How to Beat Post-Travel Blues

Hey Owlets,

You know the feeling when you get home from a holiday and the reality that you have to make your own bed, do your own washing and go back to work sets in? I’m absolutely feeling that at the moment - I went for a walk yesterday and saw a cruise ship in port which unnecessarily drove the point home a little further. With that in mind I’ve been doing just about everything to fight off the feelings of wanderlust, so here’s a tried and tested guide to quell the post-travel blues.

Why I'm Still Talking Travel

Hey Owlets,

One of the best things about my little corner of the internet is getting to chat to you every day, but every now and then you’ll ask me something that really makes me stop and think for a minute. Today someone asked me why I was still talking about travel when it’s something that we’re being told not to do? Why would I encourage something that could promote the spread of a virus that’s managing to make it’s way across the globe without us making it worse? When the world has been thrown into chaos and countries are going into lockdown, isn’t talking about travel kind of taboo now? Well the short answer is no, I’m not going to stop.

You know I’m always 100% honest with you, so let’s just get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Yes, this is what I choose to do with my life and I do, on occasion, get asked to promote things. If I stopped blogging right now I wouldn’t be able to go and get a job because no one wants to hire staff in these uncertain times. Having said that, you know I’ve never been that person who does this for money (trust me, there really isn’t any in it!) - it’s first and foremost always been because I love what I do.

3 Points to Consider for Your Next Trip

*this is a collaborative post with Big Yellow Storage*

Virgin Voyages: A Very Honest Recap

Hey Owlets,

I’m back with another cruise ship review today; I’m usually so excited to write these that I’m planning the article in my head before I’ve even disembarked but this one has been a bit of a struggle. Last week Virgin Voyages invited me to spend a few days aboard Scarlet Lady, their first ship and inaugural venture into the cruise industry. I can’t lie, as soon as I got the invite I was already looking at deck plans, checking out cabin photos online and planning all of my Instagram photos. I was ready to absolutely love this ship and be inspired to save every penny in order to get on board this magical ship. The reality, however, was a bit different from that. I must admit, I waited for a few of my fellow media guests to write their articles first while I wondered what to do, and maybe they also didn’t have the best experience either because while there is the odd honest review, most have stuck to listing all the ship’s beautiful features. Having deliberated for days and being told by everyone around me “don’t be too harsh” or “make sure you’re totally honest”, I think I have to take the latter option and tell you what I experienced, rather than reviewing the ship so that you can make your own mind up.

Scarlet Lady’s long awaited arrival at her first ever port of call in Dover was going to be the birth of a new age in the world of cruising.  Built specifically for passengers aged 18-35 and free from screaming kids, Richard Branson and his team threw everything “cruise” out of the window before they’d even installed one, including the team itself. Holidays are now called “voyages”, passengers are “sailors”, travel agents are “first mates”, bathrooms are “heads” (I’m going to need someone to explain that one) and the design team were specifically chosen for their lack of experience in designing cruise ships, and it shows.


*Virgin Voyages invited me on board to experience the ship for myself but I was not paid or obliged to create
 any content for them and all views are my own and entirely based on my personal experience

How Starting a Blog Changed my Life

Hey Owlets.

I can’t believe I’m writing this but this week marks 4 years of me sitting in front of my computer and sharing my life with you - in fact I’ve been doing this for so long that my laptop has admitted defeat and no longer feels the need to constantly correct “owlets” every time, and if I’m honest beating the computer-brain feels like the real achievement here. Over the past few years I’ve spoken about just about everything on these anniversary posts and this time I just want to sit back and take a look at the things that have made me think "how is this happening to me?"

How to Get and Stay Motivated

Hey Owlets,

You know that thing that you need to finish? You know, THAT thing? The thing you keep putting off. I'll do it later, I'll do it tomorrow, I'll do that thing first. You, my friend, are a grade A at procrastination. It's fine, we've all been there. But how do you beat the "I don't want to do anything" funk? Well I have some tips to aid you in your battle for motivation.

A Night With Gary Barlow & P&O Cruises

Walking through the streets of a London suburb on a particularly grey day in January you’d be forgiven for thinking that nothing interesting or exciting was going to happen until the days started getting longer, but if you’re a fan of a certain Boy-Band-Legend and love cruise ships then this dull day was about to get a lot more interesting.

Is Morocco Safe to Visit?

Hey Owlets.

2019 was the year that I finally set foot outside of Europe (I know, it’s taken me a while!). Cruise and Maritime Voyages are known among cruise nerds for their weird and wonderful port calls -their choice of itineraries really bother some people but when I saw a Canary Islands cruise also heading for Morocco I was incredibly excited and pretty much instantly decided to book. Morocco is one of those beautiful places that you see all over Instagram as a backdrop to a stereotypically stunning blonde girl’s travel photos that makes you instantly feel as though you’ve been missing out for your entire life. Pretty much everyone knows that what you see on Instagram is never the full story but I have to admit that I couldn’t help but get sucked in. Having experienced Morocco for myself I wanted to give you a little Instagram VS reality debrief so that you can make your own mind up.