Why I moved to the UK

A younger child free me My mother is Welsh and my father South African, I spent 19 amazing years in Cape Town, South Africa, the place that will be forever home yet I doubt I will ever live there again. I flew over to the UK at the tender age of 16 as I had been invited to train full-time at a well respected Judo Dojo in Edinburgh, I had some success on what was at the time my future plan but needed to return to South Africa when I was 19 when my father passed away suddenly. This gave me a lot of time to reflect, I had had the chance to live in two different countries and I realised that as much as I loved South Africa in terms of work and school the UK offered better opportunities at the time as well as my mother and brother living in the UK it seemed like the best choice. As I said the UK does have some great opportunities if you are willing to work and work hard at that. I was lucky enough to achieve my degree in the UK, something that would of been a lot harder in South Afri......

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Travel inspired interiors

Ever since I was young I have been drawn to maps, in fact I would stare at them for hours, dreaming of all the adventures I would take in the future and even with age things have not changed. I find maps not only intriguing but also beautiful and they make perfect focus points in any interior space, from the living room or kitchen to your child's bedroom. As travel is something that we as a family are all passionate about it only makes sense to bring our passion into the home which is why I love these stunning wall murals from Murals Wallpaper  as they not only well designed but also fun and educational. I don't think our curiosity of far flung places and cultures will ever wain and it's something that Mr A enjoys learning about as well and I love showing him where Cape Town, my hometown is and how far away it is from Wales. It leads to many discussions as I show him the path I took from South Africa on a cargo ship back to the UK via the isolated island of St......

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Our 2015 Cruise Wish-list

Being parents and leading rather busy lives, planning ahead is key, of course, we still love to do things on a whim but with another little one on the way in February we are already putting our travel wish-list for next year together now and we have found ourselves for the first time talking about the possibility of a cruise, something we may have not considered before but I have to say with all the amazing child-friendly options today it's sounding more and more appealing and here are a few more reasons why you should not discount taking a cruise next year They are very family-friendly and offer some great entertainment options and on-board facilities which will be perfect when we have a newborn travelling with us. Taking a cruise also allows us to visit a few destinations in one visit which is something that is very attractive to us. It's something a little bit different, I have been on a month long cargo ship before but it was nothing like a cruise ship woul......

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Sleeper train interiors and slow travel

How beautiful is this photo? ( image ) I have to hold my hand up and say I really love trains and train travel. There is something very relaxing about it, my favourite experiences have always been in central Europe, on trains that in any other country would of been shelved for newer models. I have been lucky enough to do a few sleeper train trips, my favourite being an over night from Zurich to Zagreb, Amsterdam to Prague and Vienna to Venice, of which I mainly stayed in the basic couchettes. The Zurich to Zagreb passed through Slovenia and the landscape was beautiful, as was the wooden panelled interior of the train with velvet style seats, something straight out out of the 1940's with a ticket conductor dressed top to toe in a smart baby blue suit with a conductor hat, chain smoking the while stamping tickets (something you don't see in Western Europe). Luxury on the Orient Express I think people today are always rushing from A to B and not enjoying the journey. I......

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