With lockdown no doubt wiping out your spring and summer holiday plans you could be forgiven for being a tad miffed. Don’t get mad, however, get skiing! Even if you have never skied before, there… More
Does vegan paella exist in Valencia Spain?
Today I have a fabulous collaborative post all about paella and whether paella can be vegan and found in the home of paella, Valencia in Spain!
Spain is famous for many things, not least being able to boast about a delicious traditional cuisine. One of the dishes that usually sparks the most recognition is paella.
Traditionally a staple dish, created out of necessity with what you had on hand, alongside the essential rice that makes up one of the most important ingredients.
Even though most would argue that there needs to be seafood or sausage in paella, it is possible to find great vegan alternatives as well. We cooked our very own vegan paella at home recently for the first time and it was delicious!
Is vegan paella then considered to be authentic paella? Continue reading “Does vegan paella exist in Valencia Spain?”
Missing travel? How to have a holiday in your own home during the coronavirus lockdown!
The global coronavirus pandemic is affecting our lives in so many ways, but mostly we are unable to travel and restricted to staying in our own homes the majority of the time in the current coronavirus lockdown.
Not only are we banned from travelling abroad or on holiday, but we are not even allowed to travel locally unless it’s for one form of exercise per day in our own neighbourhood or to grab essentials from local shops.
All other forms of travel are currently banned in the UK unless you are a key worker or your job is excluded from the current lockdown.
Many people have had to cancel their travel plans and there’s no knowing when travel restrictions will be lifted. Airports are closed and it could be 12 months, according to some reports, before these worldwide travel restrictions are properly lifted.
With regards to travel and taking holidays we are living in a period of uncertainty for the foreseeable future. All local attractions have even been closed including National Trust sites and even children’s play parks so there are no days out at all for the time being.
At least for now there has been a silver lining. It has been really sunny and even warm in the UK for the duration of the lockdown. This is pretty amazing considering a couple of years ago it snowed at the end of March!
So, if we have the travel bug, but we can’t travel, then what can we do instead to stop cabin fever setting in?
Why not take a holiday in your own home instead?
If you can’t travel and go on holiday, then bring the holiday to you!
Here are some tips on how to have a holiday in the comfort of your own home. Continue reading “Missing travel? How to have a holiday in your own home during the coronavirus lockdown!”
Is Barry Island worth a visit?
At the start of March, Reuben celebrated his 5th birthday! When we asked him what he wanted to do, his first response was to go to the forest and have a campfire and sleep in a tent! It’s definitely out of season for camping, so we asked if there was anything else he wanted to do. “Go to the beach” was his next response! So on the Saturday after his birthday we decided to visit Barry Island in Wales. Continue reading “Is Barry Island worth a visit?”
Why a French Press is the best way to make coffee while vanning
There are a ton of advantages to van life – being able to explore the countryside while still maintaining many of the same comforts of home. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we don’t make a few small sacrifices to maintain our lifestyle. And if you’re anything like me, even a day full of adventure starts just a little better when you’ve got a piping hot cup of coffee in your hand. Continue reading “Why a French Press is the best way to make coffee while vanning”
24 hours exploring Mumbles, Gower, kid-free!
Earlier this year I asked my mum if she’d have Bella and Reuben overnight for the last weekend of February. It’s the month of mine and Ben’s anniversary and we’ve now been together nine years. I wanted to go away for one night and explore somewhere new together. I wasn’t sure where, but as we only had around 30 hours in total kid-free, it couldn’t be too far.
We’ve been to the Gower in Wales two times before kid-free and love it there. We’ve previously been to Rhossili Bay and Oxwich Bay. We decided to go again as it’s not too long a drive, around two hours. This time we decided to visit Mumbles!
Read on to discover what we got up to in Mumbles and where we found lots of yummy vegan food!
Continue reading “24 hours exploring Mumbles, Gower, kid-free!”
Travel spending diary: 6 nights with kids in Portugal on a budget
Whenever we travel we have a budget to try and stick to. This is money we have saved specifically for that trip, plus we can add on what we would have allowed for food shopping if we were at home that week.
As well as keeping a travel spending log to stick to our budget (or at least try to), I also like to see exactly where we are spending money and how much things cost. It means we can see where we can cut costs on travel, if we need to, and also helps me predict how much similar trips will cost in the future.
Hopefully it’s also useful for others to see how much family trips cost or can cost.
When planning our recent six night stay in Portugal, I had a rough budget in mind of £1000. This all depended on how much we could get our flights and accommodation for as it was half term so prices were, of course, higher than usual.
£1200 was around our maximum and for six nights in Portugal as a family of four with all travel, food, accomodation and entertainment, I think this was a more reasonable amount as a budget. £300 per person for almost a week’s stay, food and transport.
Read on to discover how close to our ideal budget of £1000, but maximum £1200 we managed to get. Continue reading “Travel spending diary: 6 nights with kids in Portugal on a budget”
The most Instgrammable locations in Castelo Branco, Portugal
Castelo Branco in Portugal has a lot to offer. There are many beautiful traditional Portuguese villages that are almost stuck in time. The landscape is vast and we discovered lots of beautiful historic places to explore mixed with stunning mountains and the natural environment. We spent a day in the centre of Castelo Branco, but also ventured to Penha Garcia and Monsanto to explore castle ruins, rock villages, fossil mountains and more.
If you already follow me on Instagram then you’ll have already seen my top Instagrammable locations in Castelo Branco from our recent trip, but here I will share some more photos that I haven’t put on Instagram yet.
Here are my favourite Instagram photos and locations from our recent Portugal travels. Continue reading “The most Instgrammable locations in Castelo Branco, Portugal”
The amazing rock village + castle of Monsanto, Portugal
I can now add another location to my list of most amazing places I’ve seen. My favourite beach so far is Hemmick Beach in Cornwall and now my favourite village has to be Monsanto rock village in Castelo Branco, Portugal.
Whilst visiting my brother-in-law who is now resident in Portugal, we took a half day trip to Monsanto mountain after visiting the amazing nearby fossil mountains of Penha Garcia in the morning.
What a day! Two really incredible places that can be visited in central Portugal in the same day. A feast for the eyes!
In this blog post I’ll share what we discovered at Monsanto in Portugal and lots of our incredible travel photos of the rock village, boulder houses and castle!
Continue reading “The amazing rock village + castle of Monsanto, Portugal”
