2 March 2016

Holiday Reminiscing

Hi everyone! I thought I'd do something a bit different today, I did have a beauty post lined up however I just felt like writing a chatty post and I actually found a lot of old photos on my laptop recently taken over the past few years and it made me feel very nostalgic! I'm also feeling very glum at this point that it's still absolutely freezing and I'm not going away till the Summer and my actual big holiday isn't until November so when I was looking through all my old holiday photos it made me want to share some with you and maybe inspire you to want to visit some of these lovely places! Bearing in mind a lot of these photos aren't the best quality because they were just taken on my phone before I was even interested in buying a camera. Also before 2013 I hadn't been on a holiday in about 9 years, it wasn't until I got together with my boyfriend I was able to go away so I will just start from then.


2013

I had already been with my boyfriend about two years at this point and his family at the time were going away to an apartment in Los Cristianos, Tenerife every year so in 2013 when we were 18 he invited me to go with them. This was before I had done all inclusive hotels, but I had never done self-catering before either it was always half board so it was actually a really fun experience and it kind of introduced me to a completely different kind of holiday. Los Cristianos is an amazing place though, I think if you aren't bothered about doing all inclusive and want to get out of your hotel, or if you are looking for an apartment this is honestly the perfect place! I get so nostalgic thinking about this holiday because it was mine and Matty's first time away together and we seriously had so much fun. The apartment was in a little complex of them, all privately owned, they rented this one off someone they knew from home for two weeks and it was slap bang in the centre of Los Cristianos. You would walk out of the apartment and about 1 minute away was all the restaurants, and about 3 minutes away was the beach it was actually the perfect location. 

We went to Siam Park while we were there which is the big water park in Tenerife and if you ever go there then this is seriously a must! It's such a good day and the wave pool has the biggest artificial waves in the world I believe? I'm going to quickly check that by the way...yeah that's right haha! They are absolutely massive, definitely hold on to your bikini if you swim in deep because there's a chance that you will lose your top, I'm always so scared that this will happen to me! The thing about Los Cristianos as well even if you do go self-catering is that everything is so cheap, all the food and trips over there are really affordable, it's a go out to eat every night kind of holiday which I love! What's a holiday if you don't spend the majority of the time eating? It's got everything you need really, lots of bars, restaurants, two beaches, lots of trips you can go on. I don't know if I'd be interested in doing a hotel if we ever went back there just because the apartment was so good, but the hotels do look lovely so if you were wanting to go they are worth a look. I basically spent the whole holiday sunbathing and doing lots of fun things, there's a monkey park you can visit which is so fun and you get to feed all the chimps and other monkeys so I'd also recommend that. Writing this is making me want to go back so much it's making me sad! 









It was honestly the perfect chilled out holiday but it had the balance between having the chance to do nothing and the chance to do lots of fun activities as well, even though I absolutely love all inclusive now, at the same time having the freedom to do whatever you want when you go self-catering when you are in a destination where this is so much to do is just as good! I cried when I had to come home because I'd had such an amazing time, plus after two weeks in gorgeous weather who really wants to come home and go back to work?! 

2014

Matty's family were going back to Tenerife this year and we always had the option to go back but by this time we kind of knew that it was our turn to go off on our own and have our own experience which meant planning the whole trip by ourselves. It took a while to figure out where we wanted to go, I was at university now and I had the help of my student loan plus my part time wage and Matty was now working full time so we had more money to do something a bit more extravagant. Matty had his heart set on Mexico but I was a bit unsure because it was so far and it wasn't cheap at all but he finally convinced me! I'm definitely the planner out of the two of us, I organise everything and he's really laid back and chilled out so he just lets me do what I want so I did loads of research because there is SO many places to stay in Mexico, we knew we were going all inclusive because neither of had never done this before plus that's all you really can do in Mexico. I wasn't too bothered about staying in Cancun because it's a bit too party central for me and we are both quite boring and don't care about drinking and partying so we ended up going for Riveria Maya which is really close to Cancun so we had the option of not being far from all the excursions and we picked a hotel called Grand Sirenis. We booked this with Thomson who were so good, it was so nice having everything sorted for you all at once and even though I am organised, the thought of planning my first holiday without proper adults was really scary haha! 

