Welcome to the fifth edition of my series A Day with MBV In Dublin. Last year I decided to take a cheeky solo day trip to Dublin, and it was great! It’s a fantastic city that I would recommend to anyone that is looking to venture out and travel solo.
Now let me tell you a little story…..
Can you believe that I NEARLY MISSED MY FLIGHT! I didn’t even think I was going to make it to Dublin. The journey to Southend Airport was an absolute mission and a half! And to make matters worst, I found out when I got to Liverpool Street Station that my flight had been moved forward. I truly believed I was going to miss my flight and if I had listened to the lady at the train station, I wouldn’t have even made it to Dublin. There is more detail over on Jennasworldview site – When Shit Goes Wrong on Holiday.
Once I arrived in Dublin, I was able to get a coach with GoAirCoach from the airport into the city, which wasn’t too expensive. I remember it being less than £15 for a return! I would also suggest getting the same coach back to the airport. The journey was pretty smooth, it took no more than an hour to get to my first destination.
As I was going solo, I decided to do an Airbnb tour suggested by TheTravelTauraus.
First Stop – The Docklands Red Piles
The first stop was meeting with my Airbnb host who first took to me to the Grand Canal Docks. This is a cute little location for those that love a cheeky picture or two.
Interesting Fact: The Grand Canal Docks first opened in 1796. At the time they were the world’s largest docks.
Second Stop – Trinity College
The second stop we headed over to the first famous University of Dublin. I was quite intrigued by this university because many of my Irish friends had spoken about it while I was at Uni.
Third Stop – St Steven Green
We then headed to St Stephen’s Green park. A beautiful park designed by William Sheppard. I loved how peaceful the park was and how green it was.
Fourth Stop – Grafter Street
We headed to Grafton Street, which is a shopping centre near St Stephen Green Park.
Interesting Fact: In 2008, Grafton Street was the fifth most expensive main shopping street in the world, at €5,621/m²/year.
Fifth stop – The Umbrellas
This was my favourite part of the trip. My Airbnb host had told me a funny story about how she found this street on a drunken night out with some friends. It’s right next to a bar called Zozimus Bar. If you get the chance, take some pictures underneath the umbrellas.
Sixth Stop – Temple Bar
After taking some pictures around the city and outside Temple Bar, I decided I was very hungry so had some lunch before my long walk to Kilmainham Gaol.
Last but not least, Kilmainham Gaol. This was a museum that used to be a prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland.
And that is it! Surprisingly I got a lot done! What about you? Would you ever head over to Dublin on a solo trip for the day?
I have one more day trip to complete my day series, so be sure to subscribe to the blog to read all about it!
Welcome to my first guest feature with TravelEatSlay! Today we are going to be finding out from the Queen of days trips how exactly to plan for a day trip! Last year I did a day trip with TravelEatSlay in Copenhagen, Prague, Bologna and Gdansk. I have to say I enjoyed every single one of the day visits! Read on to find out all you need to know on planning a day trip!
Copenhagen
Prague
What made you consider taking a day trip?
You can say my first-day trip happened by accident. It was the summer of 2018 right after I quit my job to pursue and develop the TravelEatSlay brand and do some travelling. Soon after I went to Cuba and then Morocco and honestly my wallet took a hit so I had to calm down but the itch to travel was still there.
TravelEatSlay
While browsing for flights I noticed a flight to Cologne, Germany for £20 return. This was the beginning of TravelEatSlay Day Trips.
How do you plan for a day trip?
Day trips are fun but require a lot of energy. When searching for flights use the incognito browser, use sites like Skyscanner, Google Flights or Kayak. I prefer the former. Once I find a flight on Skyscanner, I usually cross-check it with the airline website to make sure the price is the same. Make sure the flight times are sufficient to enable you to make the most of your time in the city. I usually aim for at least 8 hours in a destination.
What was your first-day trip and did you forget anything important?
