Category Archives: Sponsored

On the Road Again

ontheroadagain_ACR

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! If this is your first time hopping and linking up with us, check out all the details at the bottom of the post.  Today I have Vanessa (aka Van) from On the Road Again blog.  Vanessa has been linking up with us for quite a while on Travel Tuesday and is my sponsor this month for April.  As a hairstylist I love her style and love for hair colours and her taste in frames.  I also love that we share in common the love for the Balticas and Scandanvia. Without further adeiu I will let her introduce herself to you all. Continue reading

Global Citizens

globalcitizens

There are so many terms and labels floating around out there define different categories of people who are living abroad.  As an expat, a former military kid and wife, and a third culture kid, I understand the need to be defined in today’s world.  So when citizenM hotels contacted me about a project on defining ‘what it means to be a ‘mobile citizen’ in today’s society, I was eager to weigh in on the subject.  More and more people are leaving home, branching out of their social networks, and becoming what could clearly be defined as mobile citizens.  What does that mean for you and could you be a mobile citizen?  Continue reading

Bristol in my Pocket

Bristol in my Pocket

Hi everyone! It’s Sara from Bristol in my Pocket! I was born and raised a Texas girl, but  about three months ago I packed my bags and moved to England! Moving to a country where you know absolutely no one is terrifying, but that’s the exciting part, isn’t it?

Bristol in my Pocket

Where would your dream destination be for the holidays?

Bristol in my Pocket

I’m a huge sucker for Christmas. I absolutely love traveling to different places around this time to see how other people celebrate the holiday season. I have been blessed with the opportunity to see New Orleans, London, Mexico and so many other wonderful places all decorated for the holidays. However, I have not had the opportunity to travel somewhere unique and completely out of my comfort zone during Christmas.

Bristol in my Pocket

Germany has always been a top destination on my ‘place’s to go’ list. Whether it’s the middle of summer or the middle of winter, I will make it to Germany one day. However, seeing Germany covered in snow is a fantasy of mine. As a single twenty-something girl, my holiday season priority this year was to go home and see my family back in Texas. One day though, I will experience a true German Christmas.

Here are a few things I’m looking forward to doing in Germany during the holiday season (one day):

1. Go to a REAL German Market | In England, German market’s have become a favorite of mine. They are cute and fun, and most importantly, can get anyone into the holiday spirit. However, going to an authentic German market just seems divine.

2. Listen to German Christmas Carols | There’s something about listening to Christmas Carol’s in another language that I absolutely love. On Christmas Eve in Texas, we sing carols in English in Spanish. I can’t eve imagine how wonderful Christmas carols in German must sound!

3. Drink Mulled Wine | To be fair, I haven’t tried mulled wine at all yet. It’s a very European tradition that I had not been introduced to until this year. Mulled wine in cold Germany? Now that sounds fantastic!

 

Q: What amazing places have you been to during the holiday season?

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Dream Holiday Destinations

Holiday Dream Destinations

Now that the holidays are upon us, many are getting ready to pack and up and travel to different destinations across the globe.  Some of us are staying put but have our own lists of wanderlust locations we would love to visit.  For me I am looking forward to a future Christmas holiday where I can take my family to a place that my heart has never left.  Austria.  A place my father used to take us to for skiing and snowboarding trips.  Oh how I miss those snowy mountain tops, the folk music that would play over the sound system, and the sweet taste of germknödel.  One day soon!

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Q: Where would be your dream destination during the holidays? Answer in the comments below!

* Images original to A Compass Rose by Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk
** Ski map sourced from here

3 Must Have Items for Travel

TravelTuesday

Welcome to another #TravelTuesday link up on A Compass Rose! Next week will be our monthly themed Travel Tuesday and since it will be for the month of December the prompt shall be ‘Holidays’.  Share the places you have traveled to on your holidays, your wanderlust lists of where you would love to go during the holidays, why people should travel to your city for the holidays, or anything you would like! Dream big and let us travel vicariously through your post for next week.

