with 3 tables downstairs and 3 upstairs). It was also really loud because the space didn't have any fabric or cushions to absorb the sound and people's voice, which made it really hard to speak to each other.  I would like to go try it during the day too. 

New Places I visited in London in April

King's Cross Canopy Food Market

I knew about the regular market outside of the station that sells my most favourite donuts of all times: Cross Town Doughnuts, but I didn't realise there is another food market further down into the restaurant area near UAL Central Saint Martins campus. I didn't eat there, but it looked like a cool place to hang out in the summer. 

Market Times: Weekly from the 30th March. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. More Info. 

House of Illustration
Website

I thought I have been to all the Museums that are worth visiting, but NO! There's a whole list of good museums in London that I am yet to visit. I managed to squeeze one of them this month and it's the House of Illustration. There was an exhibition called Made in North Korea and I thought it was brilliant. It was simple in terms of it represented items from a very curious place in the world such as packaging, postcards, books and some food items, but it was insightful to see the simple things from a country. As a travel content creator, I really appreciated this insight because they are things I notice on my travels. Like going to the grocery store on a trip is always interesting just to see how the locals live. 

Escape Games - OmEscape London

My good friend, Sarah, has been wanting to go all last year, so we finally found some time to go! I haven't tried anything similar before and it was interesting to do. Basically you are placed in a room and you solve puzzles to get out and go to the other rooms to finally escape. It was lots of fun to do with a big group of friends. We had lots of laughs and kept asking for clues the whole time, but we made it!! 

Charlton Park
Website

This is a little further than Central London, but if you find yourself near South East London, this little park is worth a visit. I happened to be in the area and the weather was amazing, so I went to this park and it was such a nice relaxed park with kids playing, some teenagers skating and grownups either reading or playing ping pong. 

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7 Ways to Travel Sustainably

Happy (almost) Earth Day lovelies! On this awesome occasion, I just wanted to do a little post about how to give back to this beautiful Earth of ours to lessen our negative impact especially while traveling. This Earth belongs to all of us and it's a group effort to keep it better than how we came into it! It's our daily responsibility to be seriously cautious of our own action. As much as it is amazing to travel and explore the world, it is not always sustainable and sometimes we contribute to really negative problems without even thinking about it fully. 

"Whoever brings dead land to life, that is, cultivates wasteland, for him is a reward therein." Prophet Mohammad

Before I start telling you about the ways to be sustainable, let's define the word:  

Sustainability is "the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance"

In this post I will be sharing seven ways that help me travel more sustainably. In all honesty, I do not always follow all of these ways, but I do try my best to do so and to contribute positively to this planet. Additionally, sustainable travel is really good for budgets too! 

#1 Travel on land

I am guilty of taking a few planes a year when travelling and the fuel of those planes is the worst thing ever and I wish I could travel more by trains and buses. To relieve my conscious, I do two things: I pay a tiny amount to offset my journey's carbon footprints even Ryanair offers this option now and take public transports when I arrive to my destination. I know sometimes public transports takes a little longer, but it has its benefits; it's better for the environment, it's much cheaper than private transportation and it also helps you get to know the destination you are travelling to differently.   

“You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system.” Erol Ozan

The train in Sri Lanka 

#2 Group your destinations

If you can, plan your travels in groups. If you know that you will be in Europe in a specific time, maybe you can go to more than one destination at once. For example, on my last trip to Algarve in Portugal, I decided to prolong my trip to explore the whole area fully before returning back home instead of going to the same place more than once. I know this is a subject to flexible times, but it is worth the consideration. 

#3 Live your life like plastic does not exit

Have you seen all the very sad photo from the plastic filled Indonesian beaches? Or have you seen the story abut the whale that died from eating 30 plastic bags? As you can see plastic is a gigantic problem and it makes me so mad. My life still includes plastic, but I am slowly trying to rid my life or minimise the usage of plastic. It is VERY difficult. Grocery shopping alone causes like a half bin of plastic wastage. There are a few little things to consider while travelling to use less plastic: 

• Take a glass water bottle with you and refill it if the water tap is safe to drink instead of buying bottled water. You can add a slice of lemon, mint leave or cucumber pieces for the taste. 
• Take your travel mug/flask with you for your tea/coffee. I only recently thought of this when I saw another traveller do it and I LOVE the idea especially if you want a tea on the go. 
• Make sure to tell your waiter that you don't want a straw for your drink. It is the most useless piece of plastic and it's not even reusable. If you must, pack a straw with you to reuse. 
• Pack an extra cloth bag for all your gift shopping so you don't get any plastic bags with your goodies. 
• If you plan to making your own lunch sandwiches, you can buy some of the Bee Wax food wrappings, which I LOVE and actually use them to cover all my food at home too! 

