My perfect day in Paris: slipping solo across the Channel for lunch

There are many bloggers who are getting flack about sharing their love of travelling solo. It isn't for everyone - but then neither are berets. It shouldn't be a rite of passage shoved down the throats of unwilling accessories (see what I did there?), but simply another tool in the wanderlust arsenal.

I have to say that as much as I adore my cheeky husband, I also love the chance to revel in sheer unadulterated 'me' time. Wandering through art galleries for hours, indulging in freshly baked patisserie and taking. as. many. photos. as. I. want. (For the record, in a 10 hour window I took about 800, ridiculous I know.)

ANZAC Day, Lest We Forget.

Pre-dawn on the 25th April, families gather around the world. Quietly they huddle in their jackets, their antipodean accents muffled by the chilly air.

Slowly in the darkness the crowd begins to thicken, take shape, many around weatherworn memorials thousands of miles away from their birthplaces.

Aqua Shard: Brunching in London clouds

The Shard and I have a tempestuous on again, off again relationship. On our first rendezvous this bastion of the London skyline was moody and somewhat icy, our second dalliance was a touch more blue sky and secretive (an unbloggable lunch at the Shangri-La), and the third a cheeky twilight drink - but on this particular date, we managed to enjoy an early brunch cementing our liaison as an everlasting London romance.

 Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Aqua Shard but my (very many) thoughts are only ever mine and more repeat visits on lovely days are going into my diary. Ps. Sister restaurant Aqua Kyoto has a bottomless brunch reader special until 28th May if you click this sushi treatise about our visit... (#notspon, just delectable)

After a flurry of activity organising a secret trip in honour of Aftab's birthday, 3 of the self-named Angles (sorry, random insider joke) gathered around a table with one of our American favourites (she is definitely not square, I promise) to breakfast and gaze over the London skyline full of anticipation for our incipient journey. Laden with weekend bags full of mischief and a train booked for 11am, early on the Sunday morning we checked in with the restaurant front staff (who didn't even blink an eye at how much clothing we had packed) and took our seats over the London city skyline.

Claiming my travel dreams

As a typical millennial - in fact even worse, one from the antipodean shores of New Zealand - we've been taught by our baby boomer parents that everything we dream is possible. But then why shouldn't we have careers that span our passions? Why shouldn't we aspire to be the best people we can be and live the lives that we dream about?

 ...Skipping around the beautiful isle of Skye...

But, there is a catch. There always is. You have to be willing to work for it and hope that you get a couple of lucky breaks along the way.

Cornwall roadtripping: our favourite places to explore

Both my friend and I had eyed up the beautiful scenery, cosy thatched cottages and wild beaches of the Cornish coast often enough to each have a wishlist of places to explore, so on our long weekend, we tried to fit in as many places as we could.

Result? The best road trip we could have hoped for, complete with excellent tunes, copious snacks and occasionally crazy weather conditions. Full of pirates and smugglers, intriguing history, rampant gardens, cream teas where we discussed the big questions (cream then jam, or jam then cream, obvs) and weather conditions that changed by the minute from hail to beaming sunshine.

Important disclaimer: I've only visited Cornwall the once so I can't ever call myself an expert, and ideally we needed an extra day to spend in St Ives properly, but these were the places we loved.

10 of the best unique UK daytrips (when you've done all the usual ones)

We've all been there. The chat around the office water cooler is of exotic European jaunts, talk in the tea point is of tropical destinations and patter in the pub is all glamourous stays in luxurious hotels and spa pamper sessions. And there is nothing in your diary.

It's bank holiday season again.

Legging it to Land's End, Cornwall

According to ancient Maori mythology at the northernmost tip of New Zealand - Cape Reinga - the spirits of the dead travel on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland, and climb the roots of the 800-year-old pohutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'.

In true British style, Land's End (or in Cornish: Penn an Wlas or Pedn an Wlas) is a headland and holiday complex near Penzance where tourists flock to witness the Western most point of the UK and enjoy a cream tea.

The Scarlet Hotel, Cornwall: A sumptuous seaside spa stay

We arrived just as the sky turned ink blue over gentle waves. Stopping the car in the middle of the deserted road we rolled down the window and simply swooned at our cliff top view. Below us the beach stretched out, softly hugging the foam crests of the incoming tide. (And then we instagrammed because you can take the bloggers out of London...)

 Disclaimer: We were very relaxed guests of The Scarlet Hotel but all of our blissful enjoyment and thoughts were very much our own...

We navigated the curving road around, heading further and further away from the surfing epicentre of Newquay and with one last hairpin bend worthy of Top Gear slow motion panorama, we found our home for the evening. Snugged into the cliffs, the Scarlett Hotel is a peaceful retreat, hiding away from the clanging updates of the world.