Hi, I’m Monica, aka The Travel Hack

I’m a 38 year old mum from North Wales and I love a cheeky weekend break!

I’m here to show you how to reclaim your weekends and have some adventures! Don’t wait for your annual ‘big holiday’. You can have unforgettable, once-in-a-life time experiences with each weekend break.

xo, Monica

I’m here to show you that weekends aren’t just for chores, Netflix, hangovers and being your kid’s taxi driver!

I love sharing my weekend adventures and showing how much you can see and do with a 1-3 night break away.

I share itineraries, tips, hacks and inspiration to help you have more weekend adventures, whether you’re going abroad or staying in the UK.

The Travel Hack: How it all began

I started The Travel Hack in 2009 when I went backpacking around Asia and Australia for two-years. I lived in a campervan and travelled around the entire coast of Australia! My blog was simply a platform to share my stories and practice my writing and photography.

I then returned to the UK and moved to London to study journalism. I actually hated journalism but moving to London opened doors I didn’t even know existed.

I worked as an editorial assistant on a travel website and later worked in social media management for a worldwide travel agent.

But it didn’t take long before the pull of travelling drew me back! I wasn’t made to be a corporate girl and my backpack was calling me.

In 2013 I quit my job to pursue a career as a full time travel blogger and it was the best decision I ever made.

Since then I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and work with some of the biggest brands in the travel and industry.

I now take two short trips every month; one abroad and one in the UK and I have a successful range of Travel Hack Luggage available on Amazon!

Marriage, babies and divorce

While all that travelling was going on I also moved back to Wales, had three children, got married, got divorced, got a dog, dusted myself off and started again. (Cutting a long story very short there!)

I now co-parent our three amazing kids, so every other weekend I’m child-free.

Anyone who co-parents knows that your child-free time is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a luxury to have that time and space to do exactly what you want, but it’s also hard to be alone in a quiet family home.

When life gives you lemons

So I did what any travel-lover would do….booked some holidays!

For about 6 months I booked a weekend break virtually every time I didn’t have my kids. Bit extreme, maybe! But it worked for me and here we are, three years later and I’ve got some great weekend break ideas to share!

Living in Wales

I live on the border of North Wales and Cheshire and I own a static caravan in Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula in Wales. When I’m not travelling, you’ll usually find me exploring the coastline of North Wales!