By the way if you do see plastic thrown on the beach or the road, try to take it to a recycling bin!

“Removing harmful things from the road is an act of charity (sadaqah).” (Prophet Mohammad - Authenticated by Al-Albani) 

Bonus: Be aware of regular wastage

Adding to waste lands is something we all should consider and as women we have one monthly wastage, which is period products. Using pads and tampons is not only semi harmful to you, but it adds to the mountain of wastage in this world. I switched to using menstrual cups and yes it was very weird when I started and it took about three periods for my body to fully get used to it and I feel like it's the best thing I have done! Plus it makes my travels easier during my period times because I don't have to pack so many products and only my cup and reusable bottle of water to wash up!  

#4 Choose Eco-friendly accommodation

This is still difficult to find in some countries, but it is a great option when applicable. It takes a little bit longer to search for the right eco friendly lodge or hotel, but they do exist. Having the word eco in the title is not enough, you have to look at how they are environmentally friendly and the efforts they are making for that claim to be true. Some options can be found on booking.com but with some more vigorous search. 

Booking.com

#5 Give back to the locals

I don't mean money or goods. I mean valuable business. Research your accommodation and your tour operators and make sure you are supporting small local businesses and local charities that work with communities. G adventures work with local businesses and organise home stays so that is a good option to start with if you had no idea where to start. 

You can also purchase gifts from local artists and crafters to support their traditional craft or their artistic vision. This might be a little pricey, but it will make a difference to them and you. I was very pleased when I got a handmade brooch from Vilnius! 

#6 Be aware of your food

When you are travelling to a new destination, eat the locally grown seasonal produce because that encourages the country to grow its own produce and it supports local farmers. Additionally, it is usually cheaper and fresher and has much more nutritional values to eat based on seasons. 

Eat The Seasons is a good website that tells you what grows when

Another cool way is to make use of lunch offers in different countries such as the Czech Republic. Most restaurants have a lunch offer, where they cook one special and serve it for a very affordable price. It's usually a good choice to go for since it has already been cooked and it will save you some money too! 

Tropical Fruit of Madeira

#7 Leave the animals be

Sustainability is not only about using less plastic, it is a wholesome way of living and caring for the planet. One thing some people forget is the beautiful animals we have on this Earth. I know some countries are known for some amazing animals. When I went to Sri Lanka, I really wanted to see the elephants for example, but you have to be extremely careful when it comes to seeing animals. Going to a nature reserve in the wild is your best bet. Zoos and other places where they hold animals in captivity are usually horrible for the poor animals. Even whale and dolphin watching can be dangerous for them so research a lot before you go ahead with this. 

Another thing to consider when it comes to animals is buying them as trophies or being products that come from wild life. No one in this life needs an alligator bag, a fox fur scarf or ivory. If you want more infromation about wild animal products or news, the national geographic wild watch is a good source for it. 

“Whoever kills a sparrow or anything bigger than that without a just cause, Allah will hold him accountable on the Day of Judgment.” Prophet Mohammad. Ps. "Just cause" in reference to food.

Photo from Unawatuna to Ude Wale National Park - Sri Lanka

I hope you find ways useful and I hope we all can implement them. If you have any more ideas please share them in the comments below! 

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Food Recommendations in Vilnius

I didn't know what to expect from Vilnius in terms of food. I was just hoping for edible food with a few vegetarian options and I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried their food! There were great vegetarian and sea food options and it was delicious. It was a similar food experience to Prague, which I also loved! Granted most of my money went on food (twice a day!). This list is only of the restaurants I tried when I visited for a couple of days. I added two halal option at the end. 

Drama Burger

Address: Gedimino pr. 31, Vilnius 01104, Lithuania
Food Type: Vegetarian + Seafood + Meat
Price: €12.5 for a burger, a side and a lemonade. 

It seems like Lithuanians have a love for burgers. I saw a few burgers joints around and I mean who doesn't love a good burger! I just walked to the nearest burger place I found hoping they will have good options for me and they did! There were three vegetarian and two sea food burgers. I had their salmon burger and shared a fries and cheesy cauliflower. It was VERY good. A little oily, but it was good winter food.    

