Tag: Travel

8 steps to choosing the perfect hotel whilst saving money…

On By louiseIn Travel, Uncategorized2 Comments


It’s no secret that I love to travel. Exploring new lands is my absolute favourite thing to do and I’m constantly on countdown until our next adventure (right now it’s Munich next month). I adore planning all of the details from who we will travel with, what we will do and where we will stay. I feel like my alter ego is a travel agent and genuinely enjoy scrutinising reviews of places online and finding exciting places to visit. 

One of the most crucial parts of planning a trip is finding the perfect place to stay. There are a few steps that I follow when finding the ideal place to call home for the duration of our trip.

So you’ve decided where to head off on your next adventure… What next?

  1. Decide what you are going to do on your trip. We recently went to Florida with the intention of ‘doing Disney’ as well as Universal. I found a great hotel ten minutes’ walk from Universal. I’ve had some experience with theme park travel and have drawn the conclusion that if it is possible to stay within walking distance to the park, then do. It’ll save you loads on parking and general travel, plus your feet will thank you at the end of a long day. So lock down your ideal location for your chosen activities.
  2. Decide what it is exactly that you want from your accommodation. If I am hiring a car, then free parking is essential. I always look for free wifi too and an in room safe.
  3. Prioritise these in order of preference. There is a chance that you might not find somewhere that ticks all of the boxes!
  4. Set your budget. Know how much it is exactly that you would like to pay for your accommodation. Some people prefer to spend a minimal amount on accommodation so that there is more money to spend on days out. Personally, I base my decision on how much time I will be spending at the hotel.
  5. Start your search! I try to be a bit savvy and search a variety of sites online. Hotels.com offer a free nights’ stay after every ten nights booked with them, but they aren’t always the cheapest to book with. Lastminute have a great variety and you can often team their hotels up with flights. Plus they have ‘secret’ hotel stays if you are feeling risky. For the undecided, Booking.com have free cancellations on so many of their hotels, so you can change your mind easily. They also offer book now, pay later. Agoda often has great prices on popular hotels, so they are definitely worth checking. Expedia have an extensive range of accommodation, but aren’t always the cheapest. Airbnb is a little gem that I started using last year. Some of the places are incredible and they are often very reasonably priced too.
  6. Once you have found your hotel, see if you can get cash back. Many places offer cash back through sites such as Quidco. I once received over forty pound back on a booking through Lastminute, so it’s definitely worth checking.
  7. Stalk your chosen hotel for reviews. Before booking, check your decision. Trip Advisor offer a wealth of information for travellers and their reviews are genuine. I also look at traveller photos to see what the place is really like. Unedited images don’t lie!
  8. Book! Once your decision is final, get clicking and booking to secure your place. Then sit back and dream of your next adventure!


How do you decide where to stay? Have you picked up any hints or tricks?
L x

Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland…

On By louiseIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

‘Are you going to see the Northern Lights?’ Is the question we were asked countless times when we said we were going to Iceland. The answer was always the same ‘hopefully’. 

In all honesty, I wasn’t fully aware of how it really is a game of luck when going on a Northern Lights hunt until we were going on a Northern Lights hunt. Whilst they are always present, they aren’t always visible and there are so many conditions that can affect whether or not you will see them. Ideally you want a clear night and need to be away from the city in order to avoid too much light pollution. The Northern Lights are beautiful, mysterious forces of nature and are completely uncontrollable. You can hazard a guess at where you might see them, but even if you’ve seen them there before, it’s not guaranteed. 

We booked our excursion through Reykjavik Excursions, who were absolutely brilliant. They were always on time and had free wifi on their transport too – hurrah! The staff were always very informative and their Northern Lights tour was great value. The best part being that if you don’t see the Northern Lights, you can come again another night free of charge. There was a lady on our tour who had tried four nights running. 

We made our way to the meeting point and I had looked at the weather as well as  the chances of seeing the lights. It looked okay and I crossed my fingers. I had booked it for the second night of our trip in the hope that if we were unlucky at first, we could try again every night until we found ourselves thrown back to England. Soon enough we were on a bus out of Reykjavik and into the uninhabited depths of Icelandic countryside. Pretty much as soon as we started out snow began to fall and I resided myself to the fact that cloud cover meant poor visibility for the Northern Lights. Ever the optimist, I crossed every part of my body and hoped that we would see them. Partly because I wanted to experience the gorgeous display, and partly because it was blimmin’ freezing and I didn’t want to drag myself out in sub zero temperatures every night of our trip (I know, what a bore!). 

