What a whirlwind! While I feel like January dragged forever, February seemed to have flown by in an instant. I spent all of the month in the UK, although I did make it to another country and visit Wales! Here’s what I got up to in February.
Where I Went
York, Hull, Richmond, Middleham, Congleton, Mow Cop, Sandbach, Llanberis, Snowdonia National Park, Harrogate (United Kingdom)
Best Moments
An amazing weekend in Cheshire/Snowdonia. This last weekend of February, Adam and I went to go see his family and had a great time! It was so nice to see them and catch up, and explore some new places! I finally got to go to Little Moreton Hall, a Tudor-era manor house in Cheshire. It’s been on my list of places to see for almost 5 years now! I also got to go to Snowdonia National Park in North Wales, and had perfect weather—blue skies and not a cloud in sight. I definitely think Wales is worth a visit! It was a great mini weekend trip!
The scenery in Snowdonia! Wow. I know I’d been before, but there’s really something to be said for when the weather is good and you can actually see what’s around you. Climbing most of the way up Mt. Snowdon (the highest peak in Wales), I was just in awe at what was around me. On the drive out, I also got to stop and take another photo of “my house,” on the road out of Llanberis! I had taken a photo of this house on my first trip to North Wales in December 2015, and it had become one of my favorite photos of Wales.
Good news on the job front! It has been a long, hard journey… but I have accepted two new part-time roles and am really excited about both of them. It will mean juggling 3 jobs at once, but I’m hoping that things are finally looking my way. One of them is working at a heritage attraction in York. The other is leading Harry Potter tours for a tour company in York—which is pretty much the dream!!!!!! While I’m sure I’ll still be stressing about schedules, money, days off, etc., I am really looking forward to the next chapter. Bring it on!
Publishing a big post. Away With Maja turned 2 years old this month! I can barely believe it. But as I aim to turn this blog more into a brand and a business, I’ve been doing major work in monetizing. Mainly because I want to be able to do this as a job! And that will take a lot of hard work and income streams in order to make that a reality. This is something I’ve felt since August, but haven’t told most people about. Hitting publish was scary, but also felt so good. Here’s to many more years to come!
A Yorkshire castle daytrip. As I’m sure you all know, I’ve got a bucket list of places I want to see in Yorkshire that’s about a mile long. I ticked a few more off this February by finally visiting Richmond Castle, Easby Abbey, and Middleham Castle! They were all interesting historical sites, and located close to one another. I really loved Easby Abbey—it was just beautiful. There will be a blog post coming out (eventually) about the day!
Fun night out with work. Due to the nature of my work establishment, Christmas is our busiest time and we don’t get to have a fun Christmas party with the rest of the world. So we had our team’s night out this month, and it was so much fun! I am so lucky to work with some really amazing people, and lucky to call them my friends. It was a lot of fun!
Seeing Levison Wood in Harrogate! Levison Wood is one of my favorite explorers. He’s written several books, done a few documentaries about his expeditions, and is just an all-around cool guy. I went to his speaking tour in Harrogate at the end of February, and it was great! I really admire the work he does and how he does it, and it was a lot of fun seeing him present on his past adventures.
A nice day in Hull. The major city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull was named the UK Capital of Culture for 2017. I had the chance in February to get a free trip to Hull, so decided to go and see what all the fuss was about! Hull has a reputation for being a bit of a dump, and gritty and sketchy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s a nice enough town, with a beautiful minster, interesting (and free!) museums, and a few stunning architectural gems. While I won’t necessarily be rushing to go back, I had a nice day and the city was better than I imagined in my head!
Snow! You might not believe it… but there has been substantial snowfall in York at the end of February!! Snow always makes me think of home and Minnesota, so it was great getting to see it snowing in the city, and to see the city’s hotspots covered in a blanket of snow. York Minster was really beautiful. And since I’m not driving in the snow here, it can snow as much as it likes!
Worst Moments
Stress over work, jobs, and money (of course). While I know I have some pretty exciting news to share, most of this month has been dedicated to stressing over work and jobs, as per the usual. Add many more rejections on top of this, anxiety over interviews, and lots of things happening at once—and it has still been pretty stressful. I’m not sure if/when I’ll be able to stop including this in a monthly recap, but I’m hoping soon.