Casa La Familia

Address: Rūdninkų g. 18, Vilnius 01135, Lithuania
Food Type: Vegetarian
Price: €12.5 for a medium pizza and a lemonad

This place serves fresh vegetarian pizzas (that can be vegan too!). The pizzas were so good that I went to this place twice. It's super family friendly and they have a kids playroom in there too. It gets super busy when it's a weekend or a lunch, but a little more quiet at night. Their menu is full of cool inventive pizzas with nice mixes. It was hard to choose and all the choices I tried were SO GOOD! I enjoyed their salad and Oreo cheesecake too! They are also known for their Kampuchea if you are into that. I am not, so I had their lemonade and it was nice.  

Bistro 18

Address: Stiklių g. 18, Vilnius 01131, Lithuania
Food Type: Vegetarian + Seafood + Meat
Price: €12.5 for a pasta main and a lemonade

This place is known for their pasta and wine. I only tried their prawn pasta and it was really good. I had a juice there, which was nice and fresh. They have vegetarian options there too that looked good. 

Kitchen

Address: Didžioji g. 11, Vilnius 01128, Lithuania
Food Type: Vegetarian + Seafood + Meat
Price: €12.5 for one person for three course meal and a juice. 

If you go there during lunch time you can find a cheaper deal of two things that is between 5-8 euros usually a soup and another type of starter. They are very filling and enough for one person, but if you want to order a main too they have a few vegetarian and sea food options. the food was cooked well and the service was great. I really liked the sophisticated vibe of the place. 

Gaspar's

Address: Pylimo g. 23, Vilnius 01141, Lithuania
Food Type: Vegetarian + Seafood + Meat
Price: €35 for one person for three course meal and a drink. 

Splurge night! The older I get, the more I really appreciate food and the last night of the trip is usually my splurge night of good fancy food. This restaurant is Indian inspired with a European twist. Don't go expecting true Indian food because it's not that, but if you want flavoursome European choices with a hint of the East then this is for you. I really enjoyed my meal there and I liked how trendy it all felt. The place is cozy (read small), so either go early 6pm or book a table. 

Halal Food in Vilnius: 

On the official Muslim of Lithuania website, I found two food recommendations. I even passed by one of them. 

• La Turca Vilnius: Turkish Restaurant in Vilnius
  Address: Juozapavičiaus g. 4. Vilnius, Lithuania
   
•  Desi Lietuva: Pakistani Restaurant in Vilnius  
  Address: Trakų g. 5 (1,713.71 km) 01132 Vilnius, Lithuania

I saw another halal option on google maps, but I am not sure about it since it's not mentioned on the official page. More information on halal food in Lithuania. 

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More posts from Lithuania: 

Over to you: what would you try from these restaurants and do you have other food recommendations? 

Travel Inspiration for your Instagram: 

Vilnius Three Day Itinerary (Muslim Friendly guide to Vilnius)

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. It is two hours and a half flight from London with two hours time difference. I was very impressed with the few days I spent in Vilnius and I feel like I could have stayed longer relaxing in one of the trendy cafes eating good food and exploring further. 

I wrote down all the things I did and compiled all my thoughts in this post to help you plan your three days in Vilnius and answer some of your questions. 

Post Content: 

• Transportation in Vilnius

• Things to do in Vilnius

• Is Vilnius City Pass Worth it?

• Where to stay in Vilnius?

• Food in Vilnius

• Day Trip from Vilnius

• Vilnius Budget

• Muslims in Vilnius

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Transportation in Vilnius (How to get from the airport to Vilnius?)

Public transportation were great in the city. I loved how easy it was to get around and each journey was 1 euro including the journey from the airport. I found out my bus connections, times and stops by using Google Maps. If you are staying in the old town, it's easy to walk everywhere as well. The longest I walked was 20 minutes, but it was an easy walk with lots to see in between. 

Things to do in Vilnius

I thought four days in the city would give me so much time to see most things, but it was only enough to scratch the surface and make me want to go for more! Three of the days were dedicated to Vilnius and I am so happy I decided to go for a visit. 

