SHANICES PEACHES

So what more can I say than I solo travelled for this first time in my life! AHHHHH

*** screaming inside ***

It may not seem like a huge deal to some of you reading this, but I am still in shock that I managed to do it being honest!

From not being able to step outside my door on my own a year ago without having a panic attack or being to worried about what people thought, comparing to this day right here. Just wow this is something that I am proud of achieving and it’s something I’ve urged to do for years.

First stop: Budapest

Budapest will always have a place in my heart, previously visiting two years ago with a whole 9 girls including myself. To coming back solo it was an experience to say the least!

There was so many places that when unseen and I knew I had to go back and relive the culture, architecture and environment again.

In total I spent three days, booking for 5 but I will explain further down! So keep your eyes peeled.

I started off doing all the typical tourist stuff that you do when you visit a new country. Of course google is a massive help when you are wanting inspiration on what to do!

The list is endless of recommendations for the wondering Budapest:

•thermal baths

•ruin bars

•zoo cafe (you drink tea and have animals passed to you)

•museum of sweets and selfies

•chain bridge

•Budapest castle

•high note sky bar

I wanted to get as much done in the day as being solo, I didn’t fancy hanging out at night by myself. Just my preference on being a scaredy cat but better to be safe than sorry hey!

So everyday I was up and out by 10am latest and I had a rough idea in my phone notes on where to go and what I wanted to see. I was super excited to have my camera with me this time round, as I even recorded my first travel vlog. Which I am editing on the plane as we speak! Hopefully there will be more to come in the future!

Being honest – personally I found it was hard to give myself motivation to get back up after a snack stop, being alone you had no one to say “come on Shanice” yeah, that was hard some of the time.

Now onto the story which is like a match made in heaven (my new best friend)

Downside to being alone: trusting someone with your camera/phone to take your photo or finding a safe spot to do self timer! So I had arrived at the st. Stephens cathedral after climbing like 2000 steps and of course I wanted a photo for that workout!!! Got to get proof for the gram right?!

Scouting round who I could trust, I spotted a girl who was also alone and I approached! She spoke fabulous English which helped build that trust because you were able to relate to each other. Zara was her name and after that photo got taken we got chatting and she invited me along to join her to the next location as I was also going there! Not expecting to, we spent the rest of the day together and before you know it she invited me to go to Vienna with her the upcoming day.

ERM YES – what better timing? Was I being stupid for going with a stranger? Did I trust her?

Of course I trusted her, we had so much in common!

I definitely had a YOLO moment….I had the free time to go, so why not?

I always believe something happens for a reason and I believe this was mine to say GO FOR IT SHANICE!

So booking my €8 bus from Budapest to Vienna for the following day, I started to look at places to stay.

Hostels: ok so wanting to do this cheap as possible, because I was loosing money leaving Budapest two days early, I decided on a hostel. They cannot be that bad I thought to myself? Finding one right in the centre of Vienna for €40 was a bargain and I made even more friends on my arrival in my room!

I don’t know if I got lucky with my hostel, but from the one I stayed in it was everything I hoped for. It had a locker for your valuables, bedding, towels etc! I always assumed hostels were super scary places and your belongings would be stolen lol.

Yes, I was scared. However once I was there, I felt at home!

Everyone is in the same boat

Everyone has a story to tell

Everyone is welcoming, If you get to know them

Second stop: Vienna

I have always heard people say how gorgeous Vienna is, but it really was something incredible. Comparing it to the UK, it was clean fresh and friendly!

There is SO much to do, so many museums that Zara and I explored and all the cool buildings of course. We got the weather spot on and just chilled in a park at one point, admiring the life and feeling super lucky.

If you are looking to travel between Budapest and Vienna, definitely look at a bus option! It’s around €8, two/three hour coach journey and you get to sight see on the journey up!

My top recommendations for Vienna:

•museum of musik

•museum of illusions

•opera house

•st. Stephens cathedral

•botanical garden

•walk round the city centre

There is no time like the present right?! I spent my week off work bloody well if I say so myself!

I hope this has helped someone who is also wanting to solo travel and maybe not feeling confident. I can assure you, just go for it! I am more than glad I did it and I will continue to whenever I have the time off work!

I don’t have to rely on anyone, I do everything on my schedule, make new friends who I can tag along with and just be happy.

Until next time.

Shanices Peaches – the new confident version

XOX

There is no worse feeling than being stuck in a rut.

Not knowing where to take photos, how to style a certain item or just not having the motivation because you’re self doubting yourself?!

I seem to have these moments more and more at the moment and I’ve created myself a little bullet pointed list to go by to help me get my creative flow back and going!

