As we give the nod to summer coming up, I thought I’d put together just a few of my favourite things that I’m making the most of during the holiday season. From reading material to some great holiday accommodation, make sure you make the most of your R&R time!
Books
I’ve been quite lucky and have managed to squeeze in quite a bit of reading lately and I really got stuck into one of those books that just inspires you to read others that are mentioned within it!
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a great find. I bought it at a charity book fayre where you could fill a bag with books for a five. I couldn’t resist and this was one I absent-mindedly popped in there. So glad I did. It’s a fabulous read and one that got me looking out my dictionary, which I used to do in my younger years when my granddad would recommend books to me, I love that even decades later I am still learning.
If you love history, mystery, love story and a book with many twist and turns, then this is for you. I couldn’t put it down, I just had to keep turning the pages to unfold the story.
From this book I also found a few others mentioned that I probably would never have thought to read under my own volition, but when referred to within Shadow of the Wind I was intrigued and so popped them on my Kindle, including Voltaire’s Candide and Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island.
I went through a phase years ago where I wanted to read all the classics and follow the “Must Read” lists you see floating around the internet, however I have found that many of the books recommended just aren’t very good and it’s simply reading them for the sake of ticking it off a book list – that’s not what I think reading is about. I love to read, I always have done but it has to capture my imagination, pique my interest and be something I enjoy reading.
Some of the classic books I do enjoy and read repeatedly include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, I think you can guess my favourite genre from that list! I’ve got a couple pending so I may add more to this list as we go on.
If you want a series of reading material, check out the Tom Swan series by Christian Cameron, there are 3 series so far, Head of Saint George, Siege of Belgrade and Last Spartans. Again this if for those who love historical fiction (which I do, I do, I do!) The books are quite short, but again, really get you hooked.
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is another intriguing read. I had read American Gods a few years back which I really enjoyed, again, not my usual genre of book – fantasy, which led me to Neverwhere. I had no idea that it was initially a TV series by Gaiman and Lenny Henry (I’ll need to see if I can find it to watch!).
Entertainment
We love listening to music and podcasts while we’re travelling so like to make sure we’ve got a good speaker to use. We found the Anker Bluetooth speaker via a friend of ours and we love it. Great sound quality and quite compact too, so it’s easy to pop in our backpack when we’re on the move.
Which leads nicely on to the Spotify and Podcast Addict apps which have both opened up my listening repertoire. I absolutely adore Vance Joy, so if you don’t already listen to him, I highly recommend you check him out, Lay it on me is just one of my favourites, alongside Wasted Time and Fire and the Flood, amazing songs and spotify is great at recommending similar artists which has been helpful in expanding my playlist.
When it comes to podcasts, there are just so many to choose from. I love S-Town, Serial, WTF with Marc Maron, Remainiacs, Under the Skin with Russell Brand, Tony Robbins, StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nutrition Facts with Dr Michael Gregor and so many more.
When it comes to listening to music at the beach or on my sun lounger, I use my Sony Wireless MP3. I never used to have much luck with MP3 players, they’d last a few months and then something would malfunction, but I’ve had this one for 4 years now and it’s worked a treat. It’s great when you’re on the move, exercising, walking and easy to wear at the beach and you don’t have to worry about any pesky wires getting tangled in your bikini top as you turn over in the lounger! (Not sure if they still do the same colours as all I can find is black.)
Travel Accommodation
We’re heading off to Italy soon and have booked our accommodation with Airbnb which we’ve used a lot in the past, including an incredible annex in Curl Curl, Australia, a luxury apartment in Orvieto, Italy, and a cheeky pied-à-terre in Bath, UK (pictured above). If you can, going for longer periods of time usually bags you a better deal, with weekly and monthly discounts available.
We’ve also used Bookings.com and had some fantastic deals in New York, Edinburgh and Berlin, if you can be flexible with your dates, you can really take the time to find a great deal.
Travelling with hand luggage only
Not only is it a massive time saver but it’s cost effective too. It’s the only way we travel now and the maximum we’ve done so far is 6 weeks and we had no problems. I still even managed to come back having not worn a couple of pieces!
I always see lots of YouTube videos talking about packing cubes and special carry on backpacks which always seems to end up being quite expensive, so if you’re like me and just want something that gets the job done then you really don’t need to fork out a fortune on a bag.
I have used my Hot-Tuna backpack from Sports Direct, £15.00 and it’s travelled the world with me over the last 4 years and I’ve had zero problems with it. I’ve packed all my clothing, laptop, chargers, toiletries in this bag, so please don’t feel like you need to splash out on expensive luggage, it’s just not necessary!
This bag is actually a skate board back pack, but alas, I never mastered the art of staying upright on a board otherwise I would be tempted! It has really strong and durable straps, a lap top sleeve at the back, great for security, it’s got pockets all over the place to store my chargers and cables etc and it’s perfect for overhead lockers and I personally think it looks cute too!
* All of the above are my own personal recommendations that I use and love and are not paid for or sponsored.
