Search This Blog

Sunday, 10 August 2025

Before the Blog: My Previous Travel Adventures

I've always loved to travel, and I think that being taken to various different countries and places by my parents when growing up contributed to that. Experiencing different cultures, languages and landscapes gives you a lot of curiosity to keep discovering more of the world.

I first started blogging about travel with My Year Abroad Blog in 2017 and then started Charlotte's Travel Adventures in October 2018. So all of my trips of the last 8 years have been documented on those two blogs, but I've realised that all the different places I visited during my childhood and up to June 2017 have not been written about, though I've mentioned some of them on here from time to time. Therefore, I thought it would be fun today to go through some of the trips I've had in the past!


Jersey (1998/1999)















Image by Bob Jenkin from Pexels.com

The first time I ever went on a plane was at around 3 or 4 years old when I went to Jersey with my parents and sister. To be honest, I don't remember much about it apart from the hotel room and choosing which of my cuddly toys to bring beforehand! 


The South of France (1999/2000 and 2003/2004)

























Image by Polverini Lian from Pexels.com

My first trip abroad was to the south of France to visit my granddad and his wife, who were living in a gîte near Cannes. I feel like I remember a lot more of this trip than the one to Jersey, but that's probably because we went back a few years later and I'm mixing up the two in my head.

On both occasions, I remember enjoying lots of time swimming in the pool, as well as taking trips to Cannes and Île Sainte-Marguerite, but I also found it really interesting to go to the supermarket, try French foods, and visit the clothes shop Kiabi. It was my first experience of a different language and culture, and I think it probably had some influence on why I came to love languages and travel!


Menorca, Spain (2002)














Image by Tom D'Arby from Pexels.com

During my first visit to Spain, we stayed in a villa on the island of Menorca. I loved seeing all the lizards and being right next to both the sea and a swimming pool. I also remember going to a monastery on top of a mountain, which was very impressive.


Zakynthos, Greece (2003 and 2007)



















Image by Pixabay from Pexels.com

The other Mediterranean destination I visited as a young child was Greece, specifically the island of Zakynthos or Zante. This was my favourite of them all! 

Again I loved swimming in the hotel's pool and the sea. We also took boat trips on both holidays there. The first time, we went on a tour to look for turtles - although we didn't see any, we got to swim at different beaches and even in caves, which was a magical experience. The second time, we went to the famous Navagio Beach, which was incredible to see, even though I felt very, very seasick!


Dublin, Ireland (2004/2005)

















Image by Steven Hylands from Pexels.com

As my mum is Irish, this trip was an opportunity for her to see family and friends, so there was a lot of sitting around while the adults chatted, which was a little boring for 8 or 9 year old me! I think I also expected Dublin to be like London, and I was a bit surprised to find it was a lot smaller and more provincial.


Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (2004/2005)

















Image by Graeme Travers from Pexels.com

My first and (so far) only trip to Scotland was to stay with friends of my dad in Dumfries and Galloway. I remember arriving at Glasgow airport and expecting their house to be nearby and then being in the car for what felt like hours and hours, seeing miles and miles of empty countryside! I also remember everything being very green, trying Irn Bru for the first time and visiting the National Museum of Costume in Shambellie House. I also think I saw a cow like the one in the picture, but I might be imagining that!


Prague, Czechia (2006)

















Image by JESHOOTS.com from Pexels.com

I think my parents wanted a change from Mediterranean holidays when they booked this trip, but to be honest, Prague was always going to be a difficult destination for a 10 year old to appreciate. I wanted to be swimming in the sea under the sunshine, not traipsing through a crowded city to look at old buildings! Of course, I appreciate this kind of holiday a lot more these days, but still wouldn't put Prague at the top of the places I'd like to revisit - I remember it being pretty crowded 20 years ago (long before Instagram) so I imagine it would be absolutely packed nowadays.


Budapest, Hungary (2008)

















Image by Nikolett Emmert from Pexels.com

A couple of years later, we had a similar holiday in Budapest. It is undeniably a beautiful city with stunning architecture, but again, it wouldn't have been my first choice of destination as a 12 year old.