We were driving along a dark road when suddenly the bus took a right turn and we found ourselves on the edge of a mountain and were told that they would be visible from this point. I was so completely excited. We jumped off of the bus and started gazing into the night sky. The snow had stopped and the night was clearer. I absorbed the navy sky and luckily enough observed a vibrant green stripe dancing. It was so magical, a natural light display. Soon enough another one appeared and another until I had seen too many to count. At times they would disappear for a few moments and we would think it was over, only for them to reappear in a spectacle of wonder and colour. I loved how they moved. They moved like they were dancing to the tune of the universe and carefree. Although it was absolutely positively freezing, for about twenty minutes none of that mattered. Just the beauty of the night. Here are a couple of shots from my phone…


When I realised that I could no longer feel my entire body, we hopped back onto the coach and back to Reykjavik, taking away our new memories. I feel so, so lucky that we saw them on our first night and would highly recommend it if you get the chance.

Have you been to Iceland? Have you seen the Northern Lights?

L x

Preparing for a long haul flight…

On By louiseIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I know so many people who find flying absolutely terrifying. In all honesty, when you think about it, it is a scary thought being catapulted thousands of feet into the air, your life in the hands of the aircrew. I, however, absolutely adore flying. Maybe it’s the fact that I associate it with heading to a new land for exploration or maybe it’s because I love lounging around watching movies, stuffing my face and reading. Who knows?! Either way I know that I’m pretty happy at 38,000 feet. I have a little routine where I always unpack my books, sweets, hand sanitizer and headphones into the pouch in front before taking off my shoes and snuggling down for the ride. I also like a sneaky peek at the duty free booklet, although I rarely find anything I fancy!


A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine started to prepare for her flight to Mauritius and mentioned that she had been thinking about what was needed when you’re in it for the long haul.

I was also on the verge of flying stateside at that time and it made me think about the little things I do when flying.

To be honest, what I take with me is very similar whether it’s a long haul or a short haul, my hand luggage contents are pretty much the same because for me it’s more about having my must haves to hand rather than longevity.


Here’s my on board checklist:

  • A good hand luggage bag. This may sound obvious, but one that’s a good size (I can’t travel light!) my hubby uses a backpack which is handy as it has lots of pockets
  • A smaller pouch to house ready to grab items such as your passport, booking confirmations and foreign currency
  • Books. I am an avid reader and love using the time on the plane to delve deeper into a book
  • A spare outfit. My hubby has mocked me about this for years but I always take a spare outfit in case we get delayed and land up shacked up in a hotel without our hold luggage. This happened to a family we met in Orlando and they spent 48 hours in the same clothes. Not cool. It was also handy when the hubby had a nosebleed during take off from Hawaii and was unable to leave his seat to go to the bathroom. See, practical. I was very smug about planning ahead!
  • Food. I’m such a glutinous pig that I can’t go long without food. If I do I simply morph into a gremlin and it’s not fun for anyone. Therefore as a preventative measure, I always have a chocolate stash.
  • Laptop/tablet. Just in case you aren’t fancying the in flight entertainment. 
  • Valuables. I never leave valuables in my suitcase, so transport them in my hand luggage. Call me irrational, but I’ve had my case broken into and I’m pretty sure if there was anything of any value inside, it would no longer be in my possession.
  • Hand sanitizer. I’m super funny about germs and let’s be honest, flying is a form of public transport where germs are floating around in abundance. I’m certainly not tucking into my chocolate stash without clean hands.
  • Make up bag. Just to freshen up upon arrival.
  • Eye mask. I try and sleep on most flights because I find it helps with jet lag, so I always pack an eye mask.

For me, I think my absolute essential would be my eye mask. I love pulling it over my eyes and shutting the world out. It can be tricky to sleep on a flight and I find the eye mask really helps. I think it’s a good idea to sleep if you can, especially if it’s long haul as it makes you feel a bit more human the other end!

Are you jetting off anywhere soon?

What are your travel essentials?

L x