1 SIMPLE STEP TO MORE POSITIVITY IN 2019

We all know it. We all feel it. There are multiple points in the year where everything just seems to be going wrong and life just seems to constantly be shit to you.

Many people try loads of different 'Moments of Gratefulness' projects throughout the year, but as much as I find them intriguing, I just don't feel like they work for me because I just can't pull through with them. It's a great idea though. Finding something to be grateful for every day can in fact make you take the things and people in your life a lot less for granted. So if that works for you, keep doing it. If you want to start doing it, start doing it. You can try adding my tip on top of that, or do it completely on its own, or not at all. No one's forcing you to in the end. This is just what I have found to be working better for me.

Inspired by that, a random thought popped into my mind as I started setting up my brand new bullet journal for the following year or two. Having had a year that equaled more sort of a rollercoaster ride than a straight-forward timeline to the future, I often felt myself thinking it was a completely terrible year, and there was barely anything positive about it. When in fact, that just wasn't true. There are plenty of wonderful moments in the year, we just seem to tend to often mainly focus on the bad when looking back after having had a rough year.

This year, whilst focusing on wanting to make this year a hell of a lot better in general than the last one, particularly on a mental note, I have come up with an idea to become a hell of a lot more positive about every-day life in 2019, and the good things that happen to us on a daily-basis.

So here's my idea, if you want to try it..

Every day before you go to bed or once you've woken up the next morning, sit down with your notebook, bullet journal, whatever you want. Write the date down and then write down at least one good moment about that day. Whether it was going to an awesome concert or just having a nice phone call to catch up with a friend, or even just having a nice smoothie or sleeping in. Even if your day was terrible, find something in it that was positive about it. Sometimes it can be hard, but looking back, I can assure you, that it makes the day seem a lot less dull than you thought it was. Personally, I prefer short little bullet points, but you can obviously do it however you like.

And if you're as lazy as me and can barely keep a journal for a full week, this is also a great  opportunity to keep some sort of track of the things that you did. So far, this is working much better for me than writing in journals. I don't think I've ever managed to journal for a full 20 days in a row. Who knows, it could work for you too.

Try it. Change it. Don't try it. Let me know what you think. Is there any other way you try and see the positive in every day and track it?

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone. ♥

Outfit:

> Blouse: Bershka

> Jeans: GAP

> Boots: ASOS 

Location:

> Redemption Bar in Shoreditch, London

*not sponsored 

P.S. Let's ignore my writing and grammar in that picture up there please, I hadn't thought of posting it anywhere when I wrote that so didn't really give grammar too much thought. Oopsie. 

WORK EXPERIENCE ABROAD: The Big Adventure - Why, Where & How You Do It

Last year I spent four weeks abroad near Brighton, England, doing work experience at a company that focuses on school trip tourism. During these four weeks I did not only manage to learn a lot about that job and what working in a country that speaks a different language is like, but I also got to know a culture that I have adored for years a lot better, live in a country that I have always been interested in, meet new people, find more confidence both in speaking and working and whilst doing that explore many new places and have the time of my life. I've found work experience abroad to really be a blessing for myself and my future, and whether you are here because you are already planning an internship abroad or are just interested in it, I hope this blog post is going to help you in some way. There are many things to consider, but there are also many reasons why doing work experience abroad is an amazing thing one can do in their life.

WHY

Work experience is something that is crucial for your future, particularly if you are younger and not yet qualified in a certain job field. In Germany, it is common to do a few work experiences during your school time - three in my case. It helps you broaden your knowledge and understanding of the job world and at the same time help you in finding out what you would like to do in the future. Doing work experience where you live is a good thing, and you should definitely make use of that, but if that's not enough for you, or if you want to try something different and challenge yourself even further - a work experience abroad might be for you. 

When I found out that my school would give me the chance to do my work experience abroad, if I wanted to, I think I might have screamed a little because I got so exited. Especially if you are interested in other cultures, other countries, travelling and/or languages, doing work experience in a different country is definitely the way to go.

Although, I definitely want to mention, that you do NOT have to speak a language well in order to do work experience in a certain country. The thought behind giving people the chance to work abroad for a while, is not only to gain work experience, but also, to be able to improve your language skills.

