Hey, welcome to The Novelsphere!
I’m Abigail (she/they), a London born and bred blogger and freelance SEO blogging + Pinterest manager. The Novelsphere is a place where you’ll find inspiration for your travel adventures and diverse book recommendations!
About Abigail
I never truly loved travelling until I interrailed around Europe back in 2019 when I was at university. I visited 8 European countries in the space of 2.5 weeks and had the best time! During this trip, I learned that I didn’t need a huge budget to travel. It was possible to explore the world even as a broke uni student!
I’ve since graduated and now I would consider myself as a mid-budget traveller who doesn’t compromise on spending extra on fun adventures. I’m happy staying at hostels, Airbnbs or hotels as long as I have access to incredible travel activities and experiences!
I’ve always been a bookworm and my earliest memories of reading were doing the yearly summer reading challenge at my local library. Reading is becoming more popular, thanks to Booktok, but diverse reading is still seen as an afterthought. As a Black woman, I think it’s so important for people to see themselves in the books they read. So this little corner of the internet uplifts, supports and reads diverse authors.
About The Novelsphere
Back in 2016, I started blogging about lifestyle, books and ethical fashion just for fun. But when it came to planning my interrailing trip in 2019, I found it difficult to find tips and advice from others who went through the experience first-hand. When I came back from my interrailing trip, I wanted to share my experience and advice for interrailing as a uni student. I wanted to write blogs that I wish I had seen when I was planning my trip. But it wasn’t until 2022 that I actually took the leap and started a fresh new blog with a new name, The Novelsphere.
The Novelsphere is a name that combines my love for books (aka novels) and the travelling world (which is the shape of a sphere). I also look at The Novelsphere name as exploring a “new world” since “novel” means interestingly new. It’s all about seeing what’s out there whether through travelling or through books!
Exploring London
Being a born and raised Londoner is my biggest travel flex. I was born in Islington in north London and I’ve been based in London ever since! Not to be biased but London really is the best city in the world, so it makes sense that it attracts about 30 million tourists every year.
But when it comes to London travel, a lot of people recommend the same things: see the landmarks and only explore central London. But London is so much more than that. There are waaaaaay more things to see in London that I think are more worth your time than standing outside Buckingham Palace hoping to see royalty (they don’t even live there lol).
So on The Novelsphere, you’ll find London travel guides and tips from a real local who was born, raised and still lives in London.
Some helpful blogs on London Travel:
- The Ultimate First-Timer’s Guide to London (start here)
- Where to Stay in London for First-Timers
- The Ultimate London Bucket List: Top 50 Things to Do in London
- How to Use the London Underground: The Ultimate Guide From a Londoner
- 18 Best London Apps for Travel, Food and Entertainment
- 25 FREE Things to Do Near London Bridge + Map
- The Ultimate Guide to London Tube Etiquette (From a Londoner)
Interrailing Europe
I’m not exaggerating when I say that interrailing Europe was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my entire life. Interrailing sparked my love for travel and my love for travel and writing birthed The Novelsphere.
Interrailing is an experience that I would highly recommend to everyone, whether you’re a uni student or in your 20s or 30s! It’s fun, you get to explore multiple European countries and won’t have to worry about extortionate flight prices because you’ll be travelling by train!
My most popular blogs on interrailing Europe:
- How to Plan an Interrail Trip: The Ultimate Guide
- The Ultimate Interrail Packing List for Interrailing Europe
- 10 Best Ways to Interrail on a Budget
Seeing the world
Travelling to mainland Europe is very accessible from the UK, which is why The Novelsphere mainly has blog posts about travelling in Europe! I’ve travelled to other continents like Africa and hopefully, I’ll be exploring South East Asia in mid-late 2024 and will be sharing my travel guides and tips on it soon!