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theveryhungrylondonerFebruary 11, 2016

4 weeks in Japan in 5 moodAways

This post is sponsored by moodAway. Back in November I spent four weeks in Japan travelling by train from Yakushima, a small island off the southwestern corner of the country, to Sapporo on Hokkaido, the… View Full Post

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theveryhungrylondonerJanuary 27, 2016

Japanese onsens and British nakedness

When was the last time you saw someone naked in a non-sexual way (excluding your partner)? Include images in magazines, on TV shows and in movies. You can’t remember can you? And a few months… View Full Post

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theveryhungrylondonerAugust 22, 2015

Hoi An: Where to stay, where to eat, and lots of pretty pictures

Hoi An is pretty. Really very pretty. It’s a small town, chock-full of charm and the complete opposite to sprawling, brash Ho Chi Minh. It’s the kind of town you could easily end up spending… View Full Post

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theveryhungrylondonerAugust 14, 2015

Getting to know Ho Chi Minh: A book, a chat, and three recommended tours. 

I found my first few days in Vietnam a little difficult to be honest. While there were some personal reasons for this, my luggage left languishing at Singapore airport for example, I think it was… View Full Post

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theveryhungrylondonerAugust 11, 2015

A Postcard from Ho Chi Minh: Communism and Cartier.

There are certain phrases that you are banned from using as a travel writer. “A city of contrasts” is one of them. It’s just been used too many times. So I’m not going to use… View Full Post

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Hello, and welcome to my tiny corner of this big ol’ internet!

I’m Fiona, and I used to be a food-obsessed literary agent living in London. Now? I’m not so sure.

After six years of giving it a very good go, I finally realised that my hunger wasn't the sort that could be satiated with Hawksmoor short-rib French dips.

So I left. In February 2015 I packed a couple of bags and headed off to Asia. Solo, indefinitely and with the hope that new faces, landscapes and adventures would satisfy me in an entirely different way.

And it kind of worked.

I now live in Bali (for the moment). No longer a Londoner but still, as ever, hungry.

Where am I?

