Katowice to Brussels – 3rd September

The alarm went off far too early on Thursday 3rd September and I’d had hardly any sleep. Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and I had spent so much time in the bathroom that I’d started seeing faces in the wall and floor tiles.
Our bus to the airport was at about 7am so there was no time for faffing about even though I did have to do a little repack. Our flight wasn’t until 9.55am and we were flying with Ryanair to Charleroi airport in Brussels, ready for the beer festival weekend.
My stomach was still very dodgy and it was evident it was due to chillies, without going in to more detail! We walked to the bus station, all the way I was clenching, sweating and hoping my imodium breakfast would save me. It didn’t and when I got to the bus station I gave my bank card to Captain Caveman to buy the bus tickets while I went off to find the toilets. They were in the train station and they charged to enter but I didn’t have any money or my bank card. I had to jump the barrier and rush in before the need to unpack spare pants became necessary. I was in pain and sweating so took my hoody off, which helped me dodge security on the way back out.
The bus from Katowice to the airport cost just over £2 each and seemed a lot longer than it probably was. I was just relieved I didn’t shit myself on the bus or walking to departures. At the airport Captain Caveman was struggling to walk so I went to get him something to eat with what cash he had left and had to try not to puke at the egg sandwich which cost a whopping £6.60 – I even moved out of the way while he ate it.
Louisa had booked priority boarding so she was in the queue before us and they were checking every single bag so I put most of my stuff in Captain Caveman’s cabin bag just in case they thought mine was too heavy. I wasn’t checked as I went through to the boarding section last and they had already stopped checking by then.
I was assigned a middle seat in row 7 but there were spare seats so I moved to the aisle. Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back and Louisa was nearer the front in a window seat too. There was a small child with a harmonica which he played badly throughout the flight and even noise cancelling headphones could not dim the sound of it. I used the toilet several times and was actually starting to feel a bit better by the time we landed.
On my list of things to do in Brussels I had written on my planner to revisit The Spiders Web restaurant which has the best potato croquettes and steak sandwich. Unfortunately, we didn’t go as Captain Caveman’s foot was hurting and we needed to go somewhere near to the train station instead. I found a nicely reviewed restaurant called Brasserie Hop & Go but, knowing I had to get to Captain Caveman’s family, where we were staying, I decided to order safely.
Captain Caveman ordered a pint of Hoegaarden and a Croque Madame for €20.80, I just had a portion of chips and a camomile tea for €8.20 and Louisa ordered a ham and mushroom pizza with a coke for €18.40. While everyone enjoyed their food, I thought it was pricey at around £40 for the 3 of us as we were used to Poland prices.
It was nearing 2.30pm so we decided to head off to our respective accommodations. We had recommended Louisa stay at an old favourite hotel that we’ve stayed at on previous visits. The Citidines St Catherine hotel is right in the heart of Brussels, walking distance to the Grand Place and one of the more budget friendly options, considering how busy the beer festival weekend gets. Captain Caveman and I had been lucky enough to have been invited to stay with his brother and family. The youngest boy was giving up his bedroom for us and we really appreciated it, plus we hadn’t seen them all for 9 months so we were looking forward to seeing them. We said farewell to Louisa with plans to message later to arrange tomorrow’s plans once I knew them. At the train station, I needed the loo again so I left Captain Caveman looking at watches – this time I took coins and it was 30 cents!
When I got back, Captain Caveman had treated himself to a G Shock watch which was very nice and a bit of a bargain.
We took the train from Brussels Midi to Uccle for less than £5 for the 2 of us and then we had a steep walk up the big hill to Simon & Anna’s house. Captain Caveman was struggling to walk and in a lot of pain while I moaned on that we were turning up empty handed as Captain Caveman had not stopped to pick up any treats or a bottle of wine. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk what would normally be much quicker, but we did have our bags too.
I caught up with the family while Captain Caveman tried to get his new watch working and then I went up to the room to check my emails and pop on my out of office for the weekend.
That evening we had a lovely family dinner and I even managed a glass of wine. My stomach was fine and I enjoyed having home cooked food for a nice change.

Gratitude List
1. Not shitting my pants
2. Staying with Captain Caveman’s family
3. Starting to feel better again.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Captain Caveman.

Katowice – 2nd September

On Wednesday 2nd September, despite being away from Fat Club and not knowing what I weighed, I took my measurements. With all the eating and drinking lately, I was surprised to find my bust and waist were the same as last week but I had put 2cm on my hips.
I’d planned to work in the morning so I got up quite early to fit it in. I didn’t get much done though and by 10am Louisa, Captain Caveman and I were out in the town in search of breakfast. I wasn’t too hungry and was still concerned about my bad stomach so I didn’t want to have anything too stodgy before our last day of sightseeing in Katowice.
We finally found a place where Captain Caveman went ahead and ordered his as he was in pain with gout and needed to eat to take painkillers, so he wasn’t faffing about. Louisa looked less thrilled with the choices available at Lajonik House Bakery as a lot of the premade sandwiches on show had cheese in. I ordered mine which was more like a lunch than a breakfast and left Louisa still deciding. Here’s what Captain Caveman and I had;
1 Toastie
1 camembert sandwich
1 water
1 coffee
1 mint tea
Total spent £8.66

By 10.15am we were eating breakfast and deciding whether Captain Caveman’s foot was good enough to walk to the Silesian Museum. He said it was and off we went, having already been near it on Monday when it was closed. On the way, Louisa and I popped in to the NOSPR (Orchestra Hall) as I wanted to have a look inside the auditorium. Unfortunately, it was locked and we could only walk around the foyer and stairs.

The Silesian Museum cost just £9 for 2 people on a normal ticket, Louisa paid the extra to go up the tower. I’m not keen on open structures with metal stairs so it wasn’t for me, Captain Caveman was now limping so he didn’t bother. Louisa enjoyed it but it looked pretty scary from the photos and a video she showed me on her phone.
The normal sections of the museum were pretty amazing for the price but, if you go, allow plenty of time. I had an urgent work call that I needed to sort out around 1pm but Captain Caveman was still in the museum. He had no phone signal and I was getting a bit worried as to where he was. We waited for almost an hour for him to follow us out, none of the staff knew where he was and it was quite a big museum, some of it quite far underground. The art gallery section was also very impressive and worth a wander round.

