2019 - The Year of Travel - Flourish With Holly

Nothing cleanses my soul like a good holiday! Whether it’s a staycation in the UK, a couple of weeks with family in Tuscany or a romantic city break with the hubby, I always feel revitalised, re-motivated and content after some time away. Working for myself technically gives me the flexibility when it comes to travel, however we’re becoming bound my school holidays and the busier both the hubby and I get at work, actually leaves less time for big holidays. BUT, I don’t want to compromise on travel, as I know it truly makes us happy and I feel the cultural experiences are so beneficial for the kids at this age. I’ve therefore vowed that 2019 will be the year of travel for us and here’s where I want to go!…

The Year of Travel – my hit-list

It’s January, so I’m in that general mood of striving for organisation and planning for the year ahead…with two young children and a small business I’m growing, my life often feels chaotic to say the least, full of logistics and logistical challenges! Can you relate?

I’m a firm believer that getting things down on the proverbial piece of paper (in my case, this blog!), helps to make things actually happens and clears your mind, making you more productive in the long-run.

So today, I’m talking about the places that I’d like to travel to in 2019 – here we go…

Staycations / UK breaks

I’ve always holidayed in England, since our annual trips to St Ives, Cornwall as a kid. We then had some family move from London to the coast of Devon, so I’d spend many-a-summer there. Moving up to Manchester opened-up a whole new load of possibilities including the Lake District, Northumberland and Yorkshire. In fact, I created a whole post and video on our most recent weekend away in Yorkshire.

But, it has meant that for the last 7 years, we’ve neglected visiting Devon and Cornwall and I’m craving getting back to that part of the country. One place that keeps coming up on my insta-feed is Watergate Bay Hotel – it looks totally idyllic and look at those views!! Friends with kids have stayed there so I think this would be a fantastic place for all 4 of us.

year of travel hollygoeslightly watergate bay hotel

Image source

European city break – without the kids

But what about some quality time just me and the hubby? Some proper “mummy and daddy time” (I kinda hate that we refer to ourselves and each other as “mummy” and “daddy”…we’re those people now!). One thing the hubster and I have in common is our love of discovering new places and luckily we’re pretty much on the same page when it comes to what we enjoy from a place (aside from the fact that he’s super outdoorsy and I’m more of an extreme-shopper!).

We both love Europe and tend to prefer cities, as we love to explore and shop and eat. So Jet 2 Holidays City Breaks are getting me thinking that it’d be nice for the two of us to go away together and leave the kids with their grandparents (which is a holiday for them anyways…the kids, not the grandparents!).

Firstly, I had no idea that Jet2 flew to New York! (Noted for future!). But we’ve done New York and I want to explore somewhere new in our rare moments as a couple. I’m thinking Prague or Budapest…have you been?

year of travel hollygoeslightly jet2 citybreaks budapest

Image source

Italy – Our Second Home

If you follow my blog or insta, you’ll know we’re lucky to be able to spend a lot of time in Italy as we have family there and it’s becoming our second home and culturally somewhere we all love to be. So we’re heading out for some time in Tuscany, already booked, with the kids and with my best friends and their new baby – can’t wait!

boden summer fashion 1

Further Afield – Canada

If you know me really well, you’ll know that I’m a dual-citizen and technically half Canadian! I love Toronto, which is where my family lived for some time and the city I’m familiar with. I’ve never taken the hubby or kids there though and I know he’d love it too. On the other side of the country, I’d love to go to Vancouver as I’ve never been or to anywhere quite like it and I’d love to experience the Canadian Rockies on one of those panoramic roofed trains!

Image source

If we win the lottery – Maldives

I can’t decide if I’d want to do this one with or without the kids. The selfish me would love to go away for a week to the Maldives, all inclusive, lie on a hammock all day, read, jump into the sea, drink cocktails and all those things that are much easier to do without kids. But then I’ve seen some amazing families on insta holidaying there too and I feel guilty for my previous thoughts… what would you do?