Welcome to Issue #18 of The Wanderlust, my monthly zine where I share what I’m up to, encourage you to dance, wander and explore and discover amazing new creative talent. I delve into my photo archives, share snippets from my travel journals and drop in the odd freebie. So if you know someone who you think might like this, feel free to share it with them.
It’s the final issue of the year and as I look back on 2025, it’s felt like a really mixed bag. I’ve rekindled my love for photography and have some exciting things planned for 2026 which I’ll share more about soon. We’ve explored lots of new places and discovered so many new brands that I thought I’d make this issue a round up of some of our favourites from the year and I’ve even created a couple of playlists for you too with all the tracks from the past 17 issues.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and festive end to the year, whatever you’re celebrating! I’ll be back in January with Issue #19.
Time to read: 5 mins
Time to dance: as long as you like
There are so many highlights from this year and places that I’d recommend adding to your lists so here’s a round up of my favourites.
A new year road trip to Lochgoilhead taking in pretty towns and villages and at least 9 lochs. I put together the whole trip for you back in Issue #8.
Walking the Coire Àrdair trail in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve.
A city break in Liverpool full of good food and cool neighbourhoods which I talked all about in Issue #13 along with my planning map.
A weekend staying at Tahuna Bothies by Newburgh and a stroll around Old Aberdeen and Footdee.
A day trip up to Oban and Ardmaddy Castle Estate.
A summer wedding in Barcelona and a road trip exploring some of Catalonia. I created a round up of the trip in Issue #15.
A week spent by the coast in Fife, strolling the beaches and town hopping along the East Neuk from Elie to Crail with lots of afternoon naps from all the sea air.
Discovering loads of new creatives at Artists’ Bookmarket, The Glasgow Print Fair and Tea Green Winter Market at Bowhouse.
Coffee at Cafēn, EH9, Cairngorm, Hinba (Oban), Kafei Studio, Figment and Ottoman to name a few.
Discovering new creative brands and learning all about their processes and stories is something I really enjoy and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some of them in person this year and buying a few things too. There are too many to mention, so here are just a few favourites!
I found the artwork of Maxine Gregson. She explains that her work is often described as nostalgic futurism which is right up my street. I love so many of her prints I can’t even choose a favourite so I’ll be keeping an eye on her Instagram.
The Glasgow based duo Irregular Sleep Pattern create the most bold and colourful prints you can imagine to produce bedding, sleepwear and accessories that are real statement pieces. It won’t be a surprise to anyone that knows me well, that their pink and red combos are my favourites. I first spied this washbag at Dundee’s V&A last year but got a chance to see their amazing quilted throws in person this year and they are lush!
I love vintage maps and I love neon. Cue Dave Buonaguidi.
Another of my local loves, Ploterre, based in Edinburgh, uses data to create art. With a background in maths and design, pay particular attention to the descriptions where Rebecca explains exactly how she creates each piece. I love Where The Wildflowers Grow.
A sustainable brand to add to the list, Storigraphic are a design studio based in Cambridgeshire. Designers Nic and Roz create the most incredible, bold patterns for paper products and homewares. I’m always on the lookout for different wrapping paper for special gifts and they even offer a wrapping paper book which I think is a great idea. I love so many of their designs including this paper and this tea towel.
I picked up some colourful candles from Cereria Subirà in Barcelona and was looking for some equally colourful holders for them to fit in. Enter Block Design, a B Corp Certified design studio who sell some gorgeous glassware.
I haven’t had a chance to do my Winter wreath this year but I’d really like to have one for the other seasons too. I saw Layla Robinson on Insta and i’m in love with her colourful everlasting displays, like this one with all the flowers grown, harvested and expertly dried from her own garden.
I first came across Moglea when I was served one of their process videos on Instagram. It showed the production of their hand painted papers used to make all sorts of stationery. Imagine a little piece of hand painted art on your notebook cover. Love!
I’ve been following Concrete Nature Studio for a while now on Instagram and have been looking forward to going to one of their creative collage workshops at some point, but I got a chance to see their work in person this year. Have a mooch around their cool website to see all the different projects, design work and publishing that they do.
My favourite photo of the year so far has to be this portal to the ocean taken on our trip to Catalonia in the summer. It feels like a throwback to the 70s. It was fun to people watch as they crawled through and posed for photos. I managed to grab a quick snap before the next group came along.
I’m currently listening to my album of the year as I put this issue together - Hallucinating Love by Maribou State.
I’ve put together 2 playlists for you with all the individual tracks I’ve shared over the last 17 issues.
Side A - Dance.
Side B - Chill.
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