breaking my 2019 travel plans…

2019, goals, travel

Hello!

I’m a hugely ‘goal’ orientated person – I write monthly goals to motivate myself, I frequently check in with my ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and 2019 goals and sticking to them is really important to me.

But let’s talk about this travel goal – my aim was to go on a little trip with my boyfriend every month. Not a huge holiday, not going abroad every time but taking a night or two away just to see somewhere new and have a day off every month.

In January we went to Devon, in February we had a Centre Parcs holiday, in March we had a weekend in Paris, in April we went to Cambridge and in May we went to London MCM ComicCon and explored Stratford and Canning Town.

And June? I’ve got nothing booked, I’ve got no ideas and I don’t think we’re going to have time.

The biggest factor is money – I can’t afford to spend too much on picking somewhere, paying for a hotel, paying for trains and transport and food, whilst I really want to… I just can’t justify it. The second thing is location – we live in the middle of nowhere at the moment, getting anywhere by train largely involves going through London which makes journeys long and fairly expensive. And the third thing is time – we have plans this weekend, next weekend is going to be stressful for reasons I’m not going to disclose (nothing dodgy or dark, just not gonna go into it), the following weekend we have a family gathering and the weekend after that we have potential plans.

So I think I’m going to have to break the 2019 Goal for a month and I kind of hate it.

I’m someone who likes patterns – setting myself a 30 day challenge or a once-a-month challenge I’m someone who likes to tick boxes and missing a day or a month really bothers me, but on the other hand – forcing myself not to be bound by those types of things is probably good for warding off potential OCD and I don’t want to force a trip somewhere I’m not excited about a spend money for the sake of it. I’d rather take a month off and go somewhere really exciting in July (I’ve got lots of ‘last minute’ trip ideas… stay tuned).

Part of the reason I wanted to write this post is that amongst travel bloggers, travel instagrammers and feeling like every single person you know on Facebook is going somewhere sunny by the sea in the Mediterranean, sometimes it feels like being stuck at home is the worst thing in the world. There’s a whole world out there to see and right now it’s not on your path to go see any of it, for one reason or another.

So it’s a reminder to myself on two fronts – one, that I will go see the world at some stage, I will see everything it has to offer and really properly enjoy it because I won’t have rushed it. And two, that not sticking to every single letter on my 2019 goals is okay too. A year is a long time and things change and different priorities arise, everything works out for a reason and just because it doesn’t happen when you hope it will doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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first time traveller – reviewing Paris

2019, travel

Hello!

Yes, I promise, after this post I’ll stop with the Paris spam (or at least, maybe stop mentioning it as often!) but I thought I’d do a little review post talking about the city from a travellers perspective, a tourists perspective and the perspective of my first trip abroad as a lead traveller!

Going from just going on a holiday and my only responsibilities being making sure I bring enough pairs of socks, to being the one booking the train tickets, finding a suitable hotel, planning a sort of itinerary is quite a big leap and it’s daunting when someone turns to you in a foreign country!

It was a weirdly adult feeling and on the one hand, it was cool because I proved to myself that I had the freedom to go anywhere but on the other hand ew does that mean I’m an adult?

I’ve picked a few key things that I was nervous about or felt were a barrier whilst I was there and I’ll just have a little natter about each one, if you have any tips or advice for any of these let me know in the comments below or send me a message on Instagram!

t h e m e t r o

I was worried about transport around the city – I knew there was an underground-like system but having been to New York last year and gone the wrong way on the Subway, I wasn’t too sure how I would handle the metro. But I can’t speak more highly of it – using Google maps, it told me my final destination and what direction to be going in and we didn’t go the wrong way at all!

It’s definitely nicer and easier to understand than the London underground but would probably be much more difficult if I didn’t have Google maps on my phone.

It’s really reasonably priced, surprisingly easy to use (well, if you’re only wanting to buy single tickets and have Google maps!) and the ticket machines have lots of different languages to choose from!

And with that in mind…

t h e l a n g u a g e

Before going on this trip, I felt confident in my minimal English – if nothing else, I knew how to say “sorry, I only speak a little French, I am English!”. But we got out there and I froze – I suddenly felt like everyone was judging me and I didn’t want to get anything wrong so I didn’t feel confident enough to try.

After the first few interactions, I did get a bit braver but then in the city it only took my vague attempt at a ‘bonjour’ for anyone to start talking to me in English. What it taught me is that I really should have brushed up on some key phrases before I left, but actually – I remember more French than I thought and my biggest barrier was confidence!