We hurried back, where Captain Caveman and Louisa went to Lorneta Z Meduza bar while I went back to the hotel to make the work phone call and then bring my laptop to join them. It was our last day today so I was conscious I needed to get all my jobs done as soon as possible as we would be travelling tomorrow and then busy at the weekend. It was quite tricky fitting work and holiday in as I’m used to silence when I work but I carried on.
Captain Caveman and Louisa were hungry and Captain Caveman had to put his foot up on a spare chair then needed more food to take more painkillers. It was my job to take a photo of the snacks advertised in Polish on the wall and ask the lady behind the bar what they all were. The first round consisted of 1 pilsner, 2 prosecco and some nuts for just short of £10 and went down rather well. There were promo sunglasses on the bar so we all got a free pair.
While I finished off my tasks for the day, Captain Caveman decided he was ordering food so another round was had; 1 pilsner,
2 prosecco and 1 sausage plate came to a bargain £12. The Prosecco was very nice and was on draft so we definitely enjoyed that a bit too much. For the same price as the last round I ordered a cheese plate (remembered to take the tablets) and Louisa had to settle for Doritos as there was nothing on the menu to suit. I did fancy the soup but didn’t really want to be slurping soup over my laptop. We had seen a Nepalese restaurant nearby so we decided to eat there for dinner. My stomach seemed fine after the cheese plate and I checked the dish I ordered didn’t have any chillies in. We had an early start tomorrow so I didn’t need to have stomach issues! It was less than £11 each for our meal and Captain Caveman said he thought mine was the spiciest even though my fellow diners love spicy food. On the way home we called back to Lorneta where our last round of 1 pilsner and 1 prosecco came to just over a fiver!
We got back to the hotel and, as is typical, I was quite ill and up a lot of the night with a bad stomach.
On the plus side, it meant I was able to update my budget tracker in The Handy Travel Planner and was pleased that we’d had a very full day out at £65 for the both of us. Without the cost of the flights and hotel, we had spent £302 (£60.33 per day) on our trip to Poland, between Captain Caveman and I. There were still things we hadn’t seen, done or eaten but they were all on the list for another visit. Tomorrow we were off to Belgium but I was definitely going to miss Poland and wanted to see more of it.

Gratitude List
1. The Silesian Museum was fantastic
2. Prosecco in Poland
3. Being able to work remotely during my 5 days in Poland.

Photo Credit – some photos by Captain Caveman and Louisa.

Katowice – 1st September

I was awake early on Tuesday 1st September, totting up the August budget against spending. It wasn’t good news. In the last 3 days I’d gone through £305.75, compared to just £19.99 for the whole week prior to being on holiday. For August, I’d set the budget at £25 per day but had gone way over at £1,197 spent in the whole month (£38.61 per day). This did included mine and Captain Caveman’s flights for Türkiye next month. Without splashing out on those, though, it would still have been over at £27.22! When I mentioned it to Captain Caveman he thought it wasn’t too bad and I decided to up the budget for September. I wanted to double it to £50 per day but I knew I didn’t have that available. I decided to keep it at £30 per day and hope for the best. By 8am I had checked my emails, walked to the bakery and bought salami and cheese sandwiches for breakfast at £6.16 for 2, then gone back to my laptop to try to squeeze some work in. Captain Caveman had got agreement to attend the Bridge event (the main reason we were in Katowice) so he’d set off early too, taking his sandwich with him.

Around midday Louisa and I met up to go to the Museum of History of Katowice. It was free to go in on a Tuesday and we even got a private tour for just the two of us. Our expectations were exceeded and I really enjoyed this museum, and not just because it was free. While walking, we spotted that a road/bridge had collapsed and it was being rebuilt. On the way back we stopped at Opal cafe for a drink, it took a while to get served and I decided to have a hot chocolate and see if the lactase pills worked on it – hot chocolate is usually a no go for me but I do like it and this time I wasn’t too ill. Louisa hadn’t had any breakfast so she ordered some chips for lunch but I still had half of my breakfast sandwich in the hotel room fridge, along with that neverending pork rope. Louisa treated us and it was a nice spot to get a drink and a snack, just next to the statue of the bull. The Charging Bull statue represents financial optimism, economic resilience, and the unstoppable energy of a bull market, according to Google.

Back at the hotel I had a busy time at my temporary desk. Captain Caveman returned back from the Bridge event with a gout flare up which I was convinced was down to the beer but he said it wasn’t. Louisa had gone to her room to read or watch a film. We arranged to all meet at 5pm to go to a craft beer place which Captain Caveman had on his list. I’d been too busy to take note of the location so Captain Caveman was a bit cheesed off that Browariat was closed due to the maintainance of the road/bridge we had been past earlier. I suggested the nearby pork cutlet restaurant for dinner but it wasn’t open yet and the others preferred to try Statca Bejrut, a Lebanese kebab place. I was less up for it, given that I had a Lebanese kebab shop on my list for Brussels at the weekend, but I was outnumbered and peckish – so when in Rome (or Katowice). Louisa, like me, is not a fan of yoghurt so she managed to order hers without the garlic sauce, Captain Caveman got one that was extra spicy and I just went for a regular chicken shish which had the sauce on. It was messy, greasy and gave me a bad stomach but it tasted quite good. It was also a cheap dinner at £18 for 2 kebabs, 1 ayran, 1 tea and 2 free pieces of baklava.

Next, we went to a bar called Biata Matpa which also sold Mexican food. Captain Caveman and I had a beer each at a reasonable £8 and we only stayed for 1 drink as everyone was full and tired. Despite me taking my pills and checking there were no chillies in my kebab I made full use of the facilities and then we walked back to the hotel before 8.30pm.

Gratitude List
1. The Museum of History of Katowice
2. Captain Caveman being allowed in to the Bridge event
3. Spending just £32.16 for both of us today, so being under budget.

