Frugal Travel - Save Money with the London Explorer Pass

London is a truly fantastic city and I place we love to visit as a family as there is so much to see and do and is overflowing with culture and history . It has earned its status as the most visited city in the world and there is good reason for that, drawing visitors from across the globe who come to see the wide array of sights and other attractions the city has to offer. However, like many other capital cities, visiting London isn’t exactly cheap. In fact, the city has another well deserved reputation among the rest of the United kingdom owing to the abnormally high cost of living. That’s not to say that a visit to London necessarily has to break the bank, especially being a family we are all about frugal travel. If you know what you are doing, then it is possible to experience the city for a fraction of what it costs those who visit unprepared. The London Explorer Pass is one of the most effective ways of doing this. The pass grants the holder access to up to 7 of 20 d......

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Gratitude List and getting creative

Every so often I like to share all the small moments I have been grateful for, I think it's really important to take stock of things in life, slow down and reflect on what one has done and put that perspective. Things have been pretty busy lately and I feel like my balance has been off, work has taken over a little bit too much and when that happens I start to get a little cabin fever from not being outside for a proper dose of fresh air daily. This has mainly been due to the after affects of my MacBook Pro battery exploding and it taking over two weeks to get a replacement, which of course caused a huge backup of work and emails which I am still dealing with now. I know that like most people I can be affect by stress so I always try and slow down regardless of how busy life is because I know I benefit from it, even if it's just a short stroll or a nice hot bath or my favourite pastimes of exploring with the kids and eating good food.  Here is what we have been getting u......

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The Just So Festival With Low Cost Vans

We had some really amazing adventures over the summer and one of the highlights was our action packed weekend at the Just So Festival , it's the second time we have made our way up north to this wonderful family friendly festival and its certainly reconfirmed to us that this is one of our favourites and combines everything we love about camping, outdoor forest fun, music and good food.  As the drive from South Wales up to Rode Hall near Stoke-on-Trent takes around 4hrs and our car has been a little unreliable of late the fantastic people at Low Cost Vans in Cardiff offered for us to try out one of their smaller family type vans that feels and drives like a car but offers all the space and comfort of a van, meaning zero sacrifice on space which is just what you need when packing for a glamping weekend with kids. Despite having to take a tent it's surprising how much space four sleeping bags, airbeds, clothes and food for a weekend take up! We left aroun......

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My Love Hate Relationship with the NHS

Firstly I just want to say I am extremely grateful to live in a country that offers free healthcare, it's a real privilege. My experiences have been up and down not due to the ability of the staff or care given but due to chaotic system our fantastic and overworked Doctors, Nurses and Healthcare professionals have to work in. If you live in the UK you will at some point have to deal with the NHS, whether this be simply for a check up with your GP, minor surgery or immunisations before travelling and the list goes on, it's an invaluable service that we all at some point rely on and a service I am extremely grateful for. The thing is like most people I feel very conflicted about it all as I have had so many positive but also negative experiences, mainly to do with long waiting lists, how rushed everything is and limited the service can be as well as the frustration that location certainly seems to have a role in the level of quality received and I know I am not alone when f......

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