And on the other hand - even if you already speak that language perfectly fine, you should definitely still keep in mind all the other great opportunities that come with doing work experience abroad. You get to know a job in a different country, which might have different ways of doing things than in your own country and will possibly be faced with new challenges. You will be able to get to know a different culture and explore a whole new area during your stay. You will meet new people, learn many new things and have the time of your life, all whilst working. It will also help you become more independent, particularly if you still live at home in your own country.

WHERE

This is obviously a personal choice, but there are some aspects you should consider, when choosing where to do your work experience. First one would be language. As I said, speaking a language perfectly well is not what you should base your country of choice on, but in order to be able to work in a different country, you need to at least have basic knowledge of the language.

In general, take into consideration, that the better your language skills are, the more challenging and "difficult" jobs you will be able to get. If you are going somewhere to better your language skills, working as a waiter in a restaurant might work perfectly fine for you, but if your focus is on the actual work experience in a "more skilled" job, i.e. in the tourism or business sector, then you are better off choosing a country which's language you are more aware and in power of.

A different aspect one should put into consideration, is money. Work experience abroad itself isn't very cheap, so choose wisely, depending on your financial situation. For example, doing work experience in Australia will be much more expensive for you if you live in Europe, than doing it in England for example, particularly because of flight prices etc. But obviously if that's what you want to do, that is totally your choice.

Go somewhere, where you are both interested in and somewhere that will help you most at achieving what you are expecting from this work experience. I personally chose England. Not because I particularly wanted to improve my language skills, but mainly because I am really interested in the country, culture and its people, as well as always being interested to see whether I would be able to work in an English speaking company. Choose what feels right for you. It makes no sense going somewhere that you don't like or don't have any interest in whatsoever. 

 HOW

Now, there are two ways of doing this. Either, you go and contact companies yourself, or you decide to pay an organisation to do it for you. Both has it's pros and cons.

Pros of doing it all yourself are definitely that you have much more of a choice as in where you want to work, and if you have any contacts, you can make use of that. And you also save the money that you will otherwise pay to a company to help you with finding your spot. But the cons are definitely that you have to do a lot more admin work, and it will possibly take you longer to find a company that will want to work with you, as they might not usually choose people from abroad for their work experience spots. If you don't have a place to stay where you are going, you will also have to find a hotel, a room or a host family yourself. If you are fine with all of that, definitely go for it.

The pros of choosing an organisation to help you with finding work experience are definitely that you have to do a lot less work yourself in trying to find a spot, which can take off a lot of pressure. They will also be able to help you find a work experience spot that is perfect for the level of your language skills, as well as considering your own interests in what field you want to work in. They can also help you finding a host family or a hotel for your stay. The cons however are, that you will also have to pay the organisation a certain amount of money for their work, and you also might get a little less choice in where you are going to be able to work (i.e. you will get a list of 10 or so different job fields that you can choose to work in, which might not always cover your interests). 

Another tip I can definitely give you, is to do a lot of googling. Find out about other people's experiences and what organisations they went with. If you decide to do it all yourself, start by deciding on what cities and jobs you are looking for, look out for companies that cover these fields and start contacting them about whether they would be willing to offer you a spot for work experience, should they approve of your CV. If you decide to go with an organisation however, go on google and find out about all the different organisations that offer to help you with work experience in the country of your choice. Compare them, price, performance and interest wise, and also - find out about fairs and conferences in your area. Where I live there a student exchange fair happening every few months or so, where many companies are invited, covering every field from work experience, to Au Pair and language courses or High School Years Abroad. It can be a great help chatting to the people in person that organise these work experiences, and might help you answer the questions you might have. Even if you don't want to choose an organisation, and do it all yourself, this might be helpful, as they might be able to give you some tips. 

In the end, you will have to choose which way will be the right one for you. I personally went with an organisation. If you want to find out what I thought of that, and what my personal experiences during the general work experience where, I am going to be uploading a blogpost on that very soon, and link this HERE, as soon as it is available.

DON'T FORGET

As fun as it sounds to go abroad for a while and explore somewhere new whilst also gaining work experience, there are some things you must consider.

Money is definitely a factor that could possibly limit a lot of people from doing this. However, if that's the case for you, don't give up straight away. There are always ways of making it work. Making compromises and possibly working to gain some more money for the trip can turn things around easily. Work experience abroad is an expensive thing to do, but it can be so fulfilling and you might have the time of your life. It can and very likely will be absolutely worth it to work your butt off in order to make this trip possible.

