Summertime Self-Care
Back at it again with the travel posts! I swear that’s all I have the energy for these days. To be honest there’s lots I could have blogged about so far, but I prefer to micro-blog it on my personal Twitter and Facebook as I don’t want to deal with ignorance or trolling in my comments. I’m finding that even on those platforms I’m still dealing with the wildest ignorance, and that’s largely from people I know, let alone inviting the whole internet to spin my spirit. The world is in a dark era right now, and even as a social commentator, you need to work out for yourself when to speak, where to speak, and what to speak. And above all, how to do all of that whilst protecting your mind from repetitive negativity. For now, in this particular space, I’m choosing to share carefree things; things that hopefully inspire people to know that all these issues may consistently be attempting to drown you, but there will always be days where you’ll be able to get up and swim, and on those days you need front crawl to your place of peace.
But back to the matter.
Last month I was able to spend a few days off in the absolutely stunning Algarve in Portugal. It’s wasn’t my first trip to Portugal; I’ve previously been to Porto before. It initially wasn’t meant to be a solo escape-from-the-rigours-of-London-life trip, but that’s what it turned into, and it seemed like destiny as it was actually what I seriously needed. I was feeling quite heavy with all the garbage going on in the world, and other ongoing situations. The way I had to even hustle to get this time off was wild. I can’t go into it right now, but maybe at a later date when some circumstances have changed, I will drop the whole testimony haha.
Anyway the thing that was exciting me the most was the temperature. I need a summer in summer, and I was ready to meet that Lagos-esque heat. It did not disappoint. I turned darker than Lupita (glorious!), in fact even as I write this it’s beginning to peel off me. Attractive. Not x_x. The beaches were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen (especially the ones on Farol Island), Faro town was architecturally stunning, the pace of life was suitably slow for someone who is more accustomed to having a harassed city mind, the food and drinks were criminally cheap, and one of the best moments of all was definitely being there for the Euro 2016 final. I watched the match with a bunch of people from different countries I had met out there and made friends with (some of them French lol), and we went to the Fun Zone in Faro centre to watch it. It was rammed but the atmosphere was electric, and when Eder scored that goal…it turned into a street rave. I had all sorts of drinks thrown over me. Everyone did. It was actually mental lol.
I’m not going to talk too much in this post, again I’m going to let the pictures do the talking, but as a summary, I think Faro is probably one of the best places I have visited in Europe in terms of beaches, parks and tranquility. I literally spent hours in the sun just reading, thinking, walking or listening to music. I also always took the ferry to the beaches as opposed to the bus, for the views, the fresh air, and the serenity of it. All that self-care ish basically. So if you’re on that vibe or need that dissociation from your everyday hectic life, I highly recommend Faro.