Katowice – 31st August

I was meant to be working from the Katowice hotel room on Monday 31st August. I did just about manage to log on, check emails and post some content but then Captain Caveman was ready for us to go for breakfast and have a proper look around Katowice. We had left it a little bit late which worked out better for Louisa as she’s not a breakfast person. The place we chose was more from what was open than checking out it’s 5 star reviews. Kromka was a nice little cafe but they didn’t have much left so we had an eclectic mix of dishes for our brunch. Captain Caveman chose a shakshuka type of dish, Louisa ended up with a smash burger without cheese and I had a Rubens sandwich with sauce on the side.
Before the food came, the lovely waiter explained that the workman who had just arrived needed to turn the electricity off so we sat in the semi-darkness for a while. When the food came the lights were still off so the photos weren’t great. Captain Caveman enjoyed his, my sandwich was good but filling Louisa didn’t enjoy her burger as it had too much ketchup on.
When we came to pay, the electric had come back on but the card machine wasn’t working so we had to pay cash. Captain Caveman and my breakfast with a drink came to £22 in total so it wasn’t the cheapest place in town and a croissant probably would’ve sufficed, however I wasn’t sure what the Polish locals ate for breakfast. I later noted it was mainly bread (rye), eggs, cheeses and cold cuts of meat.

We left around noon and went for a walk to do a bit of free sightseeing. The town of Katowice is industrial and had some very interesting architecture. Captain Caveman took some great pictures which were much better than mine. It was also a bit cooler than I’d expected and then it started to rain a little. Captain Caveman popped in to the building where the Bridge event was and was told he couldn’t enter as he needed to pre-register via email and I could tell he was disappointed.

By 1.30pm we were back at the hotel and arranged to meet at Lorneta Z Meduza bar at 5pm for drinks before going out for dinner. Captain Caveman and I had 5 drinks in there which came to a total of £30.
For dinner Captain Caveman chose a pizza place called Pizzatopia. I was quite merry by this point so didn’t care too much what I ate. Our 2 pizzas, a beer and a wine came to £26. It was ok but the BBQ sauce squirted on the top was overly sweet so I didn’t manage to eat all of mine.
We hadn’t done any paid trips or attractions but had managed to spend £78 between the 2 of us on 2 meals out and alcohol, which was over budget again. Tomorrow we needed to take it easier on the booze! I also thought it would be better to eat what the locals eat and I was looking forward to eating some traditional pork dishes.

Gratitude List
1. Free sightseeing in Katowice
2. Drinking in Lorneta Z Meduza (again) with cheap drinks
3. Spending time with Captain Caveman and Louisa in Katowice.

Photo Credit – some photos by Captain Caveman

Krakow & Katowice – 30th August

We hadn’t booked breakfast in the hotel on Sunday 30th August so I did a bit of work and Captain Caveman decided to take himself off to the Salt Mine. This was meant to have been an activity that he and Louisa were going to do together, as I am not a fan of being in underground situations like that and suffer quite badly from cleithrophobia. However, Louisa wasn’t departing Manchester until 11.20am today and was meeting us in Katowice tonight. The Salt Mine was nearer to Krakow than Katowice so it made sense to Captain Caveman to do it straight away and on his own. He left by 8am and got the SKA1 train from Krakow to Wieliczka for less than £1.60. The Salt Mine entry was £32.55 and he was in there just over 2 hours.
Meanwhile, I had decided to have a sightseeing morning in the delightful Krakow. I went to a shop and bought snacks to constitute breakfast; a bread which resembled a cheese rock cake and a pork rope. Both had dairy in but I took my tablets and all was fine. It was a bargain £1.83 for both, neither of which I would recommend or buy again, though.
I wandered around the town and took photos, it was a lovely sunny day and everyone I encountered seemed friendly. It was cheap, beautiful and seemed like a place we should’ve been staying in for longer. I was just about to find a cafe for some tea when I got the call that Captain Caveman was on his way back and would be at the hotel in 20 minutes, where we had both left our bags. I walked back to meet him, hoping he’d be willing to eat the leftover pork rope.

Captain Caveman enjoyed the Salt Mine but agreed there was no way I would have coped with it, given my previous underground meltdowns that he’s had experience of. He got the train back and met me in the cafe attached to our hotel for a hot beverage and to show me his photos (I’ve included some here). We paid £2.77 for a tea and a coffee and then had to leave as they were closing for the day. At the train station Captain Caveman bought a sandwich to eat on the train for £3.16 but I still had half a rock scone and the pork rope so had some of that. We filled up water bottles from taps on the platform which were very handy. The tap water in Krakow tastes good too.

We left Krakow a little disappointed that we weren’t there for long enough. Captain Caveman and I got the train to Katowice for £8.70 in total and it took less than 1 hour from door to door. We were staying in Hotel M23 for the next 4 nights, in Katowice centre. We put our bags in and I was impressed with the hotel, then we went to meet Louisa.

The venue had already been chosen ahead of time so that we all could find it easily and Louisa’s choice of Lorneta Z Meduza would turn out to be a regular bar to stop at for a drink. We ordered our drinks as we were 10 minutes early and waited for Louisa to join us. A beer was only £1.93 and a substantial size red wine just £2.70 so it was very reasonable to drink alcohol in Katowice. Louisa arrived and had a rum and coke which was £5 and then we all decided to go for food.
We had booked a table at Pierogi Swiata Robert Kukulski as we were all keen to try the local Pierogi dishes. Louisa doesn’t eat cheese so she chose ones without but both Captain Caveman and I chose ones with cheese in. When they came they were quite big portions at £7.40 per dish but tasted great. The alcoholic drinks here were slightly more expensive at £3 for a beer and £3.60 for wine but a coke was just less than £2. This meant our whole meal with drinks came to £30 so not bad for £10 each.
Our next drink of the evening was in a bar called Amnezja where wine and spirits were cheap but beer a little pricier. It was £4.60 for a rum and coke, £1.70 for a wine and £3.30 for a beer.
While we were in there we saw a bit of fighting outside so we decided to leave and go back to the hotel via Lorneta for a nightcap. I updated my budget tracker in The Handy Travel Planner before bed to find, we had spent £88 for both of us today so had gone over budget by £28 – but that included all the travel and sightseeing so it was not the end of the world.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman and I each doing our own choice of sightseeing activity and enjoying it
2. Meeting up with Louisa in Katowice
3. Great Food and drinks in Katowice.