Northumberland, England (2009)

























Image by Serinus from Pexels.com

The following year, we stayed in the UK and went to Northumberland for our summer holiday. To be honest, I wasn't very enthusiastic about going, but I enjoyed it much more than I expected. We stayed in a cottage on a farm, which had an adorable and very friendly pet pig! We also visited Alnwick Castle, which was used for some scenes in the Harry Potter films, and the island of Lindisfarne (pictured above), which made us feel like we were stepping into the past.


Toronto, the Niagara Falls and Montreal, Canada (2010)















Image by Chait Goli from Pexels.com

This was one of my favourite holidays of all time! We spent an amazing two weeks in my mum's country of birth, visiting Toronto, Montreal and the Niagara Falls. I loved both cities, and the Niagara Falls remains one of the most beautiful and incredible places I've ever seen. In fact, this was the trip that really gave me my passion for travel and that motivated me to learn French and other foreign languages.


France, Italy and Monaco (2011)

















Image by JÉSHOOTS from Pexels.com

In 2011, we went back to France and stayed in a charming B&B in the town of Juan-les-Pins. This turned out to be a three-country trip, as one day we went over the border to San Remo in Italy. I was really excited about this, as I'd never been to Italy before, and it was at the top of my bucket list. We went to a restaurant next to the sea, where I had pizza and tiramisù while watching people passing by on Vespas. It was a dream come true! After that, we drove to Monaco and went round the race track a couple of times, which was also a really cool experience.


Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012)

























Image by Robert Dan from Pexels.com

Another of my favourite holidays of all time! This trip was the perfect mix of relaxing and swimming at the beach combined with cultural discovery of new places. We stayed in an amazing hotel with a private beach in the village of Slano in Croatia, and took day trips to Dubrovnik, and to Neum and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were super lucky to get to see the beautiful city of Dubrovnik in the pre-Instagram era, when it wasn't too crowded, but my favourite place we visited was Mostar. It was the first time I'd visited a country that wasn't majority Christian, and it was a really interesting experience. Highlights for me included the mosque, the Turkish house (where we saw a family of tortoises!) and of course, the Old Bridge (pictured above).


France and Monaco (2013)

















Image by Polina from Pexels.com

My first trip abroad by myself was to Nice for a language course and homestay. I was 17 and really nervous about it, but ended up enjoying the week a lot. The lady I stayed with was really nice, and I got on very well with the other students at the language school. One day, a group of us took the train from Nice to Monaco, which was my first time properly setting foot in the tiny country - the race track experience in 2011 had been fun, but it was nice to explore on foot and see the sights in more detail.


Málaga, Spain (2013)

















Image by Jarosław Miś from Pexels.com

Later that year, I went on a school trip with my A-Level Spanish class to Málaga in Spain. We enjoyed some fun experiences, including celebrating the San Juan bonfires on the beach on our first night, and visiting the caves at Nerja and the beautiful white village of Frigiliana. We also had a couple of afternoons of free time in Málaga city centre, where our teachers visited museums and art galleries, and my classmates and I spent hours looking round Bershka and Pull&Bear. To be honest, though I didn't say it at the time for fear of looking uncool, I would have much rather gone to the museums!


Paris, France (2013)



















I had been desperate to visit Paris for years, so I was delighted when my parents treated me to a couple of days in the city for my 18th birthday. A lot of people who visit Paris say that it's overrated and disappointing, but I absolutely loved it from the moment I arrived, and it's been one of my favourite cities ever since. I've since been back twice, and my most recent visit was one of my most special trips of all time!


My Gap Year (2014-2015)

From June 2014 to September 2015, I took a Gap Year. It wasn't a typical Gap Year - I spent a lot of the year working and volunteering close to home, rather than going on a big backpacking trip somewhere exotic - but I did travel to Slovenia, Austria, France (twice), Spain and Belgium, as well as several places around the UK. You can read all about it in this post right here!


