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Monica

Hi, I'm Monica! This is my family lifestyle blog where I share posts about motherhood and microadventures.

I’m so pleased I’m writing these monthly garden updates because it’s so lovely to see the progress I’ve already made in just 4 weeks. My little plants have grown so much and I’ve learnt so much too. Last month I had no idea what I was doing but this month I feel much more confident. …

Read More about April in my garden: My monthly garden update #2

Holiday caravans are booming in the UK this year! We’re all looking for affordable staycations and a holiday caravan is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to do it.  I know there are lots of people who grow up with static caravans but many people barely know they exist, and if you’re one of …

Read More about Holiday caravans: Everything you need to know about static caravan holidays

Today’s post is a 9 day Scotland itinerary if you want to see the best of the Scottish Highlands by Katie from Best Scottish Tours. This is such an epic Scotland itinerary and it’s got me wanting to book a campervan and hit the road! You’re planning to spend 9 days in Scotland and you’re …

Read More about An epic 9-day Scotland itinerary to see the Scottish Highlands and more

One of the main conversations I have with bloggers who want to grow their blogs is around creating more content. I’m a firm believer that the more content you have, the bigger and better your blog will be. I know there are many bloggers out there who will argue that they have really successful blogs …

Read More about 16 tips to create more content for your blog with limited time

I feel like I’ve written so much about having three kids but one thing I haven’t spoken about is how to make time for yourself and your partner when you have children. Whether you have one child or twenty children, it can be really difficult to make time for yourself.  We all know it’s so …

Read More about How to make time for yourself and your partner when you have kids

  We’re onto week #45,765 following government guidelines to stay at home and I’m pretty sure we’ve all been through every wave of emotion possible. We’ve been through fear, loneliness, excitement, depression, contentment, acceptance, panic, worry, anxiety, enjoyment, feeling grateful and finally feeling…bored. Just bored. So flipping bored. And now the news that we’ll get …

Read More about 5 ways to STILL feel happy to stay at home

As we’ve just passed the one year anniversary of when lockdown began in the UK, I’m seeing lots of posts online about what people have learnt from this time.  I’m seeing lots of posts from when we were all optimistic and enthusiastic about saying at home! Remember when it was all a bit of a …

Read More about What I REALLY learnt during a year in lockdown

I’m just scratching the surface with the topic of reducing household waste. Like many others, I’ve recently watched a few documentaries on the topic such as Stacey Dooley’s Fashion’s Dirty Secrets, The True Cost on Netflix and Drowning in Plastic on the BBC. We’ve all known about these topics for years. We’ve known that fast …

Read More about Easy and affordable ways I’m reducing my household waste

Welcome to the first post in a new series here on The Travel Hack! I love a good series of posts and I’m excited to start sharing monthly updates from my garden. As you guys know, we’ve recently finished extending and renovating our house so we’re finally at the stage where we can just enjoy …

Read More about March in my garden: My monthly garden update #1

Today’s post is for anyone who wants a change. Anyone who wants to try something new, fix an area of their life they’re not entirely happy with or, to use the current buzzword, anyone who wants to pivot. My current experience with a change of brand… As I’m sure many of you are aware, I …

Read More about Time for a change? 14 ways to embrace change, make it happen and decide if it’s what you really want

Today’s blog post is a Panasonic bread maker review as I share how I make fresh bread everyday. I know, I know. I didn’t think I’d be this person either! No one is more surprised than I am that I make a fresh loaf of bread most days. We bought our Panasonic bread maker two …

Read More about Panasonic Bread Maker Review: Is a bread maker worth it?

Looking for travel gifts for her? I’ve got you covered with 25 Christmas travel gifts for the ladies in your life. Whether you’re buying for your mum, your wife, your friend, a colleague, a family member or, more importantly, looking for travel gift ideas for yourself! I’ll be honest, everything on this list is things …

Read More about Travel gifts for her: Christmas gifts ladies will love

Can you see Paris in 2 days? Yes you can! There is so much to see and do in this gorgeous city so I’ve created a list of the best things to see in Paris in 2 days. Of course, there are a million more things to see in Paris but you won’t want to …

Read More about Paris in 2 days: Everything you need to see during a 2 day trip to Paris

I’ve been using a sleep tracking watch for two years now and I’m regularly asked if tracking my sleep helps me get a better night’s sleep? It’s a hard question to answer because, for some people, tracking your sleep can actually be detrimental. Some people find it stressful and the anxiety of waking up to …

Read More about Sleep tracking watches: Can a sleep tracker help you get a better night’s sleep?

