A day mooching around Islington with a dear school friend, where we visited the amazing Ottolenghi ,

This was my first trip home without my own flat and car to return to I’ve let out my flat and sold my car. Selling and renting has been challenging in many ways but I completed it with gratitude given it’s part of what I need to do right now to create a different type of life. And nothing’s forever…
But this definitely had an impact on how I spent my time. Without a car, I’m reliant on public transport and the kindness of friends and family to either give me lifts, or come visit me where I am, rather than me travelling to them. I also reduced the places I based myself to the Midlands, where my sister, mum and several other family members are, and London. And without a flat, in order to come down to London, where most of my friends are, I need to stay with friends and family to base myself from there.
As you may or may not know, I hate asking for help, so this was a stretching exercise to say the least. I was extremely grateful to the friends and family members who put me up without strings, and with love.
One of the biggest challenges I found was carving out time within the trips to work on my own projects and consultancy work. On-site work was straightforward, but working on the laptop was much more challenging to fit in. But equally hotels in bath important, as the two big projects I am working on (watch this space ;-) ) I hope to earn money from at some point.
I did a couple of fun pieces hotels in bath of work, one involved a trip to Paris for the day to facilitate a development workshop unfortunately I didn t get to see any of Paris, but the food was good (!), and the other was running a training course. I also had some work which ran over my flight home (that is, I was doing it at my friends’ house, at the airport, hotels in bath on the plane, on the ferry and then back in Thailand), which was a bit of a tight squeeze but was writing development tips which I really enjoy, so it wasn’t a problem.
A fabulous spa afternoon at the beautiful and unusual Ironmonger Row Spa . This was for a close friend s birthday, where slightly ironically given I live on a tropical island, I tried out my first ever bikini (no, there’ll never be photos!).
A day mooching around Islington with a dear school friend, hotels in bath where we visited the amazing Ottolenghi , a restaurant that does some truly interesting and unusual veggie dishes as well as heavenly cakes…
A trip to the Victorian pleasure ground Crystal Palace park  with a treasured friend I first met at work a long time ago, where she showed me some of the unusual creatures that lurk in the grass and trees, left over from the 1851 Great Exhibition. I was thrilled and intrigued with these first-ever statues of dinosaurs, and more so by seeing how our understanding of these magnificent creatures has evolved (geddit?!) over time.
A trip to the art house cinema in Wimbledon  where we were able to take wine and decaf coffee (guess which was mine ;-) ) into the cinema, sat in comfy seats, and generally felt like we were in an upgraded version of our living rooms. We saw Belle , which was interesting, but brought home to me once again how recent changes in cultural and social equality are even in the UK hard for me to imagine, as I sit here in a cafe in Thailand, hotels in bath that 150 years ago (or later) women were not allowed to go out of the house alone.
Crystal Palace Park: prehistoric animals in the forest Crystal Palace Park: Statues from the 1851 Great Exhibition New weird black London buses were everywhere Japanese food with friends Ottolenghi s HMV Curzon in Wimbledon very civilised A walk in Crystal Palace included this amazing view of the London skyline Crystal Palace Park lake Even the signage at Ironmonger Row Baths is lovely With my Aunt this is my not another photo look but as she always says, I ll be grateful later! I spent some time teaching my Aunt some yoga poses ;-) Eating al fresco in my Aunt s garden
One set of activities I was particularly pleased with was  fitting in three NT visits just before my card ran out! Having used it almost not at all over the last two years I decided to give up membership for a time while I’m travelling, but I managed to fit in three properties, including one on the penultimate day and one on the final day of my membership!
Sissinghurst  (where I was lucky enough to stay in the holiday cottage in the grounds with friends a couple of years ago) is one of the most beautiful gardens in the country, and it was a great opportunity to walk among summer flowers while catching up with friends. And have a picnic!
I also visited Sudbury Hall  and Calke Abbey , Both in the midlands, with family.  Sudbury Hall has a museum hotels in bath of childhood which was quite fun, and Calke Abbey is an interesting property that was in decline when it was taken over, and the decline has been halted, but not restored. You walk around and see how these huge country estates just withered and died when the money ran out in the early 20 th C. Fascinating and sad.
Calke Abbey Calke Abbey gardens Calke Abbey walled garden Sudbury Hall what does it say that one of the few photos I took was of the gorgeous little library?! Amazing architecture at Sudbury hall Helen and I at Calke Abbey
I had an absolutely lovely day at Wimbledon tennis, having been given ground passes by a good (and kind!) friend who works there. I took another friend with me, and we were very lucky to have wonderful weather. We had a great time catching up, laughing, discussing everything under the sun oh, and yes, watching some tennis. We didn’t go on any of the major courts, but ended up with a great view watching Federer practise, as well as spending a fair amount of time watching from Henman hill.
One of the other highlights of my trip was visiting the Emma Bridgewater factory . I *love* Emma Bridgewater’s pottery, and have slowly amassed a small collection of her ‘spotty’ series. They’re not cheap, but (as my mum and aunt said, loudly, about 100 times on the tour) now we’ve seen how each piece is handmade from start to finish, it’s easy to see why! It was a lovely tour, and we also hit the cafe and the ’seconds’ shop, and I really had to restrain myself given I don’t actually have a house anymore! hotels in bath I ended up with a beautiful one-person teapot and cup to leave at my mum’s. Another reason to come home and visit ;-)
Even the courtyard cafe was pretty Tess (my Aunt) and I were very amused with our conversations with this skilled hotels in bath gentleman (Mum hid in the background) Palpable excitement at this point from me My badge! I had to give it back though hotels in bath :-( Vast caverns of Emma Bridgewater pottery The spotty range are my favourite Loving the displays in the Emma Bridgewater shop Mum and I ready for the tour with badges!
One thing I have noticed coming back and forth between countries and lifestyles is that there s a certain period of decompression needed each end to re-settle into each life. This time it was harder coming back to Thailand, where, due to a changed visa situation and an outbreak of Dengue fever on the island where I m living, things seem less welcoming than they had before.
But, as all things do, this passes, and I am once again enjoying yoga, writing, visiting cafes and working in all kinds of unusual places, filled with anticipation about what the rest of the summer will bring.
Hi, I'm Ellen. A 30-something business psychologist who's taking some time to live, work and travel hotels in bath in SE Asia. I blog about management and personal development at ManageDevelopInspire.com, and travel and personal development at whereverthewindtakesme.com. See you there!