The thing that really helped me was that I thought if I was working in London and someone came up to me and tried to speak English as a second language, I’d be pleased that they’d given it a go rather than them making me speak their language! I’m sure most of the people who worked in Paris felt the same, I just needed the confidence to try.

f o o d

Following the language barrier, the next thing I was more worried about after we got there, was ordering food. I’m quite a fussy eater anyway and I get a little bit anxious about the ingredients that might be used that aren’t necessarily listed on a menu or packaging (mayo in sandwiches is my worst enemy!).

On our first day, we got sandwiches from Lidl, the next day we had lunch at McDonalds and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (where the menu was in English anyway), the next day was a bakery for pastries (we were getting a bit braver), back to McDonalds (because it was easier and we knew we’d like it, we’re both a lil fussy) and another Lidl dinner. It’s something I definitely want to work on for the next time I go to a non-English speaking country because I didn’t feel immersed in the culture and I did feel a little like I was cheating.

But it’s intimidating on so many fronts – the language, worrying about having to eat something I don’t like (or going hungry) and wondering whether the places we were going were commercial enough to have English speaking staff or if it was too rural. Granted, most of this is in my head but it was something that I now know bothers me and I need to be aware of and face if I want to try more authentic food.

So in conclusion – I think in terms of first time lead traveller, I’d probably have been better off picking somewhere that is predominantly English speaking for my first trip, however I feel marginally more prepared to go to other non-English speaking countries, especially as most people we had to interact with in Paris spoke English to a service level.

I’m already looking to book a trip to Amsterdam in July so any recommendations and top tips on learning key phrases in Dutch would be welcome please!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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planning a weekend trip in Europe | travel

2019, lifestyle, travel

Hello!

When I first started blogging, my three topics of choice were lifestyle, music and travel and I really did not show that in what I was writing. I’ve made it a little personal goal of mine to write genuinely relevant travel content this year, not ‘I wish I could travel here’ and ‘one day I’ll go to these places’ but stuff that genuinely reflects where I am in terms of travel at the moment.

Long story short, my boyfriend and I have had a trip to Paris in the works since last January (yes, I mean 2018, 13 months ago) and after mishaps getting my boyfriend’s first passport, spontaneously buying EuroStar tickets in November because they were so cheap (£29 per person each way, £116 total – utter bargain, keep an eye on trainline because it’s so worth it in what you save!) and everything else – we’re going to Paris for 3 nights at the end of March.

Slowly I’ve been ticking off the things I need to do – this week I’m going to book a hotel (because gal’s gotta save) and for my boy’s birthday (one whole year after declaring I would take him to Paris in the first place) I wrote up a kind of mock itinerary and sure, he can scrap it and write a whole new one if he likes but wow, I put so much time into it.

(let’s pretend this screenshot of my laptop screen is edgy and creative and not just a bit weird or lazy, I was aiming for edgy okay)

So I’m going to have a little chat about how I made this itinerary – I got a bit hung up on hotels and stuff but a few people on Instagram said not to worry about finding somewhere too fancy because for our first trip to Paris we should spend as much time as we can in the city and where we stay is just somewhere to sleep. So at present I’m hoping to book this ibis hotel which is near the Gare du Nord train station where we’ll be getting the Eurostar too but a couple of people have told me to have a look on AirBNB as well but I’m kind of skeptical and it scares me a bit so if anyone has any AirBNB advice or where to stay in Paris recommendations please do let me know, probably on Instagram is easiest! Or a comment, whatever floats your boat.

But back to my itinerary! I put a lot of research into this but I also made the most of instagram by blocking my boyfriend from seeing my stories (it was a birthday present surprise, I was trying to be subtle!) and asking for recommendations and writing down everything that people had suggested.

And then, like the basic bitch I am, I googled ‘things to do in Paris’ – but more specifically, my sister recommended getting the Paris pass which gets free access to a bunch of attractions. I haven’t bought this (I’ll explain that in a second) but there is a free 120 page guide to the city that I downloaded and scrolled through and made notes of the things I thought Lucas (the boy) and I would be most interested in doing.

From there, I condensed the list to things I actually thought we would do and then I used Google Maps to be able to visually see where all these attractions were to try and group the things that are in similar areas and plan out our days a little bit. Most of Thursday and Sunday are taken by travel but there’s still two full days that we can fit in as much as we can!

