London ABC: Travelcard and Buspass - adults and students

It is kind of the first thing you need to think about when arriving in London - how will you get around, and will it be by bus, tube, train or even cycling or walking?

For most tourists it will mainly be the tube and buses for those who feel a bit more confident to explore London and maybe get off somewhere unfamiliar.

ADULTS

TUBE

That´s what tourists (and adults in general) are going to pay for the Oyster travelcard -> tube (as well as train, overground and DLR) depending on which zone*¹ they are planning to use and whether you wish to pay per journey or periods of time, such as a week or a month:

Oyster/Travelcard - tickets for tube, train, overground and DLR

Design, build and live in your own house - all at the same time

It is probably one of the most common reasons why people are not able to visualize and afford their own homes and enjoy life at the same time:

They believe you can only live somewhere when it's ALL DONE AND READY.

Morning visit on our construction site

The prince of sun and I knew that it would take years to save money to have a ready home. As our whole life is an adventure anyway we knew we would do it differently.

We decided that all we care about is:

-saving money long term: getting out of the vicious circle of wasting money through renting and using the savings for travelling and enjoying life

-independence, safety & freedom: having our own place where we feel safe, are totally free to do what and how we wish to do it, for example having our own dog without worrying about changing rent regulations

-an affordable hence small but cosy home base: to be able to travel now and then and not have high maintenance/utility bills while at home and when travelling/abroad

-cheap living costs in the town of our home base, here in Porto Seguro, Brazil

-no rush: being able to take it slow, design and build the house at our speed and wallet abilities

-have spare time and enjoy life: instead of having the life of workaholics and no-time for 6-10 years, and not taking advantage of our youth, we prefer to build slow but steady and be able to go out, travel, eat well and enjoy ourselves with friends, family or just the two of us.

My house plan

So that's what we did: First we obviously needed a piece of land. We chose a long, narrow one, flat space of 3m wide/streetfront and 20m long/between two other houses. This shows that it won't be an ordinary house, the way people normally believe houses 'should' be built - such as

My nailcare routine - or how to have long nails

Having been asked to talk about my nailcare routine after a few last pictures, I have to be really honest: I do not actually have one.

I used to paint my nails now and then a few years ago, but due to my sensitive skin and a few nail-polish-remover-related allergies, I completely stopped using nail polishes and leave my nails basically just the way they are naturally.

The only thing I do now and then is massaging a bit of one of my oils into the nailbed, bring the nailbed in form and now and then use a file or scissors to cut them or remove splits or cracks. And that´s it, I guess.

Since not using any nail polish on my nails, they have been growing like weed and since I am here in Brazil, my nails (and my hair for that matter) have been growing even faster, the length of the nails you can see in the picture is after 4 weeks to one month of not cutting my nails. I guess it is due to the weather and healthy diet, probably the beans I mentioned in my hair routine ;)
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http://thegermanbrazilianlondoner.blogspot.com.br/2012/05/rapunzels-secrets-long-hair-tipps.html#more

Round bun - braided or twisted

This is one of my favourite hairdos, quite simple and quick but beautiful to look at.

It is really practical in those hot temperatures here and also during days when my scalp is sensitive as my heavy hair distributes itself easier due to the hairdo and so less pressure will be put on the individual roots and scalp sections.

Instructions:

Amie

That´s Amie, our "vira-lata". (Amie = french for friend/best friend)

She actually arrived earlier than planned. Her mother, due to medical issues, completely stopped feeding and mothering her and her siblings, so we were thrown into unexpected 24h motherhood.

Nothing better than having a nap after lunch

I must say we are lucky with our home jobs.

Say hello to our (hopefully soon) new family member *_*

Her mother´s owner says, she´s a true Brazilian Baiano: "vira-lata" (mixed breed). Some labrador, some Rottie, some brazilian breed Fila (not sure about the translation) and others. And as cute as can be.*_*

And joining our happy family, hopefully in about 4-5 weeks time <3 Cross fingers!

Why you should never walk past a leaned door when it´s windy...

Why you should never walk past a door (loose and unsecured) leaned against the door frame when it´s windy...

(It happened about 5 days ago, so I am quite lucky that my body heals that quickly!)

A dream come true: London's outer circle line

One of my dreams came true in December. No, it wasn't the flat somewhere close to Hampstead Heath ;) But what happened made Hampstead Heath much more accessible for everyone, no matter where they live in London:

Christmas time in Porto Seguro, Brazil

Having lived in Europe, mainly Germany and London, during all my life, I´ve always associated Christmas with the snowy Winterwonderland, hot tea and wine, cinnamon cookies and a traditional Christmas tree.

This year was my first HOT Christmas and I have to admit there was a really different feel to it. A few days before Christmas, we went to the beach. It was midday and with the prince of sun next to me, I admired the 2^nd love of my life. The ocean, glittering in the heat and showering cool water drops on our warm arms.

It was wonderful. But I did not feel christmassy at all. It might be due to the fact that...

Can your job pay London´s rent?

London is quite known to be one of the most expensive cities in the world, although it has fallen a few places.

This interesting homepage let´s you calculate whether the salary you are gaining (or maybe a salary from a job offer) would pay a studio flat or even just a room in your chosen London boroughs:

Can your job pay London´s rent?

Try it out! =)