An Autumn To Do List

An Autumn To Do List 

For once, I’m truly ready for summer to be over which is not something that I ever thought I’d say as I’ve been a summer lover for my entire life. Maybe it’s because this year has been so terrible in so many different ways that I’m looking to autumn like a little bit of a fresh start even though in reality nothing is really changing for me. September has always lit a fire within me to get organised and my productivity switches on like a light and despite the current circumstances this is the most motivated I’ve felt in a good couple of months and these are my plans for autumn so far.

scotland road trip

We were supposed to be getting married in mid October but we postponed everything at the end of June as it wasn’t looking likely we’d be able to have the day we envisioned. As sad as I am not to be getting married I know it’s the best to keep our loved ones safe right now as the spread of infection is increasing again we know it was the right choice for us. Something we’ve wanted to do for a really long time is a trip to Scotland with Josie and Edie. We want to travel around quite a lot we’ve decided the best option for us is to rent a motorhome and wild camp as much as we can. Our trip is planned for the beginning of November and I’m already so excited about it and so far our route looks a little something like:

• Cairngorms

• Loch Ness

• Fort William

• Isle of Skye

• Glencoe

• Loch Lomond

And whatever else we can fit in! I’ve already started a master list of places to look out for as well as what we’re going to need to pack and a couple of things I need to purchase.

going back to the gym

My gym re-opened at the beginning of August but I waited until the beginning of September to restart my membership as I still felt really anxious about going when it first reopened. As much as I tried to make working out from home work for me it never really did and I found myself making a million and one excuses to not do it where as I’m so much motivated when I have a gym membership. I’ve restarted Couch to 5k after failing to meet my goal of running 5k last year and so far I’ve enjoyed it so much more than I thought. Having that little bit of my day back just to do something completely for myself does wonders for my mental health.

second hand september

Something that I’m trying to do so much more this year is shop second hand. It’s something that I started to do last year and this A/W I’m trying to buy almost everything I want for my wardrobe from Depop or eBay and so far so good. I’ve managed to get a pair of New Balance trainers, 3 knitted jumper dressers, 1 jumper dresses and finally a replacement for my very worn and in dire need of replacing pleather jacket. There is something so extremely satisfying about finding something second hand and it being exactly what you’ve been looking for. Dare I say it’s an even better feeling than shopping new? The lockdown made me really examine my shopping habits and look at what I was buying and from now on I’m going to try really hard to only buy second hand or sustainably when it comes to my big purchases. The only area where I’m finding this is a little more difficult is when it comes to my underwear and socks as I can’t afford £20+ on one pair of undies but it’s something I’m trying to work on.

taking more photographs

Autumn is hands down my favourite time of year to take seasonal photographs and I think because we’ve not been able to get out much this year I’m aching for it even more and I think I’ve finally found my happy place with Instagram once again. Obviously, our Scotland trip is going to be a huge part of my content for the autumn period which I couldn’t be happier about as I can’t even imagine how beautiful the Loch’s are going to be with the morning mist.

getting back into a routine

Whilst things certainly aren’t back to normal in terms of my workload and what’s coming into my inbox I am trying to get back into as much of routine as I can with my day. Obviously, during lockdown everything went completely out the window in terms of normality which is absolutely fine because it’s to be expected but now I’m aching for some sort of routine when the world is very slowly going back to ‘normal’. Going back to the gym and having that little part of my day has helped a huge amount and my AM dog walks is something that keeps me anchored too.