August flew by so quickly and this is why!

I think I am going to start all my posts with "Can you believe how fast this year is going?" It is funny to think that when I was younger I felt like days are lasting too long and now I feel like I can't get enough hours of the day. Let me tell you what I was up to in August and why I felt like it was gone it a flash. Although we did have 31 days of it!  

I was in London in August and I did not make any travel plans on purpose because all I wanted was to get a huge chunk of work done so I can pre schedule everything for September so I can focus on other things this month. Even with the insane amount of work I still did not manage to do this, but at least August was a very productive month. I actually have to go back to my calendar to remember all the things I did. That is what working form home does to you! It makes you forget (or maybe it's just me!)

Videos

I think this month have been my most productive video production months in my life. I have a very long backlog of footage that goes back to 2016 and I am still trying to manage my time better to get the videos edited and published and I managed to get eight out! If you haven't seen them, please do! You know how hard your girl works on them lol (Videos!)

Art

I started the month with taking another art course to advance my art skills because I do art part time as an extra side hustle. I have like 5 side hustles it is crazy! I learnt a little more about tiles specifically Persian tiles that used to be made in the 12th century because they are the prettiest ever. 

Writing

I finally found my writing motivation in August, I credit that to the sunshine that we all got in London. I decided to write four books on Reedsy! I do not know what is wrong with me, but I love making unrealistic plans hehe. I wanted to finish at least one of them in August, but I will still be working on it for another week. It is a small 16k word e-book about being a content creator and how to start doing that. I am not sure how it will be received, but you will all get to see it end of Sep *I hope* or start of Oct. The other two books are about my travels and the last one is about art because I can never choose between art and travel and I love them equally.  

Family

The second Eid that celebrates the Muslim pilgrims and their achievement happened in August. In our family this is just another excuse to see each other and since most of the family is back home in Saudi, I went to see my sister and her kids, which was lovely!  

Camping

August had a bank holiday, which meant a summer bank holiday. My favourite person & I went camping and it was my first time ever going into the woods and pitching a tent up and sitting in front of the fire for hours. I loved it! 

Theatre

I ended the month with a live theatre show! I went with my bestie to watched Wicked the Musical and that was lots of fun! and it was seriously on the 31st of August. Apart from this outing, I don't think I tried anything new or impressive in London last month, but might try to go to few new places next month to share new places with you! 

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As you can see, it has been busy and I always feel weird about telling people all of these details and I still get responses that all the things I do should not keep me this busy, but I kid you not. I work and work day after day, but I love it. Absolutely love it and it is the reason I wake up with so much will and motivation. The challenge is to keep this momentum going! Hope your month was great as well! 

By the way, if you enjoyed this post, then you will enjoy my monthly newsletter. I release my travel plans on there first before anywhere else! 

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Camping near London - First Timers Camping Guide

City Girl Going Camping

I am a city girl through and through. I was born in the city and kept travelling from one city to another. My outdoor adventures are a recent interest that I am doing more of lately to stay fit while travelling. I am not against the outdoors, I just never had a chance to go. My Saudi family didn't do much in terms of the outdoors and my other friends were all city kids until the past couple years, when I started making more connections with outdoorsy people. So when the idea to go camping was brought up, I agreed right away. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it was something I should finally try.

Since it was my first camping experience, I didn't want to venture too far from London just in case I could not survive it and wanted to go back home. So we looked for a camping site on Pitch Up until we found Evergreen Farms, which seemed like a nice option. It was an hour train from Victoria Station. We gave them a call and discussed what they had on the site and other relevant information. They seemed nice and it was such a lovely place to go camping in near London.  

Reality of Camping

The campsite had lots of pitches in various fields and woods to space campers out. Our pitch was around the Oak Trees, which we loved. The site also had two eco/compost toilets that were 5-8 minutes walk from the tent. They were looked after well. The site allows lighting a fire and wood can be bought from them. They also provide 25L of water, which was great. I felt like everything was organised well upon arrival.

First task was to put the tent up, which took about 10-15 minutes. It really helps when you have an expert camper with you. It is not too hard to figure out, but it will take you slightly longer if you had no clue how to set it up.

Second task was getting the air mattresses, pillows and sleeping bags all in order.