Sheffield to Krakow – 29th August

Saturday 29th August was the day Captain Caveman and I were leaving Sheffield for Manchester airport to have a 9 day holiday together, starting in Poland. Our friend, Louisa, was also joining us but, due to a miscommunication and flight availability when Captain Caveman and her were booking it, she would be meeting us there on Sunday evening. Captain Caveman was in charge of our arrangements as the reason for the trip was for him to attend the Bridge competition that was happening in Katowice, while I worked and got on with writing my book(s). Louisa had been to Poland before and had found herself at a loose end with holidays booked off work. Captain Caveman could see no reason for her to waste the holidays and had suggested we all go together. This was good as it meant those 2 could do all the adventurous/expensive things and I could prioritise other stuff.
This last week I had been so frugal that I’d only spent £19.99 and that was to buy my internal diary pages to change on Canva. I did need to spend money today though and Captain Caveman had transferred money for both of us so that I could use my Wise account while away. I used my copy of The Handy Travel Planner to knock up a budget plan and set it at £30 per day each, which was 3 times my allowance in Turkey.
I’d got up early and packed only to find my new glasses which had been tightened were now uncomfortable and I needed to go back to the opticians. We had already eaten everything in the fridge or cupboard and put stuff in the freezer so we didn’t have anything in for breakfast. I was going to pop and get us croissants from Baker’s Yard but Captain Caveman suggested we go out for breakfast at The Grind. It’s a lovely independent cafe in Kelham Island which I love but don’t go often as it’s not in my budget. Captain Caveman ordered a coffee and eggs on toast, I chose a pot of tea and a granola bowl. I took my Lactase pills so that I didn’t have a bad stomach for travelling and had been pleased with the effects of them – they had generally been great when I took them properly.
I couldn’t manage all of my breakfast as it was massive and I started to get a bit of a belly ache. I ended up with a bad stomach and feeling like I was going to puke which can sometimes happen when I have Greek yoghurt. We walked towards town so that I could go to the opticians and neither of us had a coat on. It was too cold so Captain Caveman decided to go back home and repack while I carried on to town. We had a small personal underseat item each and 1 cabin bag to share. Because we were flying with Ryanair I couldn’t take Pauline, my petite pink suitcase.
Where possible I walk it to town and back, rather than getting the tram as it saves almost £5 and I get some exercise.
I got my glasses sorted at Vision Express then went to Marks and Spencer for travel money and some food for our journey. When travelling, I often take food as it’s sometimes difficult to get food I like in the airport or on the plane, never mind choices which don’t make me ill. I was in a tangle already with my stomach and had to go to the toilet at least 3 times, plus I was trying not to puke.
Here’s what I spent, with prices in pounds;

M&S
Travel Money 100.22
2 smoothies 4.00
2 bags of crisps 2.10
1 pastrami sandwich 4.50
1 nutty salad 3.00
1 bag 0.80
Total spent £114.40

I was also shocked to see that the meal deals were no longer available in the shop in town so our lunch was more expensive than I’d expected. By the time I left, it was raining quite hard so I got wet walking back to Captain Caveman’s flat. He was waiting to set off for our trip, while I fannied about having a shower, putting the washing on and repacking to fit my food in!

Captain Caveman had decided we would drive to the airport this time as on our return he had a meeting in Manchester. I was still feeling ill but we set off according to Captain Caveman’s schedule. Our flight wasn’t until 6.05pm so we arrived early and ate half of our lunch in the car park before we went in to the airport.
I ate my salad once through security and then had to walk for a while to get our water bottles filled back up. Next, we decided to go to the bar where a wine and a beer were about £20.
The Ryanair flight was fine, I was sat in an aisle seat in row 5 while Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back of the plane. We aren’t bothered about sitting together and we rarely pay extra on short flights to make sure we are.

We arrived in to Krakow airport early and were able to find the train easily. It cost just 20 zloty (£3.86) each for the train from the airport to the main station and took about 1 hour. I was impressed with trains for cleanliness, efficiency and prices in Poland already. We were staying within walking distance of the train station at Krakow Central Apartotel. It was so close that we actually walked past it and then returned. It was very nice and, as we were staying just the 1 night, we dropped out bags and went straight out.

We found nearby Polibuda pub but it was closing at 10pm so we just had a couple of pints of the local beer at just under £3 per pint.
For dinner we found Aleya Food Truck serving amazing Indian street food. We had a chicken pakora wrap for Captain Caveman and a chicken tikka wrap for me and it came to just under £11. It was amazing and I wanted to come back again tomorrow for lunch. Including the airport drinks and M&S picnic we’d still managed to spend under our daily budget (by 88p) for the first day of our holiday and had really enjoyed it. Back at the hotel we had a comfy bed and a very big bathroom.

Gratitude List
1. Getting ready for a week in Poland
2. Amazing food
3. Spending a day off with Captain Caveman.

Sheffield – 27th & 28th August

It was raining, cold and miserable on Thursday 27th August – it was still quite dark at 10am and I wasn’t used to that. Typically the weekend was the bank holiday in the UK so that made sense that the weather had changed.
Around 3pm Vanessa popped round to collect something and address any last minute preparations for their holiday which they had booked through me at Resort Experts. Her and Matt were off on a cruise and stay holiday in the USA and Canada to celebrate her 60th birthday and they were really looking forward to it. We had a cup of tea and some bacon sandwiches while chatting and then we popped out for a quick drive as Vanessa had errands to run and I needed to tighten up my new glasses.
It was another busy day, not finishing work until late. Captain Caveman and I had a walk round the block when it stopped raining and resisted the pub, before having another dinner at home. I cooked fish fingers and wedges and managed to make a mess of getting the fish fingers off the tray but they tasted fine.

Gratitude List
1. Knowing we were going away this weekend to escape the rain
2. Seeing Vanessa before her trip
3. Going outside for the first time since Sunday.

It was another hectic day for me on Friday 28th August and, instead of looking forward to going away, I’d started to get a bit stressed. I don’t have the luxury at the moment of being able to not work and weekends and evenings do tend to be my most demanding times of the week – especially bank holidays. I think it was at the back of my mind that I was still going to have to fit in working at least a few hours per day over the next few weeks. I ploughed through the to do list in the morning, then broke off to sort laundry so I had my stuff for taking on holiday. We had soup and a bacon sandwich for brunch at about 1pm and then we had a lot of travel related tasks to do; getting my travel insurance sorted, booking trains to and from Manchester airport, booking the airport hotel for when we got back from Belgium next month and checking we were ready to depart to Poland tomorrow. Disappointingly, the most important thing on my to do list was to have completed the internal pages of The Handy Travel Diary 2027, which I had hit a bit of a delay on.
At 4.30pm we had another flat viewing in the area and, although it had 2 bedrooms but only 1 bathroom it did come with a parking space right outside. It didn’t have any outside space or an ensuite though – which we liked on the first flat we viewed. It was £20,000 cheaper but I’m not sure we both ranked it as high as the other one.
We also were able to view a first floor flat which was a bargain but had only 1 bathroom and no allocated parking space. It did come fully furnished and was amazing inside, although no outdoor space or balcony. I still thought it was a strong contender and Captain Caveman said he wouldn’t rule it out.
I made slimming world style pizzas for dinner, using Captain Caveman’s pasta sauce and wraps. We also opened a bottle of red wine to mark the end of a frugal and sober week. We watched a cycling event go past and Captain Caveman was a bit jealous as he still was suffering with gout so couldn’t have joined.

