Travel Journal - My Week in Sicily

La Bella Sicilia 💗

Sicily is an island in them Mediterranean, very close to Malta  (around 2 hours by boat or 30 minutes by plane) It's rich in ancient Greek ruins, home to the tallest active volcano in Europe - Mount Etna, and it's capital city, Palermo, has recently been elected the European Capital of Street Food. Those facts do not nearly summerise all of Sicily's beauty and history.

This was not my first time visiting Sicily, as I had been there 3 times before, but something about it makes you want to go back. You'll never get bored of that place, as there's always something
new to discover.

Whereas during all my other visits to Sicily I've been to the north/east region, this time I visited the west part. This includes cities such as Trapani, Erice and Marsala. In my opinion I feel that this part of Sicily is often underestimated when compared to the north/east region and not given as much importance as it should. It may not be the most industrialized area such as having huge shopping complexes, which one will find on the other side of Sicily. But it's beauty and history is rich and intriguing.

I was honestly impressed with the amount of stray dogs there. It made me really sad, especially having adopted a stray from Sicily myself, seeing how they live and how they just want to be loved - as the simplest bit of attention they got made them so happy.

Enough blabbering, lets get to the pictures 💗
Side note - This post is in collaboration with my extremely talented cousin who was with me on the trip and took all the photos used in this post. Follow her on Instagram - Marta Cachia

Talk to you soon,

Janine xo

Journaling

When I was younger, I always had some kind of journal or diary. I just loved the idea of documenting things that were important to me at the time and looking back at them.

Then I kind of stopped for a period of time because I could never comite to them.

Last Summer, I decided I wanted to start a journal, but this time it would be different. 

I made it a journal that had no commitment, meaning I didn't have to write in it daily, weekly or whatever - just whenever I felt like.

That meant that I wouldn't give up that easily and hopefully would stick to it.

It seems to be working as so far I've kept it up for a whole year!

I don't have a million entries but I have a good number.

As someone who suffers from anxiety, I look at my journal as a place where I can express any anxieties I have, whether big or small, without being judged.

It's like a safe haven where I just let everything out, without sugar coating anything.

I feel relieved after I write things down. The problems may not have been solved, but at least I would have got it off my chest

I would encourage anyone to start a journal. It has really helped me during the past year and I love looking back at my old entries and see how far I've come since.

Click here to purchase the notebook I use as my journal :)

Do any of you have a journal? How long have you had it for? 

Let me know in the comments below!

Talk to you soon,

Janine xo

My Favorites: Books ❤

Hi Lovlies :)

If there is one thing you need to know about me - it's that I love reading.

I love books about "real life" teen problems (is that even a thing? Well, you know what I mean :p)

But recently, I'm leaning more towards adventure and mystery books.

So rambling aside, I feel that instead of just explaining what type of books I like I should just show you - well, duh ?!

Paper Towns - By John Green

Okay so I'm pretty sure that after the amazing book (followed by an almost as amazing film <3) "The Fault in our Stars" every person in the planet knows who John Green is - ok well that might be an exaggeration but you get my point :) So after I read and wept through that book, I went and bought the next book I saw by the same author. This book is really really good and it's definitely a page turner. Trying to make this as brief as possible, the book is about a teenage girl called Margo who runs away. The night before, Margo and a boy named Quentin went on a mission so that Margo can get revenge on some people. When Quentin finds out she is missing, he is determined to find her and he assumes that he left clues behind her.

Wonder - R.J Palacio

This book is literally one of the most touching books I have ever read. It's about a ten year old boy called August, who's face is severally deformed. Through this book, you discover the everyday struggles that he faces. You realize that even something so simple - like walking into a shop, can be something terrifying for this boy. It brings you on this emotional roller coaster whilst you witness the struggles he faces when he starts a new school. Something interesting about this book is that the author never describes August's face. All that's said is "I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."

Theodore Boone: The Activist - John Grisham

So to be completely honest, I haven't actually finished this book. But so far, it's really good, and this book is the third book of a series by John Grisham specifically for teens. The series is about a teenage boy called Theodore Boone who loves anything to do with court and trials. He is always trying to solve mysteries that he comes across - and more often then not, he is successful. It sounds simple and straight forward, but trust me, it's not. In every book there is a different mystery or case that slowly unravels leaving you shocked on how someone could have thought of such a plot. This series got me to love books about mysteries <3

I hope you enjoyed reading about my recent favorite books and I hope you'll give them a try. If you do make sure to let me know by tagging me on a picture on Instagram (janine_hall_) or commenting down below!

Do you have any book recommendations? I'm always looking for new books and authors so definitely comment the titles and authors!

Talk to you soon,

Janine xo