When I grouped things I was looking for morning activities, afternoon activities and maybe one evening thing so there’s time for lots of things! Once I could see them all on the map there was a few things that I ruled out because they were so isolated but I grouped things and popped them on the itinerary.

From there I did a little more research into each potential thing and how much tickets or anything would cost and included that and I could also look around each area we’re in for breakfast/lunch/dinner and list a few options. Finding places to eat in advance I really struggled with – I think we’ll mostly just have a look at what’s around us when we’re ready for food and go where’s convenient and looks good but the one thing I have booked is Hard Rock Cafe Paris because I want to make sure we can get a table on Friday night. I’m so excited about it, ever since I went to Hard Rock Cafe in New York I’ve wanted to try as many as possible and I can’t wait.

I’m very aware that we’re not going to follow this itinerary to the letter (other than trains, we can’t miss those) and I’m so happy to go with the flow but I didn’t want to go into this trip with absolutely no plans because I definitely would have missed something amazing.

So that’s how I made our little itinerary and that’s our plans for Paris so far! I definitely want to have another look and potentially book a few bits in advance but I won’t be buying the aforementioned Paris Pass for a few reasons that I want to be explicit about – firstly, I think it’s incredibly expensive. If you’re going to do everything in the guide, then I’m sure it’s worth the money but for a two-full-days-in-city trip it is almost certainly going to be a waste of money. Secondly, developing on that – doing a quick price up of each activity that costs money that I think we’ll be doing and it costs less to buy them all individually than to buy the pass. Thirdly, I think it’s a bit gimmicky – being a tourist doesn’t have to cost that much money and if I wanted to I could definitely do this whole trip without paying for attractions or activities. The website sucks you in with ‘you’ll waste so much money if you don’t buy this pass!’ but when you add it up, it’s just not the case.

If there’s any recommendations or questions about Paris please do leave them in the comments! Although I’ve been on a few amazing trips, I’m still very new to travelling and being entirely responsible for everything we do so all tips and recommendations are welcome!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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2019 Travel Goals

2018, travel

Hello!

It must have been nearly a month ago now when I booked trains for a trip to Paris next March with my boyfriend – I’ve not booked a hotel yet because that’s 2019 Sophie’s money problem!

However, booking the trains and a few other hotels for other little breaks next year has given me a goal for the year – in an ideal world, I’d love to do a little trip every month. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean I want to go abroad every month because that’s just ridiculous. But so far in January I’m going to Newton Abbot for a wedding, in February I’m going on a Centre Parcs holiday (which I’m actually ridiculously excited about), in March I’m going to Paris, in May I’ve got a weekend in London for MCM ComicCon and in November I’m going up to Sheffield (I think?) for a friend’s wedding.

So, in between all of that I think it’s feasible to do another couple of European trips on some of the other months of the year! I just think it’ll be a really nice goal to have a couple of days away each money with my boyfriend, whether it’s visiting friends, a night in London, a new city in the UK or somewhere else completely.

I have so much ambition and next year I’m going to turn things around and really make a life for myself, so why not write blog posts about the ideal world and drive myself to work for it? Either way, I’ve got 7 more months to fill so I thought I’d do a little post on my top 3 European destinations that I’m keeping my eye on for 2019.

Amsterdam – what a stereotypical millennial! I know, but I’ve been dreaming about travelling everywhere I can since I first came back from Tanzania in 2013 and as well as being a stunning city that I’d like to see for myself, Amsterdam is a good place to go for a fairly simple ‘first trip’. I’ve never been on a plane on my own or been the lead traveller, it’s always been a trip lead by a teacher or a lecturer and I feel like Amsterdam is such a popular city to visit that it would be a good first flight trip (with Paris being my first train trip). So it’s a double sided coin – both a good trip for my boyfriend and I learning about travelling and a beautiful city to go see!

Berlin – to be honest, I’ve never been massively drawn to travelling to Germany but it’s an incredible city of culture and I want to learn more about it! It’s not that I didn’t want to go, it’s just that I wasn’t fussed about it, but I think it was that I was so bad at learning the German language in school that the thought of going to a country where I just couldn’t get to grips with the language is a bit daunting. But I can’t be put off by a whole amazing country because the language intimidates me and it’s an opportunity to learn some of the language I’ve convinced myself it was impossible for me to learn!

