In our past life as a pre-family couple we loved a good holiday and no expense was spared. We went wherever the mood took us and on one occasion that meant a fabulous 4 week trip to Thailand whereby we spent long sun drenched days on the beach, reading, swimming, listening to Cafe Del Mar on a loop and eating the best cuisine the world has to offer - Thai food really is my favourite. That holiday does go down as one of the best ever - apart from the bit where I totally assumed I was going to get proposed to on a trip to a pier for sunset. I'll never let my OH forget where he actually laughed and said 'what you thought I was going to propose?!' Um, yes actually I did (even though the mood wasn't quite right with the tuk tuk driver lingering right behind us the whole time), but never mind...... Sangsom bucket anyone? We had the time of our lives, visited idyllic islands, met interesting people and planned where we were going as we went along.
Another of our adventures was to Brazil for Rio Carnival. One word. Amazing. Anything you've ever seen on TV or in magazines just does not compare to the reality of being in the carnival capital of the world. The samba beat really does pulse through your body. The costumes and the floats are awesome and I will never forget the experience as long as I live. Apart from that, Rio has so much more to offer, a visit to Christ the Redeemer is a must and if you're OK with cable cars then Sugar Loaf Mountain as well. But I had another mission for that holiday and it was to drive my OH mad buying every single pair of Havaiana flip flops I could lay my hands on. It was tough going, but I managed to furnish myself with enough flip flops for the following 10 years!
These days it's a different story. We have kids and with that it follows that we don't have lots of spare cash. So whenever we're thinking about holidays now we always make sure we look for the best cheap holiday deals, we live to a tight budget so it follows that we're cash conscious about travel. We also don't travel too far as the thought of a flight with the kids any longer than 3-4 hours terrifies me, so we tend to stick to Europe these days. That doesn't make it any less interesting, just getting away from home for a bit and perhaps including a bit of sunshine into the equation is nice. Our family holidays are great and just because we're not drinking our body weight in Caipirinhas' and dancing until the sun comes up it doesn't make them any less fun. What are your holidays like now there are children involved? Any tips for making them a bit more relaxing and how do you find holidays on a budget? I'd love to know!
1. Thailand - Koh Lanta - Such a chilled out place. I have my friends to thank for putting me on to Koh Lanta, they went there on their gap year and loved it and I joined them for a holiday. Two years later I returned with my then boyfriend (now OH) and we had a fantastic time again - 4 whole weeks in paradise. All the surrounding islands are also beautiful. Time really does stand still here and I couldn't and still can't get enough of the Thai food. Best of all are the beaches, the water is sparkling and the snorkeling was brilliant.
2. Brazil - Rio - One of my favourite holidays was to Brazil and being at the Sambadrome for Carnaval. It really was crazy and went on for hours. The colours, the sights and sounds were just out of this world and you have to be there to really understand the vibrancy of it all. The costumes, or lack of costumes (!) were amazing and the floats must take the best part of a year to organise. The competition really is fierce between the different Samba schools, to win first prize. Amazing!
3. France - Saumur, Loire Valley - this was one of my first holidays with the OH and it was hilarious, but it was back in the day before we had a digi camera. Not having really been camping before we didn't appreciate all the equipment needed! So we drove to France, pitched up at our campsite feeling all pleased with ourselves that we had a tent, sleeping bags and a couple of disposable BBQ's. Who would have thought that you need a bit more than this: cutlery, plates/ bowls, chairs, gas stove, pans/ kettle and all manner of other camping gear!! Luckily we had people camping next to us who felt sorry for us and lent us a chair but we still had to make a trip to the supermarket to buy all manner of things. And to add to my mans misery the swimming pool wouldn't let the men in without wearing SPEEDO'S!! All in all it was a fabulous if not a little make shift holiday.
