Travel Tips & Planning Guides

The Only FREE Printable Packing List You Need

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The ultimate travel packing list - with packing tips and packing hacks it's the only travel packing checklist and packing template you'll need

Note: A link to the high-resolution printable packing list PDF is at the bottom of this post. I’ve used this packing list template for a 14 day trip and a 14 month trip. The difference: I take my clothes to a laundry service about every 2 weeks when I’m away for longer. And if you’re looking to pack carry-on only, focus on those items with a * next to them. This list is suitable for a wide variety of destinations. You might want to do a little adaptation – a second base layer instead of a second bikini if you’re off to … Read more

21 Long Haul Flight Essentials: What to Take In Your Carry On Bag

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I fly long haul a lot, so it’s a good job I’m one of those people who loves flying. Still, what you take on board a long haul flight can make all the difference to your flying experience. I’ve created this list over years and now they go into my hand luggage every time I fly for more than a few hours. Here’s my list of long haul flight essentials. 1. Collapsable water bottle If there’s one thing a long haul flight is guaranteed to do (apart from get you to your destination), it’s dehydrate you and those tiny bottles … Read more

Tonle Sap in Cambodia – The Trip that Changed my Life

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No matter which way I slice it, the beginning of 2010 was a monumentally shit time for me. My personal life had fallen apart and I couldn’t stop crying. My sleeping pattern was in tatters and in the darkest parts of the night I lay in my bed, straining my eyes against the dim bedside light, flipping through travel brochures. I didn’t know how to fix my life (God knows I’d tried) but I found a tremendous dose of comfort in an alternative solution: Run. As far and as fast as I could. I’d never travelled alone before. Not really. … Read more

Backpacking Checklist – Plan A Round The World Trip in 4 Weeks

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Looking for a backpacking checklist? Read on… I bought my first around the world ticket in 2010. I spent the next 5 years buying 5 tickets more. Not all of them took me in a complete loop around the world but they took me on adventures that lasted several months each time: Latin America, Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. Although the landscape, accents, experiences and faces changed with each new trip, one thing didn’t: my backpacking checklist. In 2016, I took an unintended break from travel (courtesy of an unintended break of a knee ligament) but as the curtains … Read more

50 Biggest Culture Shock Experiences

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Culture shock is defined as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. For me, culture shock is that ‘oh, wow’ moment when you lock eyes on something that you’ve never seen before and you know that it will stay with you forever, no matter how far and and how long you travel. Culture shock isn’t a judgement (before people start jumping up and down and flinging all sorts of accusations after they read the list below), it’s an observation about how different things are compared to what … Read more

Top Travel Sites – Over 100 Links for Trip Planning

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Planning a trip can be a hassle. There are so many different travel resources out there from review sites to flight search tools to maps and apps. Even as someone who has spent the past 5 years travelling full time, it can all get a bit confusing and, usually, the second you think you’ve settled on your favourite websites, someone tells you there’s another much better/cheaper/faster way to do it all and – boom – you’re back to square one. Well, my plan with this article is to share with you what I think are the top travel sites. I’ve even … Read more

50 Best Travel Books of All Time

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What is it about a book that can transport you to a new destination in just a few pages? Whether you’re planning a trip or just dreaming of taking one, picking up a book about travel – or even a book that has such an evocative setting, it has the same effect, it’s one way to travel when you can’t quite get there in person. In this list, I’ll share what I consider are the best travel books of all time. There’s be a good smattering of the top travel books that rightly deserve to be on a list like this, … Read more

Reverse Culture Shock – Coming home after being a digital nomad

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If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I left the UK in 2010 and have been roaming the globe, living the digital nomad lifestyle ever since. You’ll also know that a ridiculous knee injury in the British Virgin Islands has put me on less glamorous British National Health Service waiting list for ACL reconstruction. It involves hamstrings and scalpels and several months of recovery. I’ll be honest, while the digital nomad lifestyle has its obvious advantages, it’s not the easiest lifestyle to maintain and I’ve thought many times about quitting that life to return to the other life I’d … Read more

Is Uber Safe to Use: Meet the Faces of Uber

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I’m an Uber user. I’m also a 5ft tall woman who travels around the world solo. And I regularly get asked is Uber safe to use. Worse, I often get told that Uber isn’t safe. Usually by people who’ve never taken an Uber. So, what’s the deal? Is Uber safe to use or not? If Uber’s done one thing, it’s caused controversy. From licensed taxi companies who are spitting foam at the idea of cut price competition to the naysayers who are convinced that every other Uber passenger is going to be subject to rape, robbery or both, Uber seems to … Read more

Traveling in Europe with Kids – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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When I want to take a trip, I book a ticket, pack a bag (a small one at that) and go. And then I look at my friends with children and watch in awe at the planning, packing, cajoling, refereeing and excitement containing that goes on when they, likewise, take a trip. And that’s not to mention the bags – usually enough of them to fill a car all by themselves. Every time I’m intrigued by the details of what family travel looks like…but every time I’m too nervous to ask – I just imagine it’s an idyllic journey with … Read more