#1 Thing to do in Vilnius: Explore the old city on foot

Required Time: 3-4 hours
Tip: 10 euros
You can either go to the Vilnius Free Walking Tour that is done everyday at 10:30 from the Cathedral Square or their alternative free tour that is done on Thursdays and Saturdays at 1:30pm. I learnt so much on this tour and it was nice walking with a local asking all kinds of questions about what the city was and what it has become. My guide was in his 20s and told us all kinds of stories. I love city walking tours as a starting point to get to know the city a little bit. 

#2 Thing to do in Vilnius: See the city from above

Required Time: 1 hour
City wall, Cathedral square tower and the hills where the crosses are located. 
The only place I managed to see the city from above was the city wall and it was really interesting and I loved the view. If I had more time, I would have gone to the other locations to take in the view. 

#3 Thing to do in Vilnius: Learn the history of this 100 years old country

There are two ways to learn the history of the city. You can either get on one of the walking tours I mentioned above, but the covered history is very brief or go to the Genocide Museum. 

Required Time: 3 hours
Price: 1 euro for a student or 4 euros for an adult. 

It's actually a very sad museum to see, but it's informative. The location itself is a story! It used to be the KGP office/prison. It's made of three floors. The two you start with are the exhibition areas and are divided to 11 rooms. Each of them is full of information and stories. You have three options to get the full history: read the signs, rent an audio guide from the museum or hire a guide to tell you even more painful personal stories.  The prisons in the lower floors were heartbreaking, but give you a real insight of the pain people went through. It reminded me of how much I cried when I visited an exhibition about war in Bosnia. 

#4 Thing to do in Vilnius: Visit at least one church

Vilnius is known for the big number of churches. Many of them are still functional. When I was there on Sunday, the churches were getting a lot of visitors and the none religious ones were closed. So, unless you are going for Sunday service, Sunday won't be a good day to go. I went to three of the over twenty churches in Vilnius: St. Anne the gothic brick church, All Saints Church and St. Nicholas Church. You are really spoiled for choice.  

#5 Thing to do in Vilnius: Feel Quirky in Užupis

Užupis is the little republic within the capital and it's a quirky little part of town and your visa is your smile! They have their constitution written in so many different languages. I was really pleased to see the Arabic one there and obviously had to take a few photos. It is funny to note that when Užupis was founded that even taxis wouldn't go inside because it had a reputation, but now it's one of the coolest and most expensive areas to live. There are cool restaurants and art shops there. 

#6 Thing to do in Vilnius: Have some fun with science

Museum of Illusion
Required Time: 1.5- 2 hours
Price: 9 euros for a student or 10 euros for adults

I really enjoyed this museum. I wasn't even planning on going there, but the weather was cold and wanted an indoors cultural activity at night. Thankfully, I made it to their last show, then wandered around taking all sorts of silly photos while I was there. Let's just say it's a fun instagram-able spot! 

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Is Vilnius City Pass Worth It? 

I was very tempted to get this before actually visiting the city, but I felt that the 30 euros might be a bit much for 72 hours especially that I wasn't sure if I will visit more than two of the mentioned museum. I also only used the public transports 5 times, which was only 5 euros and as you saw above only went to two museum. I am glad I didn't buy it, but check their list of activities and discounts and see if it will benefit you. 

Where to stay in Vilnius? 

Hotels in Vilnius seemed affordable. I went in the off season and I picked the highest rated bed and breakfast and absolutely loved the location, which was close to all the delicious and hip restaurants I tried. The area was also quiet and pretty. 

If the above hotel is booked on your dates, you can look for other options below. I choose based on the location and the review score: 

Booking.com

Food in Vilnius

I really enjoyed the food in Vilnius and I had so many options to choose from and indulge in. Checkout the great restaurants I tried in Vilnius! 

Day Trip from Vilnius

The main day trip from Vilnius is to the little Island Castle in Trakai. It was a fantastic short day trip. Full post with all the details coming up. If I had more time, I would have loved to go to Kunas or some of the other cities around. 

Vilnius Budget

I like to include my spending and sharing them with you to show you how affordable travel can be. 

• Flight on Ryan Air from London Stansted Airport £40

• Hotel for four nights for two £160

• Transportation: 1 euro for each bus journey. It's also walkable. Most places are 30mins walk maximum.

• Food: This can be as cheap as 5 euro or as expensive as 12.50 euros depending on what you plan to eat.

Muslims in Vilnius

Muslims from the Turkish Tatar origin have been in Lithuania since the 14th century. There is an Islamic centre in the centre of Vilnius. There is also long heritage of Muslims there. A full post about this is coming up.   

More Posts about Lithuania: 

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How to document your travels like a pro?

Documenting my travels is one of my favourite things of all times. It is the reason I started my blog in the first place! There are so many ways to document and record your trips. It is a good way to remind yourself of your precious memories and to share it with others to keep your family up to date if you are travelling for a long while. This post will give you a little insight on how I personally document my travels from writing to using other types of technology! I mainly use four ways to document my travel: writing, photography, videography and social media. Although I find the documenting and sharing a little overwhelming, it is really fun! Let tell me tell you more about each method. 

Travel Documentation: Writing Travel Notes

Let's start with the oldest way of documentation: writing! Travel writing is about details and valuable infromation. You can write about your trip after it is over, or you can write an entry every night of your trip. I prefer the latter otherwise I wouldn't remember a lot of the small precious things that happened. You can list the activities you have done chronologically from the moment you woke up or you can start with your least favourite activities. I usually have a lot to say about my least favourite things and writing helps me blow out steam especially if I was angry about spending half a day in a museum I hated. When you are writing, it is not only about the information of the activity, it is about fully describing the situation to create a vibrant mental image. I often enjoy reading novels because I can imagine things with rich details the way I want. Unlike movies, where they just give you all the visuals on a platter. 

After every place I visit, I make a few quick notes on my phone or notepad of highlights and add sentences that would remind me of full stories. I usually don't have time to write fully at night because I am likely exhausted from my full day out. So, I write it all with the help of my notes on the plane on my way back home. I love three hour plane journeys. I get so much done during that time! I type it all up on my little keyboard that I connect to my iPad because I don't love packing my laptop with me. Often, my written travel notes make it into a blog post, where I can refer my friends and family to my experience and advice if they want to find out more. 

Travel Documentation: Taking photos

The most obvious thing to do when travelling is taking photos and it is a great fun. You know what is not fun? Editing over 5000 photos after a two-week trip. I have learnt my lesson after taking million photos in Iran. Yes I loved looking at everything, but that doesn't mean I had to take that many photos. I am much more selective with the photos I take right now. I usually like to take one photo showing the whole thing, a photo of small details I really liked and a photo of me with that monument. I got really upset after realising I had hardly any photos of me in those 5000 Iranian pictures. I love having a light camera with me on my travels that has a wifi connection within it, so I can share the photos instantly like the canon cameras below: 

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Oct 24, 2017 at 2:56am PDT

Read: How to take pictures of yourself when travelling solo

Travel Documentation: Making Travel Films

I was not always big on video. I actually refused to even take short clips of any of my trips until 2015! All my videos of that year either had dust marks in them or just a shaky unusable clips, but now that I got the hang of it. I love taking videos. I try to enjoy my trip as well, so I don't take a video of everything. I like to take an establishing shot of the place from the outside showing the scale and the surroundings then I take detail shots and close ups of what I feel is important. Editing video is even harder than photos and having over 200 clips from one day only is a complete pain to put together. It also helps to think of how you attend to put the video together that usually determines the amount I film. For example, if I only want to do a highlight video, like the one I did in Morocco, I would film much less than a daily travel vlog style like the ones I did in Sri Lanka. I put both below to give you some ideas: 

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Jun 28, 2016 at 6:54am PDT

Travel Documentation: Sharing it on social media

A great way to document travels is to share it on social media and that actually helped me remember locations that I forgot to make a note of. When I am on a trip with a good wifi, I share two photos a day, one in the morning and another one in the evening. That way I can either share thoughts I am having about the destination or some useful facts. I like numbering the photos as well. Like Day 1 in Morocco etc. Ps. Don't share the hotel's location where you are staying until after you leave!

Read: How to stay safe when travelling

Sharing doesn't have to be only during the trip time, it can be after like Throw Back Thursday and Flashback Friday or even referred to a Lategram. It's your life and photos and you are free to do whatever you please really!

Over to you: how do you document your travels? 

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Some Travel Inspiration for your Instagram: 

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe for the Modestly Dressed Traveller?

On Today's blog, I have invited Luisa Kearney from The Online Personal Stylist to share some of her fashion expertise on building a capsule wardrobe especially for the modestly dressed traveller. Her tips will help you pack smarter, lighter and with fashion in mind! Luisa will take it from here: 

Deciding what to pack for your travels can be very difficult. Quite often you end up packing too much or you don’t pack the right items for the destination. There’s nothing worse than getting caught out and not having what you need when you’re far away from home. We’ve all been there – forced to suffer for the duration of our travels feeling uncomfortable because our clothing and footwear aren’t suitable for the climate we’ve visited. This is why building a capsule wardrobe for travel is an excellent solution to your packing problems.

What is a Travel Capsule Wardrobe? 

It is a small collection of comfortable pieces that you can pack in your suitcase each time you travel to make everything so much easier.

We’re going to look at the basics of forming a capsule wardrobe and more importantly, how to create a modest capsule wardrobe. If you don’t like to show off too much skin or you plan to travel to countries where it is deemed disrespectful if you don’t cover up, this article will provide you with a valuable insight into what to wear for those situations.

Step 1: Decide What You Need and Why

The phrase “a wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear” is proof that you don’t need an endless choice of clothing items. You just need items that you will actually wear. The great thing about building a capsule wardrobe is that you can personalise it to suit your needs. Some people even decide to create several micro capsule collections – one for each different occasion. If your life is very varied and requires you to have appropriate outfits for different events then curating a specific collection of coordinating pieces can make it easier to look well put together at all times. You may choose to create a capsule collection for office wear, travel, summer fashion, winter, and for special occasions. The choice is endless but this method makes shopping and organising your clothing much easier and more cost-effective. So, if you were to put together a conservative-fashion capsule wardrobe for travelling, you must first decide on what you will need to include. If you don’t travel at all in the winter months then there is no point adding winter wear to your collection. If you travel all through the year then try to maintain a balanced number of items for each season. Ideally, you don’t want to have lots of clothing items just for the summer and then nothing to wear during the cooler months. Personally, I’d recommend trying to build 2-3 outfits for each season. A couple of pairs of trousers/bottoms, a couple of tops, 1-2 cardigans/jumpers and 1-2 pairs of shoes. Don’t forget that you can always mix and match garments from each season! Creating a really streamlined capsule wardrobe for all four seasons can only be done properly if you stick to a strict colour palette.

Step 2: Choose Your Preferred Colour Palette for Your Capsule Wardrobe

Putting together a collection of clothing, footwear and accessories especially for your travels will make packing and shopping for future travel clothes much simpler. The first and most important thing about putting together most types of capsule wardrobe is to decide on a colour palette. What colour theme are you going for? The biggest mistake that a lot of people make when trying to pack for their travels is mixing colours and patterns. Adding in the bright coloured, statement piece that you have just bought for your summer holidays can cause a bit of a headache if it doesn’t suit anything else you intent to pack. Adding “structure” to your travel packing sounds boring but it is the only to guarantee that your travel wardrobe is practical, comfortable and functional.

To start building your colour palette for your capsule wardrobe, you must take into account these 3 things:

1) Your natural skin tone type (this will determine which colours, patterns and tones will suit your skin tone).

2) Which seasons are you packing for? This may be a contributing factor in deciding which colours are best to pack.

3) How easy and stress-free do you want your capsule wardrobe to be? If the idea of colour coordinating your clothing makes you feel uneasy then stick to a minimalist colour palette.

As a professional stylist, I encourage my clients to explore different colours and tones that suit their natural complexions. However, if I was to put together a simple capsule wardrobe list to suit the majority, it would mainly consist of items in black, white, grey and beige – but mostly black and white. Yes, this is a very basic colour palette and if you were to work one-to-one with a professional or if you have a good idea of what colours suit you already, I am sure you would be able to come up with a much more complex blend of tones. Personally I’d recommend building a conservative capsule wardrobe using these tones:

• Black
• White
• Beige
• Blossom-pink
• Blue-grey

These tones suit the majority of people and are the easiest to mix and match. Plus, these shades can be worn all through the year!

Step 3: Build Your Capsule Wardrobe

Finally, what do you add to your capsule wardrobe? What items should it contain? Well, for the conservative dresser here is a list of stylish but elegant options to include:

Bottoms: Black jeans, White jeans, Indigo jeans, Harem pants, Dungarees & Silk pyjama trousers

Tops: Long sleeve top, Vest top, T-shirt, Cardigan, Hooded jumper

Body Covers: Maxi dress, Kaftan, Jumpsuit

Accessories: Large shawl, Cross-body bag, Tote bag, Jewellery (your choice).

Footwear: Sandals, Trainers/pumps and Ankle boots. 