Current Location: Bali

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  • On Saturday night @a_slow_adventure interviewed me as part of her Christmas Party for Creatives. The last question she asked was what advice I would give to someone looking to live life a little differently, and perhaps set up their own creative business. After rambling a little bit, I said that I would say: “just remember it’s not as easy as Instagram makes it look”. If there is anything this year has taught me, both through my own experiences and conversations I’ve had with other creatives and my clients, it's that building your own business is no where near as easy as it sometimes made out to be. And the expectation that things will move quicker than they do makes it so much harder to cope when things are the M25 on Christmas Eve slow. I don’t think Instagram is entirely to blame for this, but I do think that many of us (myself included here) feel like we need to make ourselves look more successful, quicker, than we actually are. Many people I’ve spoken to have admitted they’ve fudged figures, talked about non-existing clients, or said something is almost sold out when it isn’t. And I understand why. Success breeds success, and especially if you have a service-based business, then there is a real pressure I think to look like you are succeeding from the off - which is probably very rare. But the more I talk to people the more I realise how this is affecting how they we see our own businesses, and our own successes: We’re not recognising them for what they are because we’re feeling like they should be even bigger and even better. And we’re beating ourselves up for not growing as quickly as we think we should be. So in this spirit I thought I would ask everyone what you have failed at this year? What hasn’t worked out, or gone wrong, or what goals haven’t you met? I’ll go first: I have not hit my income goal this year. Not even close.
  • I'm going to be spending the next week or so frantically trying to post all the Autumnal images I have saved up after not posting for all of October. I feel like most people's feeds are slowly transitioning now into cool winter but I'm going to keep the oranges and reds and dark greens alive for a little longer! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Something I realised this morning: right now the sun is coming up at precisely the right time to wake me up naturally a few minutes before my alarm goes off at seven. In another week or so I'll be waking up in the dark, and my morning grumpiness will return with a bang. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Also - final reminder, today is the last day you can books tickets to @a_slow_adventure Christmas Party for Creatives in Oxford on the 8th December. Maddy's going to be interviewing me, and it looks like it will be a really lovely event. You can book via her profile.
  • While I was absent from here I spent a couple of weeks at my parent's house in Norfolk, being fed roast chicken (with an anchovy butter sauce 👌) and going for long walks along the coastal path. I genuinely think the North Norfolk coast is one of the most beautiful spots in the entire world. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One of the things I find really frustrating when I'm going through a low, anxious patch is that I stop enjoying going for walks. Walking somewhere beautiful, in the fresh air, is usually something I always (no matter how wet or windy it is) take pleasure in, and having the enjoyment sucked out of it is really horrible. In our episode of There Are Other Ways on mental health @rachelkellis said that one of the things about depression that's perhaps not understood enough is how it stops you feeling passionate about things. And I agree. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I had to force myself out the house the first few days I was there, yet slowly I began to enjoy it again. And I remember coming back from one walk and saying to my mum "I actually really enjoyed that. I think I'm beginning to feel like myself again!".
  • *Waves awkwardly* Why hello there! Sorry I've not been around these parts much recently. Hit a bit of a low in October and just needed to strip everything back to essentials for a few weeks while I sorted myself out. I'm slowly getting back on track, and will be back to regular posting soon (not that I was ever that regular. I have Instagram IBS). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But for now, I just wanted to say hi, especially to new followers who have someone found me over the last month or so - I hope, for my egos sake, I don't suddenly lose you all by actually posting! While I've been quiet on here I have actually quite busy IRL the last couple of weeks or so, and have a lot to fill you in on. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But in the meantime, what about you? What have you been up to? What have I missed? Any news? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ P.s. I've since finished this scarf and it is so snuggly! @woolandthegang is brilliant for knitting kits to make things you actually want to wear / use.
  • I've just sent out the latest edition of There Are More Ways (you can subscribe via the podcast page on my website) which was all about going against the shoulds, inspired by my conversation with @simpleandseason on Monday's episode of There Are Other Ways. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This whole week I've been thinking a lot about all the things I do because I feel I should. And even though it is something that I'm very aware of, I still find them creeping in. As I said in the email shoulds are pesky little things that can follow us around without us even knowing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So my question today is this: what are you doing because you feel you should? It could be either in your business, or in your life. And can you let it go?
  • Why is it always the days you have the most to do that are the hardest to get going on?? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My to-do list has out-grown its page but somehow I can't seem to get my brain into gear this morning. What do you do when you've got so much to do you can't seem to do any of it?
  • Another day, another Frome doorway... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Season two of There Are Other Ways is finally here and the first episode is with the amazing @simpleandseason. I've realised the reason I love creating a podcast so much is that I'm a bit (ok fine, very) nosey, and I love finding out about other people's thoughts, dreams and day-to-day lives. I basically just asked Kayte all the things I wanted to know about her! We ended up talking a lot about going against the shoulds in life and in your business, and why it is so important to do the things you really want to do, as supposed to the things you feel you should do. I really enjoyed the conversation, and I hope you enjoy listening to it! The link is in my profile.
  • Autumn is literally blowing itself in through the window. #coffeeandseasons
  • Back in June it felt like this summer was going to last forever, now suddenly it feels like every sunny day is precious and could be our last. I woke up this morning to brilliant sunshine, so I'm going to make the most of it with a long walk today. I might be getting excited about the prospect of cosy nights in, mornings tucked up in bed listening to the rain, and the sting of cool air on my cheek, but summer is still here and needs to be enjoyed! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What is everyone up to this weekend? Any Bank Holiday plans? (P.s had this photo on my phone for a while, not sure this is still in bloom!)
  • Is it too soon to start posting photos like this?? When can we officially go full autumnal on our feeds?? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I sent the first of the There Are More Ways emails yesterday, all about mindful consumerism, inspired by my chat with @caitflanders in season one of There Are Other Ways (you can still sign up to receive it via the link in my profile). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Writing the letter, and pulling together the resources and exercises made me look at my spending and consumption habits again and there's definitely some things I need to work on! I'm not pretending to be the most mindful of consumers, but I am trying and I think that's important. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (One of the best, and most mindful, purchases I've made recently was this speckled mug from @funderhill. I swear it makes my morning coffee taste so much better!)

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