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I can’t believe another year has flown by so quickly. It’s been a different kind of year for me, but I think I’ll save that for a more reflective post as this is all about my 2017 travels. In late 2016 I had made it my goal that 2017 would be a year of travel, a year of bucket list ticking off and adventures. I think I can say this goal was achieved and looking back, it really has been quite a year!

Let’s rewind back to February, our first trip of the year and my Christmas present from Charlie.

Paris

This wasn’t technically my first visit to Paris but I can’t exactly count my year 10 French trip as I can barely even remember that, so it felt brand new all over again. Despite our bad luck with the weather (hello rain) we still had the most amazing three days. We got lost down the winding streets, strolled around Montmartre, devoured delicious vegan pizza at Hank Pizza, visited the Eiffel tower at night when it was lit up and took 19383 photos at Palais Royale. Oh and a quick trip to Disneyland to escape the rain and enjoy a little magic. It was perfect. 

London

In March Charlie treated me to a weekend in London and a stay at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch for my birthday. He did a great job of booking some amazing vegan restaurants (inc. Redemption & Fed by Water), we also went to Junkyard Golf which was SO fun and generally just mooched about East London. Travel doesn’t have to mean gallivanting to the other side of the world and it was great to explore new parts of the city, a refreshing change from the usual West End.

Liverpool

April took us to Liverpool, a city in the UK I’d never been to before, thanks to Mercure Hotels. We spent an afternoon at the Beatles experience which was so interesting even as a non fan, as well as a spot of shopping and plenty of eating. I’d love to go back to Liverpool for a weekend, especially for another beautiful vegan indian meal at Sanskruti. DROOL.

San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Las Vegas, San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Cruz

My absolute travel HIGHLIGHT of the year was hitting the road and spending a month in California (and a quick stop in Nevada too). I can’t express just how amazing this trip was, everything about it was perfect and I couldn’t have wished for a better June/July. It’s something I would love to do again, and I’m so pleased we just bit the bullet and booked it up. It was scary and nerve-wracking but exciting and crazy at the same time. I adored the national parks and enjoyed ditching our phones and social media for a week. I also loved the craziness of LA, the chilled back vibes of San Diego and even the pure insanity of Vegas.

Cornwall

My post California blues were put aside as I travelled down to Cornwall with one of my gal pals to meet two of our other girls that live down there. We hopped between Falmouth and Newquay, eating amazing food, walking along the beach and lapping up the rare English sunshine. It was exactly what I needed, all of us are so split around the country (and other countries) that when some of us get together it’s really special and we always end up laughing until we cry.

The Lake District

It wasn’t long until I was packing my suitcase again and in August we embarked on a spontaneous late summer trip to the Lake District. We stayed in a beautiful vegetarian retreat nestled in the middle of nowhere! It’s around a 10 minute or so drive to reach any signs of civilisation and a truly great place to stay if you’re seeking peace and quiet. They also cater for vegans and the breakfast was delicious. We hired bikes, went on long bike rides, a boat trip, plenty of drink stops and discovered some incredible veggie/vegan restaurants. 

 

Stockholm

October saw us head over to Stockholm and visit Sweden for the very first time. It was a case of finding extremely cheap flights and thinking what the hell! We stayed at Hotel Hobo which was pretty cool and spent a few days mooching around with little plan, but just enjoying the area and soaking it all up. I loved the old town, and it’s somewhere I’d definitely like to head back to in future as the city is quite big and spread out, it’s hard to fit everything in!

Amsterdam – Well Almost

We were all booked up to head to Amsterdam in December for Charlie’s birthday but unfortunately it coincided with THAT weekend of heavy snow and general chaos so unfortunately our trip had to be cancelled. I was SO looking forward to going to Amsterdam but we’ve decided to re-book for spring time, which I think will actually be lovely as Amsterdam looks beautiful at this time of the year.

Did you travel much in 2017? Is it on your goals for 2018? I’d love to read about your adventures so do feel free to leave me a link!

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