Before I visited Cyprus the one thing everyone said to me was: “Oh my goodness, you’re going to LOVE the food.” They didn’t tell me about the gorgeous views, the beaches, the bright blue sea and those incredible Cypriot sunsets. No, everyone just went on and on about the food. It wasn’t until I had …
That’s a very bold title isn’t it? The best massage IN THE WORLD. Obviously I haven’t tried every massage in the whole entire world but I’ve tried a lot and this one was pretty darn good, the best I’ve ever had. Le Meridien Limassol is a luxury resort and spa in Limassol, a city on …
Hello and happy Friday! I’m writing this from the sea as I sail from Mykonos to Istanbul. This week I’ve been travelling with Celebrity Cruises. We began in Venice on Monday, followed by Dubrovnik, Mykonos and finally Istanbul today. I’m having such an incredible time, not only in the destinations but also onboard the ship. …
It’s quick one this week as I’m writing this just before I head out to Blogstock! Blockstock is the world’s first blogging festival. It’s been put together by the guys behind Traverse, an informal and fun travel blogging conference. I spoke at the last conference about social media and I’ve been asked to speak again! …
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done a Weekend Reads post with my favourite blog posts and articles from around the blogosphere. Here are some great posts I’ve been loving over the past few weeks. Travel Writing Roundup {Caroline in the City} This is such a fantastic resource of travel websites, blogs and …
This summer, World Duty free is hosting a #SummerDrinksFestival to get us all recreating our favourite holiday cocktails at home. They asked me to get involved and do my best at making some tasty cocktails. This came at the perfect time because one of my best friends is home from Australia for a couple of …
Each year we spend the entire winter dreaming about beach holidays. White sands, blue seas, bright sunshine and golden tans. Arrhh, this is what dreams are made of. Just after Christmas we re-join the gym and spend hours finding the right skin care regimen, hoping that it will have us looking as beautiful as Beyonce …
It was this time last year I was busily planning my trip to Iceland which I took in October. Early October was the perfect time to visit Iceland thanks to the blue skies, chilly but bearable temperatures and a light scattering of snow that dusted the ground. Iceland immediately became one of my favourite places …
This week’s App of the Week comes from Switzerland but this is an app with a difference. Swiss Mag, as the name suggests, feels much more like a magazine than a regular app. This app is only available on iPad, which is frustrating for anyone who doesn’t own one, but you do need to see …
This week has been one of my very rare chilled out weeks and I’ve loved every second of it. I’ve been having dinner with friends, drinking wine in the garden, walking my pooch and I had a couple of days in London working on exciting new projects – news on that coming soon! Here’s what …
Update: Unfortunately I was unable to take part in the Ironman as I’m having a baby. ******* You know when you agree to do something and then a few months later you think, ‘What the hell was I thinking? I can’t do that!’ Yea, that’s what happened with the Ironman. I was invited to take …
This time last year I was training for the Virgin Active Triathlon in London and this year I’m training for the run section of an Ironman in Austria. Argh! I may only be doing the run but I was originally doing the entire thing so I’m still training as though it’s a full Ironman. This …
Hi there and welcome to another Weekend Reads where I share everything I’ve been reading and writing around the web this week. I’ve had another week at home while I’ve been doing my best to begin training for my Ironman challenge and catching up on blog writing. Here’s what I’ve been writing: I’m doing an …
“You may well return from your holiday thinking Slovenia is the prettiest country you’ve ever seen.” I read this in the Lonely Planet on my flight out here and I couldn’t agree more. When it comes to first impressions, Slovenia has well and truly blown me away. It’s picked me up and spun me …
If you do a Google image search for Slovenia then the first thing to pop up will undoubtedly be Lake Bled. Lake Bled is one of the most popular places to visit in Slovenia and is arguably one of the most beautiful spots in the whole country. And in a country this breathtakingly beautiful, that …
This week has been busy but incredible as I travelled to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. I’m going to be writing all about it next week but I will say now that I LOVED it. Ljubljana is such a beautiful hidden gem and the small city makes a perfect weekend escape. I was there all week …
Remember me telling you about the Autographer camera I tested last December? It’s a cool little camera that you wear around you neck and it captures an image every time it senses movement. I thought it was great for capturing your travels in a way that you can’t with a bulky camera as it snaps …
As I slipped between the crisp white sheets of my king sized bed I couldn’t help but think, ‘This is the kind of place I’d like to live’. I’m setting my standards pretty high here, I know, but I’m all about aiming high. Reach for the stars and all that. Cannizaro House in Wimbledon is …
If you were following any of my social media updates this weekend you will have seen that I was speaking at Food Blogger Connect. Food Blogger Connect, or FBC, is the world’s leading international food blogging conference and brings together bloggers and people from the foodie industry. I’m a huge fan of blogging conferences as …
Hiking in the Grand Canyon was the highlight of my Trek America journey. Taking a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon was amazing but being inside the canyon, touching the rocks and seeing it transform as we hiked lower was incredible. It’s that moment when you’re exhausted and sweating, your heart is pumping so hard …
I don’t know about you but one of my favourite things about travelling is trying new food and eating in gorgeous restaurants. The only problem is that it doesn’t take long before I’m feeling the affects of 3-course meals and boozy lunches around my middle. Cue massive sad face. I’m not even going to pretend …
It’s been a while since I’ve written a Blog Reads post with some of my favourite posts, videos and competitions I’ve stumbled across in the blogosphere. Like always, life gets busy and once you’re out of a habit it’s hard to get back into it. These little updates on what I’m reading have somehow turned …
How are you liking the sexy new makeover on The Travel Hack? I’ve updated the design of the blog to make space for bigger and better images. We all love a good travel story but it’s the images that grab your attention and make you fall in love with a new destination. As part of …
I know that you wouldn’t put flying economy class and stylish travel together but The Travel Hack is all about affordable luxury and little tips to give even budget travel a stylish twist. I, like most people, would love to fly upper class on every flight. I’d love to sip expensive champagne, stretch out my …
After spending an incredible three days in Barbados my journey got even better as I travelled to the island of St Kitts. I’d been told that St Kitts is much more chilled out and less developed than Barbados. I had no idea what to expect because Barbados is one of the most chilled out places …
Whenever I tell people I’m a full-time travel blogger I’m inevitably met by a quizzical frown and the question, ‘So…errrr…what do you actually do?’ I don’t mind the questions because it is such a new profession and sometimes I feel like I don’t quite understand it myself. Each travel blogger works in a completely different …
“Relax in barefoot luxury on Dominica, the ‘Nature Island’ of the Caribbean” Jungle Bay is a place where grown-up dreams come true. It was a place that captured my heart and my imagination like no other place has for years and it’s a place that I’m 100% sure I’ll be going back to. I rarely …
There are some things you can be taught; things like reading and writing, how to drive a car and how to bake a cake. (Well, in theory anyway. I’ve never mastered the art of baking a cake!) But there are other things that no amount of coaching can ever help you become an expert at. …
One of my favourite things about flying into a hot country is that moment when you step off the plane. It’s like walking into a heavy fog of glorious heat that instantly warms you all the way to your bones. You take a second before you begin your descent down the wobbily plane steps to …
The observant readers among you may have noticed that I’ve changed this feature from Weekend Reads to Blog Reads. I should have realised that no one would read a post entitled ‘Weekend Reads’ on a Monday. Silly me. Anyways, this weeks Blog Reads are all about hacks. With a blog name like ‘The Travel Hack’ …
When I tell people that I spent 18 months in Australia and I drove around the entire country in a campervan they automatically assume that I must be loaded. Australia is an expensive country for us Brits so, while I wish I was loaded, I had to work really hard to be able to do …
On Thursday I’m going on a snowboarding trip to Catalonia. As I began packing I had flashbacks to my last skiing trip in Canada when I packed virtually every item of clothing I owned. Better to be safe than sorry, right? Well no, not always. My suitcase was so heavy I could barely even wheel …
On Monday I revealed one of my many travel confessions; I’m the most antisocial snowboarder that ever lived. I hate seeing other people on the slopes and will happily hog an entire run if it means I won’t knock anyone flying or go flying myself. If you ever see me snowboarding, stay away because I …
There’s a reason they call it La-La Land and that is, quite simply, because Los Angeles is crazy. Of course, I mean crazy in a good way but it’s crazy all the same. From the botoxed wannabes that strut along Holly Boulevard to the genuine celebs that hide in the hills, LA has always attracted …
Sign up here to receive updates about my 12-week blogger e-course One of the hardest things about travel blogging is that you’re so busy travelling you don’t have time to blog. You may notice a lot of the full time travel bloggers travel very slowly and will schedule in a couple of days each …
Sign up here to receive updates about my 12-week blogger e-course Last weekend I had the honour of speaking at Blogstock, the world’s only blogging festival. It’s a mixture between a blogging conference, with talks and workshops to help improve your blogging skills, and an actual festival with tents and live music and great food …
Sign up here to receive updates about my 12-week blogger e-course In case you missed it, last week I posted the first half of my Blogstock talk about how to be a figure blogger. Here’s the second half of my talk with more about my really basic SEO guide, quick tips and how I make …
The second #BloggerCourse Twitter chat will be Tuesday June 14th at 7-8pm UK time! We’re going to be chatting about ‘Blogger Struggles’ and how to overcome them. Yes, this will be a chance to have a bit of a rant about what’s difficult in the world of blogging. Do you ever try and chat to …
I’m writing this post sat in Montana Airport. I have a short layover before I fly to Minnesota for a 7 day trip exploring some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. I had the usual grilling with US security as they questioned me about why I’m visiting the US. I usually lie and …
I follow lots of bloggers who write monthly income reports for their blogs and I love seeing them. It’s partly nosiness but partly a great chance to learn from others and see where their blogging income is coming from. Blogging is so new and we all work so differently, but it’s really interesting to see …