When you go on holiday, what makes you happy? Is it exploring new places, trying new food and experiences, catching up on sleep and perhaps just having a break from your usual routine? How about meeting new people? Making friends on holiday Thomson Cruises worked with researchers from Yale University to look at the effect […]
London Gatwick Airport travel tips
I’ve spent most of my life in places which are within striking distance of London Gatwick Airport. As a child I used to wave to the planes and imagine where they were going as they flew over our house, and one of my favourite school trips was to Gatwick’s air traffic control tower. As a […]
Why we use house sitters for our pets when we travel
If you have pets, who looks after them when you travel? We’ve tried a few different options over the years, but for our last couple of family trips we’ve had house sitters looking after our home and pets, and it’s worked really well. I’ve found our house sitters through TrustedHousesitters, a network which links pet […]
What to do if your flight’s cancelled and you’re in the departure lounge
‘I’m calling a taxi and I’m going home’, said my son, 14. ‘You can’t’, I said. ‘Why not?’ said my son. ‘Because we’re in the departure lounge and there’s no way that you can get out’, I explained. We were at London Gatwick airport, and we’d just found out that our flight to Italy had […]
How to pack for an 8 kg luggage allowance
When I went to Kraków for a weekend trip I flew with Lufthansa. The flight was fine, but the luggage allowance was stress-inducing – it was just 8 kgs, with a maximum bag size of 55 x 40 x 23 cms. This required some very careful thought about how and what to pack. Why I […]
How home swapping holidays work
What do you think about home swapping holidays – do they appeal to you? I think that home exchange sounds like a great travel option for families – but my husband’s not convinced. I’m hoping to convert him. How do home swapping holidays work? Home swapping is simple – you exchange homes with somebody for […]
The one where I forget to renew my son’s passport
So, I thought that we were being really organised with our family summer travel plans. We decided to go to Portugal, and we booked our flights and our accommodation six months before the trip. We lined up a hire car, and I started researching things to do in Lisbon and Porto. Totally oblivious to the […]
Family camping for beginners
Would you like to take your children on a camping trip, but you’re not sure how to do it? Help is at hand – Halfords have published The Ultimate UK Camping Guide, which you can download for free, and they’ve asked me to share my camping tips. Ultimate UK Camping Guide The Halfords guide shares […]
What to do when your teen goes travelling
I wrote this when my teenage daughter went travelling with a friend for the first time: Right now, I’m a fretful mama bear. For no good reason. Except that my daughter, aged 17, has finished her exams and is currently InterRailing her way around six European countries with a school friend. Which is brilliant, and should […]
10 reasons why orphanage voluntourism must stop
I’ve written about orphanage voluntourism before – in my post Orphanage voluntourism holidays. As an adoptive mother, I’m passionate about this subject, as anyone who’s ever talked to me about volunteering abroad will know. I’m writing about it again, because The Better Volunteering Better Care Network have asked me to support their #StopOrphanTrips campaign to raise […]
