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 …
Today’s prompt for Vlogmas is ‘Why I Podcast’, but as I don’t podcast I’m changing it to ‘Why I blog’. Unlike the past few days, I haven’t had any problems thinking of my answer for this prompt. There are lots of reasons why I blog. Where do I even begin!? I’m going to tackle each …
When I travelled to New York I had a very strange feeling. It was a feeling that I hadn’t experienced anywhere before. New York was a completely new place to me but it all felt so familiar. I recognised entire streets, the monuments felt like old friends and I knew exactly what I wanted to …
Tomorrow morning I’m flying to Denmark for Copenhagen’s fourth annual Wondercool festival! I’ve become a little obsessed with Scandinavian coolness recently and I don’t just mean the temperature. I’m not alone in my obsession and ‘Scandimania’ is spreading worldwide. You see, the Scandinavian’s are just so damn cool. There’s even a new book out by …
I genuinely believe that everyone should write a travel blog to document your trips. One of my favourite things about blogging is reading about my past adventures and each old post brings back so many amazing memories. You don’t need to write lengthy essays everyday or be a world-class photographer, you just need a passion …
Wondercool is Copenhagen’s answer to beating the winter blues; It’s February and we’re all tired of the cold and dark days, no one wants to go out, tourism is low and restaurants and bars are quiet. What better time of the year to lift our spirits than with an art and culture festival? Wondercool is …
Sign up here to receive updates about my 12-week blogger e-course It wasn’t long ago that I was calling myself a ‘freelancer’ and I’d correct anyone who referred to me as a ‘full time blogger’. When I first quit my job to work for myself the majority of my income came from freelancing copywriting and …
I'm a firm believer that everyone should keep a travel blog. I'm not talking about blogging to make money or blogging to 'travel the world for free' or any other hype you see online. I'm talking about travel blogging for the love of travelling. For the love of seeing the world and sharing your stories …
Everyone makes mistakes when they travel and I’ve made so many it would be impossible to recall them all. I do my best not to dwell on things or regret anything. I think as long as you learn from your mistakes it makes you a better traveller in the long run. Here are a few …
Have you ever said something and then the second the words have left your mouth you want to suck them back in and pretend they never happened? Imagine if you could just breathe them back in with a huge gasp of air. That would be good. That would get me out of a lot of …
One of the things I love most about living in London is the sheer size of the city. Not only is it huge but there is so much to do. After living here for two years I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface and I’m not sure I ever will. For every restaurant, exhibition, …
Sinking into the hot, milky blue water and I swear I could physically feel my muscles relax and give a little sigh of relief. Now, this is the perfect way to start a holiday and spend your birthday. We arrived at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland by 10am after an early morning flight into Keflavik …
Most cities that are steeped in history can have a spooky side if you’re the type to go searching for it. I’m sure those old cathedrals where we’ve celebrated births and deaths for thousands of years are filled with scary stories and mysterious whispers that fill the pews. If the walls of those ancient castles …
2014 was an amazing year for The Travel Hack. This was the year I really got my teeth stuck in with blogging and I’m so amazingly lucky to be able to call this my job! My readership doubled during the year and The Travel Hack was named as one of the UK’s top 10 travel …
A trip to Holland to the famous city of Amsterdam has got to be one of the easiest and most fun weekends you can have. The flights are dirt cheap and short; perfect for those on a budget, restricted on time or who don’t like flying. The accommodation choices are endless, from hostel to 5* …
Luban Bajo in Flores, Indonesia, is quickly becoming a popular tourist destination for backpackers looking to get away from the usual routes and see something a little different. It is also the launching point for most people to visit Komodo Island which is why we'd travelled out to this point in Indonesia. But Komodo Island …
The worst thing that happened while I was travelling I spent nearly 2 years travelling through SE Asia and Australia and I was actually really lucky - barely anything went wrong. I was never disastrously ill or mugged. I never ran out of money or had to spend a night sleeping on the streets. I …
"Trust your feet and let your legs take your weight," my guide shouted from beneath me. Trust my feet? 'Trusting my feet' was a totally new concept for me. I can trust my hands because they're bendy and flexible and they're right there in front of my eyes but my feet are just ugly stumps …
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 …
This Seatfrog review has been created in collaboration with Seatfrog and, as always, all thoughts about the app and over-excitement about travelling First Class are all my own! Today I’d like to share a new app I’ve discovered called Seatfrog. Prepare to have your Virgin Train journeys in the UK changed forever! This is my …
When writing about Lake Vyrnwy Hotel I could tell you all about the history of the hotel, the tasty menu, the great selection of wine, the friendly staff and the beautiful old building. But, let’s be honest, when you’re staying at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel it’s all about the view. And what a view it is. Imagine waking …
Starting from mid-March, Sam and I have decided to change our lives completely. We’re working towards ‘lifestyle careers’ where we plan to work less and live more and we'll both be working with a 4-day weekend. Just excuse me while I go and do a happy dance in the corner for a few minutes!! I …
I took the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam with P&O Ferries and here's what I thought about it with some travel tips for anyone planning to do the same. I love this fast paced world we live in. A world where you can fly to the other side in a day, you can speak to …
I'm very excited today to have Laura from Wander with Laura sharing her travel guide to Liverpool with us. I went to Liverpool University and I absolutely loved this colourful and creative city. The main thing I feel about Liverpool is that it's a fun city. No one takes themselves too seriously and there's a …
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! …
Wales is my favourite place for a short break or a weekend away. I’m always surprised by how beautiful this little country is and the small size makes it easy to discover a lot in a short space of time. Road tripping is the best way to discover Wales and I love nothing better than …
Is there anything better than waking up in the morning and having nothing to do? No plans, no work, no commitments. Nothing but a gloriously long day ahead of you, waiting to be filled with an adventure. Oh the possibilities. Oh the excitement! Sounds great, doesn’t it? But how many of us actually embrace these …
Since uploading the post on Wednesday about the ‘What vacationer are you?’ I’ve been thinking a lot about my travel style. It took me a long time to figure out what my travel style is because I so often followed guides and ‘top 10 lists’ and recommendations from other people. When I was taking blog trips …
When I first saw today’s Podmas prompt I thought it wasn’t the most exciting but then I realised I’d never actually told you much about where I live and why. I live on the border of Chester and North Wales and the simple reason I live here is because this is where I was raised. …
Why is it that travelling far away always seems so much more exotic than travelling close to home? What is it that makes us want to spend hours in the car, hours queueing at airports, hours crammed onto tiny planes and hours waiting to get through immigration when we could travel to very similar places, …
If you're looking for things to do in Chester then you've come to the right place! I've lived on the outskirts of Chester for most of my life so here are some of my favourites! Chester is one of the country’s most important heritage cities and, in my opinion, it's also one of the most …
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 …
This is the first year we’ve made homemade damson gin using the damsons that grow in our garden. We’ve lived here for five summers now and I can’t believe we hadn’t done it sooner because damson gin is so delicious! Our first batch of homemade damson gin is rich and fruity and sweet. It’s so …