ad | A Trip to Majorca with Jet2 Holidays

I don't know about you, but one of the things I found most difficult about the pandemic was being unable to travel. I absolutely could not wait until the time I got to take to the skies again and visit a new country. So I was naturally thrilled when I was invited to experience some winter sun with Jet2 Holidays!

Summer Trip Plans: Liverpool

I don't know about you, but it's been over a year since my last holiday and I am desperate to get out on a new adventure! Now that the Government has announced hotels can (hopefully) reopen on 17th May, and with foreign travel guidelines staying uncertain, I've been planning a summer trip to visit my family in Merseyside for my birthday, including a stay at my favourite UK hotel- The Titanic in Liverpool.

Visiting Agra and the Taj Mahal

When you think of must-see places in the world, the Taj Mahal is going to be pretty high on the list. For me, it was proper bucket list territory, so I couldn't wait to experience it on my India tour. We ended up visiting at sunset and it was just perfect!

Exploring Delhi with On The Go Tours

Last April, I was travelling home from uni when I opened my email and found I'd only gone & won a trip to India! I'd entered one of my Austria photos (from this post) into a photography competition run by On The Go Tours and they'd picked me to experience their Taj Express tour. Having wanted to visit India for many years, I was thrilled! Our trip started in Delhi, where we had three whole days to explore the city.

Since our flight would have arrived late on day one, we opted to book an extra hotel night and arrive a day early. We stayed at the Jaypee Siddharth, and it was one of my favourite hotels of the whole trip, even if the Diet Pepsi was extortionately expensive in the hotel bar... and the fact that we had a party happening on the patio under our window every single day. This early start gave us the opportunity to get our bearings a little- let me tell you, we needed that time! We've all seen footage of New Delhi with its chaotic traffic and vibrant bustle, but nothing can prepare you for just how busy it is. It was quite overwhelming at first, and although we quickly got used to the pace of Delhi life, it was nevertheless a culture shock.
After spending the first day recovering from the flight and venturing outside the hotel for a quick McDonalds (ever the culture vulture), we met up with our group at the welcome meeting. On The Go operates group tours, so for our trip we had a local tour guide and driver accompanying us everywhere, as well as four other travellers: a South African couple and two Australian men. It was a great chance to meet new people from different walks of life and gave a sense of camaraderie to the trip- especially when things went wrong! 






Denim jacket: Simply Be Blouse: Boohoo Skirt: Boohoo
This slow start gave an odd aspect to the trip, where we were in Delhi for three nights but only really experienced one day there. The second day was when things really got going. We met our group in the lobby and headed off to Old Delhi for a rickshaw ride around the bazaar. Unfortunately most of the shops were closed because it was a Sunday, but we still got a sense of the area. Weaving between the narrow labyrinthine streets, getting stuck in a bottleneck behind a jubilant celebration and watching monkeys scurry across the dangling wires overhead was the ideal way to experience Delhi life. 
Our ride ended at Jama Masjid- India's largest mosque. Standing in the courtyard of the red sandstone building really brought home the scale of the building, elevated high above the city. We could only see a small amount of the inside as it is largely reserved for worshippers, but the intricacy of the work was breathtaking. Even though it stood right in the heart of the Old Delhi bustle, there was a sense of peace to the whole site.
This was a busy day of sightseeing, so we only had a short time to explore the mosque before heading off to our next stop: the cremation site of Gandhi. The Raj Ghat- the memorial for Ghandi- is located in a park less than 1.5 miles away from the Old Delhi bazaar, but it's like a different world. Set in a lush green park, with colourful flowers lining the pathways, you can hear the birds tweeting. Visitors move leisurely around the park, and speak quietly, respecting the significance of the site. (Well, mostly. As we took our shoes off to enter the area of the marble platform, the American woman in front of me was being reprimanded for carrying her shoes in. She insisted she didn't mind holding them, completely missing the point that she wasn't actually allowed to do so!) 
Our next stop was another site of death. I was surprised by how prominent death was as a theme to the tour, but of course that's my specialist subject, so I found the whole thing incredibly interesting. This time we headed to Humayun's tomb. Humayun was a Moghul emperor in the 1500s and when he died, his wife commissioned this grand memorial. The grounds now contain several other tombs, including one for an unknown person. All four sides of the grounds are identical, so you have to be careful not to lose your bearings, and adorable little Indian palm squirrels scarper about around you. They look just like chipmunks and they're so much cuter than our squirrels!

