While food trucks seem to be gaining popularity in the US (they even had a food truck park in Fort Worth when I was visited), the 'mobile' food market in London remains thoroughly in the hands of the markets. We have visited Portobello Market countless times (let's call it familiarity not laziness), I've checked out the market at Southwark and around Brick Lane. Despite this, I always recommend Borough Market first to visiting friends and family. Each time, people would come back with rave reviews, further cementing its spot at the top of the list of markets to visit. Yet, I myself had never visited it!

I'll blame it on the size of London and the public transit - if it's not a direct shot on the tube or bus for me, I may be less likely to visit. Again, laziness and I have so many things to visit that fall into one of these two categories or even WALKING distance from my flat. Portobello Road, Kensington Gardens, Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, British Library, British Museum, the list goes on and on.

Then, one day I was going a scavenger hunt through the City of London, which included a pit stop in the Borough Market. It was the end of the day, the market was beginning to shut down and yet, I saw enough to want to come back for more.

So, a few Saturday's later and my lazy self became a little less lazy and trekked across to the market South of the Thames.

I didn't have anything in mind other than finding something to eat for lunch. After I walked up, I knew I wouldn't walk away hungry. There is something for everyone - from the true market goods like cheeses, wines and breads, to food that's prepared like pies, thai food, Turkish food, brauts and lots of sweets.

We wandered by stall after stall, our eyes bigger than our stomachs. Paul ended up with a curry and I of course chose my favorite British food, a pie, with a chocolate tart & macaroon to satisfy our dessert cravings.

Not only is it a great market, it's just another great example of London's history and how Londoners have worked to keep their city great (or even perhaps a little weird just like back in Austin, TX). Food trading can be traced back to 1014, where locals brought fresh produce to trade. And it's still got many of those people today, which locally made cheeses or vegetables. In 1755, the market was threatened when it was closed because of the congestion caused by traffic around the market. Luckily for us, local residents bought up land and re-opened the market.

Like any good market, it's an eat and walk experience. Be prepared to eat on your feet, or take it home with you. We opted for the former and strolled around more, planning our next meal when we venture out to the South side of the Thames - which I'm sure will be sooner rather than later!

After a day exploring & shopping all around Marrakech, we wanted to see more of the landscape of Morocco. The Atlas Mountains not only gave us a look into a different terrain than the dusty city streets of Marrakech, but also gave us more insight into the history and different cultures of Morocco.

The Atlas Mountains are home to many Berber people, who while are originally indigenous to all of North Africa now reside in large numbers in Morocco and Algeria. The Berbers maintain their own language, which has recently been added as one of Morocco's national language in order to help preserve it.

 So, we set out on an easy hike up to one of the villages on the mountains to visit a village home, have some traditional Moroccan mint tea, and have what turned out to be a feast. Since you can't drive up to the higher villages, we were dropped off somewhere not too far down the road from Richard Branson's Moroccan retreat. The roads aren't paved, rather large rocks & dust, so we walked carefully for 20 minutes or so before we reached our destination.

It was worth every step - the view from the balcony of our afternoon rest point was beautiful. Mountains and villages in the background, and oh so much sun which I have been missing as autumn & winter have come to London.

Our first order of business was making our own tea. After a quick lesson, we had the first batch around. It was delicious, but they certainly do like their tea sweet. We sat and enjoyed (and napped), then were fed copious amounts of food. Lots of veggies to start, followed up tagines full of more vegetables and chicken. When you're in Morocco, it's hard to find dishes not from the tagine, but they are certainly good.

 With full stomachs, it was time to finish our hike, walking around the rest of the village and a bit further along the mountain. Despite the arid climate, there were trees and plants everywhere, and streams running like life springs through the mountain. With the fall foliage just starting to appear on the trees, it was like a Bob Ross painting waiting to be painted. An oasis nestled between the peaks.

Then, just like that, we found ourselves back on a dusty road headed towards Marrakech.

This year appears to have been the year of Africa. While we did lots of Europe, I'd done Europe before. But Africa had only been a trip to Egypt until 2013.  We did our Kenya safari, then a work trip to Cape Town turned up, and finally a girls weekend in Marrakech.

