Making Plans to Avoid Insanity

As nice as it is to spend the whole day sprawled out on the sofa watching an entire series on Netflix (latest addiction: Orange Is The New Black), I've come to realise what an enormous waste of time it is. Along with the majority of people, I work hard and any time spent away from the office is precious to me. So I've decided to think of 5 things that I want to do this summer to ensure I am making the most of my time. This blog post is fairly self-indulgent and works solely on the assumption that you all want to read about my life (Mother and Grandparents not included as I know you genuinely do want to know):

Go somewhere sunny with my friends

I'm cheating slightly by starting with this as I already have something booked with my two best friends at the end of July. But it still counts. We're going to the South of France and I'm really looking forward to it. We've booked an apartment in Antibes for the week (through Air B&B which is a great place for finding accommodation - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/). I plan to go on some fun day trips to Cannes and Monaco and spend lots of time on the beach. I want to read at least two books and if I don't come back with a decent tan I will be disappointed:

Go to Longleat Safari Park

I've been wanting to go here for so long! I would love to go on an African Safari one day, but this is the closest I'm going to get for the moment. Longleat sounds like a really fun day out and you don't have to get your car climbed over by monkeys if you don't want to! There's a tour bus option or you can just avoid that part all together. Also - most importantly - there's an island dedicated to penguins!

(these penguins live at London Zoo)

Go for dinner at The Shard

I'm hoping to combine it with a shopping trip (you can't go to London without visiting Oxford Street). There's a direct train from Swindon which makes getting there so much easier! 

(Photo Credit: Google Images. But I will take an equally breathtaking one when I'm there.)

Use my picnic hamper that is nearly a year old and still hasn't been used

So, my lovely Dad got me a beautiful picnic hamper for my birthday last year. I love it! It has wine glasses and little salt and pepper shakers. However, I still haven't used it! So one of the things I'm determined to do this summer is to have some picnics. I think this is a sunny Saturday afternoon activity:

Begin to learn a new language

This is a slightly ambitious one. I'm hoping that putting it in writing will encourage me to actually do it! People who can speak multiple languages have always amazed me, it's such an incredible thing to be able to do. I just need to decide which language (I'm thinking French or German):

What are your top 5 things to do this summer? 

Thanks for reading folks! I enjoyed writing this one. 

Love, Alice x