Travel with baby

A New Year of Adventures

2018 was a bit of a mix for me. On the one hand it was a really tough year learning how to be a single mama, raising an extremely demanding (but also incredibly cute) toddler mostly alone, and being the most exhausted I have ever been in my entire life.  I also learnt that mums can in fact function on only a few hours’ sleep every night and that coffee is a very loyal friend.

But despite the low moments it was also an amazing year full of travel explorations and exciting adventures. We travelled 8 times during 2018 visiting Cape Verde, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Ibiza, Sardinia, a road trip in Kent, and the Edinburgh Christmas markets.  That’s 4 new countries for me and 6 new countries for Evie – making Evie’s total number of countries visited 13 before she’s even 2 years old.

But it’s not the country count that matters, it’s what we actually did and the memories we created that made the year so special. There are so many highlights but here are a few of my main ones:

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Family travel goals

Travel Wish Lists and a New Year of Adventures

A new year calls for a new travel wish list because what is the start of year but a chance to daydream and think up some awesome travel goals!

Looking back on my wish list from last year I was so happy to see that, apart from one place, we actually visited everywhere I had hoped to in 2017 – plus more! Becoming a mother made it a wonderful rollercoaster of a year (a rollercoaster that included an awful lot of coffee) but we still managed to have some amazing adventures and Evie became the perfect little explorer.

We visited 6 different countries across two continents; went on planes, trains, boats and road trips; sunk our toes in the sand and dipped them in the sea; swung in hammocks and played in the snow; climbed mountains and visited one of the biggest mosques in the world; wandered through small local villages and explored big twinkling cities. I’m not sure 2018 can top last year but we’re going to give it one hell of a try!

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Road trip to the Grand Canyon

Top Travel Moments of 2016 and Plans for 2017

By my standards, 2016 was not a busy year of travel.  Mr Ayla would say differently because his travel expectations are not quite as high as mine but when we only visit four different countries in one year, well, that’s just a little bit too quiet for my liking.  (I know I may sound completely greedy and unappreciative here but when your passion is travel, there is never enough of it that you can fit into one lifetime let alone one year!)

That’s not saying that I would change 2016 for anything though.  Falling pregnant in June may have scuppered some of the travel plans we had for the last six months of the year but I wouldn’t change anything about it for all the travel in the world and we still had some amazing adventures.

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Travel blogger planning a trip

A Surprise Adventure

It’s been five long torturous months of having to keep this secret to myself and now I can finally share it.  Mr Ayla turned 30 yesterday and I’d planned a little surprise for his birthday.  There may actually be a few of you (okay possibly a lot of you) who already know about this surprise – I may not have been able to share it with my husband but the excitement was too much not to share with anyone at all!

Mr Ayla woke up on his birthday morning to be greeted with a treasure hunt leading him to a selection of clues around the house and finally to his big surprise…

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Pink mini orchid

Post-Holiday Blues

Today, I am feeling rather sorry for myself.  I’m sat at home, having a sick day off work, thinking of all the things I should be doing but not having the energy to actually get up and do them all.

I don’t know whether it’s post-holidays blues after our amazing time in Cuba that’s making me feel so rubbish or just my body not wanting to cooperate with my head.  I can imagine it screaming at me now “STOP DOING STUFF!! I can’t keep up!! No, not listening?  Fine then, I’ll make you ill instead”.  Cue evil laugh from my weary body.

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Cocktails Cuba

We’re jetting off to Cuba!

I absolutely love exploring new places, planning itineraries of days filled with sightseeing and adventures, of trying to see as much of a place as possible while also soaking up the culture. But, despite being incredible journeys that I wouldn’t change for the world, these sorts of trips can also be exhausting, and after full on trips to India and South America last year, we have been in desperate need of a simple relaxing break. Because everyone needs a relaxing holiday once in a while.

So for our respite from the cold English winter, we are jetting off tomorrow for 10 days to the paradise that is Cuba. Yes, you should be jealous 😉

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Passport stamp heart print

New Year Adventures…

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog and social media front lately as, to put it simply, I was just having too much fun over the holidays. Relaxing, playing board games, eating way too many pigs in blankets and chocolate Roses, and enjoying some time just switching off. Seeing as we pretty much skipped Christmas last year as we were travelling around India, I wanted to make the most of this one with my family and friends, and the last couple of weeks couldn’t have been better if they’d tried!

Wherever you were in the world, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year too!

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My Latest Adventures

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy and I haven’t had much time to sleep let alone keep you all updated on my adventures!

Since Belgium, which was only last month but seems like a lot longer ago now, I’ve been pretty much non-stop.  And what with jetting off to South America this weekend (woohooooooooo!!!), it would be impossible for me to tell you about it all before I go.  You are such an inconvenience South America 😉  So, I’ve managed to condense my latest adventures into this one post to give you an idea of what I’ve been getting up to lately.

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Taking the Good with the Bad

I’ve got a lot of exciting adventures to look forward to over the next few months, including trips to Belgium, Edinburgh and South America, as well as lots of plans around London and a visit from a certain lovely Australian.

While all of this makes me super excited it also means we’ve been saving hard to fund all of this. Being in Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup is going to cost a small fortune by itself let alone with all the other adventures on top.  (And no I can’t do less or miss a few things out…of course I need all these adventures in my life!)

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