Cologne, Germany was my first trip and to be honest I don’t remember forgetting anything instead I sometimes overpack.
What is your must-haves when on a day trip?
Water bottle (to avoid buying beverages- most airports have water fountains where you can fill your bottle. Same goes for restaurants if you ask politely they can fill your bottle)
Battery pack & adaptor – stay powered up.
Snacks these will fuel you as you walk about and explore
Wipes, tissue, sanitizer & lipgloss
TravelEatSlay merchandise of course 😉
Is there anything you wouldn’t bring on a day trip
A book. Well, despite the fact that you won’t have time to really read or focus on the book during a day trip it is one less thing to carry around with you as you will only bring a small bag with you.
Your top 5 countries to travel to for a day trip?
Milan,
Copenhagen,
Venice
Lisbon
Paris
When is your next day trip and how does my audience get involved?
The next day trip is to Copenhagen in March. Anyone keen on joining the travel squad email info@traveleatslay.com to join the mailing list.
Welcome to my fourth series: A Day with MBV In Oslo. In this post, I will be having two other travel bloggers join me! Carry on reading to find out more!
Last year I was asked by Jenna of JennasWorldView if I would like to catch a cheeky flight to Oslo for the day and of course, I said yes!
I mean, who in their right mind would say no?
JennasWorldView
We were later joined by Liz of Lei. Noire who also wanted to spend a day in Oslo! Looking back now, I can honestly say that it was a lovely day, filled with lots of laughter, plenty of shade and small girls talk. Read below on more detail and find out how we spent a day in Oslo.
Lei.Noire
Where is Oslo?
Oslo is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. It was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925 when its original Norwegian name was restored. Oslo is now known to be the economic and governmental centre of Norway. Oslo is primarily a city that is a little bit like London in that it’s a city that is meant to be walked. Many of the city’s attractions lie in the central part of the city. To make the most of your day in Oslo I would suggest using the city’s extensive and efficient public transportation system.
Please don’t make the same mistake of travelling on the fast train as we did. And then end up paying more than you need to. I would also advise against using taxis in Oslo. Oslo is known to be very expensive, and you’ll be spending more than you anticipated.
A day in Oslo
I started the day bright and early by catching and meeting Jenna on the train to Victoria station. It was good to catch up before the busy day we hadn’t planned ahead! Jenna had niced me with some tasty snacks, which I was soo grateful for. Me and Jenna were so busy chatting that we almost missed our coach.
You can easily catch a coach to Stanstead Airport by booking through National Express.
We first headed out to get some brunch! We hadn’t really planned what we were going to do. Well, Liz had given us a list of things that we should do a few days before, but we hadn’t agreed on a brunch location.
Lucky for us, Jenna was able to locate Gunnars, and we headed to the restaurant. It took us forever to find this restaurant! We went through back streets and all sorts! When we eventually found the restaurant we were very much impressed with what we ordered.
Brunch
JWV:I don’t really do travel logistics but when it comes to finding a good spot for brunch you can count on me. Social media is a powerful tool and I managed to find this lovely spot after a few minutes of scrolling on the gram.
We then headed to the Royal Palace in Oslo. It wasn’t far from where we had brunch, but it had started raining! Can you believe me and Jenna paid 10 pounds for an umbrella?!! Honestly, you should be smart and bring your own umbrella-like Liz did!
Historical Fact: The Royal Palace in Oslo was built in the first half of the 19th century. It was built as the Norwegian residence of the French-born King Charles III John of Norway. Who reigned as king of Norway and Sweden.
Liz:I love learning more about history when travelling. The palace is sitting on top of a hill elegant and modest. I was surprised at how close you could get – unfortunately, we could not go in as it was closed. Oslo is a beautiful, calm place – you can see more on my Oslo vlog coming soon on my YouTube Channel.
Location: Slottsplassen 1, 0010 Oslo, Norway
Frogner Park
Liz then suggested that we should head over to Frogner Park. This park was the most challenging place to find! and I didn’t waste any time to let Liz know about it! I do apologise, Liz. Once we were able to locate the park, I was blown away by how beautiful it was.
