Field Notes: May

Travel notes from Greece, my new favourite skincare brand & the Kip Hideaways getaways on my wishlist

First of all, apologies that my monthly newsletter is (once again) late. I’ve been struggling with my work-life balance since returning from Greece mid-May, but I’ve finally got on top of my to-do list. Just as well - I have my next trip coming up in less than two weeks. As I travel more and more frequently for work, I need to take a step back and reevaluate how I balance my workload. I took my laptop with me to Greece and tried to keep on top of editing my photographs and making notes for articles while I was away, but I was definitely distracted by the crystal clear water and all that sunshine.

Other than a chaotic workload, May has been my favourite month of the year so far. I started the month with a 12 day solo trip island hopping in Greece (which I’ll talk about in more detail further into this newsletter) and returned home to a lush and green landscape that delights me everytime I look out of the window. When I lived in Manchester, I used to have tears rolling down my cheeks when I returned home from a holiday, but I also feel so happy when I arrive home now. Especially in summer. My favourite thing to do as soon as I’m home is to visit one of my favourite local swimming spots - and as I returned home to a heatwave, I did just that. There was nothing better than swimming in a reservoir surrounded by green hills with my friends to remind me how lucky I am to live where I live.

I’ve also been busy in the garden this month. Initially planting and weeding, but over the past couple of wet weeks my garden tasks have become more focused around gastropod patrol. I’ve seen everyone complaining about slugs and snails on Instagram, and my garden is no different. I have copper rings snuggly secured around my dahlias and am trialling natural wool pellets around my lettuce and courgettes, but most of my plants are enduring a nightly munch. Fingers crossed everything survives, but I’m feeling nervous about leaving the garden unattended for eleven days later this month.

We’ve planted a lot of both vegetables and flowers over the last month, so providing they survive my garden should be filled with produce and colour pretty soon. Dave has built an impressive tripod structure for our beans to grow up. Half our strawberries are beginning to fruit (that is, the half that haven’t been eaten). I’ve gone a bit crazy adding more perennials to my flower beds, including ‘big’ poppies, verbana, lupins and more geums. We’ve completed our final no dig bed in the back garden, planting four squash plants. The kale is nestled beside the dahlias in a pairing that worked oh so well last year. There are new raised beds inside the greenhouse filled with tomatoes, peppers, basil and cucumbers. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the plants prevail over the slugs!

Work-wise, May has surprised me by being my most profitable month since I went freelance! During my Greece trip I photographed two hotels, wrote three articles, shot lifestyle imagery for two brands and worked on a sponsored blog post. I’ve also had a dreamy two day shoot in London, working for an interior designer client who I love shooting for. But I now have a very quiet month for work, so it’s all peaks and troughs.

Things I’m looking forward to in June: exploring the Swiss and Italian Alps in a camper van; swimming in Alpine lakes; watching my garden flourish (hopefully!); local swims in my favourite places becoming a daily routine; tasting the elderflower champagne I made this weekend; and spending as much time as possible outdoors.

Field Notes is quite a long read, and may cut off in your emails so is best viewed on the Substack app or website.

TRAVEL NOTES

You must have heard I spent twelve days on my own in Greece during May - it’s all I’ve been talking about on Substack and Instagram. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t embraced solo travel sooner. I loved being selfish with my time and spent the majority of the trip swimming, lazing by the sea reading a book, taking photographs and eating whenever I was hungry. I relished making my own schedule and not having to compromise with anyone else. I’ve wrote more about my thoughts on my first experience of solo travel here.

But what about the places I visited and the hotels I stayed in? I briefly wrote about two of the hotels I stayed at in this newsletter about why I love small boutique hotels, and I’ve almost finished sharing a very detailed recap of my trip on my Instagram Stories (saved to Highlights for you to scroll back over). I have so many photographs to share that I will also be sharing more details on those hotels on my blog soon.

For those of you who have somehow managed to escape how much I’ve been yabbering on about my trip, this was my basic itinerary:

Athens for two nights (staying in a hotel that was fine, but nothing worth sharing).

A ferry to Andros, where I took the bus to the main town, Chora.

