The amount of times I’ve written out a paragraph and deleted in again in the space of 5 minutes is WILD. Hello ol’ blog, it’s been a while hasn’t it? Damn I’ve missed just spilling my words out onto an empty page. I NEED to do this more, for myself, I need this outlet I once loved so much to be back in my life again. Starting my blogs years ago encouraged so much personal growth, creativity, and freedom with what I decided to write about. I’ve gone through my old blog posts with a fine tooth comb and set over 300 posts to private, including a majority of my first ever posts. It’s time for a refresh.
I know I’m a little late to the party and it is almost March, BUT I wanted to share a 2019 round up of my travels, as I plan on talking a lot more about travel on here compared to any other subject. 2019 was another great year for exploring and travelling on personal trips and work.
JANUARY: VALENCIA
January birthdays… can be a bit of a glum one if spent in England. I haven’t spent a birthday in the UK for the past 6 years as I LOVE escaping away somewhere new for it. I wanted to hit up somewhere sunny, cheap, and easy to get to to. Valencia ticked all 3 of those boxes. It was also a city I’d never been to before. Me and my boyfriend Max spent 3 nights there / 4 full days, it was perfect. We had sunshine every day and most days reached 20 degrees. A little slice of winter sunshine was truly needed from being under London’s grey skies each day. Our airbnb was super cheap too. I think I’ll delve into Valencia on a future post as I loved it so much.
FEBRUARY: PARIS
I had planned a surprise Valentine’s day trip for Max in February, he had ZERO idea Paris was on the cards! I took his passport and told him to pack a bag for a few days. We travelled by coach which I personally LOVE doing, I find it stress free, comfortable and affordable! I booked my tickets £25-30 return each from Flixbus. We stayed in an Airbnb in Montmartre, and was thankfully blessed with blue skies! It was a short but sweet trip for Max’s first time.
MAY: LISBON & PORTO
After a couple of months spent at home, I was itching to get back on the road! It was a goal of mine to explore Portugal for the first time, so I thought this would make for a wicked solo adventure. I found super cheap flights to Lisbon in May, one way was only £18! then I bagged a return flight for only £12 back from Porto. I stayed in both Airbnbs and hostels throughout my stay and had the most incredible time on my own exploring a new country. I felt like I really needed this solo trip to meet new people, explore things how I like to explore, and take some time out for myself.
JUNE: VENICE, SLOVENIA, & CROATIA
June was going to be an absolute HOOT! Me and Max were headed on a 12 day adventure I was planning… which all started in Venice, and was going to end in Pula, Croatia! We were dying to check out Lake Bled in Slovenia, so booked a coach from Venice to Bled via FlixBus, it was incredible. The ride was great, and only cost 7 euros each one way. We LOVED Slovenia, I’d definitely love to return here soon as it’s super tranquil and simply stunning. After 4 nights in Bled, we hopped on another coach to Pula, and spent 6 nights here exploring and having the best time ever. I highly recommend hopping around Europe in this style, starting with finding the cheapest flight out to a destination (be flexible- search ‘anywhere’ on Skyscanner) then travel via coach or trains throughout, it’s much cheaper and more economical compared to flights.
AUGUST: IBIZA
Oh Ibiza, it’s been a hot minute since I last enjoyed your beauty! Me and Zoe London headed out to Ibiza with Jet2holidays to stay in a little slice of paradise, Sol Beach House. This hotel was incredibly tranquil. We absolutely LOVED every minute of this trip. A few days before heading here we booked a stay at Cubanito which was truly incredible too.
SEPTEMBER: LISBON
Back to Lisbon in September, this time for a work shoot with Got2b! Me and a handful of other international influencers were working on their 2020 project and had the best week ever. I also got to take Max with me too which was great as it was his first time to Lisbon, he loved being a part of the creative atmosphere on set too. I absolutely thrive being in creative environments on shoots, this is where I feel most alive, so the fact I had the opportunity to be a part of this campaign AND travel, well damn, that is my favourite combination and I am forever grateful!
After September hit, I kind of crashed in October and hibernated for a little while. I didn’t have a winter trip either, but I did plan a hella lot of trips for 2020.
2019 was another wicked year for travel and exploring new places. I need to remember to reflect more, I kept a bit quiet about my achievements last year compared to previous ones.. but I love encouraging to sit and reflect to yourself often, so why don’t I take my own advice?
Any way, I hope you all enjoyed this post! It felt good to write again.