How to Survive an Early Flight When You HATE Mornings

When you're on a constant quest to travel as much as possible, budget airlines are the answer to curing your wanderlust without bankrupting yourself. However, an affordable flight often means departing at an unholy hour of the morning. It's the ultimate internal conflict for this holiday-hungry night owl, but just like when I'm flying long-haul, I now have a routine that gets me through the pain of a 4am alarm.

An Indian Brunch at Cinnamon Bazaar, Covent Garden

Brunch in London can be a stressful affair. The city's obsession means you often need to book weeks in advance or queue with the masses to get your bacon and bellini fix. On a rare, quiet Sunday, our only plans were to hit up TK Maxx for some thermal socks for our upcoming trip to Iceland, and wondering through Covent Garden I was surprised to see Cinnamon Bazaar looking relatively empty. It's been on my to-eat list for a while, so I ditched plans of seeking out French toast and went in.

Why We Should All Visit Places of Political Importance Abroad

When you travel to a new destination, what do you want to see? Nature at its finest, incredible cityscapes, traditional ways of living, maybe some local art? Travel makes me happy and experiencing the unknown is always where I'd rather be, but what about experiencing the cold hard truth about the history of the country you're in? To be a well-behaved tourist and an ethical global citizen, I believe it is my responsibility to know the background of where I am, even if it makes for an uncomfortable visit.

An Afternoon at The British Library for Harry Potter: A History of Magic

It's hard to believe that Harry Potter has been a part of my life for 20 years; my love of the series has spanned a time longer than most of my non-familial relationships, and conjures memories of late-night binge-reading under-the-duvet way past my bedtime and being OBSESSED when the next volume was due to be published.

A Solo Traveller's Guide to Taking Selfies

It's all well and good to have photos of the places you've visited, but sometimes it's nice to appear in them yourself. I like having photographic proof of my presence somewhere, especially when I've travelled half way across the world to see something spectacular. It's not just for Instagram (although I won't lie, I obviously want it for that too), but I want to send it to my mum and say, 'Look where I am!', or to have it put in a frame for memories. Travelling solo means you might not always get a great photo of yourself, but here's how I manage it:

Visiting the Floating Torii Gate of Miyajima, Japan

Prior to visiting Japan, I didn't know the name of the island that is home to the famous floating shrine. Rather like my visit to Himeji Castle, I knew the emoji symbol and the fact it looked pretty in photos, but it was only with some research that I realised it would be feasible to visit it on a day trip from Osaka, and that the island it lives on is called Itsukushima, but is commonly known as Miyajima.

Steak Frites at Flat Iron, Denmark St

There's a whole heap of places on my London to-eat list that I haven't made it to yet because I just cannot be arsed to queue. Gradually, no-reservation eateries are starting to become less rare, but I do get it with smaller places. Flat Iron on Denmark Street is limited on space which means demand is high, and explains why it's taken me so long to actually eat there.

Just Go

If the topic of my three-month solo travel adventure ever crops up (or rather, if you can stop me from talking about it), there's a few routes that the conversation could go down. There are people who simply have no interest in travel, and especially not the long-term type, so they'll ask why I'd even want to embark on something so alien to them. I had my reasons, as I've written about before, but for the most part, the responses are more positive, and they go something along these lines: