Christmas holidays 24/25 had us back in Europe, lucky us!
I attended the incredible ILTM Cannes luxury travel tradeshow in early December, connecting with fabulous hoteliers and suppliers from around the globe.
Before the show I was lucky to explore the region of Cap d’ Antibes and stay at the gorgeous art deco hotel, Belle Rives. What a stunning part of the world and France, I adored it!
After the show in Cannes I headed to Paris, always a good idea I say!
Hosted by the gems at Experimental Group, a group of food obsessed and boutique hotel loving people, and I have to say I was wowed by what they had to offer.
From Paris it was a short hop over to Manchester where I was reunited with my son, who flew to the UK with my parents.
We had two great weeks exploring the North of the UK, catching up with family friends, we saw Liverpool which was a surprise package of fun and cool restaurants, we loved our time in Bakewell (and eating the tarts!). Our second week was spent onboard Uniworld cruising the Rhine river from Basel to Cologne on their Christmas Market river cruise.
We had a fabulous time, the experience was amazing, and a multi generation river cruise is by far the best way to explore this area and for everyone to have a thoroughly good time!
Onwards from Germany we had another short flight to jump over to Dublin to meet up with my husband. One of my favourite cities, and in one of my favourite countries. Ireland is gorgeous and the Irish people are some of the best around!
We spent a week here over Christmas visiting our friends and had a great time exploring Dublin and the surrounding towns, and of course we enjoyed a Guinness or two!
From Dublin we jumped on another flight and flew into Tromso, Norway, a town up in the Arctic circle.
We spent ten days in Norway overall, and covered Tromso, tried chasing the Northern lights, Bergen and Oslo. We had a LOT of snow, and it was cold, cold, cold, but we had a ball dog sledding, snow mobiling and learning how to wear so many pieces of clothes!
The rise and rise of active and wellness travel.
It is no secret that this has been taking travel by storm for the last decade or more.
I personally love this focus and what is on offer now and it is constantly evolving, with so many different brands now focusing on a wellness offering.
Gone are the days of the only active trips being hard core walking or cycling holidays, today there is an excellent choice of active trips in the market.
Last year I had the pleasure to travel with my good friend Sierra and we went on a walking holiday with Walk into Luxury, taking on the Cape to Cape track in Western Australia's Margaret river region.
It was fantastic, the perfect blend of activity and strain in the hikes, balanced with indulgence and relaxing local experiences throughout the region.
The great news is there are so many active adventures, whether in small groups or private tailor made itineraries on offer across the globe. So you really can get up close and smell the roses (or in our case it was ocean!) and experience a destination in a totally different way.
On wellness, last year we had the pleasure of visiting Six Senses Krabey Island in Cambodia. Six Senses has been an industry leader in wellness since the mid 1990's and it did not disappoint. The offerings here were amazing, it is not often you leave somewhere having tried all the amazing cuisine on offer, but you feel better than when you arrived! An organic farm, which you can visit too, paired with the best wellness programs, day spa, gym and activity options you can hope for. A team of dedicated and delightful humans top off your experience, as well as staying in the most serene accommodations for you to relax and rejuvenate in.
Having had clients stay at Six Senses properties around the world, I can say the formula is true and the feedback is fabulous. It is a must for anyone looking for some balance in their next holiday!
Want to know more about options for active and wellness holidays? I am here to help!
2024 European summer we were lucky enough to venture to the UK and Amsterdam, with everybody else it seemed!
We loved our week in London, exploring the Roman history, tube hopping, a few fabulous museums, great English pubs, a beautiful English afternoon tea experience at The Goring, and not to mention a unique and wonderful tour of the back streets in a vintage mini!
We then went out to the countryside, driving to Stonehenge, we visited the most quaint little town of Castle Combe, stopped into Bath to see the excellent Roman Bath museum and stroll the streets of the town, and then onwards Bristol with it’s excellent sites and engineering feats, the Clifton suspension bridge, S.S Great Britain and Aerospace, so much fun!
To finish the trip we headed to Amsterdam, and it did not disappoint. From stroopwaffels to canal cruises, bike ride tours and art and science museums, we loved our time in the Dutch city!
Oh and top it all off we stayed at and stopped in to visit some of the most beautiful hotels in all of London! (The Lanesborough, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Raffles O.W.O, The Londoner, The Goring, The Cadogon, Brown’s, Fleming’s Mayfair, The Pelham, The Corinthia, The Dorechester, 45 Park Lane, The Emory)
Looking for a UK adventure?
Get in touch!
xx
Easter holidays 2024 we added Cambodia to our list of new destinations and finished with a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Cambodia was incredible, we were so happy we decided to have a family holiday here, a great mix of relaxing and exploring.
A quick stop in Phnom Penh after an airline schedule change but the perfect excuse to stay at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, a serene and grand hotel, and a great base to check out the city from.
We were then on our way to our island escape, a serene private island off the coast of Cambodia at Six Senses Krabey island. A truly memorable and magical experience, there is so much to love about this place!
After some much needed relaxation we were off to Siem Reap, what a fun city, and the ideal base to explore the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, it was an incredible day exploring the ruins.
We finished the trip with a city break in Hanoi, at the gorgeous Capella Hanoi. Located right in the middle of town, a short stroll to the lake, we had food adventures, an army jeep tour, war history, Hanoi has so much to keep you busy that is for sure!
May 2024 I was lucky enough to attend WE ARE AFRICA,
A wonderful travel trade show attended by a large part of the luxury travel industry throughout Africa.
Hosted in Cape Town, it was an amazing few days meeting suppliers, hoteliers, camps, guides, wineries you name it from all over the continent.