And last but not least, Santorini – I think I mentioned it in my last travel post but I’m fascinated by Greece and I think in the summer or around my birthday maybe a week in the sun could be really lovely. Last summer I was so jealous of everyone posting pictures from sunny summer holidays and it was extra frustrating because I just couldn’t comprehend having the money for a summer holiday but this year I’m going to make sure I have a summer holiday for myself! This one is top of my list I think, maybe a birthday-off-summer-season-beach holiday please.

If nothing else it’s all really motivating me to save for travelling and maybe a bigger trip in the future and I can’t wait! If you have any recommendations or travel advice please do let me know in the comments, on twitter or on Instagram – I post on Instagram every single day so I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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places I want to travel right now

2018, lifestyle, travel

Hello!

I’ve not written a travel post for a while, but I thought I’d write a little post about the top 3 places I want to travel right now because my beloved boyfriend finally got a passport! For his birthday in January part of his present was that I’d take him to Paris and he needed to get himself a passport before we could go.

Here we are nine months later and he’s just got a passport and no trip is booked.

But having seen so many people’s holidays on Instagram Stories, I’ve been collating a little list of places I’d like to go as my first look into organising my own travel and thought I’d write about them (mostly so I don’t forget).

Paris – to be honest, Paris hasn’t always been top of my list but I think considering my boyfriend has never left the country before, it’s only a short flight away from the UK (or the Eurostar if you didn’t fancy flying!) and I imagine the architecture there is beautiful. Obviously it’s quite commercial and a huge tourist spot but especially having been to New York, sometimes the tourist spots aren’t a bad thing! Especially for my first time there, I want to see everything and I’ll search out the more indie niche places another time.

Santorini – I’ll be honest, most of my experience with the beautiful islands of Greece has been from Insta Stories and YouTube vlogs but I’ve kind of had a digital love affair with Santorini for a few years now. It looks like an absolutely beautiful place, I’m definitely already thinking about the Instagram pictures and the Instax pictures would be just stunning. Obviously, I don’t really want to go to Santorini just for the pictures but it just looks like a stunning island that I’d love to visit.

Athens – back to Greece again! I loved Greek mythology when I was younger and the history and legends surrounding Greek culture really intrigue me and I’d love to go to the heart of Greece and see where it all originated. I’d need to do more research on what specifically I’d like to see in Athens but I imagine it wouldn’t take me too long to make a pretty exhaustive list.

I appreciate that two of these places are in Greece but what can I say – I think these would be good for first time trips as they’re not super long haul flights and I can’t imagine too much can go wrong, but I still have big places like Thailand, Australia/New Zealand and more of America on my list too!

If and when I get round to going to these places, I’ll definitely document the process, share anything I learn along the way and write about where I’m going! I love having my little space that I can look back on when I’m older.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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15 things that make me happy

2017, lifestyle, music, student

Hello!

A lot of my posts recently have been a bit mopey, so I thought I’d write a post that focuses on a much more positive outlook! Not tips or advice or any talk of mental health, just fifteen simple things that bring me joy!

Some require more detail than others – some need no explanation but others I’d like to give a little bit more detail to. This post is as much for me as it is for my blog, so I hope you enjoy it.

Long drives with my mum
Listening to music with really good headphones on – my Apple headphones really loud are great, but really high quality headphones in a quiet room where you can hear literally every line of the songs; love it
Lindor chocolate
When things are organised and tidy – ironic considering the state of my bedroom and desk but when everything is in it’s place my brain feels just that little bit happier
Seeing live music – my favourite bands concert, a local band performing in a cafe, even a decent busker – live music that show’s real talent just makes me happy
The sea – I don’t know if it was growing up so far from the sea, but being near the sea and hearing the sound of the waves and watching the water ripple calms me down a lot
Coloured pens – I’m basically like a child, colours make me happy
Wearing a dress and feeling really cute
When you’re having such a good time with friends and you don’t notice the time until it’s 3am
Having everything on my to do list ticked off
The woods and open fields – the complete opposite to why I love the sea, but fields and trees and woodland areas remind me of home and I would love to act a scene in a wood, I’ll write it into a book one day
Getting a good grade on something I worked really hard on – the nerd in me just loves doing well, but getting a first on any assignment feels like I’ve actually done well
Creating, in any form – writing, video, blogging, photography, fiction, I just want to make things
Being able to just dance in an open, empty dance studio
Looking back at old photos – I’m a very nostalgic person

I could have gone on and listed more, but I didn’t want to overdo it – when I started this list I struggled a bit but the more I got into it the more and more I listed and the more I thought of. Even if you don’t have a blog I thoroughly recommend making a list like this because it really makes you appreciate the littler things – things that make you happy doesn’t have to be a person or a big event, little things like feeling good about how you look or having a nice selection of pens.