After all of that was set, we put the rest of our stuff in the tent and closed the zips. It was a very safe campsite, but if you are worried about safety, you can always lock the tent zips together. 

Camping is not only about staying in the campsite, it is also about the nature walks around the area. Being in East Grinstead gave us a chance to do a few woodlands walks that were quiet and pretty. There was a few historic sights around that were cool to visit as well. 

In the evening, we started the fire. By "we" I mean I was watching the process happen rather than doing much related to lightning the fire. It was satisfying to watch. When the fire slowed down, we cooked dinner on the grill! We tried to be very aware of what we wanted to eat and we packed exactly what we needed and nothing more.        

Watch my camping weekend in this video: 

Packing for your first camping trip - Camping Essentials

Buying the camping gear and equipments was the most confusing part to me! There are so many details I kept googling and asking about! Even something as a simple sleeping bag! It might be a good idea to go in person to Go Outdoors, Decathlon or Sports Direct to buy everything, but if you are like me and think shopping online is the way to go, you can use the links below. 

• Tent (sleeps 2-3 people)

• Camping chairs (stools are fine)

• Sleeping bag: the recommended shape is a mummy so you are snug and not cold. If you want to use it in the summer, it’s better to buy a 1-3 seasons. The more seasons the sleeping bag is prepared for, the hotter it gets and the bigger it becomes. The one I got was three seasons one.

If you are buying all the camping accessories it might be a little much, but if you plan to go campaigning few times a year they will be really worth it. n this video, I share all the things I packed with the prices: 

Camping equipments for a comfortable camp

Camping Cooking Equipment 

For some reason, when I was looking up checklists online, a lot of them failed to mention the cooking aspect of the camping experience. Campsites differ in terms with what's allowed in cooking. Luckily, the place we went to had a prepared pit on the ground to make a fire and that's where most of the cooking took place. It was really handy to have the little camping stove though for a tea and eggs in the morning before getting the fire ready.

On the first night, we set up fire and the grill to make the steak we brought with us in the cool bag, which kept cold and fresh for a good few hours before we cooked it. 

Inside your Camping Bag

Since it was my first time camping and I was not sure if I would do it again, I did not want to invest in an expensive bag, so I settled for a basic Quechua camping bag and it worked really well I thought. It wasn't this exact one, but it was very similar to these two! I put all my clothes and other extras inside it then put the bigger items like the mat, sleeping bag and chair on the outside of it. 

Camping Extras: 

I saw a few good suggestions when I was looking at the Camping for Women lists such as packing earplugs for noisy nature and snack bars. I had to pack two types of tea on top of that too! They were small things and are not hugely important, but they are great to have. I packed some makeup essentials too (oops!

Booking.com

Budget for camping in England: 

• Camp site: £75 for three nights for two people = £37.50 each

• Train from London Bridge to East Grinstead (if you have a student rail card, the train fair will be cheaper) = £26 return with the railcard.

• All the equipment and tools I got because I haven't camping before were £140, but they will last for a few future trips.

• Food: This really depends on what you would like to eat. I went fancy for my camping food so it was £40 you can do it much cheaper than that if you plan to eat noodles.

Over to you: Where are you planning on going for your first camping trip? 

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Ten Days Itinerary to the Algarve, South Portugal

Ten Days Itinerary to the Algarve, South Portugal

The South coast of Portugal is a beautiful part of the country that offers so many beaches and a lot of them are big enough to fit everyone that's visiting. The harder it is to find the beach however, the emptier it is going to be.

Beaches are only one part of it, it's always great for nature hikes, historic sights and lots of relaxation. I came to the South mostly for a surfing and yoga retreat, but I found so much more beyond that as you I'll see in this post. If you get the chance, then do make an effort to visit, especially, in the off season or the start of the season to get a more authentic experience. 

• Is Algarve Muslim Friendly? 

• Weather in Algarve

• Ten Days Itinerary to Algarve

• Highlights of Algarve Cities

• Packing Tips for Algarve

• Food in Algarve

• Needed Budget for Algarve

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Is Algarve Muslim Friendly?

With the spread of Islam after the 7th century to North Africa, some of the regions around those areas such as the Southern Spain and Portugal were influenced by the religion of Islam. Some of the cities like Silves were fortified and that protected them longer. In the 12th century, Portugal were ruled by the Christian ruling again. A lot of the Islamic sights have been lost because of the The 1755 Lisbon earthquake.  

