Spring cleaning my life
Post travel thoughts + mini trip recap
Hello!
I’m back home in Sydney, it’s Spring and I’m so happy about it. I got home two weeks ago from nearly 6 weeks away. As fantastic as the trip was, by the end of it, I felt excited to return home and get stuck back into my life. Reflecting on this time last year, I had just returned from a similar trip and was not at all excited about returning home. What a difference a year and positive changes to one’s life can make!
I hoped to publish more substacks while I was travelling but juggling work, travelling through many different cities while also trying to have downtime - it got away from me. I owe you many city guides (Copenhagen, London, New York, LA etc) and they’re coming (and more)! But for now, I wanted to check in, say hi (hi!!) and share some thoughts I had toward the end of my time away about a few things I hope to adapt in the last few months of the year, more positive changes - basically how I’m Spring cleaning my life at the moment.
But first, a mini recap of my trip.
What I read: A Court of Thorn and Roses & A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, All Fours by Miranda July (and what a wild ride it was).
What I watched: Presumed Innocent (Apple+), We started rewatching Emily in Paris from the beginning to prep for the new season but only got through season 1 - I’ll continue to watch this now I’m home! The Summer I Turned Pretty - I’ve watched this so many times now I’ve lost count but it was a good, comforting watch for the plane. I also rewatched Challengers - excellent on the 2nd watch, I was able to focus in on the characters a bit more and dissect their motives.
Soundtrack of the trip: Charm by Clairo, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Chappell Roan, Short n Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter.
Holiday scent: Luca by Tsu Lange Yor, Avestan by Avestan (more on this in my upcoming London guide)
Best apps: Citymapper (to get around London with ease), Spotify (obviously), Joe and the Juice (lol my obsession with Joe and the Juice followed me from Copenhagen, through to London and also New York - I always get a green juice and the turkey sandwich).
Itinerary
Week 1
We (my sister and I), flew to Copenhagen to start the trip. I was there for work during Copenhagen Fashion Week. Copenhagen is one of my favourite cities. We were blessed with perfect weather (minus one rainy day), we walked everywhere or hired Lime bikes, squeezed in amazing lunches, dinners and drinks with friends and vintage shopping in between various events.
Week 2
After Copenhagen, we flew to Faro in Portugal. It was my first time in Portugal and we were staying with family in the Algarve. We did a bit of exploring throughout the Algarve and a day trip to Lagos but we also had some really nice and much needed downtime. After the chaotic pace of Copenhagen and fashion week it was great to chill. I finished off my first book, we swam, we napped, we took time to just be still.
After a week in the Algarve, we drove 3 hours to Lisbon and spent 3 nights there. I loved being back in a city for a few nights but it was incredibly hot. We did a big vintage shopping day, enjoyed yummy lunches and dinners, drank so much water and just tried to survive the heat.
Week 3
Next up we flew to Bilbao in Spain. We only had a few hours in Bilbao before we had to get on a bus to our next destination: Saint Jean de Luz in France. Saint Jean is a small beachside town in Basque Country, south-west of France. It’s a 30 min drive to Biarritz and about an hour train away from San Sebastian (we did a day trip here and it was gorg!!). Again, we were staying with family and it was a really relaxed week. Lots of home cooked meals, walks around the town, lots of reading.
Week 4
We flew from Biarritz to London and my sister and I separated to go and stay with friends. My best friend Elle has lived in London for the past 11 years (we met in high school when we were 15) and for the last 8 years (minus a few pandemic years) I’ve been visiting her in London during her summer. Earlier this year she had a baby so it was my first time meeting her gorgeous little girl, Rosa. I had a few work commitments in London but majority of the trip revolved around being with Elle, catching up with other friends, shopping, eating, catching the tube; all the good stuff.
Week 5:
After London, my sister and I reunited for our final week of travel and we flew to New York! New York is my favourite city ever. I am always trying to work out a way to move there. Again, I had some work commitments (we were there for a few days of NYFW) but aside from that, we just walked around, explored, shopped, ate, lapped it all up. After a week (which is not long enough), we flew to LA for one final day and night before our journey back to Sydney.
Five and a half weeks of wonderful memories, a stupidly heavy suitcase and a very happy heart; I can’t wait to do it all again next year.
Post travel thoughts/Spring cleaning
The two weeks back at home has consisted of work deadlines, events, meetings, catching up with friends, celebrating my birthday, crying over Daniel Ricciardo leaving Formula 1 and when I’ve had spare moments I’ve been doing a very thorough and serious major wardrobe clean out/house declutter!
Naturally, on my trip I did a bit of shopping, so coming home to an already overflowing wardrobe meant I had to clear some (a lot!!) of stuff out. I had to be brutal and get real with myself - if it hadn’t been worn in the last year, it was gone. I pulled everything out of my wardrobe shelves and my closet and assessed the situation. I made a pile to donate, one for storage, one to sell at SWOP and one repair/alter.
Unsurprisingly, it’s felt so good to clear things out. It’s also been so rewarding to get clothes repaired and altered - we’d had a bag of stuff sitting in a corner all year and now it can all be worn! Moral of the story - if you’re sick of clutter and not being able to close your wardrobe comfortably, take a day (or a weekend or a few lol) and clear things out.
I also did a huge deep clean of the house - using my household appliance of the year - the Dyson Wash G1.
As I said at the start, I was so excited to come home and felt so much clarity and motivation at the end of my trip to get stuck back into things in Sydney. Here’s the list I made before I came home/what is front of mind on my to-do list now that I’m home.
Hug my boys so so much (Angus and the cats!!!) (obviously first thing I did when I landed!)
I want to start running again. I ran heaps in my teens and early 20s and have run on and off since but I’m really keen to get back into it. I’m going to start again this week.
I can’t wait to do more work to our house. Nothing too extreme but I’m itching to finish off a few things that have been on the list for a while - storage/closet space in two of the bedrooms, curtains in the living room, paint my office.
I’ve read three books on my trip so I really want to keep prioritising my reading - the key is reading books you can’t put down lol. Since I’ve been home I’ve been reading The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and I’ve nearly finished. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney is next!
Declutter my shit at home! there’s nothing like travelling that shows you how much you really need / don’t need (I’ve already mostly achieved this!)
More steps every day. I walk SO much when I travel and it’s my favourite thing ever. It’s easy to do when you’re exploring so I want to mix up my daily walks at home with a bit more exploring to make things more interesting.
Work some new recipes into our cooking routine. Here’s an amazing sausage, brocolli and bean recipe I made twice since being home. I also just received Julia Ostro’s new cookbook Good Cooking Every Day so I have plenty of inspiration!
Test for food allergies / intolerances. I’ve had some issues over the years and would love to get to the bottom of what’s going on - I’ve been thinking about doing this for ages!
Continue working on and launch an exciting interview series on Substack I’ve been planning for a while in the background!
Happy Sunday!
More Smooth Brain Thoughts soon,
Ali xx
Loved following your travels over on Instagram! I too have been crying over Daniel Ricciardo leaving F1. Seeing all the posts about it have had me 😭