Valencia, Spain (2016)




















I didn't go on many trips during my first two university years, because for some reason, I felt like being single and being a student without a job meant that I couldn't travel. It took going on my Year Abroad for me to gain more confidence to travel both by myself and on a budget. 

Anyway, during the summer between my first and second year, my mum sent me off on trips to language schools in Spain and Germany. For my Spain trip, I went back to the same school I'd been to in Valencia during my Gap Year, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much second time around. The first time, I'd had my classes in the morning, so had most of the day free to go and explore, but the second time, classes were in the middle of the day, which I didn't like so much, as it split my free time. However, I did really enjoy going on a day trip to Montanejos (pictured above), an area of thermal springs located in the mountains.


Berlin, Germany (2016)



















This also wasn't my favourite trip ever; mainly because of a bad experience I had one day on the metro. I'd bought the wrong ticket purely by accident, and was made to pay a 60€ fine, even though I explained the situation and offered to buy the correct ticket (in Spain the previous month, I'd had a similar situation and the guard there had let me buy the correct ticket with no problem). The way the guards treated me was really horrible and frightening, and led me to file a complaint afterwards. Unfortunately, the transport company wasn't able to refund the fine, but they did issue me a grovelling apology, which was something at least. I was a much less confident person at the time than I am today, and it did basically ruin the entire trip for me, which was a shame, because I'd actually really enjoyed exploring Berlin up to that point.

That trip was nine years ago, but it really feels like a lifetime ago, compared to my Year Abroad, which I started only a year later. That year was definitely a turning point for me, where I gained a lot of confidence and started to become the kind of person I'd always wanted to be. And that was where my story with blogging began!

It's been fun to go back over the trips I had up to the age of 21 - I feel lucky that I got the chance to visit some fantastic places at an early age. And since starting blogging eight years ago, I've been lucky enough to have visited just as many amazing places. Here's to hopefully many more exciting travel adventures over the years to come!

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

Our UK Marriage Blessing and Celebration

Our wedding in Quintero in December 2024 was pretty much our dream ceremony and celebration, and we had an amazing day. The location was beautiful, and it was great to be with a big group of our Chilean family and friends.

But it did make me feel sad that my parents, along with the rest of our family and friends from the UK, weren't able to be there. So we always planned to have some kind of celebration over here at some point.

It took us a while to get round to it, as a lot was happening earlier this year, including our honeymoon and us moving to a different part of the country, but seven months later, with a lot of help from my parents, we organised a small event near my parents' house in Wiltshire.

We began the celebrations with a religious blessing of our marriage at the local church, which was very special and meaningful. It was really nice to have a religious ceremony after having a civil one previously.






















Of course, the best way to follow this up was with a trip down the pub! We had a great time celebrating at The Horse & Groom in Charlton.









It was quite a laid-back and informal day, but also really special and memorable. It's great to now have photos with our British friends and family that we can add to the ones we already have from our wedding day in Chile.

After a civil union, a civil marriage and a blessing of our marriage, we definitely feel well and truly married and will not be having any further ceremonies! Our wedding era has now come to an end, and we're coming out of it with so many great memories that we'll be looking back on for the rest of our lives.

Friday, 11 July 2025

Country Guide: Thailand

Name: Thailand

Continent: Asia

Capital (and Largest) City: Bangkok (in Thai: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon)

Language: Thai

Currency: Baht

Drives on the: Left

Time Zone: Indochina Time (GMT+7)

Adaptor Types: Type A, Type B and Type C

Description: Thailand is a country located in Mainland Southeast Asia, bordering Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. It is famous for its beautiful beaches, Buddhist temples and world-famous cuisine, including curries and Pad Thai. Popular places to visit around the country include the vibrant metropolis that is Bangkok, the mountains in the north, and the beaches and islands in the south.

Why You Should Visit: Thailand is one of the world's favourite tourist destinations, and with good reason. From backpackers to honeymooners, millions visit each year and have a fantastic time. In fact, I visited earlier this year on my honeymoon, and it was one of the best holidays I've ever had. People there are so friendly, the landscapes and temples are incredible, and the food was delicious. I hope to go back someday!