The thing about Mexico is that it's definitely not a holiday for you if you don't like flying! The flight there was about 10 hours, I actually didn't find the flight there that bad I just kept falling asleep for intervals the whole time and before I knew it we were there! The memory of walking round the corner and seeing the customs queue though stands out in my head so much, it was the longest wait in a queue ever after a 10 hour flight plus the heat was insane! Thankfully we had done our VISA on the flight so you don't have to wait as long but by the time I got out of that queue all I wanted to do was go to sleep! Because of the time difference we had been awake about 20 hours by the time we got on the coach to the hotel, another distinct memory is walking out the doors of the airport and the heat and humidity just hitting me in the face, it's so hot! The hotel was absolutely gorgeous when we got there though and they gave you this really nice fruit drink while you were waiting at the check in line, you got on a little golf cart after that and they took you to your room. This was honestly such different holiday compared to when we went to Tenerife before, all inclusive was a massive difference and I'd never done it before but I absolutely loved it! So nice not having to worry about money while you're there, tipping is expected though which kind of bugs me because I always tip anyway but I don't like the expectation that you HAVE to. This holiday consisted of basically chilling by the pool the whole time listening to music and drinking frozen strawberry daiquiris which I definitely miss! We went swimming with dolphins while we were here which was the only excursion we did however looking back I wish we had done more because Mexico honestly has the best excursions, there is so many amazing trips you can go on. We did do the spa though which was amazing, you had to pay more but it was the most relaxing experience, we did the hydrotherapy and the couples massage and we both left in that little chilled out bubble you go into!






I also got horrendously sunburnt right at the start of this holiday, we both did actually however mine went really quickly but Matty's was there for a bit longer. We always laugh about this now because he kept me awake ALL night one time lying in bed making though noises where you sound like you are saying "sssss ow" and even though I felt bad for him I was so tired and I got really annoyed, which looking back now we just laugh at because we were so daft getting that burnt, I actually have a picture of mine which shows how bad it is but I don't want to put it on because it's just embarassing! I would like to go to Mexico again, in a different hotel this time just to try something new because there is so much choice, but the long flight and the jet lag is definitely something to take into consideration!

2015

We had a really hard time choosing a holiday this year because we loved Mexico but didn't want to go back because we wanted to try somewhere new and we honestly had no idea. We knew we wanted to do all inclusive again and we had looked at places like Greece but they were so expensive. My Aunty had actually told us about a place she had been to called Cape Verde where there isn't really anything to do except chill out, and this is fine with us because we are boring on holiday and like to do nothing! We ended up booking there with Thomson again in a hotel called the Riu Touareg and I was SO excited in the run up to this holiday because the whole place looked like a giant sandcastle. This holiday really didn't disappoint, this is where Matty really wants to go back to, Cape Verde is called the 'island of no stress' and it's so true, it's such a relaxing place with gorgeous weather and it basically never rains there which is always a bonus!

This was another place where we just sunbathed and ate lots of lovely food, I didn't get burnt this year either which is good to know I learnt my lesson from the year before. I actually got the most tanned I've ever been when I came back home, which is an accomplishment for me because I am on a mission to get tanned on holiday! We did do one excursion which at the time we were just in shock about how weird the night was, but now we laugh about this so much. It was a beach night at this beach restaurant place however it was just really odd. There was a couple from Newcastle there trying to turn it into a Geordie Shore night out, I'm really not joking when I say that! I remember him filming me on his iPad which I found really strange and me and Matty were just like 'what is going on here', then his girlfriend actually had too much to drink and passed out and had to get a taxi ordered for her back to her hotel, THEN Matty was eating his steak and chipped half of his tooth off and got in a really bad mood and THEN the African drummers started playing which was good but there was a group of French people there who looked like they were on a gap year and one of them got these light up orbs on a stretchy string out of his pocket and stood up swinging them around to the African drummers, so it was just a very strange night! However other than that we had a lovely time haha! I did get a bit ready for home by the end of the two weeks, not because I was bored, I was loving life chilling on the beach everyday (honestly the most amazing beach by the way, the hotel has it's own private beach which stretches for about 16 miles with the softest sand ever and massive waves) but I was a bit tired of the all inclusive life, just eating in the same places everyday and not having any private time really. 








Looking back even though I was a bit ready for home I'd absolutely love to go back here, we just chilled out and had so much fun together, it was just my ideal holiday really! Plus the food was gorgeous and they would always have this massive table of different cheeses and crackers every night, so if you're a cheese addict like me then you would be in heaven!

