Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

I always spend the last post of the year looking back over the previous 365 days. I think it's important to remember where we've come from, as much as we look forward to where we are going.

This is the year that I quit my job and launched a business, it's the year that I did a cross-globe four-country trip on my own (but hung out with and stayed with good friends and wonderful family along the way) and it's the year that I realised a few different dreams both on- and off-line.

8 Hidden Secrets of Temple, London

Normal Londoners will rush through the Temple area of London, race along Fleet Street and possibly settle into a cosy chair somewhere delicious along The Strand.

Instead of doing the above, the next time you find yourself with a spare half an hour or so fancy a 'London Kiwi'-style tour of the area instead? For medieval history, cats, Hollywood movies, Charles Dickens and a decent cup of tea read on. 

A Day Trip To The Birmingham Christmas Market.

We tried to visit last year but ran out of available December weekends and the Birmingham Christmas markets eluded our grasp. This year was a different story. Rounding us up like Rudolph gathering his sleigh of reindeer, but with Whatsapp rather than elf-dust, our esteemed organiser not only managed to secure a whole day that we all could do but book train tickets in as well. She cracked that tinsel covered whip...

So, bright and early on a Saturday morning we gathered, scrubbing the sleep from the corners of our eyes and brightly hugging - glad that instead of cracking our usual escape rooms, we were just shuffling onto the train - we boarded our sleigh (also known as a Class 165/0 Network Turbo train) nice and early.

A (Too) Quick City Break in York.

Much like the Grand Old Duke of York, who had ten thousand men and marched them up to the top of the hill, and then marched them down again, I can't get enough of York... (because he visited repeatedly, that was obvious, right?)

Having visited nearly half a dozen times over the years, and somehow not managing to share it on my blog over the years, I would say that although you could visit from London for the day, I wouldn't. Go for a minimum of an overnight stay, or a few days if you can. Witness a misty morning, and a candy coloured sunset, wander out into the Dales or slip in a seaside visit somewhere like Scarborough, and really get to know the ancient city.

Gambolling Through Ghent; A Wanderers Guide.

As a day trip from Brussels (only a half hour train),  I've found that either many people haven't heard of Ghent, preferring to explore the chocolate box streets of Bruges, or they adore Ghent so much that when a blogger (me) visits, they spam them via instastories with recollections of days spent there and memories made. True story.

Disclaimer: I was a press guest of VisitFlanders in Ghent, 

but all planning, mischief and thoughts are all mine.

We fell into the former camp on our trip to Brussels and explored Bruges, but genuinely regretted only being able to fit one city in, vowing to return one day.

9 Confessions of a Terrible Travel Blogger

We all present these glossy lives to the world; coffee cups presented to dewy sunrises, champagne in airport lounges, luxurious restaurants that cost more than they should and share the blue skies days of exploration. I'm as guilty as anyone.

But, what about behind those scenes? Those days where the wind is so strong you can't instastory for talking (I'm looking at you Cornwall), when travel mistakes happen (like in Vienna where I accidentally booked our trip a day short) or when everyone asks you what your next trip will be and you sheepishly have to answer 'er, not sure'.

Getting Lost in Ghent, Belgium

From my hotel window, I can hear the sliding scales of a bluesy jazz saxophonist, children softly singing a nursery rhyme and the occasional tinkle of coffee cups from a nearby cafe.

I should be parading around the town, hunting out all of the medieval gems with the keenness of a panther, but instead, as it's a Saturday morning, I've simply snuggled in further into the covers (more like a house cat in truth). There is a soft breeze floating through the ajar windows, I have a hot cup of tea cradled in my hand and no concrete plans for the morning.

Disclaimer: I was a press guest of VisitFlanders in Ghent, 

but all planning, mischief and thoughts are entirely mine.

This is what I call a blissful city break.

A Pocketful of Porto Recommendations: Eating and Drinking

With the time we had in Porto, and a definite manifesto of nothing much with a side of custard tarts, we sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could. Especially as we were in the namesake city of my favourite fortified wine. Known as a hub for foodie travellers, for the most part we simply let local recommendations and google guide us, and in the process discovered a few lovely spots to settle into that didn't break the bank (in line with the challenge we were set).