When I was writing about my trip to South Africa and being a solo tourist, I was trying to think back to trips I had taken alone. And the more I thought about it, I realised how lucky I have been to nearly always have a travel companion to keep me company and share in the experience.

The only other time I could remember sight seeing on my own was another work related trip (trust me, they aren't always this glamorous!) to Honolulu. I had meetings on Monday & Tuesday, and while I wasn't smart enough to take a vacation day, or take my husband with me, I was at least smart enough to schedule my flight out on Saturday. This left me one full day of sightseeing, plus whatever I could squeeze in after work.

So, with only one day, I decided the best way to see it all was by helicopter tour of the island. Perk of being a solo traveler? I got the best seat in the house next to the captain! The downside of the flight was that there was quite a bit of VOG (volcanic smog) in the area at the time, so the views weren't as breathtaking as they would usually be.

We flew over everything - Pearl Harbour, Dole Plantation, North Shore, and my favourite, Kualoa Ranch. This ranch is famous for being the film location of Jurassic Park and Lost. Despite these, it would still be at the top of my list of things to see in Oahu because of the breathtaking scenery.  The island isn't all that large, so after about an hour, our tour was over.

North Shore

Kualoa Ranch

This left me with the perfect afternoon on the beach, soaking up some much needed winter sun, before heading back to meet up with my co-worker for dinner.

On Tuesday, after my meetings, I had a few hours to kill (and a car), so on the way to the airport, we stopped at one of the most iconic monuments in Oahu - Pearl Harbour. To start of the trip, you get the opportunity to watch a video talking about the day of the bombing and giving more information on the war overall. While I of course had known about the events of the day, it seemed to have a different perspective when you're there, hearing all about it.

The memorial is in the middle of the water, where the USS Arizona sank, so you have to take a boat to get out there. The memorial is built just over the water, so you can see the remains of the ship lying beneath you. It is eery to see parts sticking up everywhere, and oil sitting on top of the water. It almost makes it seem as if it had just happened yesterday.


They also have a huge memorial to those who died, taking up an entire wall of the memorial. While I don't have any personal ties to this, I can imagine this being an important part of a pilgrimmage to honour a fallen family member or friend.


The whole thing was a bit surreal - you're on a gorgeous island, surrounded my beautiful water and the sun shining, yet I guess that's the point of a memorial. Life goes on, but because of this place, we can never quite forget what happened so many years ago.

And with that, I was on my way to the airport and back to Dallas. While Paul and I haven't made it there together yet, I know it will be top of our bucket list once we are back in the US.

One of the best things I have done for myself in London has been to get involved in a lot of different organisations and activities. From the UK Texas Exes to the Junior League of London, these have been fantastic ways for me to get involved in the community and make some friends in the process.

In addition to all the volunteering I get access to through the Junior League, we also have great events on the side to help raise money for our philanthropic activities. We had one of our first fundraisers of the fall a few weekends ago and it was just up my alley! Wine tasting at the Stafford Hotel, with a selection of 5 wines especially selected by their Master Sommelier.

 The wine wasn't the only thing that made it special; the event was held in their amazing wine cellars in the basement of the hotel. The cellars were built more than 350 years ago in the 17th century by a Lord under the basement of his stables.

Since they have been built, the cellars have also served as a hiding space for soldiers during WWII when London was under siege. They have a special section of the cellar dedicated to this history, with memorabilia and trinkets left behind from the soldiers who stayed there.

The cellar is home to more than 6,000 bottles selected by the Master Sommelier, meaning there is something for just about everyone.

After our wine, we popped up to the American Bar at the hotel. The trinkets in the wine cellars are nothing in comparison to the bar. It started with a traveler living a gift of a small totem pole from his travels, and has morphed into just about anything and everything be left as gifts, from sports caps, to toy planes, to undergarments (one of the more recent additions according to our waiter)! The restaurant/bar is cosy, we sat at a small sofa and chairs, and for dinner, they brought us a cushion to eat off our laps. It felt like an old time home, welcoming us with good food, and drinks of course.