If you read through all of this post then you definitely deserve a medal because it was a long one! It's honestly made me so nostalgic though and desperate for a holiday now! We have two abroad trips booked for this year now, in July we are off to Madrid for three nights just a for a nice hot city break, the reason we are doing this is because we aren't doing are usually summer holiday this year, we are off to Florida in November, so Madrid is going to tide us over till then! I can't wait for both these trips though especially Florida! We are still looking for a villa so if you have any tips on any nice ones then I'd love to know, let me know in the comments where you are off to this year!
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39 comments

  1. Ooooh you've got me soooo excited for my holiday now!! I'm going to Portugal in July with Ryan and I cannot wait! x

    www.shayholly.co.uk

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    1. I actually can't wait for mine I wish it would hurry up!x

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  2. I really enjoyed this post & it has put Cape Verde way up my holiday wishlist! Eek - so excited for summer now! xx

    Beautylymin

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  3. Ahh I need to go on holiday now. It has been snowing here today, I just want the sun and a hot beach. I need to book a holiday!

    Lauren x | www.laurenapowers.blogspot.com

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  4. Ah this post has made me majorly miss the sun! I haven't been on a hot holiday in about six years! I've been to cool places but nowhere hot and sunny :(

    The Makeup Directory

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    1. I need some sun now I feel like I've been living in a permanent winter!x

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  5. Aww, this is such a sweet and refreshing read, sometimes it's great to post something non beauty related! It's nice to see how you both grow throughout the years too, what a gorgeous couple!

    Shireen | Reflection of Sanity

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    1. I know this was such a fun post to write, thank you that's such a lovely thing to say!x

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  6. Haven't been to any of these places but they sound great! So jealous of how well you tan too haha! I would love to be going to Florida this year!

    Danielle's Beauty Blog

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    1. I'm honestly so excited I wish November would hurry up!x

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  7. Your tan looked amazing in your last photo! Also that photo which got drawn of you and your boyfriend is so good, such a great piece of memorabilia!
    Charlotte // www.charlottespicks.com

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    1. I know I absolutely love it, going to keep it forever!x

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  8. I've sadly never been on holiday abroad before! Probably like one of the few people haha. But this was really interesting to read. I would love to be able to tan like you!!!xx

    Lauren | itslaurenvictoria.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. I love tanning I just wish it didn't fade so fast when I got home!xx

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  9. Wow, your vacations sound amazing! I love looking through photos, especially of vacation ones :)

    RachelShuchatMakeup

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    1. It makes me so excited to go on another holiday looking at old photos!x

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  10. Reading your post makes me want to go on holiday!! Xx

    http://www.itsjessiejane.com/

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    1. I know I'm so desperate to go away at the minute!xx

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  11. So nice to be able to look back on all your trips, they all sound lovely especially Cave Verde (that just sounds like total bliss, even though maybe 1 week of all inclusive might be best). Florida will be so amazing, I hope you have a great time x

    Beauty with charm

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    1. It was such a relaxing holiday I loved it!x

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  12. Your holidays all look so lovely! I'm so jealous of how tanned you look! And I love your pink bikini too, it's gorgeous! xo

    ohhelloitshannah.blogspot.co.uk

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  13. Aww, you must have had such a great time! <3
    Simimaus

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  14. Oh wow all three holidays sound incredible! I've never been to Mexico but it's definitely on my list of countries to visit, as it looks absolutely stunning xx

    Gemma ♥ Miss Makeup Magpie

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    1. It's such a fun place to visit, gorgeous weather and lots of things to do!xx

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  15. Wow, it looks like you had such a wonderful time on your holiday! :) <3 And btw, you look stunning in a bikini! Goals. <3

    Kay
    http://shoesandglitter.com/

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    1. Thank you that comment has made my day haha!x

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  16. Ohh you've got me reminiscing about holidays now! I'm like you, my holiday isn't for a few months yet and I'm feeling a bit glum about it - especially when it's so rubbish here in England! It looks like you've visited some fabulous places, I'd love to go to Mexico!

    Musings & More

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    1. I've got till November for my big holiday I just want time to hurry up!x

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  17. There's something so amazing about being on vacation, honestly I wish I could stay on vacation for much longer than I normally do! Two weeks is not enough time ;) xx adaatude.com

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    1. I agree I could happily go away for a month!x

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  18. I have always really fancied Cape Verde and your pictures have really persuaded me! Looks beautiful - great post (nice to have a recap once in a while!)

    Charlotte x

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    1. It's such a gorgeous place to visit, I know I loved writing this post!x

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  19. Wow you've been to some amazing places, I bet the views must have been incredible! Having two holidays to look forward to is so cool, I hope you enjoy them greatly :)

    Velvet Blush

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    1. I can't wait I wish time would go faster!x

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  20. Wow! You were so tanned! I wish it was a bit warmer already so that winter coats could stay at home and I could get a tan again. I love summer and sunshine and I love getting tanned more and more every day. It kind of makes me happy! :D
    Also, the photos are so great, I'm really jealous!

    Olivia xx | http://livialinette.blogspot.co.at/

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