13 Inspiring Travel Mamas

March 12, 201812 Comments

Due to it being Mother’s Day yesterday and International Women’s Day last week, I am feeling like celebrating all the strong and brave women right now. So I thought it only fitting that I share some of my favourite travelling, blogging and Instagramming mamas with you.

Mamahood isn’t always easy and travelling with a little one (or little ones in some cases) can be stressful but these ladies prove that it is possible. They all fill me with so much inspiration and wanderlust and they make me want to jet off with Evie on a new adventure every single day.

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Feeling Like a Princess at Afternoon Tea at the Tea Terrace

February 19, 201814 Comments

I remember the days fondly when I used to get lost in a book on the train to work, carefully paint my nails with colours to match my outfits, and binge watch the latest Netflix series. My Friday and Saturday nights were spent trying different restaurants or sipping cocktails in bars and Sundays were always reserved for a new adventure.

But over the last eleven months or so, my me time has somewhat diminished. Or, to put it more aptly, completely disappeared. Unfinished cold cups of coffee can be found scattered around the house; I have no idea what the latest place is on the food scene (and even if I did I wouldn’t be able to get the dish that I actually wanted anyway because my choices now revolve around the new boss); I’m yet to get through the second series of Stranger Things; and I’m lucky if I’ve rinsed all the conditioner from my hair before I have to dash out of the bubble bath that I’d so lovingly dreamed of all day.

As much as I absolutely adore my little Evie, a baby leaves very little room for time to yourself which is why, when my sister told me she was taking me to a surprise afternoon tea treat for my birthday last month, I cried. Like literally burst into tears. The exhaustion of being a mama combined with the thought of all that cake was just too much for me to handle!

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Cruising With a Baby

January 22, 201814 Comments

I’ve always been a bit unsure about cruises. Having been on a few over the years, from luxury Caribbean cruises to mini cruises around the Mediterranean, I absolutely love that you get to explore so many different places in the space of just a few days. Sitting on a different glorious white sandy beach every day? Yes please!

But on the other hand having only a day, or half a day really by the time you’ve got on and off the boat, isn’t really long enough to properly explore somewhere in depth. When I travel I like to do things off the beaten track, meet the locals and get lost trying to find the best eatery, but you just can’t do that on a cruise.

For a taster of a few different cities or beaches it is perfect though so we decided to give it a go with Evie. Our week’s cruise visited several places in Southern Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Morocco and I never would have guessed how seriously brilliant a cruise is with a baby. So here are just a few reasons why we loved cruising with Evie so much and, if you’re a bit unsure yourself, why I think a cruise with a baby is the most perfect holiday.

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Travel Wish Lists and a New Year of Adventures

January 3, 2018January 3, 201835 Comments

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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Getting Festive at Prague’s Christmas Markets

December 22, 201715 Comments

Christmas has always been my very favourite time of year. I love everything about the festive season from the cosy winter nights and possibility of snow to mince pies and mulled wine, but mostly just that happy magic feeling that’s always in the air this time of year. Christmas markets have this in abundance so some of the European markets have always been on my travel wish list as they look even more festive and are just a tad more traditional than the likes of Winter Wonderland – which spending one hour at costs pretty much the same as three nights in Prague. So we went with Prague

Being Evie’s first Christmas we had an actual valid reason to go this year. She adores the twinkling Christmas lights, her whole face lights up when she hears the singing of Christmas carols and I knew it would make our first Christmas with her even more magical. This trip wasn’t for me in the slightest. In fact I didn’t even want to go at all. It’s all totally for her. Yup.

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Gift Ideas for Travelling Mamas and Babies

December 1, 201710 Comments

I won’t claim to be an expert but I’ve travelled with Evie a fair few times in her 8 months on earth so I like to think I’m at least a little bit of a pro when it comes to travelling with a baby. We’ve been on all sorts of adventures from train and plane rides to road trips and cruises and now we sail through customs (mostly) stress free!

With Christmas coming up I thought it was a good time to share some things I’ve found super useful when travelling. I’ve included a whole different range of ideas from the essentials and the practicals to some that are just plain cute and simply needed.

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A Girly Getaway to Clavertye Shepherd’s Huts

November 6, 2017September 13, 201818 Comments

It’s no secret that I love a road trip and when we’re not travelling abroad I like to make the most of exploring a bit closer to home. Even though I passed my driving test well over ten years ago I have only just got my very own car last month and this was just the excuse I needed to plan a mini adventure with just me and my girl.

Clavertye Shepherd’s Huts was the perfect place. Set on a huge farm in the countryside near Canterbury just over an hour from home, meant that it wasn’t too far for me to travel alone with a (possibly screaming) 6 month young baby. Luckily for me Evie slept away soundly in the back of the car for the entire journey so when we arrived at the farm nice and relaxed and I spotted our tiny little hut far away in the distance at the top of the valley, I knew this was going to be a wonderful getaway.

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My New Favourite Little Travel Companion

October 4, 201726 Comments

I try really hard not to be one of those mums who posts way too many baby spam photos on Facebook and whose every other sentence is about their kid. I’m also trying really hard not to turn my previously non-baby related travel blog into a family travel blog – I have written one post since she was born that isn’t about her! But I seem to be failing all on counts because, let’s face it, when you have a baby they become your life. (And also I just cannot stop posting pics because she’s just too damn cute.)

Apart from the wonderful feeling of becoming a mama to my gorgeous girl, one of the things I’ve loved most about parenthood so far is that I’ve been able to combine my biggest passions in life…travel and Evie. So many people told us our travels would be over when we announced that I was pregnant and I told them hell to the no. And I am so glad we carried on booking trips and going away as much as we did pre-baby.

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A Blissful Baby Friendly Holiday with Tots To Travel

September 22, 20176 Comments

Going away with a baby was always going to be more stressful and manic than when it was just the two of us and even though we’d already taken Evie to Paris when she was just nine weeks old, our trip to Mallorca would be her first flight, her first beach holiday and her first taste of the summer sun.

I’m not usually much of a worrier but it can be a bit daunting when you have to remember to pack different factor sun creams for all three of you, swimwear for every occasion (one to keep baby warm, another to keep baby protected from the sun and one to keep any leaks out), plus a pram, travel cot, car seat and the kitchen sink.

Enter Tots to Travel who seriously made our trip so much smoother and stress free, not only by sending us to a brilliant baby friendly destination (although it was still hard to pick where because they have so many dreamy ones to choose from) but also by providing anything we could possibly have needed when going away with a little one.

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8 Reasons to Visit the Island of Mallorca

August 15, 2017August 15, 201725 Comments

I will fully admit that I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to travel. I hate touristy places, big resorts full of English people eating all inclusive food, and beach promenades lined with shops selling tacky souvenirs and giant pool floats. This is what I imagined Mallorca would be like which is why it was never somewhere I had pictured myself going.

But now that Little Miss Ayla is in the world, while we’re still travelling as much as we used to pre-baby, our style of travelling has had to change a slight bit. It’s now less about the challenging hikes and full on sightseeing itineraries and more about the I-have-a baby-to-look-after-every-day-at-home-so-on-holiday-I-just-want-to-chill-the-F-out!

So Mallorca it was! I found us a gorgeous and secluded place to stay in one of the most rural and scenic parts of the island, far away from the touristy towns and the all inclusive resorts – which I will of course write about soon. Magaluf aside (let’s just stay as far from that corner of the island as possible!) what surprised me the most was how stunning and traditional the majority of the island really is. I guess I shouldn’t be so quick to judge a place so here are 8 reasons why you should visit beautiful Mallorca.

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