I hope you’re feeling happy and you’re having a good day! Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

tips for saving to travel

2017, student, travel

Hello!

Disclaimer (before we get into all this): I’m a student so I only have a part time job, I don’t have to pay taxes or pay off a loan so… bear that in mind.

When you’ve decided you want to go travelling and have picked a goal or a time you want to go, the big thing is saving the money to actually go. Personally I know I want to do some travelling in 2018 and then 2020 is going to be my proper year out and travel all over the world year, so I’ve got a good few years to save as much as I can before I go anywhere.

But I’m really bad with money – I really struggle with wanting to spoil the people I love and wanting to treat myself. However if I want to go travelling I need to pay for it, so here are some of the ways I’ve found have been helpful for me when I’m trying to save.

Close all the tabs you have open – Amazon, that January clothes haul, that new toy or game or gadget you’ve had your eye on, just close it. This doesn’t mean to say it has to be forgotten, but if you really want to go travelling, it can wait.

Make a wish list – a list of all the things that were in those tabs so you can either budget it in so you can buy them soon or just so you have a list of things you want when you get back and you can save again. By then you might realise you don’t even really need some of these things anyway! Making a list means you can evaluate what you really want and you won’t forget anything.

Have a money bank – like a physical money bank, like the ones we had when we were kids. Having something physical can 1) be really rewarding and nice decoration and 2) can be a nice way to empty your purse or wallet at the end of every week. Sure it might be filled with coppers and loose change but it’s something – spending money, a few extra drinks here and there, anything helps.

Open a savings account – sounds obvious, but the key here is to actually use it. Set yourself a weekly budget and then put what you don’t spend of that budget into the savings account at the end of the week, or maybe have a monthly budget and do the same thing. For example, if you allow yourself to spent £50 on food, a night out, maybe someone has a birthday coming up (however you want to spend it), but say you only spend £35 this week or you have a few pennies left at spending £48.27 or something – put the difference in the savings account. It may not be much but it all builds up in the long run.

My last tip would be that you need to stay very aware of your bank account – trying to save is all well and good but you need to live in the moment too and stopping yourself from doing anything to save you money means you might not enjoy your time at the moment, spend time with your friends and family but be cautious as well. You have to be strict with yourself but also be kind.

These tips aren’t even necessarily just for travelling – if you’re like me (and every other student) who got a bit trigger happy with the overdraft spending and you’re trying to see that positive bank balance again, these tips can help you too, or even if you’re just trying to save money in general – this doesn’t have to be travel money!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Where for Christmas?

2016, travel

Hello!

I’m at home with my family for Christmas (well that answers that question doesn’t it!) but as someone who really loves travelling, the thought of Christmas in another country sounds really interesting! Here are a few places I’ve thought about spending Christmas and would like to in the future!

Somewhere sunny – as I’m from England, ‘nice’ weather over Christmas just isn’t something that happens but I think it would feel completely different. Part of me feels like I might not feel Christmassy but then I wonder how they decorate for Christmas in sunny areas like do they still have the image of snow and Santa in his big suit or is it different because they have sunny Christmas’s? The silly things I wonder about! I’d love to go to Australia or perhaps somewhere in Africa, culturally I think it would be really interesting.

Somewhere that doesn’t celebrate Christmas – I imagine if I wanted to go somewhere on my own and be a bit reclusive it would be interesting to completely separate yourself from Christmas. I know I’ve already used the word ‘interesting’ far too many times but these are the kind of things I find intriguing, this is what I think about! I’d need to do some research as to where I’d go if I was going to do this but, dare I say it, it would be interesting!

Somewhere really snowy – just like the sunny thing, England doesn’t get proper snowy, England doesn’t get ‘proper’ anything except rain but it would be so cool to spend Christmas in the snow. I feel the cold a lot anyways so I’d probably freeze but with seven layers and the biggest boots you’ve ever seen, I’d love to have a proper White Christmas. Maybe I could learn to ski too! I’ve never been skiing, don’t think I’d be very good at it, but it would be fun. Somewhere like Canada, Switzerland, maybe somewhere in Scandinavia – there are so many snowy places, especially at this time of year!

I fully intend to go everywhere, I really want to travel a lot and all these places will go on my list!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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A Date Day in Bournemouth

2016, travel

Hello!