Further Reading: Arab Memories in Portugal By: Habeeb Salloum 

The affects of Arabs can be seen in the tile work and some of the Portuguese language. Tiles are called "azulejos", which sounds almost exactly as the Arabic word " Al Zellige" that is used to describe Moroccan tiles. Even the word "Algarve" goes back to the Arabic word "Al Gharb" meaning West. Referring to South of Portugal as the area West of Spain, where the Islamic Kingdom extended. 

On my trip to Algarve, I found it very muslim friendly. All my visits to Portugal have been really good and I am very thankful that is the case. Sometimes people are curious or just interested. A smile and a conversation usually break the barriers and the isolation. 

Weather in Algarve

When I visited in April, the weather was a mix of rain and sunshine. That possibility of rain makes the South a less crowded place. The summer gets so busy that the ocean waves are not enough for everyone and the roads are filled with parked cars and vans. The start of Fall is a good time to visit especially that families are back to their home countries for their kids school. 

For weather predication through out the year check this graph from Holiday Weather. The predictions aren't very accurate, so it's better to use this as a general guidelines. It might be worth asking some locals too.

Ten Days Itinerary to Algarve

I started the trip from the furthest point of the South coast in Budens, which is an hour and a half from Faro airport then I made my way back slowly to spend four days in the Chicks on Waves yoga and surfing retreat. I then took a bus to Lagos and stayed there for three days. During the Lagos stay I did a day trip to Silves to trace some Islamic heritage in Portugal. I took a train from Lagos to Faro. I spent the last three days in Faro and took another day trip to Albufeira. Taking my luggage with me and using public transportation resulted in some back and forth, but it was still comfortable enough. If you are driving in the Algarve then your trip will be much smoother than mine.  

Highlights of Algarve Cities

Budens and surrounding area is a great place for yoga and surfing. There are so many retreats there such as the women only one I went to, Chicks on Waves, or I heard Good Feeling is supposed to be good. In short, it is a good place to relax and enjoy the beach life. 

Lagos had a great little city vibe going on and they had the best vegetarian restaurants in Algarve. The cliffs and walking on them and next to them was the highlight of my entire trip! 

Silves is a cute little town with the famous Moroccan castle and I liked some of the tiled buildings there too! 

Faro is underrated because most people leave it for the other interesting beach towns, but it also had a nice vibe. The main attraction is the park   

Ten days were enough to see all the highlights, but there are more quaint villages and gorgeous nature to see. I could have spent three weeks there easily. My favourite city was Lagos and I would go back again for another visit for sure. 

Packing Tips for Algarve

If you are planning to go to Algarve in April or November then make sure you pack an umbrella and a rain jacket, but if you are going on the sunny months, then pack a sunhat instead. The water is VERY cold, so whatever season you are going, I would pack a little sweater or a cardigan to wear right after you come out of the water. If you are modestly clothed traveller like me, I would avoid the super hot months from June-August because being there under the hot sun, wearing layers can be slightly overwhelming unless you are planning to spend the majority of your time in the water then you are good! 

Food in Algarve

The food in the Algarve was okay. I mainly liked the food I had in Lagos, but Faro was not too bad either. Both of those two bigger cities had a few nice options. The great thing is that there is a lot of fresh vegetables and sea food. I think staying in a rented flat with a kitchen might be a good idea so you can use their delicious fresh produce to cook for yourself! 

Needed Budget for Algarve

Since Algarve is very touristy, the prices there can get expensive when added up. My budget aim there was mid-range; comfortable, but affordable. 

• Flight from London to Algarve & Return in April on Ryan Air £180 (I booked it the same week I was flying, but you can find cheaper flights if you are more organised. 
• Shuttle Service Faro airport (FAO) > Burgau 27.50 euros
• Retreat (my retreat was work, but if you were to pay for it, it's between 650 to 800 euros)
• Lagos Accommodation - Two Nights £45 (€ 50)
• Lgos food and activities £60
• Silves Day Trip £25
• Faro Accommodation - Four Nights £125 (€ 140)
• Faro food and activities £80
• Albufira Day Trip £40

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Get a travel guide for Algarve: 

Over to you: What are you planning to do in the Algarve?

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