What’s coming up in August

Thank you to those who read yesterday’s July recap. Today we’re looking forward to the month ahead!

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In a couple days’ time I will be travelling to Greece with my other half, our hopefully light bag and a few books. I chose The Hill of Kronos, A History of Ancient Greece (I have the French version), Little Infamies and a book on the history of the Mediterranean (Histoire de la Méditerranée) to warm myself up to a country I am excited to be visiting for the first time. I’m not sure I’ll manage to finish them all during the trip, but I’ll give it a try!

We will be spending our time between the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, with slightly more time in the latter. Our accommodation and transport is all booked, and I have a few ideas of what I want to do, but if you have any recommendations of free/cheap things to do in either of those places, please do share them in the comments below!

After a (hopefully) lovely holiday at the start of the month, August will also involve some exciting work with The Tree Council, partners in the work I do with Treezilla at The Open University. This means travelling to London twice a week to create learning resources and generally promote Treezilla and the value of trees.

It will be the last full month before I substantially reduce my hours at The Open University, in order to accommodate starting a PhD (!). I have now been working for 13 months as a citizen science research assistant. Even though the commute has its challenges (bus, coach, cycle, repeat: three hours there and three hours back), it has been one of my most rewarding and enjoyable jobs to date! (The other one would probably be when I did an internship with Catalytic Communities in Rio.)

Yesterday I announced that I was working on three projects. One of them is to expand my Redbubble shop to feature products inspired by more places. Redbubble produce unique, high-quality clothes, accessories and decor. I’m putting designs out there for people who have fallen in love with a place and want to incorporate that feeling into their everyday or share it with others. Half of the profits I make go to supporting a local charity (such as Catalytic Communities for the Rio de Janeiro collection), so that you can do some good while looking good!

If you have any feedback on what is already in my Redbubble shop – what you like, what you would do differently and what other destinations you want to be featured – please share it with me here. Your help would be greatly appreciated! Later this month a new collection will go live; I will share the details at the end of a two-part travel guide. Hint: the place that provided the inspiration for it topped Lonely Planet’s list of cities to visit in 2017…

My personal goals for the month are:

• Disconnect and relax in Greece: no work, no emails, no news feeds
• Look after myself: eight runs and three yoga sessions
• Launch new Redbubble collection

Whether or not you’re experiencing sunny days or jetting off to somewhere exotic yourself in August, you can enjoy that summery feeling vicariously through my upcoming travel guides. Also on the “editorial calendar” this month: a walkthrough to starting a blog, an introduction to the concept of permaculture and ideas to reconnect with your inner child.

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