Year: 2015

Travel Fiction: I Found Love on The Beach

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It was the first time she’d stopped in a long time, here, thousands of miles from home, beer in hand with a breeze blowing the salt from her messy hair. She’d bloody made it! Thalia Thorpe, the reliable one, the sensible girl with her head screwed on right. The girl whose now-ex boyfriend cheated on her… that Thalia Thorpe was currently clutching a bottle of beer on a beach in Cambodia and life was good. She smiled to herself, a little buzzed from the cheap drinks she’d had after dumping her new backpack at the hostel and setting off into the night. What a thrill to step out in the dark wearing just a slip dress, the air so warm it felt almost tangible, with a weight to it, not like the cold London air she was used to. While life was good, and it was, Thalia had now run out of distractions to keep her from her thoughts. The break up was horrible, Luke had cheated, and she had known he had for a while before he told her, …

Rat & Boa – The UK Brand For Wandering Souls 

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Rat & Boa by UK designers Stephanie Cara Bennett and Valentina Muntoni is the perfect globally-influenced fashion brand. The clothes are equally as suited to a weekend in LA as they are a hot Havana night and everything in between. The Rat & Boa instagram feed is enough to make anyone want to pack their bags and get away and there are plenty of styling tips courtesy of the stylish duo. Fun fact: I used to work with Stephanie in Topshop in Manchester (UK), that store obviously gives people the travel bug! Shop Rat & Boa      

The Ultimate Guide to eBaying

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Going travelling? Want some extra cash? Then eBay is a great way to make some mullah by selling your old clothes… let’s face it we’ve all got a lot. It can be a/ a ball ache and b/ difficult to master, so here are some tip tips. As a fashion blogger I not only bought a lot of clothes, and I mean a lot, I also got sent tons of freebies too. If I’m honest even when I was at my most prolific I probably only regularly wore about 15% of my wardrobe. Some stuff was too small, and no amount of running or wishful thinking would remedy that, some stuff too big (from the college years), and some stuff unworn, unwanted or unfashionable. I found that I was quite ashamed of the amount of clothes I’d accumulated and only worn once or not at all, I had so much stuff that even if I wore a new outfit each day it would take me years to get round to wearing all of it. Disgusting consumerism …

Asthma and Long Term Travel

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If I could change one thing about myself I would magically remove my asthma, I’m not sure how that would work but that’s what I would do. Ordinarily it’s a bit of a pain, even when I’m at home I have to make sure I take steroid inhalers every morning and night, make sure I have a Ventolin with me everywhere I go (and a spare) and be careful not to get stressed, inhale too much dust, stroke cats or get too cold. So how hard is it going to be when I’m on the road for a year with only a backpack for company? Many people would say ‘don’t go’ but I don’t want my illness to hold me back. It rarely has before and with so many people suffering from asthma to some degree, I thought I’d share my findings… Tell people you have asthma Many people don’t even know that I have asthma because I’ve always been embarrassed about having it – in the media it’s portrayed as something the fat, geeky …

How to Stay Fit & Healthy While Backpacking

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There’s nothing worse than travelling the world, visiting beautiful beaches and not feeling body confident. We’ve all done the emergency ‘beach body’ thing before a two-week holiday, which is mainly unsuccessful and usually way too last minute. But what if you’re always on holiday… like, for a year? Before I embarked on my travels I started a little fitness kick to make sure my body was prepared for the backpacker’s life. I didn’t want low fitness levels or lack of body confidence to hold me back from doing anything – whether that’s climbing a mountain or strutting my stuff on a beach. While I wasn’t striving for a Victoria’s Secret Angel bod, I did want to feel strong and capable. Getting fit and achieving a toned body without a gym, large budget or a well-stocked fridge is hard, I admit, but there are a few tips you can follow to keep your bod looking beach-ready while travelling. 1. Er, swim I’m always surprised by the amount of people who bake on a beach all day and never get in …

Hey Ladies, Don’t Forget Your Sports Bra!

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If this sound like the most random article ever then I’m sorry, but it’s not. This is me imparting some knowledge that will seriously improve the quality of your backpacking life. I’m totally alive with excited energy as I type this because I simply believe this is one of the greatest lessons I have learned in my, ahem, twenty-something years on this earth. Okay, a bit OTT, but read on for why you need to embrace the sports bra… THEY LOOK PRETTY GOOD THESE DAYS They’re an actual, legit fashion item now. Forget those grey elastic over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders, today’s sports bras come in myriad colours, patterns and designs and they’re really flattering on most people. This means you can wear it as a fashionable crop top as well as a bra. Score. I love a multi-tasking item. YOU CAN SWIM IN IT Speaking of multitasking, your sports bra will double as a bikini top, and you won’t look weird, I promise. In fact there are bikinis that specifically and truly double as sports bras these days …

Skin Safety 101

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If you’re travelling, chances are at some point or another (or most of the time in my case) you’ll be subject to some pretty epic heat. Sunshine and travel go hand in hand and while a dose of the yellow stuff is great, too much can be dangerous. So in the interests of health, happiness and comfort, here are some tips to keep you safe in the sun. Wear Sunscreen Baz Luhrman was right about this, wear sunscreen, every day. I am mixed race and have pretty dark skin that tans at the mere thought of sunlight but even I wear the highest factor I can at all times. It’s a common misconception that SPF stops you tanning, it doesn’t, it just increases the time you can spend in the sun. Use a good quality SPF on your face of factor 30 or higher. This will stop you burning and most importantly prevent your peachy skin wrinkling up like an old prune. A Few Sunscreen Tips… I’ve already told you to wear sunscreen but here’s …

How to Stay Hydrated in Hot Climates 

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Twice in my life I have thrown strops in airports because I was too thirsty. I may have done so many more times in a non-airport setting. I’m a chill person, but I have a massive fear of dehydration. If you’re dehydrated you feel sluggish, tired, weak, head achey and you look like sh*t too. Thirst is the last warning sign of dehydration, so if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. water filtration. At home it’s easy to have a routine and stay well-watered but if you’re o the road, how do you do it? A big concern is water-safety in foreign countries, mostly you’ll have to buy bottled water which can become very expensive, even if water is cheap. A 50p bottle of water, if you’re drinking 4 a day for a month, quickly amounts to £60 – not good for budget conscious travellers. Buy a Steripen You can buy sterilising tablets but I’m wary of any chemicals you ingest. A Steripen works like this: “UV light purifies water without harmful chemicals and without changing …