Having to turn back climbing Mt. Snowdon. I was so excited to summit Snowdon, and accomplish one of the “Three Peaks” of Britain (Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales). However, after trekking about 800 meters up, it became pretty clear that the only people who were going to get to the summit were those with true winter mountaineering gear like crampons and ice axes. Major parts of the path were covered in ice and snow, and were simply not doable. I had a panic attack, thought I was going to throw up, thought I was going to get blown off the mountain, and turned back around. This was all the more serious as a hiker died just two weeks ago on the same path we were on. While I didn’t get to the top this time, I definitely plan on going up again in summer!
Paperwork for my student loans. Let me tell you, it is really complicated trying to get an Income-Based Repayment Plan for your US student loans when you no longer live in the country and don’t earn an income in that currency. I spent a lot of time organizing paperwork, getting letters, writing letters, making copies, etc., in order to re-certify my income. Then since it took so long (probably due to the fact that my case is so complicated!), I had a major panic when an old loan payment came up and there was no way I’d be able to make it. The good news is that as of yesterday, it’s all sorted!
Adam being gone (boooooo). While I’m perfectly able to be by myself, I do really miss Adam when he’s gone. He went on his “bro trip” with his brothers this month to Israel, and it was the longest we’ve spent apart since I moved in October 2016! I really missed him and was glad when he came back home!
Posts Published
I’ve had some big posts published this month, and have some more great content ready to go for next month as well! I’m finding that there are still loads of places I haven’t written about, so time to whittle down the list a bit. Here’s what I published this month:
The Budget Travel Bible: 101 Tips For Cheap Travel
Hiking Up Helvellyn in the Lake District
2 Years of Away With Maja: Reflections on Blogging and Next Steps
Waterfalls, Caves, and More: Exploring Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales
9 Reasons to Visit Peterborough Cathedral
Transferwise: The Best Way to Transfer Money Online
Instagram Top 3
Well, I’m still powering through with Instagram! Here are my top 3 photos from February.
Coming Up in March
March will be a busy month for me! I’ll start both of my new jobs this month. I’ve also got a lot of trips coming up in March/April, which will kick off with a short weekend in Dublin for my wedding anniversary! Then I’m heading off solo to Belgium for a few days over Easter—a new country for me! Between work and trips, March will be a busy one!
What did you get up to in February? Any exciting plans for March?!
Ace, you had a busy and fun filled February, despite the worries and anxieties!
Great to see someone visiting Cheshire… I love my home county. Congleton, Mow Cop and Little Moreton Hall are just down the road from where I used to live till 6 years ago and I’m usually back there once a week as my folks still live there. Let me know if you end up back in the area again as would be great to meet up.
Shame about Snowdon – it’s only in the clear about 35 days a year, so you’d be extremely lucky at this time of year to make it up there and be able to see anything.
Great news re your jobs – The Harry Potter Tour guide sounds fabulous. Will look forward to hearing how you get on with it…exciting!!
Have a great March and enjoy Dublin. Where abouts in Belgium are you heading to?
I’m supposed to be going down to Blenheim Palace and Stowe Gardens this weekend if the snow isn’t too bad, but at the moment Stowe is shut, so may have to re-evaluate plans…. ? Also heading back to the Lakes later in the month as well as a dog-friendly stay in Nidderdale, Yorkshire….
My husband is from Cheshire so we make it back every once in a while to see his family, so I will definitely let you know next time! There really is a lot to see and a very underrated part of the country 🙂
I’m really excited about both jobs, thanks so much! I start one in 2 weeks and the other in 3!
I’ll be based in Brussels for my trip to Belgium, but planning on going to Bruges for sure and then hopefully Ghent or Antwerp – haven’t decided which! If you have any tips, send them my way 😉
Sounds like you have some fab plans for March as well! I visited Blenheim Palace years ago (2014) and loved it. Enjoy the Lakes and of course Yorkshire – if you end up in York let me know if our paths might cross!! 🙂
Thanks. Yes I agree. Take it all in.
Thanks for reading!
[…] The beginning of August saw me tackling Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. I nearly made it in February 2018, but had to turn back due to snow and ice. While there was absolutely no visibility at the top, I […]