Fun Fact: The Chinatown in Bangkok is the biggest in the world.


My Blogposts About Thailand

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- Bangkok Days 1 & 2: Wat Pho, The Grand Palace and Wat Arun




- Jungle Camp Day 2: Cheow Lan Lake (Khao Sok National Park)

- Jungle Camp Day 3: Jungle Trekking (Khao Sok National Park)



Clockwise starting from top left: Benchakitti Park in Bangkok, Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya, Coconut Beach in Khao Lak, Moken Village in the Surin Islands, James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay, Elephants in Khao Sok National Park

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Year Abroad: The Most Popular Destinations

My travel recaps have all been written up, so now it's time for something a little different. This week, I feel like returning to my Year Abroad Series from April 2021, as I have at least another post or two to add to it!

Today I'm going to be writing about the most popular destinations to spend a Year Abroad in, and how to choose which one or ones are the best for you. As with my previous posts in the series, this is going to be focused on destinations for people who study languages at university and take a Year Abroad as part of their degree, but I'll also be looking at destinations for a general Gap Year.


Year Abroad Destinations by Language

At my university (the University of Nottingham), the languages taught were French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian and Chinese. I think most UK universities are quite similar, except they generally offer Italian instead of, or as well as Chinese.

So the most popular destinations for a Year Abroad are as follows:

French: France (and occasionally Québec)

Spanish: Spain and Latin America (I know that there are placements available in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. When I was at university, placements in Colombia weren't available, but that might have changed since then.)

German: Germany and Austria (I'm not sure why, but there don't seem to be so many placements in Switzerland)

Portuguese: Portugal and Brazil


Russian: Russia (but this won't be possible at the moment due to current affairs)

Chinese: China

Italian: Italy


People's Opinions

I spent my own Year Abroad in France, Austria and Chile, and overall, had a pretty amazing time, though of course, there were downsides.

I had a great time doing a language course in Montpellier in summer 2017, but other than that, my time in France was a bit of a mixed bag, and often quite stressful, as I had a couple of work placements that didn't go to plan.

My time in Austria, working as a teaching assistant with the British Council, was a lot more straightforward. I lived in a fairly quiet, rural area near the border with Italy and Slovenia, and though I did feel a bit isolated at times, I really enjoyed the experience overall. The highlight for me was the amount of travel I was able to do at weekends: I went to Italy three times, Slovakia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as around Austria.

But the most memorable part of my year was the semester I spent in Chile. Despite the fact that I went through a real low point during my time there, I absolutely fell in love with the country and my life changed while I was there. In total, I was there was nearly five months, and while the first few weeks were great, the following six weeks were full of highs and lows, followed by a really difficult month or so in which I had to fight the urge to go home. But the last month was one of the very best of my life - this was when I met my now-husband! I also had some exciting travel adventures while I was there, visiting the coast and the south of the country, as well as Argentina.

In fact, I came back to Chile to live there for another 15 months from 2022 to 2023. Although life there isn't perfect (as in any other country), there's so much I really love about it, and even though we're now happily settled in the UK, I do miss it at times.

In terms of my peers' experiences abroad, Europe got pretty mixed reviews on the whole, but people generally loved Latin America. I think that's because it's very exciting to experience life in a completely different part of the world; these countries are often more chaotic than Europe, but can also be more fun and vibrant, with landscapes unlike anything you've seen before. I remember that Mexico in particular got really positive reviews, and nearly everyone had a great time in all other Central and South American countries. It was only Cuba that got more negative reviews, as it's a very restrictive country to live in, with a lack of internet, and regular water and power outages.

Overall, I believe that, if you're studying Spanish and/or Portuguese, and you have the opportunity, you should definitely step out of your comfort zone and spend at least a few months in a Latin American country. Of course, Spain and Portugal are both beautiful countries, and you can have a great time there, but most people will have been to one or both of these places on holiday before, so it's not quite the same new experience.


