u/Greedy_Fig4556

Hey everyone,

I am trying to plan a quick holiday in september for a week in europe. The trouble is, I'm really struggling to feel inspired and excited by places (that sounds horrid, please bare with me!)

My favourite holidays have been staying in tiny towns in lake como (NOT the tourist traps!) We stayed in Mandello del lario where we were some of the only tourists. The town was tiny, pristine and quiet, you could walk around at night and not bump into anyone even in September. The water lapped at your feet. We would then hike to nearby towns to swim and have pizza. Lake Maggiore was another favourite; perusing the little market, cooking pasta at our airbnb, swimming at the lido.

We're not looking for all inclusive, overly catered to tourists vibes. We like small romantic towns that are quiet and peaceful over well-catered tourist spots. I'd trade Cinque Terra for small towns on Lake Maggiore any day, for example.

The reason I'm uninspired is because we're looking for this vibe, and outside of Italy, but I'm just not sure where to look. We're vegetarian, which complicates things a bit. France, Spain and Portugal seem like obvious options, but not necessarily when veggie? Also we both have intolerances and allergies.

So, looking for personal accounts of trips that marry quiet romance and peacefulness, beautiful architecture and scenery, pleasant way of life that we can sort of slip into. We're still open to Italy but I've travelled there a lot (I lived there and speak some of the language.) We're also open to 'unexpected' destinations; for example, I was looking at Montenegro, but I've read a lot of accounts of politics and social issues impacting relations between tourists and people who live there (creating a lot more unpleasant tension than places like italy (though I know similar issues exist there!). PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong as I hope I am as it looks kind of perfect for what we're looking for.

Coming from London, prefer less expensive areas. I've loved:

- Small town regions in Italy

What we were slightly less in love with:

- Thessaloniki in Greece, super amazing food but prefer smaller vibes

- cities in Croatia were cool but imagine they're heavier touristically now, small areas/islands were stunning

- Antalya was beautiful but seemed overly catered to tourism?

Not looking for:

- Large city trips

- all inclusive/resort vibes

- expensive/luxury holiday

Need:

- accessible by train (no car)

- veggie-friendly, cuisine that doesn't rely heavily on rice. Nut allergy sensitive.

- ideally well connected for day trips but not essential

- swimming spots

THANK YOU!!

Hiiii

I have been losing some hair around my temples and hairline for a couple of years now, looks like breakage because I don’t get clumps of hair in the shower. So I’m looking for a hair care routine that is CLEAN and effective.

I’ve been using faith in nature for a while as it’s randomly the only shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t seem to irritate my scalp. I also use the conditioner on my scalp contrary to normal advice because it soothe it. But I don’t feel like this conditioner is rich enough to stop my breakage.

I have very thick, wavy and rather unruly hair that’s very fluffy and tends to get dry/not feel silky. It gets tangled easily.

Id love recommendations for a conditioner/mask or leave in product (also heat protection) that is clean, rich and good for hair breakage/sensitive scalp while I regrow some of my lost hair <3

Any recs or other thoughts would be super appreciated. I’d be interested in a shampoo that has similar effects to nizoral (for it’s anti inflammatory properties, less so dandruff tho I do get a bit in winter) as well but isn’t super heavy chemicals

Thank you xx

My partner is useless in the mornings at weekends. He’ll happily lie in until 9am, take an hour to make breakfast, if there’s any chores he’s neglected through the week (there always are) he needs 30-40 minute for those. Then an hour to get ready. We often won’t be leaving the house until 12:30/1pm.

We live in London so everywhere we go will take us an hour to get to. If we want a ‘day out’ like Hampstead heath or Richmond, if it were up to me, we would leave at like 9/10. Maybe 11 if we were being really relaxed.

I have digestive issues so getting home to make dinner at an appropriate time is really important to me. So I need to be heading home at like 5 maybe 6 latest. If we don’t leave until 12:30/1, we only really end up with 2/3 maybe 4 hours in a place before it’s time to go home, then it’s not worth it. I want to spend the whole day out enjoying ourselves, not messing around in the am.

