I’m back again after just over a week in Portugal. I am very happy to have no travel plans in my diary and to be staying put in Dubai for the winter – it really is the best time of year here with sunny but not-too-hot days and a chance to actually enjoy outdoor life again. As much as I love to travel and explore places new, I haven’t had the chance to establish much of a routine since leaving the corporate world behind and I’m looking forward to being able to put good habits in place, to properly start my yoga teaching journey and to get back to brewing my own Kombucha. Oh, and carving a pumpkin as it’s Halloween soon and, somewhat surprisingly as a hater of organised fun, I love Halloween!

A Trip To Portugal

The reason for visiting Portugal was for a wedding of one of Harry’s university friends on The Algarve. Given the eight-hour flight and four-hour coach journey between Lisbon and the south coast (honestly not as bad as it sounds), we decided to stay on for a few days in Lisbon to see the city too, the last time I visited was back in 2015 for a wedding of one of my university friends!

Having been the single, solo wedding attendee for all of my twenties, attending weddings as the “other half” is still a pretty new and slightly daunting experience for me (small talk is…not my favourite). Meeting and living abroad has meant that (with a few notable exceptions) we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know one another’s friends yet and it’s quite strange to meet people who knew the person you know the best before you knew them?!

I am pleased to say that I stuck to my no-shopping-spree, being on the beach called for slightly more casual wedding attire than usual and summer dresses are something that I have a lot of. I even restyled a piece from one of my first ever blog campaigns some nine years ago (removing the sparkly buttons and not accessorising with faux pearls and a corsage…)!

A New Arrival!

WE ARE GETTING A KITTEN THIS WEEK! I am honestly so excited and a tiny bit apprehensive about bringing a pet into our lives. The circumstances in which we found out kitten made me realise that he really is the one for us. I met a fellow yoga teacher during my final week in Bali, who heard from another yogini that I wanted a cat…it just so happened that a couple of weeks before she had rescued three tiny, orphaned kittens, was hand-rearing them but couldn’t keep them due to already having three(!) adult cats. After getting back from Bali, we visited the three tiny kittens and one immediately chose us (he actually chose Harry and I am convinced he will love him the most) and there was no going back!

I have wanted a cat for a long time but have struggled to reconcile this against wanting to simplify my life, live with minimal responsibilities, travel frequently, cut down my spending and with living in a city which won’t be our forever home. I know that the joy of cat ownership will outweigh all of this and neither Harry not I grew up with pets so I’m sure it will be an experience…! I keep reminding myself that if I had let fears around commitment and new paths guide my past choices then I would 100% not be in the position I am in now. Be prepared for cat spam and no, this is not “practice for babies”, he is already toiled trained…

My Recent Reading List

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood – a book I couldn’t wait to start and while reading simultaneously wanted to finish and to drag out the joy of it for as long as possible. But…one which I had mixed views upon finishing. I loved getting thrown back into the world of Gilead, finding out more about how the world of “Handmaid” came to be and exploring other viewpoint characters. It’s easy to forget that Atwood is in her 80s as two of the viewpoint characters are teenagers and feel pretty realistic, at least to someone who was last a teenager a mere thirteen years ago.

The tone, pace and overall feel of this book is so entirely different to its prequel and I don’t think it has the same impact or starkness as the original. This is nominated for this year’s Booker Prize – I’m not sure it will be deemed “literary” or obscure enough to actually win it (I think it’s a weaker book than The Blind Assassin for which Atwood won the Booker in 2000). It feels pretty reactionary to both current circumstances and the TV show (which I haven’t watched and not sure I ever will) but for the joy of reading a new work by a favourite author, I loved it.

American War, Omar El Akkad – dystopia is my favourite genre so I was happy to find this book at a second hand bookstore in Dubai’s Outlet Mall (although it appeared brand new) and see that it was endorsed by the author of Station Eleven, a read I loved last year. El Akkad is a war correspondent turned author so the subject matter is one he is obviously knowledgeable about. Set around one hundred years from now before, during and after a second American Civil War this book attempts to pack a LOT into a quite slim novel and while I loved the depictions of the “new world” (as any dystopia fan does) I found the main character not particularly likeable, and her journey increasingly grim as she became radicalised and suffered torture.

Three Women, Lisa Taddeo – a non-fiction work, but unlike any non-fiction I have read before. Taddeo followed three women (originally more but many dropped out of the process of observation, honestly and baring all) over ten years, chronicling their lives, desires and relationships. I sped through this book in two days, finding it an addictive, obsessive read. Parts are uncomfortable, and quite difficult to read, but there is dark humour too (I will be reminded of this book every time I see a Cadbury’s Creme Egg). Each story contained aspects that resonated with my personal experience (no, not the Creme Egg story), either recent or deeply buried and despite a feeling that we are moving towards more openness in discussing the female experience, this book still feels like a huge opener of a much-need dialogue.

Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful, Arwen Elys Dayton – I nominated this book for my bookclub and hosted the meeting of it last weekend. I didn’t realise at the time that it’s a somewhat YA-focused book (all the principal characters are VERY young) but there’s a lot in here for us less-young adults, too! Set in both the near and distant future, Dayton explores six separate (but slightly interconnected) stories of where medical advances, genetic manipulation and cosmetic enhancement may take humanity. This book never gets too dark and was a great one for fuelling discussion.

Posts I’ve Shared

• Money Diary: Yoga Teacher Training Edition – tracking everything I spent doing my yoga teacher training in Bali
• My Ubud Food Guide – where and what to eat in Ubud

I’m currently reading Celestial Bodies for my bookclub and my hallway is filled with an assortment of kitten paraphernalia which I need to find space for before our new arrival on Saturday!

What was your last read and what should I add to my list?