Healthy family meal ideas This post has been created in collaboration with AvaCare Multivitamins Meal times are a big thing in our family and everyone loves their food! But coming up with healthy family meal ideas can be so tough, especially at the moment when we’re eating all of our meals at home and I’m …

Read More about What my family eat in a day: Healthy family meal ideas for a busy family of 5

Some of you may remember the time I was a millionaire for a day. I can feel a handful of people nodding enthusiastically while the rest of you frown in confusion. Whaaat? In 2015 I worked with The National Lottery during a campaign where people were entered into a raffle each week to win £1 …

Read More about That time I was a millionaire for a day and how it changed my life

This is my honest Bundlee review, based on my personal experience using Bundlee with my third baby.  I was so excited when I first discovered Bundlee baby clothes rental as I’d been saying for years that someone should start a baby clothes and equipment rental company in the UK. New parents spend a fortune on …

Read More about Bundlee Review: Is the sustainable baby clothes rental company as good as it sounds?

Finally, after the longest January of all, it’s February! I feel like there’s been a collective boost in morale today as we’ve said goodbye to the longest and hardest month so far. It helps that the sun is shining in Wales, the snowdrops are proudly bursting through the soil and everyone has a spring in …

Read More about February goals and finding the thing that makes us happy?

Today’s post is all about glamping essentials and everything you should pack for a glamping trip. One of the benefits of glamping over camping is that you don’t need to pack nearly as much stuff! Most glamping sites will provide you with all the basic equipment you will need so your car won’t be bursting …

Read More about Glamping essentials: What to pack for a family glamping holiday

I’m a little unorthodox when it comes to how I write a blog post. I started blogging as a journaler back in 2009 and the rules on how to write a blog post were very different back then! I was more of a creative writer and writing stories came to me easily. I write for …

Read More about How to write a blog post: A 15 step guide to writing the perfect blog post

This post was created in collaboration with bonusprint. It would be easy to write-off 2020 as an awful year we all want to forget, but it was still special and there were many moments I want to remember forever. It was a smaller year in many ways and the big adventures were replaced with microadventures. …

Read More about Highlights from 2020: A year of microadventures and documenting them with bonusprint

If you’re a travel lover then I’ve got no doubt you’ll be feeling like you’ve had your wings clipped right now. I know some people are optimistically booking holidays abroad for this year and I’m sure many of those holidays will go ahead, but I’m also sure many of them won’t! I haven’t booked any …

Read More about The holidays you should actually be booking for 2022

Do you have a blogging editorial calendar? It’s one of those things that some bloggers swear by to help them stay on track, plan ahead, get organised and grow their online presence. While other bloggers will reject the idea of a blogging editorial calendar because it goes against their creative nature. It’s lovely to write …

Read More about How I plan my blogging editorial calendar

I’m the first to admit that our lockdown routine isn’t always perfect. Some days it doesn’t go to plan and it’s absolute carnage in our house! But some days we do stick to this rough routine and it works really well. It isn’t a lockdown routine I ever sat down and made a formal schedule …

Read More about Our lockdown routine: Homeschooling and working from home with three kids

New Year’s Resolutions have had a bad rep for the past few years. The message that we’re all ‘perfect as we are’ is a wonderful and uplifting message that we all need reminding of at times! It’s an especially important message because a lot of the New Year’s resolutions messaging comes from the diet industry …

Read More about How to really keep your New Year’s Resolutions

I think we can all agree that 2020 was an absolute shitter of a year and we’re all sat at home optimistically hoping for bigger and better things for 2021.  I wrote a blog post this time last year, ‘20 things I want to do in 2020‘, and I actually did do most of them! …

Read More about My plans, goals, hopes and dreams for 2021 and the most important thing 2020 taught me