Nb: when planning your days, everywhere we went was really lovely, but rather laid back - so don't expect London-style hustle - except in tourist haunts where they'll want to flip tables as soon as they can (but why would you want that?)

Portugal: A Peaceful Long Weekend In Porto

One of the few regrets I had about my long weekend last year exploring Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais was not being able to fit a trip to Porto into the diary. I mean whilst you're in Portugal, you should be exploring as much as possible, right?

Or is that just being greedy?

Disclaimer: We were press guests of Cheapflights in Oporto, but all planning, mischief 

and thoughts are totally mine (and to be fair, Rebecca's). 

Luckily enough, a few weeks ago I was set a challenge by Cheapflights to book a long weekend away in Porto for two adults for the princely sum of £550. Nope, not each, that's split between us. Keeping things easy, breezy and on the affordable side for a slice of sunshine, all for the cost of a night in a gorgeous luxury hotel, or pair of designer shoes, we spun out a lovely little break from London.

A few musings on Barcelona (in conjunction with Thomson Cruises)

5 years ago we visited Barcelona.

We spent a long weekend exploring the undulating architecture of Gaudi, nibbling pintxos and soaking in the sunshine. Hours were spent admiring the incredible Sagrada Familia arches, we meandered along the city beaches and rode the furnicular up into the misty peaks of Montserrat.

Thomson Cruises contacted me recently about sharing a new video series that Larry Lamb has filmed, where he meets a host of 'cruise mates' sharing their home cities of Barcelona, Ibiza and Palma. They have genuinely inspired in me one of the most wonderful problems of travel blogging; to return, or not to return.

Our stay at the luxurious Bovey Castle Hotel - Codename: OperationDon'tTellAftab

Many moons ago, in the distant realm of Devon, a shire far far away from the steel and glass towers of Londinium (about 2.5 hours by iron horse) a gallant Fresh Prince was fearlessly escorted by 3 Princesses (take THAT mansplaining!) to a beautiful stone castle snug in the wild valleys of Dartmoor.

We think he may have liked it? But, let's rewind a month or three.

5 things I miss whilst travelling

Travelling is awesome. And challenging, and frustrating, and joyful and educational.

But most people don't focus on the darker side of having a travel addiction.

How to travel in-between "travelling"

Alas, our lives aren't always a constant flurry of airport lounges and glamorous glasses of champagne poured at 30,000 feet. Mine certainly hasn't been - for the last 5 years I've been balancing a full-time job with running a blog, trying to sneak travel in as much as I can, and lately freelancing for clients.

This has meant that I have had to become creative when trying to slake my wanderlust around a 9 to 5 desk job. Luckily, I live on one of the best islands in the world. People often worry about becoming a travel blogger, thinking that they don't jet off to all corners of the world every weekend and they won't have enough content. Well, to that I say phooey.

A delicious staycation: The Vicarage in Cheshire

The Vicarage, a hotel in the small Cheshire of village of Holmes Chapel intrigued us.

Identifying itself as 'a restaurant with rooms' we couldn't resist testing out their foodie credentials, so for the last night of our Chester staycation we hopped back into the train and shot out into the countryside.

72 hours in Chester

Chester is the first holiday I've ever booked through the power of Instagram alone. We had been looking for somewhere as a long weekend break (well, I say we, but I had actually been put on a travel ban which Mr Kiwi now mostly denies, his baby blues all innocent) when I spotted that a friend of mine had day tripped up to Chester. It was beautiful.

So firing up the laptop, I booked us a cheeky little Cheshire staycation.

Relaxing on the doorstep of Richmond Park: A staycation hotel review

To say this was the laziest most relaxed adventure yet would be an understatement. 

At the beginning of this year, my one and only Mr Kiwi put me on a travel ban. After a 6 week period that included a surprise birthday trip to Gothenburg, a myriad of business travel, a weekend staycation and two awesome weeks roadtripping around Texas and Louisiana at the end of last year, he felt like he had had enough.

So in order to assuage the flame of wanderlust that has my soul (one day it may waver so I'm making the most of it whilst I can) I had to get crafty. I mean, compromise. Yes, compromise. *shifty eyes*

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.)

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.

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.