By the time I realised that we were actually in May, the end of the month was approaching and now I can’t believe that tomorrow will be June 1st! Summer is upon us and I couldn’t be happier about it.
My favourite things about this month:
- As for last month, the weather was a huge highlight of the month. I spent a lot of time outdoors, reading or painting in the garden, or even just chatting with my flatmates. Sometimes the weather was so lovely that we brought the TV outside and watched movies in the garden with nice fairy lights on. It was lovely!
- The lockdown measures have been eased here in Belgium, and normality is slowly coming back. I was able to go to the centre and in some shops and libraries or to go buy an ice-cream. It is good to go back to some familiar activities, even though now I obviously don’t use public transport as much and I wear a face mask pretty much everywhere I go.
- Long weekends! A lot of bank holidays this month really were the breaks that I needed to completely disconnect from work.
- Flowers. Our garden was full of wonderful roses and we always had flowers around in the house. It put me in the nicest mood to look at them everyday!
My latest trips and adventures
- Obviously, I haven’t travelled at all this past month, and I was also quite busy in my personal life as well. I however managed to publish an article about a wonderful weekend that I spent in Prague last year. Go check it out if you haven’t already!
- As I was saying before, things are starting to go back to normal, so my adventures have mostly consisted of going to some shops, buying books at a near-by library and, my favourite: eating ice-cream. A friend of mine found this delicious Italian ice-cream place that serves deliciousness on a cone. I couldn’t be happier!
- Lately I have walked everywhere I went and it felt really good! I usually enjoy taking public transport at the weekend or to go to the centre, but I have tried to avoid it for obvious reasons. Even if my legs are a bit tired at the end, the long walks definitely compensate the day spent sat at my desk for teleworking!
Hobbies and distractions:
- I have felt really creative this past month, so I ordered some watercolour paint online and since I received it, I have used it a lot! I am usually really bad at painting, but I feel like watercolour is an easier-to-use medium and I have enjoyed thoroughly all the different things you can do with it. I still have a lot to learn but I am proud of my progress so far!
- As for movies and series, I have caught up with the series Cable Girls on Netflix, which is becoming my weekly or daily dose of drama and unexpectedness. Also in Spanish, I have seen Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory and liked it a lot. I don’t think I have seen many of his movies, but this one made me very curious to check the other ones out.
- I have also finished reading the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. A friend of mine recommended it to me and it did not disappoint! The reader follows the journey of a young woman that decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail by herself, in a quest to make more sense of her life and leave some things behind. Easy to read and captivating, it is also very interesting to see her transformation through this extremely hard journey, as well as reading all about the landscapes and places she sees.
General thoughts:
In mid-May I finally reached a deadline that required a lot of work and focus, and I am really glad it has passed. My days are now freer and lighter, so I really took the time to enjoy some laziness, trying not to plan everything. However, even though I have really enjoyed the free time, I soon came to realise that I need some direction in my daily life, otherwise I don’t really feel content with it. On top of that, we have now reached the middle of the year and I think some reset will be needed to focus a bit more on my goals and live a bit more intentionally!
Looking forward to:
- Following on what I just said, I have decided to focus a bit more on my language learning practice in June, and can’t wait to set up a plan to work on that. I will also try to post on here more regularly and do more creative things.
- Maybe we will finally be able to travel outside the country so I hope I can go see my family in June or in July. I know the month of June will be really busy at work, but if I can squeeze a short family visit there, I will be really happy. However, I also want to wait and see how I can do it in the safest way possible.
How was May for you? What are you looking forward to?
Last year in May:
– Local Adventure #1 : Visiting Manosque
Sunny Days with Juliette 
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