Learning about destinations and connecting with the industry is how I am best able to help my clients with the most fabulous African adventures.
After Cape Town I was fortunate enough to head over to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to experience one of the gorgeous properties myself, as well as cruising the Zambezi at sunset, a walking tour of the falls, and the ultimate helicopter trip over the falls too, it was breathtakingly beautiful!
We then crossed the border into Botswana and stayed at the delightful Sanctuary Chobe Chilwero in Chobe National Park. Stunning! The wildlife was abundant, and being able to explore on land and water is truly an excellent way to safari.
A quick stopover in Jo’burg on the way home to make my connecting flight, and it is fair to say, once you go, you will always dream of Africa.
Until the next visit!
2023 travels
It was a big year and a lot of ground covered that is for sure, 2023 recap….
January we kicked off the year with short hop to an Aussie favourite - Bali.
Bali is a great destination for some R&R as a family, it is also fabulous if you love your Indo food too.
This trip we stayed in Jimbaran Bay and Ubud. A highlight was our stay at the absolutely stunning Capella Ubud, a truly magical camp in the jungles of Ubud.
In March I was off to Europe with the wonderful team from Belmond on what was a true pinch yourself experience!
We started off with a stay at the gorgeous Belmond Castello di Casole in Tuscany, what a treat.
Fantastic food, incredible service, stunning property and if it couldn’t get any better, truffle hunting with some beautiful pooches!
From Tuscany we headed up to Venice to tay at the iconic Hotel Cipriani. WOW. If this hotel could swagger I think it would.
So much to love about this place, but location was right up there, across the canal from the square, and a private hotel boat to skip over the canal, it was the ultimate serene oasis in a very busy city. Oh, and if you like a bit of pool time on holiday, this is the place for you!
From Venice things only get more incredible as we boarded the most legendary train of all, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express. Words, nor photos can do this journey justice. It truly is something you need to experience to understand the beauty and magic onboard. What an incredibly team of people, and what an unbelievably beautiful train, I cannot recommend this highly enough!
After stepping back in time for 24 hours onboard we arrived in to an all time favourite, Paris.
And a quick night stay at Le Bristol, magnificent!
After my dreamy adventures through Europe I headed to the buzzing city of Bangkok to meet up with my family.
It had been a very long time since I had been here, so we made sure to get out and explore Bangkok, it’s fun food scene, and just basically took in all the sites and smells of this incredibly fun city. When we had finished our noisy and sometimes sweaty adventures we retreated to the tranquil and calm of Capella Bangkok, situated on the river, gorgeous views, fabulous rooms and even better public spaces.
Onwards from Bangkok we heading to Samui for some island time. Samui is an excellent destination for both relaxing breaks and fun family activities. It has no shortage of great places to eat and drink, fun activities like quad biking, sailing days and more. We were there over the Songkran which was a lot of fun to experience and great way to cool down on a hot day!
In July we were thrilled to head to Japan, a place our whole family had been wanting to visit for some time.
It did not disappoint, we had the best two weeks covering so many amazing places, Tokyo, Hakone, Hiroshima, Kyoto.
Bullet trains, sake, fabulous food, temples, historic sites, castles, 30k steps or more per day, it was the best!
It has only made us eager to get back and explore more of Japan.
The island locked years!
During 2020-2022 choices were limited, leaving Australia was a NO, but leaving WA was not much of an option either. But we made the most of it!
From Margaret River, Albany, the Porongorups, Karijini National Park, Carnarvon, Rottnest Island, we covered a bit of the State that is for sure!
I did escape to NSW for a fabulous Tourism Australia conference and loved visiting the Hunter Valley, Wolgan Valley and Port Stephens, not to mention the amazing wine experiences through Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia.
And during these years we managed one family trip to another part of Australia, we took an opening and flew to Tasmania for an incredible three weeks, exploring Hobart and then a motorhome driving around the isle. It was amazing and we love everything about Tassie!
2019 were some of the most magical experiences ever!
August 2019 I returned to the biggest luxury travel conference in the world, Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas.
There is nowhere in the world that does an event like Vegas, and it was an incredible week of connecting with the best of the best in the luxury travel market.
On the way home I met my family in Singapore for a week exploring Sentosa and Singapore, from the mayhem of Universal Studios to the back streets of Kampong Glam. Singapore offers so much for the whole family, and of course, the food!
October 2019 I was thrilled to be on one of the most incredible work trips you could ever hope to be on.
Rwanda and Tanzania with the incomparable Singita.
We landed in Kigali and were warmly welcomed, Rwanda and it’s people are gorgeous. After exploring Kigali we were driven to the Volcanoes National Park and stayed at Singita Kataza House, in one word - WOW!!
The team here were beyond brilliant, the most stunning place to stay and even though all of this was magic, it was still nothing compared to the experience to come - trekking with the gorillas! I cannot recommend this experience enough, it was a pinch yourself moment, and one I will remember forever.
From Rwanda we entered Tanzania and stayed at the equally beautiful Faru Faru, Sabora and Sasakwa. Every moment of the journey was fabulous. The level of attention to detail was impressive, the care and attention for every guest was genuine and thoughtful.
It is fair to say, I am a big Singita fan!
December 2019 we headed on a family holiday to the island paradise of Sri Lanka.
Beautiful beaches, the biggest smiles you will ever see, some of the best cuisine on the planet, sunshine and a laid back pace. Sri Lanka is a gem and one I highly recommend to add to your list.
We stayed at the beautiful Resplendent Ceylon properties in Yala National Park and Cape Welligama, both were fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed our stays in both.
We have more of Sri Lanka to cover, so we will be back again!