Reasons Why (And Why Not) to Choose Them

Leaving aside the languages where you pretty much only have one choice of country to go to, here are some pros and cons for the different countries you could choose...

France
Pros
- A range of diverse destinations, from the beautiful city of Paris, to the snowy mountains of the Alps and the sunny beaches of the south
- Lots of cultural attractions
- World-class food and wine
- Close to the UK, so relatively cheap and easy to get to
Cons
- Difficult to find decent work placements
- Some can find the culture difficult to integrate into
- Some areas, especially Paris, can be very expensive
- Bureaucratic

Québec
Pros
- A country with breathtaking nature
- Good opportunity to explore North America
- Very friendly people
Cons
- Super cold in the winter
- Expensive to get to

Austria
Pros
- Beautiful landscapes and architecture
- One of the best countries if you want to take lots of weekend trips around Europe
- People are generally more laid back than in Germany
Cons
- Aside from Vienna, it is a very rural country, so can make you feel isolated
- Expensive
- Very cold in winter

Germany
Pros
- Lots of big cities all over the country with a lot of variation between them
- Beautiful landscapes and architecture
- A great base for exploring different parts of Europe
Cons
- Can be very cold in winter
- A less open culture than other parts of Europe, so can be hard to integrate into

Spain/Portugal
Pros
- Sunny, warm weather most of the year
- Lots of vibrant cities with beautiful architecture
- Fantastic beaches
- Close to the UK, so relatively cheap and easy to get to
Cons
- Extreme heat in the summer
- Gets overcrowded with tourists in the summer especially

Chile (and other Latin American countries)
(I'm basing this mainly on Chile because that's where I have experience living, but I think the same points apply to most other Latin American countries)
Pros
- Incredible landscapes that are very different to those in Europe
- An opportunity to discover a part of the world that would be new to most people
- A warm and vibrant culture
- Generally very good weather
Cons
- Often more dangerous and unstable than Europe
- Less developed than Europe, which can be difficult to get used to
- A lot of bureaucracy, as many processes have not been digitalised yet
- More risk of natural disasters
- Expensive to get to

Most Popular Gap Year Destinations

Of course, more general Gap Year destinations tend to be located on the other side of the globe; Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand are all super popular. And with good reason - Southeast Asian countries have beautiful beaches, amazing food and stunning temples, and Australia and New Zealand have incredible nature, and are also very safe English-speaking countries.

Aside from that, travelling through Latin America is also a popular choice, as is interrailing through Europe. (Personally speaking, my own Gap Year was a bit of an unusual one, with trips to Slovenia, Austria, France, Spain, Belgium, and different places around the UK!) Unlike with a languages Year Abroad, you don't have any kind of obligations to spend certain lengths of time in countries that speak certain languages, so you have a lot more freedom to choose where you want to go and how long you want to stay in each place.

Whatever your reason for taking time out to travel, it's useful to go through the pros and cons of the different places you're considering visiting or living in. But I also think, in a lot of cases, it's good to just go with your gut and choose the destination that really calls your name - you're sure to have an amazing time!

























Destinations from my own year abroad from left to right, starting from top left: Bratislava, Slovakia; Cap d'Agde, France; Florence, Italy; Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve, Chile; Vaduz, Liechtenstein; Sargans, Switzerland; Velden am Wörthersee, Austria; Mendoza, Argentina

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

A Summer Weekend in Dover

Officially, the first day of summer this year in the northern hemisphere is 21st June (I know, I just looked it up!), but personally, I've always found it easier to categorise the seasons by months, like so:

Summer: June, July, August
Autumn: September, October, November
Winter: December, January, February
Spring: March, April, May

...which makes the 1st June the first day of summer. So, when Claudio and I went for a weekend away in Dover from the 1st to the 2nd of June, it felt like a great way to start my favourite season of the year!

