My Travel Goals For 2020

Hey Owlets,

Every year that I’ve been a blogger I’ve written about how successful my year was, my goals for the next year or something along those lines but, if I’m honest, I’m pretty happy at the moment and I don’t really have anything major that I want to achieve in the next year. I feel like publishing posts like that pile pressure on, rather than motivating, so this year I want to take a break from that and instead do something a little different - a travel bucket list. Even though I’m calling this my “2020 bucket list” I don’t exactly plan to achieve everything on this list in a year, it’s more of an acknowledgement that what I want in life changes as I live it, and even though this is accurate now, by next year it might not be. With that all said, let’s get into talking about a few of my travel aspirations.

Hello 2020 - Rewinding a Decade

Hey Owlets,

It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes since I sat down to write my 2018 roundup post, but here we are again looking at another new year - not just a new year but an entirely new decade. If I’m honest it doesn’t feel like more than 5 years since my teachers were repeatedly correcting the date in my exercise book when I wrote 2009 instead of 2010, and seeing what vaguely looked like “2019” would always make me wonder where I’d be in 10 years time. In 2009 I was 13 - I can’t remember what I wanted to be at 13, but I’m pretty sure at the time all that mattered was that not everyone in school hated me (it felt like it at the time). 

Cruising at Christmas: My Experience

Hey Owlets,

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with my Instagram account then you might have missed the spam all about my trip on board Cruise and Maritime Voyages’ MV Columbus. This was a bit of a first for me - both being on board CMV’s flagship and cruising so close to the festive season, arriving back in the UK in the first week of December. It’s one of those times where you aren’t entirely sure whether or not it’s a Christmas trip so I wanted to give you a rundown of my trip to help you.

Why You Should Travel in Winter

Hey Owlets,

I don’t know about you but as soon as the leaves change and temperatures drop I find myself spending hours looking at holiday websites, planning my next trip and keeping an eye out for last minute deals. I’ve never been normal, so here’s why I prefer taking trips in the Winter.

Underrated Places in Europe that You Need to Visit

Hey Owlets,

A few weeks ago I asked on Twitter what you thought were the most over-rated places in Europe, and that tweet blew up to the point that I couldn’t reply to everyone because I got blocked for sending too many tweets! Having been quite harsh to a few places that you really didn’t agree with in my last article, I thought it was only fair to be a little more positive and also give the most underrated places a mention. These are the places where you stand in your idyllic surroundings and think “why aren’t there more people here?” and the answer is most likely that they’re not heard of it yet - as much as I would like to keep them to myself and continue to enjoy these beautiful places in peace I think it’s only fair to share them with you. 

Is Instagram Ruining Travel?

Hey Owlets,

One of the things I’ve heard being complained about more and more in the media recently is “Instagram tourism” and to be honest it’s starting to annoy me. In case you don’t know what that is it’s when people choose to visit places specifically because they’re pretty, photogenic or unique either with the intension of sharing it on social media, or because they saw someone else share it on social media  and wanted to see it for themselves - basically if it’s travel related and it goes viral then it’s probably going to be the subject of an Instagram tourism rant at some point. Being that my job is to show you interesting and unique places to visit, I’m getting a little fed up of every major news outlet shouting that Instagram is ruining tourism. Instead, here’s my take on Instagram from an Instagram tourist’s point of view.

5 Ways to Beat Sea Sickness

Hey Owlets,

Cruise ships are absolutely my favourite type of holiday and in recent years they’ve gained a lot of popularity, but unlike traditional holidays they come with the risk of a very unique illness - sea sickness and you might think “I’ve been on boats before, I’m fine” but I thought that too and I was very wrong, no one is immune. In 2017 I went on my first cruise and by day three I felt drunk (no, I wasn’t), like I had flu (I didn’t), tired, sick and like I had a migraine all at the same time and it was all due to sea sickness. Having said that, I don’t want to put you off if you’ve not yet been on a cruise because it’s hands down the best thing I’ve ever experienced and seasickness can be very easily treated - here’s my tried and tested cures so you can get on with feeling better and enjoying your holiday.

The 3 Most Overrated Places in Europe

Hey Owlets,

When I’m travelling I like to make the most of every second and even if I don’t love where I’ve ended up I’ll still try to find the beauty in it, both for my own pleasure and because I want my blog to be a positive space that encourages you to get out and explore. Having said that, some places just don’t live up to the hype and despite your best attempts to make the most of your time there you can’t help but sit and think “why does everyone love this place?” so today I wanted to depart from my usual content and have a laugh and a chat about some of the places that just didn’t live up to my expectations.