When calculating the cost of your trip, take into consideration that you will have to pay for flights or trains to get there and get back home, possibly pay an organisation, pay a host family, hotel or room for the length of your stay, and also that you will have all sorts of expenses for food, transport to work and around where you live, possible trips to explore the area and anything else that you might want to buy whilst there.

Also, don't forget to get a travel insurance for the duration of your stay, just in case anything happens to you, because otherwise any accident might become really expensive for you afterwards. 

~

So, what do you think? Are you ready to take on the world of working abroad? What are you thinking? If you have any thoughts or possible questions you might want to share, feel free to do so below or give me a shout via e-mail! :)

Love, Jacqueline Xx

~

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. 
There is no end to the adventures we can have if we only we 
seek them with our eyes open."

- Unknown

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi #BOOKREVIEWS

School is done, which means Summer is finally here and I am finally back to blogging! Get prepared for hopefully a big load of blog posts within the following weeks, as I am finally able to put time back into the things that I enjoy doing, whilst preparing for my gap year and uni! Get ready!!! 😊

What I expected was a beautiful novel about a middle-aged man who gets cancer but that is also a neurosurgeon. (I mean, as beautiful as that can be.) Stupid me should have definitely read the description properly, because what I had in my hands was not just another cancer novel, but the real life story and thoughts of a real neurosurgeon who gets lung cancer, written in a sort of autobiographical way. I was actually genuinely excited to read a fiction work about someone with cancer, so I have to admit that I did feel a little bit let down when I read the first few pages of the first chapter and had to come to a different realization: that this book was going to be very different from what I had expected it to be. Nevertheless, I decided to read the rest of the book with an open mind and forget about what I had anticipated it to be about, and that turned out to a very good idea.

But before I tell you what I thought of Paul Kalanithi's work, here's a better overview of what the novel is actually about:

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.”  

(- Source: Amazon U.K.)

It's not a long book itself with only about 220 pages, but the first few pages did seem a little tiring. I found it a little hard to get into the novel, particularly because I felt like some scenes about his youth didn't really seem to add up to the story that the actual novel was about.

The beginning of the novel to me seemed a little too slow and too little thought-through, but throughout the following pages Paul's words and story seem to be getting stronger and more interesting, the further his story and illness progresses. He manages to give both a wonderful insight into the hard work that neurosurgeons all over the world are facing every day, whilst also showing what cancer can do to your mind and life, and how he tried to work and deal with it.

At times it did feel like the focus was set more on his life and story as a neurosurgeon, rather than his actual dealings with cancer. whether that's a problem for you I guess depends on what you're looking for in a book like that. If you only want to get an insight into someone's cancer story, then maybe it is not “the” novel you're looking for. 

Personally I found it really interesting to get an insight into the work of a neurosurgeon, how he has to and does deal with certain things most of us don't even think about when we see these people working. It's very eye-opening in that case, probably because it is written from such a personal angle, because I feel like, way too often, doctors are not really given full acknowledgement for what they do and what they have to deal with in their personal life in order to pursue their work.

If you want to read this book, I definitely recommend at least a slight interest in medicine/neurology, because otherwise, I am not sure how much of a pleasure it will be for you to read.

But please don't get me wrong here – I am not trying to tell you that this is a bad novel or that you shouldn't read it! Definitely not! Yes the beginning is a little slow, yes it's not a perfect piece of written art, but Paul Kalanithi has done a great job at opening eyes. And he does tell it kind of like a story, it's not written like it's just a long article about his life events, and I think that's also what makes it really interesting.

All in all, I'd probably give this book a 3,5 out of 5 stars. It's a little slow at times, and probably not something for someone that isn't at least in the slightest interested in neurology or working in medicine, but it is definitely worth a read. With a beautiful style of writing, Paul Kalanithi tells the reader about his work and life threatening terminal cancer, his experiences, struggles and dealing with both and therefore gives a wonderful insight into what it is like to be both a neuroscientist and a cancer patient, which is really eye-opening. If that sounds like it could be something you're interested in, definitely give it a read. It's not the best book on earth, but it's definitely a good one! 

Have a wonderful week everyone ♥

Why I Took A Blogging Break

Bloody hell, why are white pages so scary? Especially after having been able to avoid them for over two months I feel like it has become a lot easier for me to keep avoiding them.