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Author:
ONLINE PERSONAL STYLIST was founded by Luisa Kearney, a professional fashion stylist and editor who is passionate about providing women with an education in fashion, style and the ability to curate luxury fashion (ethical and sustainable) whatever your budget. Through Online Personal Stylist’s fashion blog and paid online personal styling services, your perfectly styled wardrobe is just a click away! Online Personal Stylist supports cruelty-free fashion and cosmetics, as well as encouraging its audience to upcycle and reuse clothing they already own. 

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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Saudi Living in London March Update

This post is a roundup of all my London ventures of the previous month. It’s a list of food I tried, places I visited and things I did. This post will keep you up to date with my life in London. This is the first time I do a post of this nature, but it seems like a lot of people are interested in what I do in London, so here is a quick summary. Please let me know in the comments if you would like to see this update every month! 

Let’s start with the London food I indulged in:

Darjeeling Express Indian Restaurant

Since the beginning of the year, I went to Darjeeling Express twice and each time the food was really good! Their all Halal menu and delicious choices are fantastic. The service is a little slow, but it’s a kitchen made of home cooks, so I can let it slide. My advice is to go with plenty of time on your hand. 

Opso Greek Restaurant

When I go out with the girls, we aim for a new restaurant depending on our location. My foodie friend, found this tapas style Greek restaurant and it was amazing. The goat curd cheese and the Fava beans were so good! We shared five tapas between the four of us and got an extra mini Fish burger each, which was more than enough! 

DFX Mexico

The first time I tried this place was a few years ago when it was first opened. In March, I tried the Tottenham Court Road branch and it was just average. I tried their fish tacos and cheesy fries, but it was nothing special so I won’t be going back there in a rush. 

The Black Penny

This is a nice cafe in Covent Garden with a nice breakfast/brunch menu and yummy dessert bar. I was impressed with their chocolate and salted caramel cupcake and chocolate brownies. It was a bit hard getting a table there on a Sunday, but if you do manage one then it’s a nice cafe to chill for a bit. 

Places I visited around London in March

Royal Academy

In March, I attended my first late night event of the year. By late I just mean after the usual hours of a Museum opening hours. The theme was night at the palace and I got to fully dress up, which I loved! Seeing the gallery at night wearing a gown was a little much, but it was one of the month’s highlights for sure!

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Mar 8, 2018 at 10:00am PST

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Mar 7, 2018 at 5:19am PST

Rich Mix

Earlier in March, I went to the Arab Women Now festival in Rich Mix. I love the gallery space and the various things they usually have planned in there. During the day, I tried a play writing class, which was interesting. In the evening, I attended a concert in the same space for a Tunisian band and absolutely loved it! Snippets of all of that is in the video below!

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Mar 12, 2018 at 12:34pm PDT

Cass Art Islington

Cass Art has a few locations around London. I usually go to the one in Soho when I have any art emergencies, but this time I went to the Cass Art Islington branch to teach an art class and I really liked the location. It was close to Angel tube station too!

A post shared by Esra Alhamal | إسراء الهمل (@islamicillumination) on Mar 31, 2018 at 7:00am PDT

Borough Market

I usually pass by the Borough market a lot, but I rarely go spend the day there. I managed to visit to film and have lunch with a friend last month. It was really lovely and I should actually visit it more often.

City and Guild Art Show

Having artist friends is fantastic, I went to my friend Clare Dudeney’s art show, which was part of her post graduate degree. It was fun seeing what she and her classmates created. 

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Mar 2, 2018 at 8:11am PST

Things I almost bought for my London flat

I do a lot of online and window shopping, but going through with it is rare unless I feel they are very important to have. I am trying to make my space a bit prettier that's why I was considering these. I might end up making my own home accessories though! Aren't they all just so pretty and tempting? 

Home Time

Speaking of my London flat, I hosted a gorgeous Spring lunch *alhamdulilah* that was mostly vegan except for the fish and the yogurt dip. I was very proud of myself and my favourite people liked it, so it was a win. It's those moments that I look forward to the most when I am not travelling. 

A post shared by Arabian Wanderess |رحالة عربية (@arabianwanderess) on Mar 30, 2018 at 11:55am PDT

Disclaimer: living in London is fabulous, but it has its challenges and high costs. Although, I got to do a good amount of activists it took me an hour each way to commute to and from. Also notice, there were 31 days in March and I only went out to these places. The rest of the month I was at home working! #KeepingItReal 

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