Liz:The ladies doubted that this place existed and where ready to head back but to be fair we had been walking for a while and a random lady had directed us down a ‘short cut’. In the end, we found the park just before it got dark! The sculptures are a unique and interesting expressing of ‘human form’ by Gustav Vigeland – definitely check it out if you are in Oslo.
Jenna– Finding Frogner Park was a stressful yet funny experience. Lucky for you I caught the entire thing on video so be sure to Subscribe to my Youtube Channel. A day trip to Oslo blog is also coming soon.
The last thing we wanted to do was head over to the Oslo Opera House. I had heard how beautiful the sunset was and wanted to see it for myself! Unfortunately, google maps lied to us and we didn’t manage to see the sunset.
Final Thoughts on a day in Oslo
I think it’s fair to say that we all enjoyed Oslo and would certainly go back! A few things you might want to make note of if you are going.
Everything closes a little earlier than usual on Saturdays.
Oslo is very expensive so bare this in mind if you want to stay there!
The Norwegian currency is NOK (Norwegian Krone) so you won’t get very far with Euro. However, a credit or debit card is approved almost anywhere so grab your Monzo.
Norway has the Best Salmon so be sure to have some!
Hope you enjoyed our time in Oslo. I still have Dublin and Bologna to walk you through, so subscribe so you can stay in the loop with my monthly newsletter of blogposts!
I feel like I haven’t been travelling for a while so today I wanted to rant and tell you 8 things I hate about travelling. Yes, I do talk about how fantastic travelling is and yes I do try my best (at times) to show the glitz and glamour of travelling.
When you cut all the bullshit with the packing, planning, waking up early, getting interrogated at the airport and have done the flight! Let’s be real and honest with our readers, and say that travelling can/is sometimes exhausting and isn’t always glitz and glamorous as we all show you.
Today want to focus around on the not, so glamours part of travelling. The things people don’t tend to show you on their socials.
Things I Hate About Travelling
Checking in
I hate this checking-in with an absolute passion! It’s a difficult one because if you don’t check-in, you ain’t going nowhere! And if you forget to check-in, you might face a penalty (only budget airlines do this)! You can’t win – honestly!
Security
I hate having to put liquids in a plastic bag so they can be checked. Don’t get me wrong I understand why it has to be done, but 7.5/10 I am always the girl that gets stopped. I remember travelling to Singapore to Australia. This was when I lived in Singapore, on arrival, Australia had me unpacking my suitcase and answering a million questions. I was close to having a real melting point!
It gets worst.
On my way back to Singapore, they managed to find my mac foundation, which was more than 120ml!! – guess what they took that from me and flung it in the bin! I was heartbroken! Can you imagine living in an Asian country and not being able to find your foundation colour because it’s not catered for in that part of the world!
Stop overflights
Last year I did a long haul flight and realised how much I don’t very much like stopover flights. Yes, they are useful to cut costs or explore another country, but when they have no wifi, this can be extremely testing! Read this – 5 Things You Should Know When Taking A Stopover Flight
The lack of sleep
This is one dislike I have on my day trips. I get so nervous that I will miss my flight that I don’t sleep! Day trips usually consist of a coach leaving the house at 3/4 am, and a plane from Stanstead Airport at around 6/8 am!
The fear of losing your passport….
Oh my gosh, the fear of losing my passport always scares me! I will check before I leave my flat. Check again when I’m at the lift. Check again when
I get into my uber. Then check when I get on the coach. I will check when I get to the airport. I will basically check and check again until I am sure I have seen it!
Flight delays can irk my soul, especially if you are only doing a day visit. I have experienced several delays in my time. The worst was with AirAsia on my travels in Asia.
Honestly, flight delays can ruin your whole day and disrupt plans you have put in place for your travel journey!
