Wild and Free Journeys

08/31/2026

When it’s so hot that you step outside for ten minutes and you’re literally dripping, plans need to change.

And today in Malta, it is HOT.

The morning started slowly, with a wonderfully relaxing facial before leaving our hotel and moving into Valletta for the next part of our trip.

We wandered up and down streets. There is no other option in Valletta! Spent time in St John’s Cathedral (hot) and then collectively decided… that was quite enough sightseeing for now.

Because sometimes good travel planning is about knowing when not to push on.

We retreated back to the hotel, found the pool which is where I am now! Later, when the heat begins to drop, we’ll head back out again.

I’m calling it strategic travel planning. 😄

See something wonderful. Retreat to the pool. Cool down. Go again.

There’s no prize for ticking everything off a list, especially when Malta has turned the temperature up quite this high.

Slow travel isn’t necessarily about doing less. Sometimes it’s simply about changing the rhythm of the day so you can actually enjoy where you are.

And right now, our rhythm includes a swimming pool. ☀️

08/29/2026

I wasn’t always a slow traveller.

In my 30s, I spent years travelling the world. I loved every minute of it, but looking back, I probably tried to pack a little too much in.

There was always somewhere else to explore, something else to see, another experience to have.

And then one day, I sat in a coffee shop.

I had nowhere I particularly needed to be, so I stayed. And stayed. I watched people come and go, listened to conversations around me, noticed the rhythm of the place and eventually realised I’d been sitting there for most of the day.

And I loved it.

It made me realise that in trying to experience so much, I was sometimes missing the quiet moments. The completely unplanned ones that somehow become the moments you remember most.

That changed the way I travelled.

I still want to explore. I still want to know what’s around the next corner. But now I also want time to sit in the café, linger over lunch, watch the world go by and simply be somewhere for a while.

Because sometimes the best part of travel is what happens when you leave enough space for nothing to happen at all.

Slow Down. See Differently. Stay Curious.™

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08/23/2026

One day to go. ✈️

It’s Sunday morning and I’m doing those final bits of organising before I leave for Malta on Monday, ahead of the tour starting on Friday.

And it’s finally beginning to feel very real.

This morning I’ve booked the Secret Gardens in Valletta, somewhere I’ve never actually been before, so I’m really looking forward to discovering that for the first time alongside everyone else.

Before the tour begins, though, I have a couple of days to see friends, settle back into Malta and, most importantly, get back in the sea. I absolutely LOVE swimming in the sea. There’s something about that first swim that makes me feel as though I’ve properly arrived.

Then there’s the other bit I secretly love… the final planning and packing.

I know some people absolutely hate this stage, but I love it. Choosing the last few outfits, tweaking the packing list, taking things back out again because I am determined not to take far too much stuff 😂, and gradually getting everything ready to go.

Then it’s off to the airport, which, as you probably know by now, is another one of my favourite places. I love that feeling of possibility when you walk into an airport and wonder where everyone is going.

Malta, then Sicily, then straight on to Morocco.

It’s going to be quite a journey.

And this morning, with three days to go, I’m properly excited. ❤️

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08/17/2026

I leave a week today.

Malta. Sicily. Morocco. England.
And I can already feel that familiar excitement starting.

The funny thing is, I don't even need to arrive somewhere for it to begin. I love airports.

Yes, really. Even the queues and the chaos.
I sit there watching people and wondering about their stories.
Where are they going? Heading home? Visiting family? Starting again somewhere new?

I watch the hugs at arrivals, the slightly frazzled families, the people travelling alone, and I wonder about all the lives temporarily crossing in that one place.

Then I get on the plane.
And there's something wonderful about those hours suspended between one place and another.
I get on as one version of myself and somehow, by the time I land, I'm another.

The phone stops ringing. Nobody needs anything from me. The jobs at home can't be done. Social media can wait.
Sometimes I watch films. Sometimes I work. Sometimes I get my journal out and think.

And then I arrive.

Next week, one of those places will be Malta, somewhere I already know and love. I'll find a café, listen to conversations going on around me, hear the seagulls, watch the fishermen and just take it all in.

Other days I'll be somewhere completely new, wandering down a street simply because I want to know what's around the corner.

That, I think, is what energises me most about travel.

Curiosity.

The possibility that every day might show me something I wasn't expecting.

And perhaps that's why the three words I keep coming back to in my work are really the way I've travelled for most of my life:

Slow Down. See Differently. Stay Curious.

A week today, I get to do all three again.
And I cannot wait.

So tell me — what's the bit that makes you feel like you're really going away? Packing the suitcase? Arriving at the airport? Take-off? Or that first moment you step outside somewhere completely different?

08/12/2026

The Busy Café

Have you ever noticed this?

Two cafés. Same menu. Same prices. Same quality.

One is full. One is almost empty.

Where do most of us queue?

The busy one.

I’ve done exactly the same thing myself.

Not because I’d compared them.

Not because I’d read reviews.

Simply because everyone else seemed to know something I didn’t.

I wonder how often we travel like that too.

Following the crowd instead of our curiosity.

Sometimes the quiet café is exactly where the best conversation is waiting.

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08/10/2026

Permission

I think we're all short of one thing these days. Not time.

Permission.

Permission to sit for another ten minutes.

Permission to wander down a side street just because it looks interesting.

Permission to order another coffee because you're enjoying watching the world go by.

One of my guests in Morocco said something I'll never forget.

"I don't want to know the plan for tomorrow. Just tell me when breakfast is."

She'd spent so long organising life, making decisions and carrying the weight of everything that she simply wanted ten days where someone else did the thinking.

It made me realise that perhaps slowing down isn't about doing less.

Perhaps it's about giving ourselves permission to simply be.

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06/24/2026

Se life differently …..

Photography taught me something I wasn’t expecting.

I thought it was about cameras.

It isn’t.

It’s about noticing.

The way light falls across a doorway.

A moment unfolding in a crowded street.

A face that catches your attention for a split second.

The scene was always there.

I simply hadn’t noticed it before.

I think life is a bit like that too.

Sometimes nothing changes except where we choose to look.

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06/03/2026

06/03/2026

Women often tell me the same thing after travelling together.

“I feel lighter.”

Not because life has magically changed.

But because for a little while they stopped carrying quite so much.

No organising.
No planning.
No rushing.
No constantly thinking ahead.

Just space to breathe, experience, connect and simply be where they are.

I think many of us underestimate how much we need that.

I’m constantly reminding myself to
Take a break, walk around, don’t get stuck in that planning session:)

Where could you give yourself time to stop?

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05/20/2026

One of my favourite things in Morocco is the mint tea ceremony.
And yes, ceremony really is the right word for it.

You order tea and a few moments later a beautiful silver tray appears, carrying a polished teapot and tiny glasses already filled with fresh mint leaves.

Then comes the performance.

The tea is poured from great heights in dramatic sweeping movements, up high, back down, then up again, without spilling a single drop.

It’s mesmerising to watch.

The smell of fresh mint fills the air, the steam catches the light and somehow even the act of pouring tea feels graceful.

But what I love most is what it represents.

In Morocco, mint tea is far more than a drink.
It’s hospitality.
Welcome.
Conversation.
Connection.

Tea is offered constantly, in riads, market stalls, homes, rooftop terraces and desert camps. Sitting together over tea is part of the culture. It’s a pause in the day. A moment to stop rushing.
And honestly, I think that’s part of why I love Morocco so much.
It reminds you that not everything has to be fast.

Sometimes connection begins with simply sitting down together and sharing a glass of tea.

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