My Travel Bucket List

Hey guys! In this week's blog, I'm going to be sharing my travel bucket list with you. This is only a small list of places I want to visit because there are, of course, hundreds of places I would love to go. Remember to tell me in the comments what your travel bucket list is!

Italy

Italy has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to go to Rome to see the Colosseum. Italy is such a romantic and magical place. I would love to eat real pizza in Rome and see the Colosseum at night, all lit up.

I also want to go to Venice and have a ride on a canal boat down the waterways. I would ideally love to do a tour of Italy, going around all the places I'd love to visit such as Rome, Venice, Naples and Sicily.

Canada

I would love to visit Canada and I've always wanted to go to Banff and see the magical lakes. It's so beautiful, it looks like Photoshop. I would love to go to Toronto and Vancouver as well. Both me and Oliver would love to move to Canada one day. Life's too short to stay in one place.

I mainly want to go to see the wildlife in Banff and all the scenery. I bet it must be a big contrast between the city and countryside there!

Germany

I mainly want to visit Germany just for the Cologne Christmas market! It looks so cosy and cute.

I've also seen that they have some rather unique castles in Germany that I'd like to visit, such as the Neuschwanstein Castle which is also called "The Castle of the Fairytale King." Disney also used it in their fairytale, Sleeping Beauty and the real Disneyland Castle was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Kenya/South Africa

I want to go to Africa so that I can just go on a Safari trip! I love animals and seeing them in the wild would be a truly wonderful experience.

There's this hotel in Kenya called The Ark which sounds amazing, but extremely expensive, obviously. It's pictured above and you get to see all the wildlife outside!

Japan

I would like to go to Japan, mainly to see all the beautiful buildings. I would also love to find out more about the Japanese culture so seeing a country so different from the UK would be an experience in itself.

I would love to go to Tokyo during the cherry blossom season. It's so idyllic.

Egypt

Egypt is also on my bucket list because I've always been interested in the history and hieroglyphs.

I'd love to visit the Pyramids and ride a camel! What an experience that would be.

Disneyland

I have been to Disneyland Paris, but my aim is to do all of the parks. I had such a lovely time, and even though I hate roller coasters, I really enjoyed the themes and shopping and the overall experience. I had never been as a kid but Oliver took me and we had a magical few days visiting his family and Paris.

For once, this photo is actually mine. I loved seeing the Disney Castle! I hope one day we get to stay at Disneyland overnight and see the fireworks.

I hope you all enjoyed this post; it's something different I rarely do and would love to write about travel more! Please share your travel bucket lists with me, I'd love to get ideas on where to go.

Until next time, love, Vee x

Poetry Review: In Full Velvet

Hey guys! In this week's blog I'll be reviewing Jenny Johnson's poetry collection In Full Velvet. I hope you enjoy!

Blurb

Sinuous and sensual, the poems of In Full Velvet interrogate the nuances of desire, love, gender, ecology, LGBTQ lineage and community, and the tension between a body's material limits and the forms made possible by the imagination. Characterized by formal poise, vulnerability, and compassion, Johnson's debut collection is one of resounding generosity and grace.

Review

I bought In Full Velvet as an impulse buy and I had never heard of it before. I read a lot of Amanda Lovelace and Rupi Kaur's work which is much different from Johnson's writing.

I thought that Johnson's descriptions of nature were refreshing and I enjoyed reading about the metaphors and the LGBT poems, especially the ones regarding gender identity. Johnson has a unique way of words that grips the reader into her writing, even if you can't relate. Some of the poems I couldn't understand but the overall meaning of them is recognizable.

Some of my favourite poems from this collection include Little Apophat and Vigil. If you like poems about nature, LGBT, gender identity and desire, then you'll love In Full Velvet.

Have you read In Full Velvet? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Until next time, love, Vee x

Book Review: Reasons To Stay Alive

In this week's blog post I want to talk about Matt Haig's Reasons To Stay Alive which I read recently and has helped me see slightly clearer.

Blurb

What does it mean to feel truly alive?

This is the true story of how Matt Haig came through crisis, triumphed over a mental illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. Moving, funny and joyous, Reasons To Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth.

Review

I actually bought this book for my mum, knowing that she suffers with anxiety more so than I, but I too wanted to read it myself. It's been on my TBR for a while now and I finished it within a number of days.

Matt Haig writes from the heart, that much is true. I didn't really know what to expect when I first started reading this, but it soon became clear that he has the wildest of thoughts too, meaning I'm not alone in this battle. It's true what he says, when you have your first panic attack, you think you're the first ever person to have had one, and to have felt that bad. But you're not, for decades, people have suffered with panic attacks, anxiety and depression.

I can also understand the depression part of the book too as I have been there. It isn't there so much anymore, but the anxiety still is. It's always there, lurking, waiting for me when I'm most vulnerable. And when you have anxiety and depression mixed together like a cocktail, it has the power to break you. But what this book is about is how Haig survived the toughest of years, the worst of suicidal thoughts. He's still here; yes it may be difficult some days, but ultimately, there is so much to experience on this earth. There's so much to see, do, feel. No one wants to miss out on the good stuff, but sometimes we have to go through the shit in order to get to the good.

Mental health is still stigmatized, but if every person shares their story like Haig, the world will become less stigmatized the more we talk about it. Share your story, don't be afraid to show the real you. We have all had panic attacks, bad days and been in shit situations. You are not alone in this.

I truly enjoyed listening to the ways Haig copes with his depression and anxiety and how we should live in the moment as much as possible. It was like reading his diary. What a beautiful book it is and I urge everyone out there, with mental health problems or not, to read this. If not for you, then for someone you know who struggles. This book will help you spot the signs of mental illness more easily and how you can be there as a partner/family member for your loved one.

I hope you enjoyed this review and I'll see you soon! Love, Vee x

Poetry Review: Cavity

Hey guys! A while ago I interviewed Caitlin Conlon, a poet, who kindly sent me her chapbook of Cavity. Today, I'll be talking to you about it and why I enjoyed reading it.

Review

Cavity is about heartbreak and the heart wrenching hurt that comes with it. Conlon describes lost love in the most sad yet beautiful way and her choice of words had me rooting for her to get through this break up. Some poems are about how she misses him, others about how much hurt he caused her.

The poems aren't necessarily about how to get over a break up, but more about the fact that you aren't the only one feeling these feelings. Everyone goes through different emotions and stages in a break up but Conlon describes her emotions in such vivid detail that we feel like we are going through the break up with her. Conlon is truly a fantastic poet and I can't wait to read more of her work. Her use of metaphors was also exceptional and I can't recommend her collection enough. If you're a fan of Amanda Lovelace, you need to read Cavity.

I really enjoyed reading this collection and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you are going through a break up and need words of wisdom, or a shoulder to cry on, then this chapbook will be your saviour.

You can buy Cavity here: www.cgcpoems.shop

Until next time, love Vee x