We decided to have a wander to the pub with it being Friday night and we had been very frugal for the last 4 days. Today was pay day for Captain Caveman which was a good job as I had completely run out of money. Captain Caveman treated us both to a drink in the Kelham Wine Bar and then we decided to pop over to the Alder for a second drink. We spent most of the night discussing the possibility of Captain Caveman buying a flat in the near future and what our future looked like after that. I went to bed that night with a lot to think about and also with a bit of worry about how on earth I was going to manage 3 holidays on a budget with people who earned so much more money than me (including Captain Caveman) – it was going to be tough.

Gratitude List
1. Getting a load of things done to help make it easier to work while abroad
2. Captain Caveman looking to buy a flat in Kelham Island, Sheffield
3. Going to the pub with Captain Caveman.

Sheffield – 24th to 26th August

Monday 24th August was a full on working day where I was researching and compiling multiple customer quotes. It felt good to be back in the UK and connecting with more friends plus referred people who wanted me to look at their holidays for 2027 and 2028. I even had a 2029 enquiry for a special trip too. People were definitely planning ahead even more than I was.
I broke off from the laptop for lunch of fish fingers, wedges and beans only to find we were out of beans. We made do without and had a discussion that we would try to get to the end of the week without spending much or buying any non-essentials. We had just 5 days until our holiday so needed to be sensible.
In the evening we made do with leftovers and I said I would make a veggie curry tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Getting some more potential customers and bookings
2. Fish fingers
3. Being able to look forward to more holidays.

It was another busy day for both of us spent working hard on Tuesday 25th August. I’d got in to the habit of posting a Top Tip every Tuesday and this week my post got over 400% more views, over 300% of which were from people who didn’t know me already. I was trying to grow my following on Facebook so that I could earn money from my original content but it was still proving tricky as I was short of the 500 followers needed to get started. I persisted in trying to increase this and write useful, genuine posts to get this increased but it wasn’t easy.
I made a slow cooker chickpea, lentil and spinach curry for dinner and we had it with some warmed up wraps. It’s really cheap to make, we had all the ingredients in the cupboard already and it is healthy and tasty. I should’ve made more but we did have leftovers for tomorrow.
That evening I caught up on my blogging a bit before bed, as I was getting behind.

Gratitude List
1. My Top Tip Tuesday posts becoming more popular
2. A homemade veggie curry
3. A no spend, zero alcohol day.

I found myself missing the ladies of Fat Club on Wednesday 26th August. The group chat was busy with positive vibe messages and encouragement for all those who may have succumbed to Sabotage Tuesday yesterday. In the absence of any scales I took my measurements to find I had lost 1cm from my bust, 2cm from my waist but stayed the same on my hips – that wasn’t bad considering the amount of food and drink I’d had this weekend!
It was another busy day in the office but I did break off to have leftover curry for lunch with Captain Caveman. In the evening Captain Caveman went to Bridge and I did more writing.
For dinner Captain Caveman made sausage pasta with the sausages we had bought for breakfast at the weekend but not used, plus his home made tomato pasta sauce from the freezer.
It was day 3 of no spending and zero alcohol in readiness for our forthcoming holiday this weekend.

Gratitude List
1. Still keeping in touch with the Fat Club ladies
2. Good home made food
3. Another no spend and zero alcohol day.

Scotland to Sheffield – 20th August

As it was National Hungary day on Thursday 20th August, I scheduled a post about Budapest on my business page before we had our last breakfast. It was time to leave The Tudor hotel and Scotland today. I was a bit disappointed to not have taken the opportunity to be at the Edinburgh Literary Festival but I had done a lot of work and managed to design my own diary book cover, so I settled for that.
Captain Caveman went off to the office and I had a team meeting and check-out at the same time. I got packed and ready only to find the team meeting was cancelled anyway. I plonked myself down at an empty table in the busy cafe bar area and ordered the hot drink and cake special. The waitress in there was so friendly and allowed me to set up my laptop. I ordered a pot of tea with a jam and cream scone for £5.95. It was lovely and I got a lot more work done.

Captain Caveman arrived to pick me up a bit later in the day than I’d expected at 4pm. By which time I’d had a walk to the nearest shop to get some sweets for the journey back. It was still raining and I felt the cold so was back sat in the foyer within 10 minutes.
We drove back, calling at Tebay services on the way. I’ve never been to such posh services and Captain Caveman stocked up on salami and (more) cheese ready for the weekend when we had a friend coming to stay.

Our next stop was for a curry with friends in Kirby Stephen which was really good. It was also good to see Captain Caveman’s friends, one of which I’d not seen for years. We had a good laugh and the curry at Mango Tree was great, the weather wasn’t much better there either. We spent around £50 for the 2 of us and I really enjoyed the evening.

When we got back to Captain Caveman’s flat in Sheffield, I’d had a delivery. I’d ordered a couple of proof copies of 2 of the 4 notebooks I’d published on Amazon KDP. They are just blank inside for writing notes in and the covers have eye-catching designs and titles. I’d got the templates from Claire Clarke who was helping me get my books in to Waterstones and it had been good practice for the main books and diary. I checked the week’s budget v spend and I had spent less than the previous 2 weeks at £111.41 but I still needed to be very careful until the end of the month. It was almost midnight when we got to bed, both of us were very tired.

Gratitude List

1. A tea and scone for brunch
2. Curry with Captain Caveman and his mates
3. New JoLo style notebooks (available on Amazon).

