The final leg of our Spanish jaunt sees us in Valencia, that sun-drenched, Paella-inventing, Horchata-drinking gem. Our last trip here was 8 years ago, and with no children to savour the delights of travel, all we could do was gorge on seafood Paella and Sangria by the beach, relax in the hotel spa pool and sunbathe indefinitely. Not much to live up to this time then…
Read MoreWe reach Casa Palacio de Carmona, our home for the next few nights, at about 3pm local time with one thing on our minds; food. We had missed lunch through the usual comedy of errors that is family travel, and having been on the road for most of the day, tempers were beginning to fray…
Read MoreOur journey to Vejer takes us through Jerez, the smaller and less extroverted Andalucian city compared to it’s capital Seville, famed for its palomino grape sherry and Flamenco. We find ourselves sat outside this unassuming restaurant, the sunlight only just starting to creep past the castle-like walls surrounding the cobblestone courtyard we are about to eat in…
Read MoreWhat is it about water that makes us feel the way we do when we’re near it? Whether its waves, or rain, or waterfalls, something about this mysterious beast grabs us by the ears and forces us to stop whatever we’re doing, just so we can feel for that single moment in time, as small as an ant crossing the sea, and as alive as the water beneath it.
This time, we find ourselves surrounded by waterfalls; too many to count, and all a stone's throw away… Read more…
Read MoreIt’s 6.00 am. I haven’t woken up this early in such a long time that I can barely remember how to turn off the alarm that’s now blaring at me. I’m suddenly thrust back into an old world of getting to bed on time, of showering to wake yourself up, and of fumbling around in the morning darkness to avoid waking the sleeping family sprawled out all around me. Turning the alarm off before the entire family wakes up feels like a massive victory at this point, but I succeed. Still got it.
Whilst getting up this early is reminiscent of my old 9-5 life, everything else about this morning is entirely different. Read more…
Read MoreSome of the sweetest moments on this trip have tended to be the simplest. Like sitting at the departure gate as a family, quietly waiting for our delayed flight to board, and hearing our little two year old suddenly shout out at the top of his lungs, “SO, WE MEET AGAIN!!!”, in what may be the cutest superhero voice ever spoken. It was a beautiful way to inspire laughter amongst a random group of strangers all wishing they were somewhere else, and yet all stuck there just the same…
Read MoreWhy is there no road rage in Bali? This is the thought racing through my mind as we speed through village roads and rice paddies on our way from the beachy hustle and bustle of Seminyak to the jungle-clad interior of Ubud…
Read MoreAfter almost two months of travel through the North and South islands of New Zealand, we reached our final stop, Auckland; a city that feels as wide as Hong Kong feels tall. We stayed in a quirky little area called Ponsonby, a wonderfully ironic name for a place with such a hipster vibe…
Read MoreOne of the best things about travel is that feeling of being somewhere new and exciting, whilst at the same time feeling a subtle sense of connection to this place you’ve just stepped foot in. Like hearing an old song and being suddenly transported back to a very specific moment, travel has a way of making you feel a certain way in a certain place, of taking you out of the everyday and therefore of exposing you to new things, new stories, new feelings, even if those feelings are hard to put into words sometimes. And there is definitely something about New Zealand that does this for us.
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