There is nothing worse than having a certain vision in your head but you cannot seem to make it happen…however anything is possible.

1. Gather your resources e.g the outfit, the accessories, plan your hair or make up to go with the vibe you’re hoping for.

2. Look for inspiration – doing this helps your creative side come to life and you can start to envision how you want “that shot” to turn out like – I’ve found that searching on platforms such as Instagram in the places section…super helpful!

Say for instance you want a place in London but don’t know the specific area, search london and of course loads of options will appear! Maybe message that person asking where the exact location is (there’s no harm in that)

I save anything to my collections album I find helpful and inspiring – this way I can then return and it can help me build what I want to achieve when I’m going for a shoot day! I’ve left an example below!

I decided to visit Carnaby on my most recent shoot day, so I began looking for inspo so I knew what to look out for and could plan the outfits against each location!

I only discovered you could do this 6 months ago….very slow to the party I know!

Planning helped my pictures turn out just how I envisioned them too!

3. Work with what you have got – you cannot afford to travel to a dreamy area you hoped for? Not an issue…this happens to myself quite a lot!

Let’s face it nobody can afford a train ticket to London every weekend it’s just not do able.

Being from Essex there is some hidden gems, you just have to look a little harder. Apposed to London where everything seems to be within one street!

I shot last week in Colchester Essex, first time for me and it took a bit of wondering to get the kind of shot I wanted to fit my personal colourful style and i managed to make it happen!

4. Re use and recycle looks – there is no harm in re wearing something to feature on your feed again….style it different? Wear different shoes? Different accessories? You can make it different if you even the tiniest bit change it!

I am not made of money certainly and can not afford to buy new outfits every time I plan to take photos, so I pull out all those hidden pieces I forgot about and re work them!

Lets face it – that really cute dress you featured on your Instagram feed 6 months ago…has probably been forgotten about!

5. Most important of all – HAVE FUN

being a blogger for myself personally is that I can express my style and my love for creativity through a photo! You have that freedom to create whatever you have planned for a certain photo or even just the spur of the moment ones that actually turn out ace!

I hope this has helped if you’re stuck in a pickle currently or whenever!

Until next time.

Shanices Peaches

XOX

I HOSTED MY FIRST BLOGGERS EVENT – still feels surreal to be typing this down, but I did it YAY!

It had always been a vision in my head to get some lovely bloggers together and just have a brunch type of afternoon and chat all things necessary… I know how super hard it can be trying to meet up as a group, finding a suitable date and time and location…but it was always something I was thinking back to myself “no one would come, you’re only a small influencer, brands/restaurants won’t want to work with you” that’s what kept me put off hosting one. Doubt, doubt and more doubt.

But I’ve done it now! & I’m here to give my recap on it!

This plan came into action early February?! If I remember correctly and I knew I wanted to get stuck in straight away! So I did.

Finding the perfect venue wasn’t hard at all, as I had imagined what style I wanted and the lovely Chelsea Crêperie which you can check out right here – they were more than happy to let me use the lovely venue they had and the owner was the sweetest women ever, putting up with all my random emails asking this and that…I just wanted it to run smoothly!

Next: I found some amazing brands that were happy to collaborate in making the goody bags come to life! Which I was most excited about making for the bloggers who were attending! I was lucky enough to work with, Elle perfumes, Hask hair products, James Read tan, Whitworths, Dr Lipp and I added a home made touch of making my own earrings for the girls.

Finally: invite people – I couldn’t be the only one who was going to show up haha and Chelsea Crêperie kindly let me have a huge audience of 20 – it was a struggle to find 20 individuals who were available and in London on that date! But I knew I wanted it to be a full house, the more the better hey?!

The day came round within a blink and I was all prepared (shockingly) I dragged my suitcase with all the goody bags in (literally felt like 20kg & believe me I was not going on holiday).

I wanted to get a group of girls together, some who have never met or I personally had never met – mostly spoken to via social media! Eating crepes in a cool environment and all things blogging, sounds amazing right?

I was worried about people clashing, which is normal some people don’t vibe off each other and that’s totally fine, it’s just nature…however everyone got along so well and I’m hoping they now have some new gained friends for life!

Most importantly if you want to give something a go and out of your comfort zone, then DO IT!

You’re only human and you can only try, right?!

I hope you enjoyed this style of post & watch this space for my next event I host. (Hopefully soon)

If you’re interested in seeing more from this meet up, you can view it on my Instagram page on my highlight I created here

Until next time.

Shanices Peaches

XOX

What’s the best place to stay over night in the UK?! London right…and in my favourite area which is Shoreditch!

Whenever I travel up to London from Essex in can become a pain when you have rail replacement nearly every weekend and have to go home at the right time to avoid rush hour! Not to mention you’re restricted on how late or early you can come and go as the trains are limited… Shoreditch seemed to be such a great location to stay in, nice and local to all the lovely wall arts I love creating content front of.

I really enjoy hotel stays as it gives you that time to go on a mini vacay unwind and re charge your batteries and of course explore what’s around you!

I love going round the UK sometimes rather than going abroad just because there is so much to see in my home town?!

What really added to the experience for me was Point A offers discount to Ballie Ballerson which is located a 6/7 minutes walk away. I’m sure you’ve heard of it as it’s all I see over Instagram and I get envy every time – but not this time because I managed to go this very weekend.

If you haven’t heard of it check it out here – (ballpit & cocktail venue) for someone who doesn’t drink it was super friendly as thinking about going did seem daunting at first going into a bar/club environment. As soon as I saw that ball pit I was in my element acting like the child I am deep down.

FYI HOLD ON TO YOUR PHONES AND ANYTHING VALUABLE! – we came across two people who had lost their phones in the ballpit, not ideal and nearly impossible to find in a sea filled with plastic balls.

Previously saying the whole travelling to and from Essex it also becomes hard if you want to have an evening out, so I was super excited to be able to go and not have to worry about getting home!

The room I stayed in was the perfect size, it had everything you needed from shampoo to little compartments in the wall to place those “looseable items” which for someone as clumsy as me it came in very handy and my jewellery went straight in there!

It also included mood lighting which I was yet again amazed by…want the room purple then want it green? Go ahead knock yourself out!

MAKE IT RAINBOW

The staff were absolutely lovely and this above picture was taken by one of them – what an angel! I couldn’t miss an opportunity to get a photo in front of the fab decor!

Now let’s talk food of course… food is all I ever think about!

My stay included a breakfast which was super as I woke up ready for food and lots of it.

It was a buffet type service, choosing from fruit, cereals and pastries – which I love this type of style when going to a restaurant as if you have a dietary requirement or you’re picky like myself you’re in good hands and you don’t have to miss out.

So if you are planning to head to London I would honestly recommend the Point A hotels!

So if you’re on the hunt for a hotel to stay, you can go direct to the booking process here & if you sign up to be an A list participant you receive 10% off your stay!

Until next time.

Shanices Peaches

XOX

*stay was complimentary given to me, along with tickets to evening activity*

I feel like I wish I had this survival guide way back months ago when I was a stressed mess.

Giving it away in the title I wanted to create a blog post all about juggling a full time job and blogging!

It honestly feels like having a 24/7 job & I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Don’t get me wrong I love keeping super busy and thankfully with how things are going with my blogging journey it is over hectic at the moment and I cannot get enough of the creative energy it brings!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE

But on all seriousness let’s get down to my top 10 survival tips because nobody wants to be over worked:

1. Get yourself a diary/planner – cannot stress this enough, it makes a world of difference getting your shit together.

2. Plan in advance, same as the above really but if you know you’ve got a campaign you need to shoot, plan ahead and be prepared not rushed off your feet last minute like a headless chicken when you’ve got the brand emailing you asking where the post is.

3. Set aside time to do the admin side of things – you don’t want to produce a sloppy looking email, make time in the evening or before work and proof read before sending! (I am guilty of spending my lunch break glued to my inbox filtering emails I must go back to).

4. Give yourself resting time – obvs you sleep during the night…but don’t spend all of your free evening erratically draining yourself. It’s not healthy and everyone needs time to re charge their batteries.

5. Bulk shoot – of course with working full time you ideally only have weekends free, which means at least one day of the two free days you get is possibly spent shooting. I personally will shoot every 2-3 weeks or whenever I’m out and about so I can give myself a free period if you like over two days and not have to think about shooting this and that every weekend!

6. Plan your content in advance – on apps such as UNUM. It’s a grid that shows you what your future feed will look like. It saves time and you can preview and change it around if you need too.

7. Create drafts. The glorious thing about Instagram and creating a blog post is drafts. It’s dragged, ready to go and it doesn’t have to be worried about until the time it’s being posted = more free time.

8. Don’t force things e.g if you’re not feeling that photo you took don’t beat yourself up about it…it’s life we cannot be pleased with everything! Pick yourself up and try again and again if you need to until you are happy! Don’t just settle for it because it’s the first and it’ll do.

9. Be true to yourself, blogging isn’t as glamorous as people assume and I’m sure you that are reading that can agree = honestly is the best policy.

10. Most importantly BE HAPPY!!!

I hope this has helped shed some handy light on your brains!

Until next time.

Shanices Peaches

XOX

Coat gifted by prettylittlething – shop here

Boots gifted by Lasula – shop here