Scotland – 19th August

If I’d been in Dalyan on Wednesday 19th August I would most certainly have been joining the ladies at Fat Club. Instead, I had to make do without any scales and just my trusty tape measure. To my surprise I had no changes at all on any of my measurements.
I joined Captain Caveman for breakfast and enjoyed it with a lot of tea before he went off to the office and I went back to the room to do some work. I had once again intended to go in to Edinburgh on the train but it was rainy and cold again so I didn’t go anywhere. I was also aware that I had 3 holidays coming up and decided not to spend the money unnecessarily. I finished the cover of my 2027 diary and the next stage was to get the internal pages from Claire Clarke and work on that part of the diary.
In the evening, Captain Caveman was back fairly late so we decided we would try the Tipsy Cow for dinner. It was pouring with rain and pretty cold so I had to borrow clothes and a coat from Captain Caveman – there was definitely no heatwave here!
I ordered a glass of Merlot which was a whopping £9 and I didn’t even check the price first, Captain Caveman had 2 pints of Neck Oil for £10.60. I ordered the katsu chicken curry for £14.95 and Captain Caveman chose the steak pie for £15.95. I’d not had any lunch and was peckish so we ordered a side order of fries for £3.95. The meal was really good and I ate every mouthful, the wine was pretty decent too – although spending £54.45 for the both of us seemed pricey to me, Captain Caveman assured me it was reasonable. I’d been away from Turkey for 7 weeks now and I still found it tricky to not compare prices of things.
Back at the hotel we put another film on and again Captain Caveman was snoring quicker and louder than yesterday. Tomorrow he had a full day of work plus the drive back down to Sheffield so another long day was planned.

Gratitude List
1. Getting the 2027 diary cover sorted.
2. Not having gained any centimetres this week
3. A delicious meal with Captain Caveman at the Tipsy Cow.

Scotland – 18th August

The alarm went off before 7am on Tuesday 18th August after a good sleep in The Tudor hotel in Airdrie, Scotland. The bed was so much comfier than the futon at Captain Caveman’s flat and I didn’t want to get out of bed.
We had breakfast at the hotel where I asked for mine without egg or tomato and Captain Caveman was disappointed as he would have had my extra things I don’t eat. It came with a potato cake type item which I loved and a lovely pot of tea. The Colpermin seemed to have eased my bloating a little but I still had a belly ache after eating.
Captain Caveman went off to the office and I ended up staying in the hotel room working all day. It was cold and wet out so I didn’t bother getting a bus/train to Edinburgh as planned. In my lunch hour I started working on the cover for my next publication which was a 2027 diary. I had decided I was going to do a travel themed one, with some hints/tips and typical JoLo style advice on each month and I wanted the front and back cover to compliment my handy travel planner. I decided the background should look like a swimming pool and I would use some of the elements used on the last book to carry on the theme. I am getting better at Canva but it still wasn’t easy and I got very frustrated with it.
When Captain Caveman got back from the office we decided to have dinner in the hotel as they did an early bird pre theatre menu which was 2 courses for £16.95 each. For starters Captain Caveman ordered the Haggis bon bons and I had the Mumbai mushrooms which were really tasty. For mains Captain Caveman had Hunters Chicken and I had a Butter Chicken pie. My dinner was delicious and it was very filling. We also had a pint of cider for me and Captain Caveman had 2 pints of Cobra. The total bill came to £49.35 and was definitely worth the price. We went back to the room stuffed and watched a film. It had been on less than half an hour when Captain Caveman fell fast asleep and his snoring was so loud that it didn’t look likely that I would get much sleep.

Gratitude List
1. Hotel breakfast
2. Starting to design my 2027 diary cover
3. Hotel dinner.

Sheffield to Scotland – 17th August

On Monday 17th August I woke up with a very swelled up stomach and I felt like I might explode. I decided to have a walk round the block to see if I could ease it a bit before a long car journey. Captain Caveman and I were off to Scotland today and would be staying in a place called Airdrie, not far from Edinburgh.
When we set off I was still unwell so we called in to the supermarket to see if the pharmacist had anything. She didn’t and just recommended I buy some Colpermin off the shelf. I did and they were £9 in the big Tesco.

We drove north and the temperature was getting cooler and it looked like rain.
We stopped at some services in Richmond where I experienced a first time experience; watching camels run around in the field next to the services! They seemed very happy and even smiled at cars going past them.
In the shop Captain Caveman decided he was going to buy a sausage roll for lunch and, of course, I wanted one but couldn’t eat it for fear of an upset stomach. We still bought 2 for a whopping £7 and I got a packet of 95p sweets for the rest of the journey.
Nearer to our destination, Captain Caveman got a coffee from Macdonald’s and we watched as crows tried to bully other birds and scavenged the bins outside.

Back on the road it was raining and much cooler for the rest of the way and I started to wonder if I’d brought enough suitable clothing.
We arrived at The Tudor Hotel and had to hurry in as it was now raining quite hard. The hotel was nice and we decided, instead of eating in the hotel restaurant, that we would pop to a shop and get something from there. Here’s what we bought with the prices in pounds;

Morrisons Supermarket
Ribena drink 0.70
Ziplock bags 1.00
Monster munch 1.20
Blueberries 1.29
Cherry tomatoes 1.35
Raspberries 1.79
Grazing platter 2.00
Cocktail sausages 2.60
Green salad 3.00
Chicken noodle salad 3.50
1 bottle of red wine 5.12
2 pairs of black leggings 10.00
Total spent £33.55

As I didn’t have any other warm clothes except for the jeans I had on, we bought a 2 pack of leggings. My stomach was still iffy, as I’d eaten the sausage roll once I got to the hotel, but I’d taken the Colpermin and was hoping that would help. It was an early night as we both had long days tomorrow but we were happy to have a comfy bed with a duvet on as it was pretty chilly in Scotland.

Gratitude List
1. Colpermin tablets
2. New leggings
3. A comfy, warm bed.

