It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

December 3, 2015December 3, 201531 Comments

I’m sure it was only a few months ago that the last festive season was here, but it’s come around again, and it’s safe to say that I’m just a little bit excited! Twinkly lights are lining the streets, Christmas songs are being played everywhere, it’s already taking an unreasonable amount of time to find a car parking space within a mile of any shop, and X Factor is almost over, which definitely means that Christmas is on its way.

We’ve got our thick snowflake covered winter duvet keeping us warm every night and the cheesy but totally cool Christmas jumpers, socks and underwear have made their way back into our daily wardrobes. I may not have bought a single present yet (unless you count picking out gifts for Mr Ayla to give me) but to me it already feels like Christmas.

If you’re not feeling quite so festive yet then hopefully my 5 favourite things about this wonderful season will have you feeling all twinkly and Christmassy too! And I’ve made them all into Christmas song lyrics just to be extra festive!

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The Crazy Wonderful Things We Do in the Name of Blogging

October 2, 2015October 2, 201536 Comments

That feeling of pure excitement when you arrive in a new destination cannot be compared to anything else. Stepping off the plane into the humidity of a different country; flicking through your passport to find that new stamp; eagerly awaiting your suitcase so you can rush off to your luxurious hotel, where you stare wide-eyed at the panoramic view from your balcony and flop down on top of the ginormous comfy bed, before going out to explore the city. So exciting. So thrilling. So blissful.

Right? Well, our trips usually go something a little more like this…

Stepping off the plane into the humidity of a different country; posing for a photo in front of the plane once we’ve waited for everyone else to get off and get out of the shot; flicking through our passports to find that new stamp and, if there isn’t one, holding up the line until we get one; eagerly awaiting our suitcases so we can rush off to our hotel, where Mr Ayla is very nicely told to either wait outside or stand behind the door so I can take an appropriate amount of photos of the room before he messes up the bed or the contents of our suitcases start spilling out everywhere; then finally checking what’s on my huge long list of things to do first and heading straight in that direction.

No Alex, you can’t sit down and relax, we have places to go and things to see. What do you think this is? A holiday?! Tut.

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Wanderlusting Over New Orleans

September 2, 201527 Comments

As someone who is ridiculously crazy about travel, it’s not surprising that I always have some far flung destination floating around my head, whether it’s thinking back on memories from somewhere I’ve fallen in love with or daydreaming about a new place I would love to explore. Reading so many other travel blogs about people’s adventures around the world is fascinating and infuriating in equal measure. Fascinating because oh my goodness I want to go there, and infuriating because oh my goodness I want to go there!!

The US has never really been high on my list of places to explore, mainly because I prefer countries with as different a culture and traditions to us as possible. But lately I just can’t seem to get New Orleans out of my head. This Louisiana city, known for its vibrant nightlife, live music scene and rich mix of cultures is like nowhere else in the US and the more I see and read about it, the more I desperately want to visit. Writing about it really isn’t helping but what the hell! These are just a few of the many reasons why I am wanderlusting so hard over this city right now.

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Things I’d Never Do Again When Travelling

May 6, 2015June 30, 201538 Comments

Free from the responsibilities of home life and wanting to experience as much as we can, we all lose our inhibitions a bit when we travel. We become more confident, more adventurous and a lot more courageous, doing things we would never usually do at home. I always try to avoid saying no to something new which makes the possibilities endless when travelling. But it also means that in amongst all the fantastic experiences, there are bound to be a few not so fantastic experiences too.

Aside from the time we were almost mugged in Namibia , I have never really written about anything negative on the blog. I’m generally a very positive and easily pleased girl and, to be honest, we’ve been amazingly lucky and haven’t really had many bad experiences on our travels. But there are a few things that I can say I would never ever do again.

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