The whole planning of the trip
Planning a trip can be quite stressful, especially if you haven’t been to the country before. Trying to figure out what you should go and miss out when you get to the country can be hard work.
Luckily we have social media, which allows the hard work to be taken off.
Coming back home
Don’t get me wrong sometimes I can be away and miss home. I felt this a lot when I was a student in Singapore.
What I’ve noticed about myself when travelling is that I am so carefree. I’m prepared to take risks you know climb mountains, go sky scuba diving.
When I’m back in the UK, I become this senseless robot that has to pick up from where I left and continue with the same old basic ishh!
Sigh, I think this was quite a depressing post. Not all my post are like that I promise! travelling isn’t always glitz and glamorous as people on the socials make it out to be!
Valentine’s Day is less than 10 days away, and I am already being asked how I am going to spend the Romantic Day.
Everyone thinks that Valentine’s Day is about going out on dates, roses, presents and chocolate, but it doesn’t actually have to be. You can spend the Day with a loved one doing nothing (what I will be most likely doing), spend time with friends, family or be single and do absolutely nothing!
I had the pleasure of participating in this Valentine’s Day-themed blog collaboration, alongside 14 other bloggers. They’ll also be posting related content over the next few days. Make sure to follow their blogs and social accounts through the links I have shared at the end of this post!
Things to do this Valentines: For Singles and Couples
I’ve been both single and in a relationship for several valentines, and I’ve enjoyed myself on both occasions. So today I am going to share with you seven tips on how to enjoy yourself whether you are single or in a relationship.
1. Give out Valentine Cards
Whether you’re single or in a relationship, you can still take part in Valentine’s Day celebrations (if you want to of course).
You can give or make a gift for valentines for your friends, colleagues, siblings or anyone you want too! I think it can be a lot of fun (if you want it to be) and a great way to make someone feel good. You can pick up valentines at your local retail store or try making your own. I would suggest Canva maybe!
Singles – this is a great time to send a gift to your friends FYI it doesn’t have to be Valentine’s card!
Couples – why not be creative this year and make your own Valentines cards (it saves money!)
2. Valentines Hang Out
Spend some time with your family, friends and anyone else you love! This will let them know how much you care about them. There is so much you could get up to:
Singles – we get so busy with work and home life that we don’t always have enough time for each other. Try reconnecting with a friend that you haven’t seen for a while. Have dinner or lunch and catch up on the good old days!
Couples – likewise, we get so busy with work and home life that we don’t always have enough time for each other. Why not spend this Day really connecting with each other (if you know what I mean haha)
Singles – grab your closest friends or a family member and pack for a cheeky getaway! You will enjoy yourself, trust me!
Couples – grab your partner and book a trip and spend some time away!
4. Enjoy your current relationship status
I said earlier that I’ve been both single and in a relationship during the great Valentines day! And I can safely say I haven’t been bothered by the date! EVER! Maybe I am lying haha!
But I do think that it’s essential to enjoy your current status whatever it is! When the time is right, you will get precisely what you want.
Singles – You can make a list of the things you’re good at, what you’re most proud of so far and what your goals are. It can also include what you bring to the table.
Couples – You can also make a list of things you love about your partner and what you’re most proud of them achieving since you’ve known them.
5. Treat yourself
Yes, live your best life! Spend Valentine’s Day and treat yourself! Here are things you can do on the Day:
watch your favourite movie/TV show
take a long ass bubble bath
listen to your fave music
shop for something you’ve been saving for
indulge in your favourite food
write in your journal
take a day trip to your favourite place
write in a journal
paint or draw
dance to your favourite album
6. Valentines Day for all Singles and Couples
I understand that everyone has different opinions on (and preferred ways to spend) Valentine’s Day.
When I’m in a couple, I enjoy making a nice dinner with my partner and watch a movie.
When I am single, I enjoy making a nice dinner and watching a movie by myself.
The difference? Nothing. The only changes are who I do it with.
