Last weekend I was in Dublin for the city’s annual Bram Stoker Festival. I went to this festival last year too and I loved it so much I knew I had to go back with Sam. If you’re unsure, Bram Stoker was the author of Dracula and was from Dublin. There are lots of horror …
Posts from: October 2014
Is there anything better than being greeted at a hotel with a beautiful bunch of fresh flowers and a box of macaroons? I was being given a tour of my Citadines Suite when I spotted them and got a delightful waft of sweet and floral scents. I already knew I’d be spending the next half …
I’ve been keeping a little secret from you guys for the past few months. Actually, it’s not a little secret, it’s probably the biggest secret I’ve ever had. I don’t even know where to begin so I’m just going to blurt it right out… I’M PREGNANT!!! Yes, I’m having a baby. A baby! It still …
I’m really, really excited about this competition because it’s only open to readers of The Travel Hack! (Yes, you won’t be competing against hundreds of thousands of people!) Do you remember earlier this month I was travelling around Paris, Lille and Berlin with Citadines? I was taking part in a blogger competition and was doing …
^She definitely isn’t trying… 😉 If you’re already thinking, ‘I don’t care what I look like while I travel. I just pack my bags and go, you’re lucky if I pack a toothbrush’, then this probably isn’t the blog post for you. This isn’t about piling on the make-up or spending hours styling your hair …
The more hotels I stay in, the more I appreciate quirky, unusual and exciting places to stay. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a luxurious 5* hotel but it’s the cool and quirky places I’ll remember for years to come. Here in the UK we have a lot of unusual glamping options – here …
Travelling alone is fun Travelling with your best friend is better You can never take too many photos You’ll always wish you had a better camera until you’ve completely maxed out your budget on a fancy camera You quickly stop caring what you look like when you travel for a long time You feel like …
Ahhh Wales, a country of rolling hills and fresh streams, forests and mountains and lakes and outdoor adventures. And rain. Yes, don’t forget the rain and the general unpredictability of Welsh weather. I grew up in North Wales and now live on the English/Welsh border so I feel like I’m pretty well adapted to these …
My video and Living Room Tree House review from an incredible weekend staying in a tree house in Powys, Wales. This weekend I had the chance to make a childhood dream come true and stay in a real tree house! You may be picturing a rickety shack in the trees but Living Room tree …
Life is so much easier when you travel with a tablet. When I went backpacking in 2009 I didn’t even have a smartphone, never mind a tablet, but I can’t imagine travelling without one now. Here are some of the things I use my tablet for while I travel: To store all your documents and …
I managed to create this Instagram wall collage for less than £8.50. Since making my own collage I found that The Little Square Gallery can make them for you but they charge £295!! I made two of my own collages so I’ve just saved myself nearly £600. I think I deserve a shopping spree with …
As a frequent flier I spend A LOT of time in airports. I’ve been pretty lucky and haven’t had too many flights cancelled but I have had a lot of delayed flights. I used to find it really frustrating but I’ve learnt to chill out whenever my flight is delayed. There’s no point in getting …
I can’t help but throw in a bunch of cliches when I tell you about Mahmaya Island. I apologise in advance but it’s one of those places where every cliche fits. The water really is crystal clear. The sand really is powdery soft and golden. The sky is cloudless. The sun is beaming. The beers …
This time last year I was terrified. I wasn’t even admitting it to myself how scared I was. I’d just quit my secure, fairly well paid, interesting and enjoyable job and decided to go it alone. Yep, I’d just plunged into the big bad world of freelancing! I wrote a blog post about it, ‘I’m …
Two weeks ago I did something I wasn’t sure I’d ever do again. I took an all-inclusive holiday. Yes, really. This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal for most people but I’d put myself in the ‘not-an-all-inclusive-person’ category and I wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. We usually book our travels independently and …
Berlin is known as a cool, gritty city. It’s vibrant and cutting edge and filled with creative people who drive the city forward. But did you know that Berlin is an environmentally friendly city too? By 2020 Berlin aims to be the greenest city in the world. That’s an ambitious goal, especially when they have …
I love city breaks but one of the things I find difficult is narrowing down my ‘to-do list’ while I’m there. Most big cities have so much to see and do it becomes impossible to do it all. So unless you have weeks to spare and plenty of money you’re going to have to narrow …
Today I had the pleasure of taking an E-Bike Tour around Berlin with Fat Tire Bike Tours. It was a 6-hour tour covering 20km and took us to some of Berlin’s main sights and a few attractions many tourists will never know about. It’s no secret that I love a good bike ride but one …
There was a time when I loved being a backpacker. I thought of myself like a little turtle carrying all my worldly possessions as I travelled around Asia. I could quickly pack up my life and move onto the next destination without batting an eyelid. I’m currently travelling around Europe with Citadines and it reminds …
“Lille? For three days?” The Parisians would ponder this for a few seconds after I’d told them that, yes, my next stop was Lille, for three whole days. “Hmm, it’s very different to Paris but you will like it,’ they’d tell me. “It’s very pretty.” And this is my first impression from Lille. It is …