1NetezNet

I really need a holiday, it’s ages since I was able to just get away from it all. I’d miss my nightly installs of big brother of course but hey if I could spend my days lolling around the pool and getting fed up in top class restaurants I am sure I’d cope.

A friend just got back from stunning angel island and has been making me green with envy with her tales and showing off her photos – of which she took literally 100s.

She says she loved the the whole area and the placed she stayed at, The Lodge at Tiburon, was simply stunning. They offer all the amenities you’d expect from such an establishment like an outdoor heated pool and complimentary Internet as well as a fancy whirlpool and Poolside cabanas.

I definitely want to go

I was just looking through some slideshows of Wales, where I go on holiday each year. An offer came up on a bargain site I post on where you could get a free massive poster print and I was going to get one for our flat – however I took so long picking a picture that when I came to order it the offer had expired. Argh.

I just turned 30 last week and it got me thinking about all the things I want to do, all the things I said I would do before turning 30! I did a pretty good job of getting through my list but of course there is also plenty on it that I didn’t manage to get to. I always wanted to buy a used rv and head to Australia – one of my old school friends is currently doing just that in one of those fancy rv motorhomes and I am following their adventures on Facebook with much jealousy – wishing it were me.

That’s OK though because I still have the time to do all the things I have dreamed of doing, it just means I need to change my goals to doing them before I turn 40 instead and that gives me a whole new 10 years worth of action to play with – I may even add several new things to the list as well, just to keep me on my toes

So we just had to make a difficult decision and that is that we won’t be going on our usual vacation package deals this year. We’ve been taking up killer last minute all inclusive deals for around five years now. Usually we go away at the start of the summer and the end of it.

This year however we’ve decided we really need to save all our money as we are setting up home together in August and it’s going to cost a small fortune. What with the rent, deposit and agent fees – not to mention that we will have to basically buy every thing you need for a new house as we currently have nothing other than a bed!

Of course it’s disappointing as who doesn’t love a good vacation? But I am working on the theory that it will make it all the better when we do get to go on our usual all inclusive holidays in 2011. Sometimes taking a break from something reignites that excitement for it

I remember the first time we went together, we had only been together a few months at that point but this deal came up and we just couldn’t say no – a week in the Canaries for less than £100 each, we’d have been mad not to! My parents don’t understand how we can do it like we do, not knowing when we are going and often leaving ourselves with literally a few days to pack and get ready but for us that just adds to the experience. It also means that I don’t have the time to spend hours researching where we are going as I tend to do, so when we get there everything (good or bad) is a surprise to us.

Roll on 2011!

I was just looking at Branson vacation packages for a friend, I wish it were for me but alas not. We can’t actually afford to go away at all this year due to moving house but that’s OK, it will make it all the more special when we do finally get to go away the following year – we’re also going to make sure it’s extra special and spend a little more than we usually do, it’s normally all about budget budget budget.

I just got done watching The Amazing Race premiere. I am not that well travelled and geography isn’t my strongest subject but I had to roll my eyes when Jordan asked for tickets to China because that’s where she thought Santiago was, doh.

Love love love this show even after 16 seasons, but I find myself running into the same age old problem season after season – it makes me green with envy and crave an exotic holiday adventure of my own!

Of course I’d never be able to go on The Amazing Race and would be much more suited to an all inclusive Tunisia or Greece trip instead. I like the idea of adventure but not the realities of it. I would definitely not be happy if I couldn’t lounge around by a pool, visit the shops and have all my meals cooked for me.

I’m not high maintenance, I just like nice things

Whenever most of my friend go away on vacations they stay in hotels, but my husband and I much prefer a lovely vacation rental instead. Firstly it’s often a lot cheaper for what you get out of it and we just prefer the freedom that comes with being able to do your own thing

Earlier, I was on Vacation Rental.org, just having a look around and a bit of a daydream about the summer when we next get to go away and I saw a commercial they have posted on their blog. It features superhero UNITARD who spends his time trying to stop people making bad choices about their own vacations.

Take a look at the vacation rental commercial for yourself here

Talking about how my husband and I used to be in a long distance relationship reminded me of the coach journey I used to take once a month to go visit him – it was a 5.5 hour journey and I hated every second of it.

I get motion sickness so it’s not like I could just sit there and read, or play games or watch a movie so I had nothing to do but sit and look out of the window.

I remember the very first time I took the journey and as we were approaching Birmingham where I had a 30 minute stop over I saw the Bull Ring building in the distance for the first time – I had no idea it existed so I was in awe of it, at first I actually thought there was something wrong with it but eventually realised it was meant to be like that.

I desperately wanted to go see it up close, but I was so terrified that I literally didn’t move from the bus stop after getting off and waiting for the next coach to pick me up – I was sure if I went wandering I’d get lost and miss the connection!

As I got used to the journey I got braver of course and it wasn’t long before I had gone to see it. By the time I’d been doing the journey every month for 4 years I was amazed at how much I could fit into my 30 minutes in Birmingham – a trip to the bull ring, a toilet break, a coffee and snack in the cafe and a very quick browse around the shops and maybe if there was still some time left over a quick stop in the Quicksilver Games Arcade that is right next to the station.

I still hated the journey, but at least my little break in Birmingham was something to look forward to along the way!

My fiance and I have been ‘jet setting’ a lot recently, I say jet setting…I don’t think it really counts as that when you go on the train, but still – we’ve been getting out and about. Our most recent trip was to Liverpool a few weeks ago, we stayed in a hotel that was right by the side of the dock and we had a view of it from our window – as a bonus it actually snowed as well

We went shopping in the city centre and it’s massive, we actually got lost more than once! We also went on the big wheel that was there at the time, popped into the local Quicksilver Games arcade for a quick flutter and got something to eat and drink in the Yates.

We had planned on getting up early the next day and visiting the Beatles museum but because of the snow we decided we really should set off home as early as possible instead.

We’ll definitely go back one day though