Travel…

We love to travel. And while we’ve been travelling, because we tend to veer off the tourist trails, we realised that we were discovering so many hidden gems, having amazing experiences and picking up tips and avoiding near-disasters, that we thought it would be a nice idea to have somewhere, where this could be shared. In March 2017 we finally realised our dream to relocate to the sunshine and are now living in Istria, in northern Croatia, enabling us to explore Europe much more easily. And especially now that Croatia is part of the Schengen Zone. Of course, we remain very linked to the UK – our families are there, our We Are Life Design clients are there, and our friends are there, so we continue to keep our close links to the areas in UK in which we have lived. And we still return to on a regular basis.

What we blog about is a good mix of wherever we go. So whether that’s somewhere not too far from where we live in Istria, a UK destination or a bit further afield, it’ll be here. If you love quirky places and things maybe a bit different from the norm, hopefully you’ll like what you find here. You can also pop over to Twitter, for the brief version!

And, we’re not being paid to mention hotels etc, & none of the blogs are sponsored – although, if one day, I could make a living out of travelling to gorgeous places…

recent travel blogs

centro paolo vi : brescia

centro paolo vi : brescia

We're not religious people by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like a bit of Italian theatrics when it comes to things of a holy nature. I also like a hotel which is a little bit different,...

casa m apartment : citta alta : bergamo

casa m apartment : citta alta : bergamo

Whenever we stay in Bergamo, in Lombardy, we like to discover new places to stay. In December, we met up with friends from Manchester who had flown over, and so rather than a hotel room for two, or...

one night in verona

one night in verona

Because of where we now live - northern Istria, near the Slovenian and Italian borders - we get to travel a lot more than we ever used to. We rarely fly now, as our location means many places,...

piran : slovenia

piran : slovenia

Until very recently, we hadn't actually realised that our closest beach/seaside town, was actually in Slovenia, not Istria. Not by many kilometres, but enough to be our closest. In just over half an...

Mövenpick Hotel Zagreb

Mövenpick Hotel Zagreb

Hotel Mövenpick, Zagreb, is located in a business area nestled near the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bundek Park, the city centre and the international airport, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport. It's in...

strasbourg : the capital of christmas

strasbourg : the capital of christmas

Strasbourg, frequently named “European capital”, is a city in eastern France in Alsace on the left bank of the Rhine, playing a major role as a business, commercial, and cultural centre. Besides its...

rocksalt b&b : folkestone : kent

rocksalt b&b : folkestone : kent

Rocksalt Restaurant and Rooms - with four boutique en-suite bedrooms - have a very enviable location on the South Kent coast. The glass fronted restaurant sits right on the harbour, overlooking the...

the iron men : crosby : merseyside

the iron men : crosby : merseyside

It's been a while since we've visited the permanent sculpture exhibition on Crosby Beach, but it was a place we'd often drive over to from Manchester, if we wanted to get some blowy, fresh air....

the ancient roman city of acquileia

the ancient roman city of acquileia

Aquileia was an ancient city, founded in 180BC, lying at the head of the lagoons, to the east of Venice, on the road to Trieste, as a Roman colony due to its strategic position between the port and...

hilton rijeka costabella

hilton rijeka costabella

When we book hotel accommodation, top of the list of our priorities is always to find somewhere on the quirky, more unusual and individual side, rather than a chain. Sometimes, circumstances mean...

seven historical suites : trieste : italy

seven historical suites : trieste : italy

Trieste is now a city we're getting to know well, as it's so close to home. Now that Croatia has joined the Schengen Zone, travelling through the small corridor of Slovenia between us and Italy,...

lake bled : slovenia

lake bled : slovenia

Autumn is our favourite time of year to visit Lake Bled in Slovenia. It's only just over a couple of hours from our home in Istria, and if coupled with a break in Ljubljana, it makes the perfect out...

the redipuglia war memorial

the redipuglia war memorial

Redipuglia is pretty unremarkable Italian town, on the road out from Trieste. We usually pass through it on our way to IKEA. It's one of those Italian towns where the houses sit alongside the road -...

Šibenik : dalmatia coast : croatia

Šibenik : dalmatia coast : croatia

Although we've now lived in Croatia (Istria, to be exact) over six years, and we've done lots of exploring, we are still yet to discover the hotspots of Split and Dubrovnik and the more southerly...

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