7. Ask for support
If you’re feeling really down on Valentine’s Day (or any other day of the year), which is absolutely normal. It’s essential to ask for help. Self-care and Compassion is such an essential tool around this time.
Day 14: @luvandlifestyle will be posting a personal account of how my fiance first told me he loves me. You can check out her blog here: https://www.luvandlifestyle.com, Twitter here: https://twitter.com/luvandlifestyle and Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/luvandlifestyle
So you want to know how to travel to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in just 10 days!
I always believe if you can you can, kill 2 birds with one stone – you should. I personally don’t like birds; in fact, I am terrified of them, I run the other way when I see them. Literally!
For the purpose of this blog, I am sure you already know by the title that I am not talking about birds.
To ensure this works well you need to do the following:
You need to plan well ahead – like 3 months before
Make good use of public transport
Be prepared to fly with Air Asia
Be sure to have three different currencies
Only stay short periods of a time
Lots of Sleep
Earlier last year, I travelled over to the sunny side of Singapore for a close friend’s wedding in Malaysia, Johor Bahru. While I was planning my trip to Malaysia, I decided that it would be good to ‘kill 2 birds with one stone’ and fly out to Bali for a few days. Want to know how? Read on!
How to travel to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in just 10 days
Day 1: Arrival in Singapore
I arrived in Singapore late afternoon, without my luggage! Upset was an understatement! I mean my eyelashes and all my hair products were in that suitcase! So I couldn’t slay on my first day, but I did take the pictures above!
It was agreed that my suitcase would arrive in Malaysia, which is where I was heading that very night! I was given S$70 so despite the delay, happy to use the money for my taxi journey to my friend’s house. We had dinner and got ready to head over to Malaysia.
Day 2: Malaysia
The journey from Singapore to Malaysia was horrendous! We were in traffic for at least 3-5 hours. This worried me slightly because I had agreed to meet the cargo driver for my suitcase and I thought I might miss it. At around 4 am we arrived at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Johor Bahru with just enough time for my suitcase to arrive! Yeah me!
A few hours later…
The morning was the henna party! This is a Malaysian party before the wedding ceremony. There are lots of food, henna designs, talking and laughing. The night ended with a rehearsal and an early night for the big wedding day!
Day 3: Malaysian Wedding
The wedding day was an early start with hair and makeup. I was asked to carry a stand into the room which you can watch on my Instagram highlights. The day went along with wedding ceremonials, music and food!
Day 4: Last day in Malaysia
On my last day, I was invited to my friends family home to indulge in some rich Malaysian food! The night ended with us celebrating the new couple with the new family.
Malaysian Home
At around 11 pm I decided that it was time to head back to Singapore. I will be writing a piece on how to cross the border so subscribe and stay up to date.
Day 5: Back in Singapore
Singapore
I headed back to Singapore on my ones and decide to go and do more tourists things. It was good for me to experience the Singaporean tourist sites I missed as a student. Also read – 11 Things To Do In Singapore.
Day 6: Catch a flight to Bali
I headed back to Singapore airport for my solo adventure of the year – Bali! My arrival was quite overwhelming if I am honest with you – looking for my taxi driver was hectic with no wifi! Anyways I arrived in the afternoon using AirAsia and caught a Gojeck to my hotel! There were lots and lot of traffic so I wasn’t able to get to my hotel until the early evening. My first night was spent with a massage, facial and dinner.
Woke up early to have breakfast by the pool and get another massage! I had made a friend the day before on my tour who had invited me to meet her at Potatoe Head Beach Club. We ended the day in both KYND and Bali Bola! I was so full up in the evening that I was glad to head home and have a nap!
Day 9: Goodbye Bali & Hello Singapore
It was my last day in Bali so I headed out to the Monkey Forest and Ubud Palace. By mid-afternoon, it was time for me to head home so-called on my taxi friend and caught a short flight back to Singapore.
Day 10: Last day in Singapore
My last day in Singapore was a chilled one heading out to the local restaurants and buying souvenirs.