Three nights in Chora, staying in an apartment found on Booking.com, spending most of my time lounging on rocks and swimming in the sea.

A ferry to Mykonos, where I spent two nights at Nomad while writing and shooting for Small Luxury Hotels. I’ll be writing more about Nomad on my blog soon.

A ferry to Syros, where I spent two nights at Aristide in Ermoupoli (again, working for SLH, and I will share more on my blog soon).

I then took a taxi to Achladi beach where I spent 24 hours at a lovely small hotel right by the water.

The final ferry back to Athens, where I spent one night in an awful hotel before flying home.

Keep your eye on my Instagram for more photographs from this trip. And let me know if there’s anything else from my time in Greece that you’d like me to cover in a newsletter.

This month, I’m off to Switzerland where I’m spending two nights in Lausanne and one night in Bern before travelling around the Bernese Alps and down to Lago Maggiore in a camper van. I’ll be sharing my thoughts and tips on travelling around this region in a camper van following my trip.

SUBSTACK SUGGESTIONS

I’m currently subscribing to 48 Substack newsletters, and am looking forward to sharing my favourites with you each month. I love using the Notes tab to discover new writing, and am always open to recommendations of newsletters you think I might enjoy reading.

This month, I’m recommending

India Cardona

’s newsletter EDITED. I love reading India’s weekly newsletters, whether they’re focused around interiors, fashion or wellness - but it’s her travel content that I really look forward to. We have quite similar taste when it comes to hotels and destinations, and I always look forward to her recommendations for boutique hotels or mini guides to the places she visits. Her Marrakech newsletter has completely inspired me to start planning a trip back there for early next year.

MONTHLY EDIT

Every month I’ll share what’s been inspiring and tempting me in the worlds of travel, fashion, beauty, gardens and interiors. (Apologies I haven’t added gardens & interiors this month - it will be back for June!)

5 things: travel & accommodation

I need to talk about how much I loved Ermoupoli. Syros was the last island I visited on my Greek adventure, and I wasn’t prepared for how much I was going to fall for it. Strangely, I picked up Hanna Johansson's best-selling novel (in her native Swedish - released in the UK this summer) about inappropriate queer lust while I was there, without realised I was reading it exactly where it was set! The book conjures up visions of Ermoupoli as a sun-drenched neo-classical paradise, romanticising its concrete swimming platforms, marble-paved streets and crumbling mansions. During my short time on the island, I threw myself into the world of the novel, falling in love with the vibrant history, crystal clear waters and welcoming locals in the process. It’s completely different to anywhere else in Greee and is utterly, utterly wonderful.

One of my favourite Instagram travel duos who promote sustainable staycations are The Travel Project. Jess and Charlie share their UK adventures, filling their feed with inspiraton for all the amazing places to discover right here on our own shores. Their debut book, 52 Achieveable Adventures has recently been published, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

I’m really into the idea of going on a retreat somewhere abroad, and am always on the lookout for ones focused around creativity, swimming, yoga and/or walking. Perhaps I’ll finally be able to treat myself to one next year for my 40th birthday. Photographer Charlotte Bland’s annual Umbrian getaway has been at the top of my list for a while. Bland Badger looks like my dream retreat, complete with a big beautiful house to photograph, floral and collage workshops, and food cooked by Letitia Clark.

Georgia, who I met in Athens for coffee and a catch up that I had to tear myself away from, introduced me to Vermelho Medlides the other week. The first ever hotel from Christian Louboutin, this Portguese retreat is an absolute feast for the eyes that I would jump over hoops to photograph. It’s a maximalist paradise, complete with intricately tiled bathrooms, shells plastered all over the walls, painted murals on the walls and bold pops of colour. I want to photograph every inch of it.

Kip Hideaways is one of my favourite places to find cabins and cottages in the UK, and I’m forever keeping up with new additions to their curation. The Studio & Hut and Ukai have been on my wishlist for a while - recently joined by new additions to their site Craftsman’s Cabin, In The Wild and St Clements.