This week I wanted to share with you all some thoughts my sponsors and I have on traveling.
I asked these lovely ladies the following question and you can read their replies below.

“You are going on a trip, what are the three must have items in your travel bag?”

TravelTuesdayCRYSTAL | The Happy Type
1. This is easy! Chapstick (because dry lips are the pits)
2. Hand Sanitizer (I apparently touch EVERYTHING)
3. A pack of toilet paper (When you have lived and traveled in Asia a small cache of TP is GOLD)

KIM | A Moving Story
1. A pashmina. I am terrified of airplane blankets. Pashminas can serve as a blanket, jacket and nose scarf in stinky places. One can never be over-prepared when traveling!
2. A Sharpie marker. I rarely go anyplace without at least one sharpie. It comes in handy when marking up maps, labeling purchases and taking notes on the road.
3. Haribo Gummi Bears. I like to have Gummi Bears on me in case I go someplace and don’t like the food. They’re a great snack if you happen to get sick and want to slowly reintroduce food, and let’s be honest, they’re great motivators if you need to bribe someone (hotel clerk, bellman, taxi driver) to hook you up. Unlike chocolate, they don’t melt, travel well and have many uses!

KATE | Diaries of an Essex Girl
1. My kindle
2. A hair brush
3. Definitely a toothbrush too! As long as I’ve covered hygiene and entertainment for any long journeys, I’m a happy lady.

LIX | A Classic Notion
1. My camera is my number one priority. I love the experience of traveling, but traveling without being able to capture the images I see would be an absolute nightmare.
2. Unless it’s a very short or very wildlife-involving trip, at risk of being super boring and sounding like a tech addict, I’ll also take my laptop — to transfer photos into and to stay connected to the people I love.
3. For the third, well — my meds. Paroxetine because you can’t quit cold turkey and lorazepam and ibuprofen just in case. And my wallet. And deodorant and a hairbrush and a toothbrush and toothpaste, probably. I can be a little obsessive about personal hygiene.

MELANIE | Melanie Fontaine
1. My camera
2. A good guide book of my location that includes my map and my phone.
3. My camera because travel photography fascinates me to no end, the guide book so I never lose my way and the phone in case any of the other two fails.

LOUISA | My Family & Abruzzo
1. The iPad so my 5 year old can play Angry Birds Star Wars on the plane/in the car.
2. Baby wipes (especially if you’re flying with a certain low cost airline)
3. These days, my iphone.  Goodness, I sound like a tech freak now.  I do read a lot of books and I draw too, I promise!

LINDSEY | A Broad’s World
1. My camera
2. My backup camera because I’m clumsy and have broken one too many while on holiday.
3. My handy dandy first aid kit, because who knows what I’m going to eat or accidentally step on.

BONNIE | A Compass Rose
1. My camera bag with everything I would need for my photography. We are talking the camera body itself, lenses, memory cards, external drive (for backup), cords, batteries, tripod or monopod, LED light, etc.
2. A journal.  Whether it be on my phone or an actual book I can write in with a pen.  I love writing down inspirations as they happen, writing poetry, or just writing about my experiences.
3. Packing Merry Poppins Style. Okay so perhaps this is not an ‘object’ but I like to see what all I can pack in my bag so that I am prepared for all occasions without feeling like I am lugging around my kitchen sink. Packing is an art!

 

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Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.

 

HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:

 

1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
2. Grab the lovely button. If you run into trouble, just make sure to mention Bonnie in a link! ;)
3. Linkup goes live every Tuesday after 9 am GMT.
4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!
6. The First Tuesday of every month will be a themed prompt if you want to join in!

 Q: You are going on a trip, what are the three must have items in your travel bag?