Sheffield – 14th August

Captain Caveman was working on site again of Friday 14th August, so it looked like he might be late for the night out that he had set the date for. Ages ago, we had arranged we would catch up with some of the Berlin 10 and tonight was in the diary for drinks in Kelham Island. More recently I’d invited the friends who had needed to cancel last month as well as Louisa and Linda. I worked all day and Captain Caveman made it back by 6pm, which was good. We decided to get our going out clothes on and see if we could find somewhere to get food too. Captain Caveman had bought me a dress from Uniqlo so I wore that with my Vietnamese porter sandals and loved it. We had a quick drink in the Kelham Wine Bar, where it was £17.68 for a couple of cocktails. Captain Caveman guzzled his down in about 2 minutes and then decided we would get snacks at Salt. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the kitchen open so we had pork scratchings for dinner with my Hugo Spritz (classy!) at a total of £15.60. The drink was very nice and I had another round as others joined. Caz & Tim arrived and they were on a bit of a curfew as they had to be back by 9.30pm for their son. Caz had invited the rest of the gang on the WhatsApp group but no one else could make it. Natalie & Paul came too, and I was glad that they could make it. Unfortunately, Louisa decided she wasn’t coming as she had got busy with dog walking and decluttering. Linda arrived and was the life and soul of the party when she mulled over 2 for 1 on the cocktails or jagermeister shots – she might have been the oldest there but she was certainly the most lively out of us all. Luan, Paul, Drexy & Jeff (of the Berlin 10) arrived next and we had a very good evening. It was broken up by a series of emergency alarms that there were wild fires nearby and that we were to remain in doors. Everyone ignored the alarms but they kept coming and we could see on social media that some areas of Sheffield did have spreading wildfires. We were fine where we were and continued in the beer garden. Our last pub was the Kelham Island Tavern, another favourite, and we had a couple of drinks in there before Caz and Tim had to get back to relieve their babysitter. They kindly dropped Linda off at home even though it was a little early to be going but Captain Caveman’s gout was still giving him issues and it would have been quite far for him to walk her home.
It was a while since I’d been drinking with these friends so it was great to laugh and reminisce. We had a great time and I spent a total of £47 and Captain Caveman probably spent more.
As we said our farewells to half the Berlin 10, Captain Caveman made arrangements to meet up again tomorrow and go for a curry at Butlers.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman making it back to Sheffield in good time for our night out
2. My new Uniqlo dress
3. A night out in Kelham Island with lovely friends.

Sheffield – 11th to 13th August

My new whiteboard was a game changer on Tuesday 11th August and I had popped it on the spare room windowsill. Captain Caveman was working on site today and tomorrow so it meant I could borrow his work desk. It was great to have more space and I had started to really get through my tasks today. At lunch time I met Vanessa who had popped over to see me. I’d had the great idea to go to The Grind cafe but it was a bit much for Vanessa’s stomach and she just had toast and I had a Greek salad. We both had a cuppa and, as the weather was nice, we sat outside. One of Vanessa’s favourite places at Kelham Island is the Fat Cat so we went there next and had just a quick drink. We chatted on about how good the 60th birthday 80s night had been and Vanessa still had some more celebrations to do next month.
Back home it was a busy admin afternoon/evening and I forgot to have any dinner.

Gratitude List
1. My improved productivity from having a new whiteboard
2. Using Captain Caveman’s desk
3. Meeting Vanessa for lunch.

Ordinarily, if I’d been in Dalyan, Wednesday 12th August would be weigh day and I’d be going to Fat Club. It had now been 7 weeks since I had last been to the group and got weighed. I knew I had put weight on, even without any weighing scales, because I could tell on photos of my face!
I decided to still take my measurements which I last did a month ago and it wasn’t quite as shocking as I’d expected. I’d lost 1cm from my bust, put 4cm on my waist (that will be the bread) and my hips had stayed the same. I decided I would walk in to town for some exercise and also I wanted to see if I could order The Handy Travel Planner at Waterstones yet. It turned out I could and they said they would order it in for me and call me when it arrived, which could take 2 weeks. I nipped in to Barclays to ask if it was ok for Captain Caveman to bring his bicycle in when he came for the mortgage appointment and while I was there I met the mortgage advisor and asked some generic questions. The mortgage advisor was very helpful and the branch had been done up very nicely. Next, I popped in to TK Maxx where I noticed a men’s manicure kit for £3 so I bought it for Captain Caveman ready for his forthcoming holidays. In Holland & Barrett I picked up some Gin Gins, tea for a bad stomach and some healthy snacks, spending a total of £9.32. I took photos of the cherry supplements for Captain Caveman so he could decide if he wanted any to help with his gout symptoms.
I had also arranged to meet my parents in town and then we were going to be doing another pub crawl in Kelham Island. Captain Caveman was working so he couldn’t be there. Ma & Pa met me outside Boots and we got on the tram and went to the Wellington for a pint. Mom got the round in and it was very reasonably priced in there and is one of our favourites. It was warm enough for a sit out in the beer garden too. Our next stop was the Alder for a quick pint each at a total of £12.46 and then we decided to try the Neepsend Social Club which is very nice and had ice cold Aircon on. We decided to order some halloumi fries and chips with our drinks and I decided to go on to wine. The round worked out slightly cheaper at £12.19 and we were the only ones in there. We also did a video message to Nanny Kay who was in the UK celebrating her birthday this year.
By this time we were peckish again but Ma & Pa didn’t fancy the main meals in the Neepsend Social Club so we decided to go for pizza at B’Reyt Dough, just round the corner. I had a pepperoni pizza and a large glass of red wine, Dad had Margherita pizza and a large red wine and Mom had a calzone and a smaller white wine. Dad ended up having a laugh with the waiter and we completely missed the eclipse. The total bill came to £62.25 for the 3 of us which my parents paid and I ended up with some leftover pizza to take home. I walked them back to the tram stop as we were all a bit merry, having had a really good time. It was also a farewell drink as all of us were going to be away on our holidays soon.

Gratitude List
1. A successful trip to town
2. Another Kelham Island pub crawl with Ma & Pa
3. Pizza and wine.

On Thursday 13th August it was more holiday planning for both me and friends. As we would be joined by Briony in Vegas she had sent her flight details through and we were lucky to be landing within 10 minutes of each other.
There was a Resort Experts Team Meeting where updates of the eagerly awaited websites were spoken of and were looking likely for next month.
In the afternoon I met with a friend who had booked to holiday in Dalyan while I was there so we had a walk to Tescos. I finally found some rice noodles and we carried on to her house for a late lunch and a glass of wine while we sorted out boat trips and taxi pick ups. I had a Greek salad pitta pocket while my fellow diner had tuna and cucumber in hers. It was a nice afternoon and we planned to meet up for drinks again very soon.
As Captain Caveman was not back until late, I got to occupy the beanbag at home but I did have trouble getting back off it.
I totted up the 2nd week of the month’s spending and it was much better than last week at £131.69, so less than £19 per day, but still too much and I needed to be more frugal next week, even though I had plans which required spending money.

