What makes good travel clothes and how much do I need?

The answer to that question is.... a lot less than you think.

Clothing: (I'm really talking to the girls here.  You guys aren't too bad in my experience although you may pick up a few ideas.)


You really don't need as much as you think you do.  I found that it didn't matter how long I was going for, even for a year, I didn't need any more clothes than I needed for a week.  The exception to that would be if your climate changes from say the heat of southern Spain to snow capped mountains of Canada.  If that is what you are doing, then I would take what I needed for the place I was going first or longest and head straight to the charity shops, if they have any, or local markets when I needed clothes for change in climate.

Don't make the same mistakes I made.

We had way too much luggage

Isle of Wight Walking Festival Dawn Chorus Walk

What do you do 6 days after International Dawn Chorus Day?

Well it seems you set your alarm for before dawn and head to a designated meeting point at 4.30am where a dozen or so other shadowy figures were loitering.  The purpose of this meet – A Dawn Chorus Walk led by Ian Boyd, bird song expert and part of the Bay Coastal Community Team,

As we started our walk, dawn was still asleep, but it wasn't long before the first birds started to sing.  Well before it became light, blackbirds, robins, thrushes and wrens began their melodies like a well rehearsed concerto which crescendoed as the light increased.

Five Fascinating Facts about Brading Roman Villa

5 things you didn't know about Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight

• The lovely cedar museum with wild living roof was originally going to be an ugly metal box structure until the mayor of Brading stepped in and stopped it. Mike Rainey was tasked with job of designing a building that would both protect the mosaics and yet enable them to be viewed by visitors.  He had a job keeping everyone happy from the archaeologists to the planning department.   

Brading Roman Villa Picture supplied by Brading Roman Villa

10 Free things to do in Keflavik & Reykjanes Peninsula

Iceland is expensive for UK visitors especially if you are not used to London prices so I've found 10 free things for you to do in Keflavik all year round, to help you save a few Icelandic Krona (ISK).

Hands up who wants 10 Free things to do in Keflavik?

You are most likely to arrive at Keflavik Airport if you are visiting Iceland.  Some people will arrive in Iceland and shoot off to Reykjavik on the shuttle bus and then perhaps spend the night in Keflavik the day before they return because they have a very early flight.   If you find you have a day or more to spare on your Iceland trip, it’s worth exploring the Reykjanes Peninsula and here are 10 free things for you to do in Keflavik, the main town in the Reykjanes Peninsula.

1. Gigant's Cave

Visit a giants cave.  Giganta’s cave at Gróf Marina is open every day from 10am to 5pm except in bad weather.  That’s because it sits right on the cliff edge exposed to the north Atlantic .

Giganta the Giant

Icelandic Museum of Rock’N’Roll

When you think of Iceland you probably imagine dramatic landscapes, powerful geysers, active volcanoes and ice blue glaciers.  What you may not realise is that Iceland also has an amazing and thriving music industry and has been hosting the 5 day Airwaves Festival in Reykjavik for the last 17 years.

Despite having a population of just over 300,000, this arctic country has produced a huge amount of musical talent, the most well known artists being the Sucarcubes, Björk, Sigur Rós, and Of Monsters and Men but as you walk round the displays at the Museum of Rock’N’Roll in Keflavik, you realise there has been musical acts coming out of Iceland for decades.

Rokksatn Islands or Rock'n'Roll Museum

Viking World

Before you even enter the impressive glass museum where the Viking longboat Íslendingur is housed, you will see the kneeling statue of Hrafna-Flóki and his raven, the first Norseman to travel to Iceland.  It is not known exactly when he settled in Iceland but it is likely that he sailed to Iceland on a boat similar to the Islendingur when he left western Norway stopping off at the Shetland Isles and the Faroe Islands where he picked up 3 ravens to help him navigate to Iceland, earning him the nickname Hrafna-Flóki, Hrafna meaning Raven. 

Hrafna-Flóki and his raven

Unearthing the Spirit of the Icelandic Horse

“And this is the tölt,” said Hrönn as Chloe elegantly glided past us in the arena, with Hrönn and Snorri’s youngest daughter, Signý sitting comfortably in the saddle as Chloe and Signý demonstrated the smoothness of the tölt gait, one of two gaits unique to Icelandic horses. 

Signý riding Chloe