For fair context, he works a lot and is getting home late at night, but tbf, these issues far predate this job and late nights. He does also have autism which I think really impacts his time judgment. I take care of all the house work (laundry, hoovering, cleaning bathroom, tidying, etc) apart from putting the bins out and putting his laundry away. I ask he does that on his days where he doesn’t start until 3pm instead of leaving it to weekends and slowing us down.

I like to get up at 7/8am, and get ready quickly. When I’m on my own, I can do that. It’s been a month that every weekend we’ve cancelled plans because of it. It’s miserable and making me not want to spend my time with him. We got engaged this year and have two cats and a home and I love him too much for it to be a deal breaker but instead I just have to be miserable all the time.

Please can I have thoughts, advice and such? What time do you all leave the house? Am I asking too much?

Edit to respond to comments:

1. I compromise every weekend on leaving at 1pm, despite years of asking us to try and leave at 11am.
2. Miserable because my needs aren’t heard, we’re always taking care of his instead.
3. Relaxation and rest are different for different people. Staying in the house makes me crawl the walls

because I wfh all week.
4. Also, I hear why people are saying I sound insufferable lol, I get it to a degree and I’m happy to be told if I’m actually wrong, but is it really too much to ask that we go out at a reasonable hour, make travel time worthwhile, etc so that my needs can be looked after as well as his?

Hi all,

I've been working in Brand Comms and copywriting for 7 years now, pretty much freelance all the time. My work ranges anything from social media content and email marketing through to tone of voice and brand development, website re-writes, etc. I also do some proofreading/copyediting in academia.

Obviously, the industry is in a huge lull. Respectfully, not interested in answers about how it's now impossible to find work as I already know. But I'd be curious to know where people are getting freelance work these days? Linkedin is dead, I have never bothered with traditional applications, etc.

I have generally found work through online communities like The Selfhood's group chat, also the IG algorithm is cool when its on my side. I have also got work through doing some courses by networking.

I'd be curious to know where else I could look, especially for more proofreading work (again, I know, its like the hardest it's been for 20 years for people to find work, I get it).

P.S, excuse the poor writing for the post, though I'm a copywriter, I don't tend to perfect my casual writing, thanks for understanding!

Hi all,

I’m trying to plan a holiday this year in Europe for me and my partner. But I’m feeling a bit uninspired/stuck. We normally gravitate to Italy for a number of reasons:

- I lived there to speak the language a bit
- I know a lot of the country very well
- obviously pizza and pasta, beautiful people, amazing cities. My favourite being Bologna.
- we loved (non-touristy) parts of lake como and lake maggiore. We explored the alps from here.

But I want to explore other regions of Europe this year for a beach holiday that is:

- ideally a small/medium sized town, not a city
- not heaving with tourists like Venice or parts of como (that is our nightmare holiday)
- we don’t drive so accessible by train
- great food. I don’t mean normal tourist food. Partner is a chef and destinations aren’t complete without exceptional food. We’re vegetarian as well btw.
- walkable to good beaches.
- more affordable that expensive places like Rome or Venice. Tho we are coming from London so basically everywhere is cheaper.

I’m interested in exploring parts of Greece, turkey croatia, etc. possibly France or Portugal, etc. or maybe less expected options like Eastern Europe. I’m really looking for somewhat off the beaten track suggestions with strong local vibes not overrun with tourism (obv we’re tourists so accept a bit of it - but just not heaving crowds of Americans with selfie sticks)

We mainly want to spend our time resting at the beach. It’s been another tough year so just want to really chill in a place and read and eat well. Some day trips but mainly want a solid base to relax.

Also, no offence to Italy, I consider it my second home but that’s why I just want to venture out a bit more. If you have Italian suggestions in the south I’m still interested to hear but not Sicily as I’ve spent time there too.

Thank you!

*edit: also open to going further afield if location costs make up or nearly make up the cost of the flight. Morroco or Egypt for example.