Gratitude List
1. Knowing the Las Vegas arrival times were lining up nicely.
2. Rice noodles
3. Catching up with a client and friend for more holiday planning.

Sheffield – 9th & 10th August

Sunday 9th August turned out to be a bit of a disappointment and a lot of wasted time on our day off. Captain Caveman and I decided we would go to watch some of the events at the Transplant Games, to support our friends, Becca & Steve. Unfortunately the Sheffield (not so) Super Tram had other ideas.
We popped to the tram stop and noted the sign which said there was a bus replacement service from the Cathedral, as the tracks at the delta area (between Fitzallen Square and the train station) were being repaired. We bought a £10 day ticket for both of us and went from Shalesmoor to the Cathedral with no bother at all. The notice had told us to go to a bus stop outside Lidl so we walked down to there and waited in a big queue which also had bus drivers and Super Tram staff in it. There seemed to be a huge amount of disorganisation and chaos as the bus drivers didn’t seem to know that they needed to set off every 10-15 minutes. Instead, they waited until the bus was full. Captain Caveman was in agony with his foot and could hardly walk, otherwise we would have attempted to walk to wherever the next working tram stop on the way to Meadowhall was. Captain Caveman had not brought any painkillers so I quickly nipped in to Boots to buy more, 2 packets were £1.68 and we had a pack each as I now had a headache! After sitting on a replacement bus that was very hot and busy we set off, driving past the many bus stops closer to the tram stop, which would have been better used by disabled/old people – or us with someone with a bad foot!
It was lucky we hadn’t tried to walk to the next tram stop because it turned out that there were several closed in this track repair work and the next stop was quite a way off. When the bus pulled in we had to wait a bit more for a tram and by this time we were commited to continuing on, rather than abandoning the trip altogether. Captain Caveman was not impressed and we both could see it would be absolute chaos for Monday morning workers trying to get anywhere tomorrow. We timed the delay and it was 57 minutes – totally unacceptable as it was meant to have been 13 minutes maximum. I suggested Captain Caveman send a strongly worded complaint email and ask for a refund, knowing of course that he would not bother. The petanque games were only on until 3pm so I was concerned we were now later than we had wanted to be and, when we arrived, we had missed our friends who had already gone home.
The sun was out and it was hot as we watched some of the other games, mainly as we couldn’t deal with the bus replacement fiasco for the return journey just yet. Captain Caveman had wandered off to sit on a rock as he was in agony.
We were back in town by 2pm, even more annoyed with the whole Super Tram business. I’d learned that the heaters on buses can’t be turned off by a bus driver and that an engineer needs to be booked to do this when I asked why the bus was so hot and, again, we waited until it was packed full to set off. It was a joke and we decided we would not use the tram or replacement bus service again during the repair period which was not due to end until 31st August.
Between the bus replacement arriving on High Street and the tram leaving from the cathedral I had time to call in to Sainsbury’s for a loaf of bread (£1.35!) while Captain Caveman limped to the tram stop.
We got back home and I was of course upset that I hadn’t been able to get to the games to support Becca and Steve so I was in a mood. Captain Caveman went for a lay down as he was in pain and sick of my complaining so I decided to do a bit of work. Today on my Facebook business page I had posted 2 different cruises; the very high end luxurious 4 day Danube one, which I had been on with Riverside Luxury Cruises going in November and another which I’d quoted for a client who wanted a no fly, no frills cruise in France next spring, with Ambassador.
I was cheered up by a post of the litter clean up organisers who had also sent me a thank you email and photos from yesterday’s helping out.

Gratitude List

1. Paracetamol
2. A rock for Captain Caveman to rest on
3. Promoting great cruise breaks.

In addition to a full day at my laptop on Monday 10th August I also managed to do some more holiday research. I made notes in my copy of The Handy Travel Planner (available on Amazon if you’ve not already bought one) about what I might like to see, do and eat while in Poland, Belgium and America. My £25 voucher came from one of my suppliers and I had chosen Waitrose vouchers so I could give them to Captain Caveman to get a nice bottle of gin or wine perhaps. I’d not got him anything for his birthday so this was a bit of a treat instead.
For lunch Captain Caveman made us a pasta dish which was very tasty and after we both finished work we went to Aldi. I was a lot more excited about this shopping trip than Captain Caveman was, as I hadn’t been to an Aldi for quite some years but Captain Caveman was adamant that it was and in and out quick trip, not a browsing of the middle aisle type of shop. I bet you can guess what happened!
Here’s what we bought, with prices in pounds;

Aldi Supermarket
Radishes 0.39
Tomato puree 0.59
Spring onions 0.65
Rocket 0.69
White sliced loaf 0.74
2 tins chickpeas 0.82
Ginger 0.85
Garlic 0.85
Soft cheese 0.89
2 tins lentils 0.90
Greek yoghurt 0.95
Crackers 0.95
Bananas 0.96
1 kg dried pasta 1.19
4 red peppers 1.38
Tomatoes 1.49
Onions 1.49
Hummus 1.59
Spinach 1.59
3 packs of salted peanuts 1.77
Pastrami 1.89
Raspberries 1.89
2 packs of wraps 1.98
Sliced chicken 1.99
Cheese slices 1.99
6 Energy drinks 2.19
Peas 2.25
Beef 2.25
Toilet roll 2.79
12 eggs 2.89
Mini Cheddars 3.19
3 packs of chocolate bars 4.35
1 Whiteboard with pens 4.99
Crispy Duck ready meal 6.49
1.8kg Chicken thighs £10.78
Total spent £72.64

Some of this was for Captain Caveman’s work breaks when he was working on site and I was shocked to see he had bought energy drinks which I never knew he consumed. I have a bit of a phobia of them as the smell of them makes me feel sick. In the middle aisle I had spotted a whiteboard that was just perfect for me to keep track of my entire life admin and to do lists so we got it! I’d tried to get one in Dalyan but they weren’t as good as this one so I was very pleased with my purchase. I had also wanted rice noodles but had not been able to find them. The crispy duck ready meal was for our dinner that night, instead of getting a takeaway (which we rarely do) or eating out. We had it with the little pancakes, Hoi Sin sauce, cucumber and spring onion – it was delicious! I forgot to take a photo.

Gratitude List
1. Holiday research and planning
2. A trip to Aldi and a good find in the middle aisle
3. Crispy duck pancakes for dinner.