After a long day of exploring the city, we were driven back to our hotel, via a quick stop off outside the vast Indian Parliament building. A couple of hours rest was followed up by our welcome dinner, where we were treated to the most delicious lentil curry. It was a tiring day but certainly worth it for how much we got to see. And we still had another 7 jam-packed days to go...
Thanks to On The Go Tours for this prize. In the interests of full transparency- the competition was open to everyone and I have not received any compensation to write these posts. Affiliate links have been used in this post.
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One Night in Dublin

It seems odd that I've been to so many countries in Europe but, until 2019, I'd never hopped across the Irish sea. Although maybe that's not so surprising when you consider my first trip across the Scottish border wasn't until I was 24. Still, I'd always wanted to visit the Emerald Isle so when Hayley suggested we pop over for a night, I was quick to agree. Although it was a short trip, I think it was just the perfect amount of time for us to get a feel for the city.

Best Destinations for Plus Size Travellers

Travelling the world throws up all sorts of problems for us plus size folk. What are local attitudes like? How fat-friendly is the transport? If, like me, you're also not very fit, then are there lots of steps or steep hills to climb? It can be pretty daunting trying to plan a trip when you don't know what to expect, so I've asked some fellow plus size travel bloggers to recommend their favourite destinations.

Caribbean Travel Wishlist

As you probably know (because I won't stop banging on about it), I recently visited the Caribbean for the first time. It was everything I imagined it to be and more. The bright blue sea, the powdery white sand, the sunny skies... right down to the chilled, friendly vibe. It's definitely whet my appetite for these beautiful islands and I'm already making plans to visit again. Although I stayed in a hotel last time, the idea of a villa intrigues me. Your own private space where you can relax without worrying about other people. No loud parties coming from the room next door, no rush to get to breakfast before all the good food has gone and, crucially, nobody to judge you when you unleash your giant inflatable swan into the pool and start snapping photos. Luxury Retreats specialise in finding the perfect accommodation to match each traveller, with over 300 destinations including houses in Anguilla, St Lucia, the Bahamas and beyond. With this in mind, I've done a little research on the Caribbean islands and come up with a travel wish list, with three nations I'd love to visit.

5 Reasons to Stay at Manchebo Beach Resort Aruba

While I was in Aruba, I had the pleasure of staying at Manchebo Beach Resort on Eagle Beach. Every traveller will know that choosing your hotel is one of the most important decisions you can make for a holiday- after all, it can be the difference between wanting to go home straight away or never, ever wanting to leave. Luckily for me, Manchebo falls into the latter category. It was such a lovely, friendly place to stay and really helped make my visit amazing.

7 Activities to Try in Aruba

We've already established why you should visit Aruba, but what should you do when you get there? I was very grateful to be given the opportunity to try a huge host of varied activities, and I've chosen my seven favourites to create a list of must-do adventures. As I've said before, this happy island really gave me a sense of empowerment, so I tried a lot of things that I never would have considered before. It's amazing how much you can achieve when you push yourself beyond your comfort zone! 

 

Five Reasons to Visit Aruba

At the end of May, I was lucky enough to spend a week on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, invited to encounter its beautiful beaches and renowned friendliness for myself. If you follow me on social media, you may have seen me talking about this gorgeous country a lot lately. It was just such a wonderful experience that I couldn't help but share it, and now I want to give five reasons why you should also visit Aruba.

72 Hours in Lisbon (Solo)

A very long time ago, I visited Lisbon with my grandparents. My only strong memory was looking down at the trippy black & white floor, so I really wanted to revisit the Portuguese capital as an adult (and hopefully remember more than just the ground). As luck would have it, the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Lisbon and, as I'd already promised myself I'd attend, I managed to tick both goals off at once. My Eurovision experience was great (read all about it here), but I gave myself an extra day either side so I could explore the city too. My third solo adventure was quite the experience!

My Solo Eurovision Adventure

I bloody love a bit of Eurovision. Every year I watch and think 'how amazing would it be to be there!' Last year I had an epiphany, when I realised there wasn't actually anything stopping me going. So I kept a close eye on the Eurovision site, found out when tickets were released and made sure I was ready, credit card in hand. Unfortunately I missed out on tickets to the grand final, but there were seats available for the first semi final, and I figured that was still part of Eurovision. So last week I found myself sitting alone on a plane to Lisbon, heading towards Europe's biggest party of the year.

This being my first Eurovision experience, I wasn't entirely sure of how things would pan out. I had three main questions, and luckily they all resolved themselves perfectly.

A Place on the Plane with Saturday Night Takeaway

Remember in 2016 when I went to see Saturday Night Takeaway and I wrote a whole blog post about how it was basically a dream come true? Well, as everybody who follows me on social media will know, that dream only went and got better because my mum only went and won a place on the plane to the series finale in Universal Orlando... and took me with her! I may have gone into full Rylan mode when she called to tell me- screaming and sinking to my knees next to the sofa. I'd like to say I'm joking but I'm not. I really like Ant & Dec, OK? (Well, we all know it turned out to be only Dec but the less said about that the better I guess) I wasn't intending to write about it- I even left my camera at home, so these are going to all be bad phone photos- but as you can probably imagine, it was an absolute dream and I can't resist typing out a few words! Make yourself comfortable because this might be long...

