CENTRE POMPIDOU PARIS
My new years resolution for 2011 was predictable enough, to travel more. 2010 was difficult to beat, I spent some time traveling to Australia, Fiji, Japan and Madrid. For someone with a full time job to contend with, it wasn’t bad going.
January – New Years in Edinburgh
2011 got off to the perfect start with a new years trip to Edinburgh. I’d amazingly never set foot in Scotland despite growing up inN the north west of England. I enjoyed the festivities on new years eve watching the Scotish band, Biffy Clyro bring in to 2011. Needless to say we eventually found a bustling pub to party into the early hours.
February – Sardinia for Valentines Day
Beautiful sunset in Sardinia
In early February I took a trip to a small village in Sardinia to visit my girlfriend for valentines day. It was interesting to see small town life in Sardinia especially dining out for valentines day in a local restaurant. Whilst in Sardinia we explored a peaceful beach at Chia, wandered the archeology sights at Nora and dined in the small village of Sarroch.
March – Conference in New York
Iconic New York City Cabs
In March I finally got the chance to fly to New York with work for a SEO conference, SES New York. Being situated not far from the former World Trade Centre twin towers at Battery Park I had time to visit the famous sights of New York as well as being shown some of the nightlife. I was impressed by the portions of food, confused by the tipping and intrigued by the wine bars and jazz clubs of the east village. New York surprised me, I had a great time and I am looking to go back in the very near future.
April – Holiday to Brazil
Editor in Sao Paulo
In April I travelled to Brazil, visiting Sao Paulo and out to the coast to Ubatuba for a Brazilian holiday by the beach. I sampled many caipirinhas, coxinhas and pastels whilst sunning myself on the beach. I also challenged myself with dizzying heights by zip-lining at Socorro.
May – Press Trip to Alentejo, Portugal
I visited the Alentejo region of Portugal for a day press trip back in May. It was an interesting trip to a beautiful area of the country. I wrote an article Holidays to Alentejo, Portugal. If I had a week to take a road trip to an area to relax, drink fine wine surrounded by rolling fields of sunflowers and olive groves I’d seriously consider a holiday to this region of Portugal.
June – Gerard Depardieu & SAS Airlines Press Event
Gerard Depardieu sampling his rose wine
I was lucky enough to be invited to an event organised by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) at Stockholm airport in June, featuring an appearance by French actor and wine expert Gerard Depardieu. We had a brief tour of Stockholm and I ate reindeer for the first time.
September – Berlin & Blog trip to Tenerife
The volcanic lanscape in Tenerife
I was one of two best men for a Stag trip to Berlin, needless to stay we toured the Berlin bars and did very little sightseeing. We hired a beer bike one evening a saw a few sights whilst peddling and drinking beer. One recommended place was the steak house “the bird” (recommended by @jm_deluxe) amazing steaks and service, but be warned the napalm chilli sauce is deadly! Suffering from a dose of man flu after sampling the nightlife in Berlin for the weekend I headed to Tenerife. It was September and a good opportunity to get away from the grey skies of London. The aim of the trip was to show the alternative trekking holiday side of the island. I wrote about trekking mount Teide as well as
October – F1 Grand Prix Korea blog trip
Shopping in Seoul South Korea
I was honoured to be invited on a blog trip to South Korea to experience the Korean Grand Prix sponsored by the travelllll.com and Expedia. I relished the opportunity to visit a country outside of Europe with a very different culture to my own. I particularly enjoyed the intriguing visit to the demilitarised zone on the north/south border that I covered on TravMonkey.com. Not only was the country an amazing experience but I also made some great friends in Chris (@theaussienomad – aussienomad.com) and John (@johnonolan from Travelllll.com.
November – Swedish blog trip and Paris
River walkway near Notre Dame Paris
In November we sent our trusty travel writer Monica Stott to Skane in Southern Sweden to experience a winter trip I took a short trip to Paris on the Eurostar for a weekend covering most of the main landmarks on offer and particularly enjoying the Louvre and visiting the area around the locations from the film Amelie.
December – New Year in Brussels
Finally, in late December I spent Christmas in the north west of England and on the 28th of December I’m heading to Brussels, Belgium for New Years. It’s been a year that has definitly exceeded expectations both in terms of travel but also in seeing the travel industry recognise the innovation in social media and travel blogging. 2012 is going to be an exciting year, we can’t wait to see the developments in online publishing and we aim to be at the forefront of it all.
