The Travelettes Guide to Autumn

The Travelettes of the Northern hemisphere can’t deny it any longer – autumn is going strong! And while we wishfully browse through the Flickr and Instagram accounts of our Australian or South African friends, we gotta admit that this season has its advantages as well. Finally a chance to wear that cute knit again, great excuses to spend a night inside instead of wandering the city’s rainy streets, all those delicious flavors from seasonal fruit and vegetables – I could go on and on.

In order to enjoy these weeks of autumn, we put together a Travelettes Guide to Autumn including our favourite survival strategies for a cozy day at home, the desire to taste fall and some of those last sunny days of the year!

Where to stay? – Stay Inside!

It isn’t really about where you stay, but rather how comfy you make u! Cuddle up with a warm blanket and a good read and spend a relaxing autumn sunday inside your home or a big hotel bed. The Travelettes’ favourite reads for a cozy couch day are The Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Looking for Andrew McCarthy by Jenny Colgan and A Dog’s Life by Pete Mayle.

Soon indoor activities will become more alluring than fighting the wind and rain outdoors. Knitting is one of my favourite things to do when it’s cold outside. Not only does your knitting piece cover and warm your knees, forming a knitting group with your friends makes a good excuse to come together, have a lazy cup of tea and chat. Best thing: you’ll end up with a unique and fashionable piece of clothing! We Are Knitters and Wool and the Gang both offer great starter kits containing great designs and all the equipment you’ll need.

What to eat and drink?

As days are getting shorter and temperatures lower, keeping warm is crucial for enjoying your days outside. You could grab a spiced latte at your favourite coffee shop or simply follow this recipe and make your own spiced cider at home:

1/2 gal. apple cider
2 c. orange juice
3 cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves
zest of 1 orange
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Bring all ingredients to a boil, boil 15 min. Strain through fine mesh into thermos or back into pan. Serve hot!

If you feel uninspired in the kitchen there’s one advantage of autumn: pumpkins are everywhere and they taste delicious! Think pumpkin spiced beverages, pies, vegetable stews etc. Next time when hollowing out a pumpkin keep the seeds to make delicious roasted snacks. Find recipes via Pinterest.

What to Wear?

A new season asks for new additions to your wardrobe. Our instagram challenge recently asked you for your wardrobe additions and fall essentials so we browsed the net for our favourite new items:

– (Rain)coats, umbrellas and wellies will keep us dry from all sides – our favourite new addition would be the red heart-shaped umbrella from UmbrellaHeaven.

– To brighten up the grey days we help ourselves to hats scarfs and gloves in all colors – whether you prefer chunky knits or colorful leather. On Pinterest you can even find tutorials on how to turn your old sweater into mittens! And if you own a smartphone, you might be happy to hear that there is a new generation of smartphone-gloves out there – cute and pretty!

– and of course plenty of pretty fall shoes to step on crunchy leaves!

Get Active

Can’t get enough of the seasonal change of colors? If you happen to be in the US at the moment take a list at The Wilderness Society’s list of their top 15 national parks to explore nature’s finest.
However, no matter where you are spending a day outside is a great way to see what nature has to offer – whether you’re taking a walk through deciduous woodland or flying a kite on a windy meadow.

Don’t get downcast by the increasingly bad weather, but get the best out of it. Take on the challenge of improving your photography skills by applying Cordula’s tips on taking good pictures in bad weather and taking part in our autumn-themed instagram challenge! Beauty lies even in an overcast and rainy day.

I hope, that even if you already long for next summer, some of these links and ideas inspire you to enjoy the wonders of autumn. I’m off to one of these sunny outdoor days now!

leaf by Kathi Kamleitner, knitting left/right, autumn spiced cider recipe/image, heartshaped umbrella image, change of color image

This is a post by Kathi Kamleitner.

Kathi Kamleitner was a regular contributor at Travelettes from 2013 to 2019. Originally from Vienna, Austria, she packed her backpack to travel the world and lived in Denmark, Iceland and Berlin, before settling in Glasgow, Scotland. Kathi is always preparing her next trip – documenting her every step with her camera, pen and phone.

In 2016, Kathi founded Scotland travel blog WatchMeSee.com to share her love for her new home, hiking in the Scottish Highlands, island hopping and vegan food. Follow her adventures on Instagram @watchmesee!