Solo day trip to Copenhagen

Around Christmastime, I was idly browsing Skyscanner, as you do, and noticed that the cheapest flights were £15 return journeys to Copenhagen. Curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked for details and discovered these were for two flights on the same day- one flying out of Stansted at 9am and returning from Copenhagen at 11pm. So I did what any self-respecting blogger would do and booked them on a whim. I wasn't entirely sure if this was a genius idea or the stupidest thing ever, but I was looking forward to finding out. 

OOTD // White Crochet Dress

All the way back in June, I went to Salzburg for my birthday (because where else would I go?). I took OOTD photos every single day, but as soon as I got back to England, I got thrown into this big ol' ball of stress and didn't get the chance to post them. So now, as we approach Christmas, I'm going to start sharing all my cute summer outfits. Sorry not sorry. 

Dress: Simply Be (similar here) Leggings: Evans Shoes: Primark (similar here)

#WonderfulViews in the Austrian Alps

Hey, you know I love the Alps? Of course you do, I never stop banging on about it! The Untersberg in Salzburg is my favourite place in the world- there's nothing like standing at the peak and looking down over the beautiful scenery below, or being surrounded by clouds if it's overcast. It's like being in heaven! It's hard to explain my love for this place, so consider this post an ode to the Untersberg.

Five Reasons You Should Visit Salzburg

I went back to Salzburg for my birthday, because where else would I go? Rather than writing another 'I did this, then did this' post like the other twelve Salzburg posts I've written, I thought I'd write a more general post explaining why it's such a great city. My Five Reasons You Should Visit Riga post went down well, so I'll use this structure again to share why you should visit Salzburg.
Hover over each photo to see where it was taken

36 Hours in Venice

I'd wanted to visit Venice for a long time. My Grandma loved it there and, although she took me to Italy as a child, I'd never got to experience her favourite city. Unfortunately, I think I got a bit carried away in the excitement of following her footsteps and forgot the most important thing I should consider when booking trips: I hate the heat. Italy is hot. Perfect!

Five Reasons You Should Visit Riga

Remember when you were a kid and adults would say 'don't talk to strangers'? And then when you became a teenager and it was all 'don't meet strangers from the internet'? And then when you reach adulthood, you think 'screw that, I'm going to Latvia with a stranger from the internet!'? Well, maybe not exactly those specifics, but that's how it worked with me. I got talking to Hayley years ago and when we finally met up in real life, we decided to do it in Riga airport.

Travel Goals // Aruba

With all the stress of the election, don't you feel like it's time to escape? Swapping political nerves and our miserable British summer for white sand, sparkling sea and warm days just sounds like the most perfect way to relax. Rich and I have been considering a Caribbean escape for a little while now, and Aruba looks like the ideal island paradise for us. 

Why Aruba? Well, it may be a small island, but it's jam-packed with everything we're looking for in a Caribbean adventure!
BEAUTIFUL CLIMATE
Just take a second to imagine a Caribbean paradise. White sands, azure ocean, the sun beaming down... This is Aruba through and through. Better still, it manages to avoid the hurricane belt and is one of the more dry Caribbean climates, so you have a high chance of the warm, sunny heaven that you're picturing. I mean, just look at these photos! And imagine how banging your Instagram would look! I know you shouldn't be travelling purely for the likes but it's an added bonus, right?
FUN ADVENTURE
OK, confession time: I'm not big on the whole lie-on-a-sunlounger-for-two-weeks holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love a beach and of course I want a chance to relax, but I also need fun activities to keep my mind active. On this small island, Aruba has everything I could possibly need, from parasailing and submarine expeditions (yes!), to off-road safaris and exploring beautiful natural caves and pools. When I need to relax from all the excitement, there is a wide selection of spas offering signature Caribbean treatments. What more could you ask for?
CARIBBEAN CULTURE
A little research into Aruba shows the island is renowned for its warm people. The population may only be 105,000 (just twice that of my hometown!) but it's made up of a range of different cultures and backgrounds, meaning everybody is welcome in Aruba. Then there's the Dutch influence combined with the Latin vibe and relaxed Caribbean spirit. It truly sounds like a place where you can relax and be yourself at all times.

There are so many islands to choose from in the Caribbean, but Aruba is definitely a front runner. With its unique melting pot of cultures and the sheer number of fun activities to try out, it looks like the perfect holiday destination for me. Sound like your kind of place? Then you're in luck!
Post written in collaboration with Aruba Tourism but all words and opinions my own. Images licensed by the Aruba Travel Authority, aruba.com. 
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