5 things: fashion & beauty

When I was in Greece, my most worn garment was a yellow gingham seersucker shirt that I picked up for £2 in an antiques shop earlier this year. It’s a high street brand that I wouldn’t usually buy from, but I absolutely love it and now can’t imagine my summer wardrobe without such a shirt. My favourite look was wearing it knotted with my high waisted white denim shorts (a Vinted find), but I also loved layering it loose over my swimwear or with my favourite black linen trousers. It’s at the top of my packing list for Switzerland - a good shirt is the ultimate multifunctional piece for summer travels.

Currently sold out, this Ren blouse was an investment piece that I’m delighted I treated myself to. I’ve already worn it with jeans and with shorts, and can see it becoming one of the most worn pieces in my wardrobe. Made in Cornwall, this frill collared top is crafted from organic cotton poplin and is light and breezy for summer days. Ren will be restocking this beautiful shirt soon, and she has many other wonderful shirts available - I own three of her designs now and treasure them all.

Let me introduce you to my new beauty and skincare obsession: Greek brand, Korres. I had picked up a set of their peach blossom body wash and body milk at TK Maxx recently (if you don’t already browse their skincare aisles, they are filled with amazing brands at bargain prices) but became fully obsessed while I was in Greece. One of my best friends raves about French pharmacies - I will now tell anyone who listens how much I adore Greek pharmacies, thanks to this brand and others that I discovered. Korres use plants and flowers that grow in the wilds of Greece for their natural products, as well as ingredients such as olive oil and Greek yoghurt. I treated myself to a few of their products while I was away (their prices are slightly cheaper in Greece and I was pleased to find them in the duty free shop at Athens airport). Their SPF, aftersun, almond & linseed hair mask and pure Greek olive oil for face, body and hair are all now amongst my favourite products.

I made another investment purchase this month, via an Instagram seller who has immaculate taste. I’ve bought a few second-hand garments via Instagram over the past couple of years - it’s a great way to add more expensive items to your wardrobe at a fraction of the price. This addition to my wardrobe was James Street’s marled funnel neck sweater in a beautiful pistachio colour (sold out, but here’s a link so you can see what it looks like). I’ve been a longtime admirer of the brand, and was pleased to discover that their pieces are just as beautiful in real life as they are in photographs. I’ve been wearing this sweater almost daily; it goes with everything in my wardrobe and works just as well for summer nights as it will for winter layering.

Finally - I thought I’d share my travel essentials that I always pack in my washbag. I don’t wear makeup, but I am obsessed with skincare and there are certain products that always travel with me. My travel routine is slightly different from my day-to-day routine for hair, body and skin due to sun damage, salt water and not wanting to travel with some of my larger bottles. I tend to pack:

Body: My go-to sun cream is now Korres SPF 30 for the daytime. At night, I use Rowse summer body oil to add a glow and treat my limbs, as well as for scent (I love this so much I have the large bottle at home and a travel size). I use Avène cold creamas my regular hand cream. I’ll also pack my jar of Magic Organic Apothecary Magic Balm in case of scraps, bruises, burns or stings.

Hair: I’m not commited to a shampoo and conditioner for travelling (although I now want to try one for Korres’s range) but the Korres almond and linseed hair mask will now accompany me everywhere. It’s perfect for nourishing sun and salt damaged hair.

Face: During the day I just wear Thank You Farmer factor 50 Water Sun Cream on my face. Before bed, I’ll spray Avène’s thermal spring water on my face, add a couple of drops of Korres pure Greek olive oil and massage into my skin.

Coming this month …

I’ll be sharing my favourite travel photographers in an upcoming newsletter, plus I’ll be focusing on summer staycations in the UK. Late June/early July expect the lowdown on my camper van trip with tips for Switzerland on a budget, where to visit, where to swim and everywhere we spent the night. These newsletters will all be for my paid subscribers only, with my next Book Club and Field Notes available to everyone at the end of the month.

Thank you for subscribing to Field Notes. It really means the world to me, and I notice every single time someone new subscribes. If you’d like to have a chat or have anything to say about what I’ve talked about in this newsletter, please leave me a comment and let’s start a conversation!

If you enjoy reading my newsletters, I would be eternally grateful if you could share Field Notes and help me to reach a wider audience.

Emma x