Following festive season and an influx of responsibility lately, I needed a break. I was being a bit of a complainy pants with life overall and feeling sorry for myself along the way and felt I needed a breather! Call it growing up but I have zero tolerance, patience or time for the petty lately, and that includes my own antics.
In the words of Khalil Gibran, “your pain is self-chosen”, and the same goes for the things that make you happy. In a concerted effort to choose to smile more, to be friendlier, to be grateful, to pursue the things that mean the most to me, to prioritise myself more, to DO more – I’ve since chosen and thus experienced happiness instead of relishing in the odd black cloud and nit-picking my way through the negative.
With the “doing” and a dash of carpe diem in mind, I’m a firm believer that sometimes you just need to break away from your every day world so it can fall into place with you at a distance, instead of frantically trying to piece it together on your own. I’ve always loved a good getaway, and usually, the further the plane flew, the better. As much as I love being abroad, I never realised how underrated a nearby, mini holiday could be. With Stellenbosch being under an hour away from Cape Town, there was no stress of sticking to a once-in-a-lifetime itinerary, meticulous packing, no exhausting commuting.
Few things make me as happy as hotel buffet breakfasts, quality time/adventures with my guy and old Dutch-inspired buildings. Add a relaxing strawberry-picking session and a pleasantly bearable three-hour hike to the Jonkershoek waterfalls, and you’ve just about got my constant smile in the bag.
I’m thinking I need to embrace local a little bit more, what are your favourite spots in South Africa? Tweet me @SAFashionBreed :)
xx