 



*Photograph courtesy of Ryan Aherin during his travels to Japan

Crystal & The Happy Type

If you have caught my current Sunday series, The War on Girls, you know I’m an advocate for raising the girls and women in our life up in encouragement.  Which is why I was beyond thrilled that Crystal from The Happy Type blog chose to be my featured sponsor this month.  Not only is she a creative talent, she is authentic, and has a beautiful spirit.  Plus I love that she also loves to shop vintage shops like me and shares How to Thrift like a Pro.  As she is taking over my blog today I will close this introduction out by saying another great big thank you to Crystal for being a huge light in my life and motivator for why we deserve to live the Happy Type of life.
meetcrystal

Hello everyone! My name is Crystal and I blog over at The Happy Type, where I focus on encouraging and empowering women to live a life they want and deserve. I’ve never done a blog take over, so getting to take the reins of A Compass Rose is beyond rad. For my first blog takeover, I wanted to bring the issue of self-love up for discussion, because I know that it’s an issue that far too many women struggle with.

Myself, included.

When I was younger, I used to look at the beautiful glossy images of supermodels inside of the fashion magazines at the supermarket. The women inside the magazines were beautiful, perfect, flawless and they all seemed to be living absolutely fantastic lives. I used to stand there and dream about the future, because I was certain that one day I would be one of them. I wouldn’t be a supermodel, but I was positive that I was going to turn into a beautiful woman, foot-loose and fancy free in the world. My belief that I would blossom into a beauty was absolute, or at least it was until the world had something to say about it.

pile-of-magazines-horiz

via

I once spoke up in class that I was going to explore the world and go on adventures like the beautiful women in Vogue when a teacher asked what we were going to become when we grew up. I remember the look on my 3rd grade teacher’s face as they tried to make sense of what I was saying. “Like a model?” they asked gently. I laughed and meant to clear it up telling them, No, not a model. I didn’t want to be a model, just a woman. A beautiful woman. I never got my chance to reply, because my classmates all started to laugh at the idea that I could follow through on what I had shared. I wasn’t pretty and models were beautiful, what was I thinking? I was too fat, too short, too plain looking to be a model. My teacher silenced the students, but the damage had already been done, and I started to look at myself differently.

My 3rd grade experience was just the first of many events that started to chip away at the self-love I had once embraced so readily. Little-by-little the absolute believe in my beauty was damaged and ripped away from me by callous and casual comments by family, friends, enemies, the media, and those beauty magazines started to become painful reminders of my imperfections. I started to shy away from cameras, because I didn’t think I was pretty enough to have pictures taken of me. If a camera came out, I ran the other way and I was content to be BEHIND the camera, not in front of it. But something happened that began to change my relationship not only with photography, but myself.

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About a year ago, I opened up a little vintage clothing shop, but I needed a model. I had recently moved to a new city and didn’t really know anyone to ask to model for my project, and that only left one option: I had to be the model. I can’t even begin to describe the apprehensive nature I approached my camera with. I knew what to do BEHIND IT, but what was I going to in FRONT of it? At first it was incredibly rough going, I used to take a whole mess of shots and delete them in frustration. I even cropped out my face in those first photos because it made them easier to put out there for the public.

il_570xN.342170630Me as the headless model.

But without my even noticing it, I started to see a beautiful woman. All those hours staring at photo after photo started to reveal things I loved about myself. I stopped seeing all the things that were wrong with me and started to see myself through new eyes, through a photographer’s eyes. My confidence grew not only in front of the camera, but in life. I stopped being so self-conscious because the camera had revealed what I had known all those years ago. I had become the beautiful woman I had anticipated as a child, and nothing would ever again shake my belief in my own beauty.

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The reason that I share this is because I know that I’m not the only one to have struggled with self-love. I hope that sharing my own thoughts on self-love will help another woman think about how she sees herself and why. Every woman is beautiful and while outside influences can sometimes overtake us and change how we see ourselves, it doesn’t change the fact that you ARE beautiful You just have to remember to take the time to see it. Embrace yourself in all your imperfections, because that is precisely what makes you a beauty.

How do remember to see your own beauty? Has there ever been an instance in which you forgot your own beauty or was there a moment of clarity when you finally realized it? I know my own moment of came while I was sitting in front of my computer screen really looking at myself, and I’ll never forget the feeling of freedom that came when I truly saw myself.

 

M A K E   F R I E N D S   &   F O L L O W   C R Y S T A L !