We started our trip by taking the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon, followed by the tube to King's Cross/St Pancras. As we had a little bit of spare time before our train to Dover, we had a look around St Pancras International station. It was exciting to see the Eurostar trains going to France and Belgium!







Despite the fact that Dover is quite far from London, the train we took was high speed, and we were there in about an hour. Arriving at Dover Priory Station, I was happy to find some vintage travel posters, which I always love seeing!







The retro vibes continued once we reached our hotel, the Best Western Premier Dover Marina Hotel & Spa. This is one of those grand, 19th century English seaside hotels, located right on the beach. I'd always wanted to stay in a hotel like this!




Before checking in, we had a walk around the beach and the pier. From outside the hotel, we could see the iconic sights of the castle and the white cliffs, which was very exciting!











We entered the hotel and checked into our room, which was small, but very cosy, with views out across the beach and the sea. I'd done a search with flexible dates on the Hotels.com app, so had got the room for well under £100. I'd then made a bid of an extra £10 for a room with a sea view, which was accepted. All in all, I feel it was a pretty great deal!







While bidding for the room upgrade, I'd also added another extra to our stay: afternoon tea at the hotel's Churchill Bar & Lounge! This afternoon tea only cost around £20 per person, which I thought was quite a good deal, as in London, you'd generally be paying upwards of £30-£40.

Everything was so tasty (especially the scones!) and it was made extra special by the fact that we were sitting in the window, right next to the beach.





Later in the afternoon, we went down to the beach. In my opinion, it's not a proper beach holiday without a swim in the sea, so even though the weather wasn't exactly boiling hot, we still took the plunge and had a quick dip in the English Channel. As you can probably imagine, the water was very, very cold, but we felt amazing afterwards!

We warmed up in the best possible way, by visiting the hotel's spa, which has a steam room, sauna and jacuzzi. Though the steam room was a little too hot for our liking, the jacuzzi was absolutely perfect. It was a super relaxing way to end the day!

Waking up right next to the sea the following morning was very special. We could even see France in the distance, right from our bed!

We started the day with eggs on toast and coffee at Wheeler's Fish & Chips, which is also part of the hotel, before going off to explore.

Our first destination of the day was Shakespeare Beach, a tranquil pebble beach overlooked by cliffs. These are not the famous white cliffs that you see on postcards (those are on the other side of the town), but they were very picturesque.





Our next little adventure was climbing up the hill to the castle. With its steep stone steps surrounded by foliage, the climb reminded me of my hike to Machu Picchu, though, fortunately, it didn't take nearly as long!




We decided not to buy tickets to enter the castle - at £30 per adult, we felt it was just too expensive. (Since moving to Reading, I've been slightly shocked at how expensive most activities and events are around London and the South East!) But at least we were able to walk around it a bit from the outside. It's actually the biggest castle in the entire country, and it was pretty spectacular to see.













Then it was time for even more walking, as we made our way to the National Trust site on the White Cliffs of Dover.







The site has a really nice café and gift shop. Of course, being at the beach, we had to have some ice cream! It gave us energy to continue on with the last bit of our walk to get to the famous viewpoint of the white cliffs.




I'd never been to Dover before, so it was very special to see the cliffs, which are such a famous symbol of Britain. To make things even better, we could see the cliffs of northern France reasonably clearly in the distance. France has always been one of my favourite countries, so it was exciting to be so close!









To sum up, our weekend in Dover was super fun and a much-needed break for both of us. We've had our fair share of stress lately, what with moving house, and in my case, dealing with various issues at work while searching for a new job, and in Claudio's case, trying to get his first job in the UK. Fortunately, the latter is no longer a problem - Claudio has just started a new job, doing the same thing as he was doing back in Chile! It's a real relief, and I'm so proud of him, as the job market is really rough at the moment, and he was thinking he might have to lower his expectations in terms of the sort of role he could aim for. So it's a great achievement for him, and also gives us stability we've never had before (we've never both been in stable, full-time jobs at the same time).

So, overall, our new life in Reading is getting off to a great start, and we plan to have more little adventures like this in the near future!