12-19-25 06:38 PM
feeling: reflective

I’ve been in the UK for almost two weeks now!

Before I left, I got a new patch for my backpack that has the UK and US flags on it! :) It came in a two pack—I’ve put the brown one on my backpack and I’m saving the full color one for my yellow crossbody bag.

I tried packing super light—still ended up feeling like I brought too much. Every trip I’m learning more stuff I can parse down.

One big thing I’m finally gonna let go of is bringing multiple trousers… If I just have one pair of bespoke pants and some sweats that can double as PJs, I’m set. I brought 4 t-shirts I think, and I really probably could’ve done with just three (“one to wear, one to wash, and one to spare”).

With a capsule wardrobe there isn’t much point in multiples as everything looks the same. I feel like I just end up with more laundry and stuff to do. Packing lots of clothes has diminishing returns in my experience.

Something I wish I would’ve packed is my softcover binder. Well, it’s sort of half binder, half refillable notebook I guess? It’s a 5-Star Flex. I love it sooooo much! I thought I could just buy some loose leaf paper here in the UK and then put it in my binder when I got back home—totally forgot about the difference in paper sizes though, so I had to buy an A4 notebook. Still haven’t used it yet because the idea of having mismatched paper put me into a tizzy. Idk if it’s autism, OCD, or just very peculiar anxiety, but I’m some sort of neurodivergent when it comes to this stuff haha.

Something I could’ve done without is my whole sketchbook. I was pressed for time and cash leading up to my departure, so I didn’t have time to sort out transporting my artwork and paper. I work in collage, so I just brought a mailer envelope of cardstock and colored paper, then tucked my WIP collages into my giant sketchbook and shoved it all in my suitcase. Wouldn’t recommend—it’s bulky and redundant. I think once I get home I’ll splurge on a nice document folder and throw everything in there.

Anyway, here’s the patch on my backpack, and a picture of it under my seat—the Northseeker 20L brushes right up on American Airlines’ personal item dimensions.

It’s been great spending time with my partner, Jem. We’ve spent a lot of time just chilling and rotting. I had hoped to be more productive creatively, but there’s still time—and my brain probably needed a reset.

We haven’t done much outside of visiting the high street and working. We have plans to hit up a cafe soon and we’ll be watching the new Avatar movie also!

I met some of Jem’s friends for the first time, and we’ve all hung out twice so far. Last week we popped to their place, where I played Magic: The Gathering for the first time! :D Someone lent me their blue-green commander deck.

It was soooo fun. I loved it! Idk if I have the time for building a proper deck and finding a group to play with back home, but I’m probably gonna jump into Arena just to casually play online and get a better feel for the game.

Oh, we also got some proper chip shop “chips”! I had mine with mayo and ketchup. No HP sauce unfortunately ):

The second night we hung out, we all watched Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man. I’ve not seen either of the previous Knives Out movies, but this one was sooo good they’re on my list for sure!!

I’ve been reading a lot which feels nice. I finished Full Brutal by Kristopher Triana and Tampa by Alissa Nutting. Full Brutal is more classic splatterpunk—lots of fun, I wrote a blog post about it here. Tampa isn’t strictly extreme horror, but it’s most certainly fucked up. Once of the most viscerally discomforting books I’ve ever read. I’m drafting a blog post for it now!

Since I’m broke AF I’ve been reading on my Thinkpad L13 Yoga. The touchscreen randomly stopped working a few weeks ago so I just use my stylus. The e-reader shipped with Mint is pretty nice as-is, though I am excited for when I can finally afford a Kobo Libra Colour and go crazy annotating.

That’s it so far—nothing much else to report on. Hoping to finish my Tampa blog post, work on my art, and then do some creative writing—fanfiction for sure, hopefully work on some original stuff if I get around to it.

Hope everyone is doing well this holiday season! Take care <3