Even though my blog is yet to reach the point where it attracts a wide range of attention, I still feel kind of bad for not posting anything in the past two months.

The last time I uploaded was during my Greece holiday at the beginning of August. Shortly after coming home I went back to school and started my final year of school. A-Levels are getting closer and closer every day, and I did not think year 13 could be more stressy than year 12. Well, turns out it is. Or I've just forgotten how much pressure and stress was hanging in the air last year. Could be both, who knows haha.

But I don't want to say school was the only excuse for why I didn't blog at all since August. I kind of just  lost the spark. I found myself thinking about writing a new post, but somehow I couldn't get myself to open a new page and start writing. I just completely lost the motivation to blog, if I am honest with you, and the load of school work on top of that didn't really help that either.

So I just wanted to say that I am really sorry for being so quiet, although I am probably correct when I say that every blogger needs a break from blogging from time to time.

I wish I could promise you that I will be blogging more in the sooner future, but I know better than to do that. Autumn break is just about to start but so does starting to study for my A-Levels and school is only off for two weeks before we are blown right back into it.

I'm not going to promise anything apart from the fact that I am going to try and post whenever I can and feel ready to do so. I am no longer going to force myself to post something every week because I really feel like that puts a lot more pressure on this hobby than it should.

There is still a bunch of pictures left from going to Greece and our school trip to England, so maybe I'll share those with you soon. There's not a properly planned schedule though, so I am open to any suggestions of topics you would like me to talk about. So for now, that's it. See you back on my blog, hopefully very soon.

Until then, have a wonderful time! :)

Love,

Jacqueline Xx

Haul of the Holiday: Geeking Out in Greece

Welcome to a new post!

While you're reading this, I should hopefully be sitting on a beautiful, sunny beach in the gorgeous country that is Greece. I've been looking forward to this trip for a while, as I have never been to Greece before. But as I love reading, and I also can't just spent the whole time on the beach by sleeping, because I hate being unproductive, I thought I would at least treat myself to a few new books for the beach times. Yes, that's not technically being productive, but at least I feel like I'm doing something haha. Let's hope I'll kind of find a way of actually relaxing by reading. Usually that works...at least for a little while.

I picked up three books, which might be a little over ambitious for such a short amount of time and depending on how much time we'll actually spend at the beach, but I like to be prepared. If I only end up finishing one of these, because we're having so much fun that's fine too. I'm not there just to read after all. At least I am hoping that I can persuade my fam to do a little bit of exploring around the area we're staying in. 😊

Dunkirk: The History Behind The Major Motion Picture - Joshua Levine

You might have seen the trailer and adverts for the new Christopher Nolan film named 'Dunkirk' (featuring the gorgeous Mr. Harry Styles). I really want to go and see the film, but before that, I really want to learn something about the actual historic events that the movie talks about. If, like me before I heard about the film, don't know what Dunkirk is about (we don't learn about that in school over here), here's a small summary from the back of the book. I'm really exited to find out more about what happened back then.

" The Battle of Dunkirk, in May/June 1940, is remembered as a stunning defeat, yet a major victory as well. The Nazis had beaten back the Allies and pushed them across France to the northern port of Dunkirk. In the ultimate race against time, more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were daringly evacuated across the Channel. This moment of German aggression was used by Winston Churchill as a call to Franklin Roosevelt to enter the war. Now, historian Joshua Levine explores the real lives of those soldiers, bombed and strafed on the beaches for days on end, without food or ammunition; the civilians whose boats were overloaded; the airmen who risked their lives to buy their companions on the ground precious time; and those who did not escape."

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Joanne K. Rowling

Why the hell is she buying a Harry Potter book, shouldn't she already own one if she's a Potterhead? Well, yes she does own this book already but she has never read the whole series in English, although many many MANY times in German. Don't know why the hell I was talking about myself in third person there haha.

Basically, I feel like it's finally time to re-read the whole series again, after not having re-read it completely in about three years, which is a long time for me not to re-read Harry Potter, let me tell you. And this time I'm finally doing it in English.

I just finished re-reading the Philosopher's Stone again, so now it's time to explore the Chamber of Secrets again...although, to be fair, it's my least favourite book of the series...Sorry, if that sentence just broke any hearts, it's just the truth. 🙈😃

Unfiltered - Lily Collins

Finally I got this book in my hands. I've been exited to read Lily's book, basically since the day she announced that she was writing one. (Can we also please talk about her gorgeous British accent in "Love, Rosie"?) I don't know exactly what she is talking about, apart from the fact that it has some autobiographical bits and life tips included, but otherwise it's going to be a complete surprise. But as Dunkirk is quite the heavy book, I felt like it would be perfect to take this one with me as well, as it's a much lighter and easier read. I mean, it's all about balance, isn't it?

If I somehow manage to actually get through all three of these books, which I don't think I am, I have also got the book "The Circle" waiting for me on my Kindle, just in case. I really want to read that one since I saw the trailer for the film with Emma Watson and thought it sounded awesome, so that's definitely on my TBR list, whether it's for Greece or later in the year.

Do you have any recommendations on things to do or places to go in Crete? Definitely share them with us in comments below. I'm open to any suggestions, because I really want to do some exploring  whilst we're over there (my mum will hate me for this haha).

Also, any other book recommendations - just leave them below, if you like. :)

Have a gorgeous week! ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

Stylish Duchess On A Budget

Welcome to a new post!

It's no secret that I have a slight (okay, maybe not so slight) obsession with a certain Duchess of Cambridge. But honestly - look at this woman - how can you not love her? I do have to say that I don't always love every single outfit that she wears, but they are more than a few that I am absolutely in love with. However, if you have ever checked to see how much any of the dresses that she wears cost, and you don't own a shit load of money, or a money growing tree, you probably know that it's useless even dreaming about getting one of her gorgeous dresses.

The idea to do a series, where I decide on a certain person and try to find pieces to recreate their looks for less money has been on my mind for a while, and I couldn't resist any longer, when I saw Catherine in that stunning red Summer dress in Berlin.
I feel like three outfits is the perfect number for a blog post like this, but if you would prefer more or less outfits in one post in future posts of this series, let me know.

Also, just as a little note, she wore all three of these outfits on her's and William's tour to Germany (and Poland), because otherwise there would have been no way I could have decided on just three outfits.

I get that not all of these are perfect replicas of the things she was actually wearing, but then again, not everywhere sells the same pieces. I tried my best to find really similar ones though. Some of them are still not very cheap, but they were the best that I could find, I hope that's alright with you.

#1 Berlin

Let's start off with my favourite outfit of all of them. This one's from Berlin. A casual but also elegant, cherry red, maxi summer dress.

Vero Moda/ASOS - £36/41.99€

ASOS - £25/33,99€

Billabong/ASOS - £41/55,99€

ASOS - £25/33,99€

ASOS - £25/33,99€

#2 Heidelberg

Next up, the one from Heidelberg, which I would have nearly gone and seen live but my schedule was a bit full, and sadly Heidelberg is still over two hours away on a train from my where I live. It's such a beautiful city though. This time, Kate wore a beautiful, floral, yellow and white dress. It was hard to find anything similar, but I tried my best to find the closest "copy", as it's such a pretty dress.

Boohoo - £15/23€

Boohoo - currently on sale for £18/27€

Boohoo/ASOS - £35/52,99€

ASOS - £30/40,99€

New Look - £22.99/29,99€

Dune London/Zalando - 80€

Parfois/Zalando - 29.95€

Menbur/Zalando - currently on sale for 41,95€

ASOS - currently on sale for £28/47,99€

#3 Hamburg

Last but not least, Kate's very basic but pretty lavender, almost midi dress. It's very bright, but somehow she makes the colour work so well.

Boohoo - £15/24€

Boohoo - £30/45€

Boohoo - £25/38€

Y.A.S./ASOS - £60/69,99€

New Look - currently on sale for £6/8€

Topshop/Zalando - currently on sale for 48,95€

Topshop - £46/64€

Boohoo - £8/12€

New Look/ASOS - £15,99/21,99€

ASOS - £25/33,99€

ASOS - currently on sale for £38/64,99€

ASOS - £25/33,99€

Sooo, that's it. How do you like this type of post? Do you want to see more of it?
Is there anyone else you would like me to create a little 'on a budget' post with? I am open for any suggestions, as I really loved putting this post together.

Have a nice day ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

P.S. This post is not sponsored. The rights for the pictures used above go to their rightful owners! I do not claim any copyright etc. for them! The pictures above have been part of this blog post for fun and inspiration only, not to gain money.