Having moved to Southampton, I’ve got to explore a whole new area of the country 170 miles away from home. Bournemouth is somewhere my cousins moved to when I was younger, somewhere I went on a family holiday to once and somewhere that’s just a short train journey away from home now.

Talking to people around Southampton and at uni, a lot of people are very fond of Bournemouth and rightfully so – it’s a beautiful South-Coastal city, somewhat overshadowed by the fame of Brighton’s seaside tourist attraction.

My boyfriend took me on a date day there back in late April and I’ve been back since to visit my sister when she was there over the summer, but I love the city and I really want to go back there soon.

From the train station, it’s a really short walk to the beach and it’s really pretty – so picturesque and the pier is so much fun. This area of Bournemouth is really popular in peak season, but we went on a weekend before school was out for the summer so it wasn’t too busy (we might try a week day next time just so it’s nice and quiet!).

My favourite parts of Bournemouth were the things we did on our date day and it started with a walk on the beach, we then found a little arcade and decided we were going to find a good one. We had a look at a bunch of arcades, we got chips for lunch and then we went up to the Odeon team to buy tickets to a movie we went to see later that day.

Side note: the screen we were in at the Bournemouth Odeon when we saw Jungle Book was beautiful, essentially it was a converted theatre and it’s absolutely stunning.

But before the film we went into this amazing arcade literally right next door called Fanzone – it’s not a dingy arcade full of gamblers it’s just a friendly, fun arcade with games like Plants vs Zombies, MarioKart and Temple Run as well as all the traditional penny pushers and games like that. Winning tickets is somewhat addictive, one day I’ll get the 6000 tickets I need for the giant teddy.

We then went to the cinema and saw the beautiful theatre and watched Jungle Book, which was amazing and I wrote a blog post about it at the time if you’re interested in my thoughts! You can read it here if you’re interested.

The perfect way to end this date day was by heading back to the beach and having Harry Ramsden’s fish and chips with our feet in the sand! I love the beach and the sea and chip shop chips are my favourite things in the world. Next time we go, I think we might try sitting in the restaurant because sit down restaurant experiences are my favourite, I love eating out.

If I could afford it I’d do restaurant reviews but I’m a student so I can’t afford to eat out at all, if there are any Southampton restaurants reading, I’d love to do a review…

Thank you for reading!

Sophie xx

How to pack the bare minimum!

2016, travel

Hello!

I’ve been on a couple of big trips now and I’m slowly getting better at packing – I like being quite minimalist and I like using everything I take on a trip with me, so I thought I’d collate some tips that might help you if you’re packing for a holiday or a trip!

Side note: I’m assuming you’re going on a holiday, abroad for about a week – adjust more or less accordingly!

1) Don’t overpack clothes!

Realistically, don’t plan outfits for every day – you don’t need seven t-shirts, four pairs of trousers and three dress shirts! You can wear a t-shirt more than once and it’ll just be disappointing if you bring home clothes you didn’t even wear!

You do need spare underwear though. That’s useful.

2) You don’t need a whole library!

As someone who thinks they read but realistically don’t read as much or as fast as they like to think they do, I always take three or four books away with me and I barely finish one so save your own space and take a realistic amount of books! Or a kindle, that’s a good compromise and then if you do get really into reading you can read more if you like.

3) Be realistic with bathroom stuff!

Do you need that massive bottle of brand new shampoo with you? Probably not! Either buy travel sized cosmetics or buy those little packs of tiny bottles and portion that new bottle of shampoo into the little bottles and taking a little travel sized dry shampoo or hairspray.

4) Be careful with your other cosmetics!

Do you need all your make-up? Is it going to be too hot or too cold for make-up? Is there a sun-cream foundation you could take instead (two birds one stone?)? Only take the stuff you really need, not everything. A few hair bobbles will go in your make-up bag and do you really need your curling iron?

5) Keep only the stuff you need on the plane in your hand luggage!

Clothes, hygiene items and even some forms of entertainment can go in your suitcase – the kind of things you’d put in your handbag or your pockets (if you’re lucky enough to have male-sized pockets in your clothes!). The less you have to carry on the plane, the less you have to worry about losing – phone, passport, plane ticket, money, a book or music device, maybe painkillers or plane remedies, the list doesn’t get much longer than that.

The incentive is that you’ll have less to carry, you won’t have that feeling of ‘why did I bring this?’ when you where the same pair of shoes for the whole trip and if you want to buy lots while you’re there, you’ve got more space!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx