Suitcase Glory – A stylish way to travel

Suitcase Glory – A stylish way to travel

Hello Lovelies,

Picture the scene, you’re standing at the baggage claim carousel. Your 300 fellow travellers from the same plane are also with you and all waiting for their bag too. Out comes a sea of black cases. How do you know which is yours? There will be some with ribbon or stickers, or some bright jazzy cases which usually seem to be broken, dirty or a combination of the two.

Know what I’m talking about? Yep!

I fell in to the bright suitcase trap many years ago buying a bright pink one. On returning from its maiden voyage, that case was a murky grey colour with the odd flash of pink. Not cool.

After working in the travel industry Laura Daniel started Suitcase Glory when she too found that suitcases were either seemingly well made and plain or jazzy and flimsy.

 

 



The up and coming British brand are about to launch on September 20th with 3 super cute, practical and well made suit cases. Cherry Print, Seaside print and a foreign city print. All durable had shell cases with 4 spinning wheels means you’ll look super stylish while getting your clobber from A to B.

Made in Britain from a tough polycarbonate, the cases feature a TSA approved lock with memory foam handles, 4 free spinning 360 wheels and come with a 12 month guaranty.

Priced at £129, they fall in to the mid range of suitcases… and when you look at some of the big suitcase hitters like Rimowa, Biggs & Riley, Tumi and Antler, these 3 beauties are a dead cert winner.

As the company is still in its early days, I’d love to see a range of suitcase sizes with the matching print as I’d love for my cabin rollaboard to match my large suitcase for chic coordinated travel.
 
 
I am currently torn between Cherries and the City print. It’s a toughy!
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Kuoni comes to Intu Metrocentre, Gateshead

Kuoni comes to Intu Metrocentre, Gateshead

Hello Lovelies, 

Saturday 6th September saw the grand opening of the brand new Kuoni concept store at the Metrocentre.

Growing up I will always remember seeing those oh-so-posh brochures of African safari’s and rooms on jettys in azure blue seas.  Kuoni has always been synonymous with quality and luxury. Fast forward to now being 31, I know that Kuoni is competitively priced and offers fantastic quality for holiday makers.


Worldwide travel experts Kuoni open Travel Design Room at intu MetroCentre
New ‘Evolution’ store designed to put conversation and inspiration at the heart of holiday booking
 
 

A new style of travel store designed to inspire customers to create individual journeys around the world has opened its doors today in the new Platinum Mall at the intu MetroCentre in Gateshead.
The new store from award-winning travel experts Kuoni is the company’s 31st in the UK and brings fresh thinking to the way people plan their holidays.
 
Created as a Travel Design Room, there are relaxed seating areas, a coffee bar, and a library with books, maps and magazines to inspire people to travel to all corners of the globe.
A high impact “World Window”, the first of its kind in the UK, recreates a map of the world across 15 TV screens.  The screens offer destination insight, live weather feeds, social media highlights, and destination video.
A team of six friendly, well-travelled experts have been handpicked to work in the store.  Between them they have first-hand knowledge of a huge range of destinations and holiday types including the Indian Ocean, Caribbean, the Far East, USA, Australasia, Africa, and cruise as well as weddings abroad and honeymoons.
The Travel Design Room will look very different from any other travel store. It won’t have traditional desks, instead the Travel Experts will have laptops and a second Samsung touch screen will be used to show customers videos, photos and additional information. 
 
 
Designed to stimulate the senses, a new signature scent, created exclusively for Kuoni by luxury spa company ESPA, will fragrance the store. 
Derek Jones, Kuoni managing director, said: “We live and love travel at Kuoni and we wanted to bring that passion to life in a store environment.  Conversation and inspiration were the two things we had in mind when creating the new travel design room.  Amazing holidays can only be created if you have the right conversation at the start of the journey.  It takes time, so we wanted to create a relaxing space for people to talk to our team – in an environment that also triggers excitement about travel the moment anyone walks through the door.”
Susanna Duffy, manager of the new MetroCentre store, said: “This is unlike any other travel shop I’ve ever seen or worked in.  It’s so exciting for all of us to be involved in something so dynamic.   We want customers to feel like they are sitting in their own home, with a friendly travel expert creating their personalised holiday.”
Kuoni’s full range of holidays will be available to book in-store with 88 destinations to choose from along with a huge range of stay and cruise options, ski, villa and cultural short breaks.
Individual members of the team will be available for appointments, ideal for anyone planning a special occasion or a more complex tailor-made itinerary.



I have my eye on a week in St Vincent….. just need to tell Mr Tramp about this!
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In flight beauty essentials

In flight beauty essentials

Hello Lovelies,

If you remember recently, I showed you my non beauty in flight essentials, well here are the beauty goodies! I don’t normally carry this for short flights but I mostly fly long haul, 5hrs+.

These are my tried and tested favourites. All within the TSA regulations and nothing high end in case of damage.
 


I always arrive to the airport with make up on and remove it on the plane. I use Yes to Cucumbers wipes or Ole Henriksen for this as they are gentle and have a refreshing scent. Mr T is happy to use them for his hands and to refresh his face. You can never go wrong with packs of tissues too. I constantly have about 3 packs on me at any one time so flying is no different!

Once the make up is off, I apply First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and my holy grail Boots spot treatment, if needed. I top this up regularly on long haul flights. Travel always makes me break out, I think it’s the stress and dry air. I keep a tube of Weleda Skin Food with me too as you can use it all over the body as well as the face if you are feeling particularly parched.

The headrest always makes my hair so dry and tatty so I give it a good brush and put it in to a low ponytail or braid to keep it out of the way. I have a mini Denman brush with a mirror on it, to save me carrying one.

The airplane cabin is extremely drying on the skin so I always pack lip balm and lash it on constantly throughout the flight. Both of us do. Something in stick form is a must so you aren’t dipping your fingers in to a pot. I also carry eye drops with me for Mr T and I as there’s nothing worse than that scratchy feeling if you have napped.

The Body Shop Vitamin C facial spray is perfect for those pick me up moments where you feel a bit blah. Usually when you wake up from a nap or towards the end of the flight. I must be the only person who gets roasting hot on a plane and I like this to cool me down. I keep an Travelo atomiser of my favourite perfume to keep me fresh too as no one wants to sit next to a stinker!

Using the anti bacterial spray or liquid soap in the bathroom always leaves my hands feeling like sandpaper so I frequently reapply hand cream to keep my hands silky soft – The Gardners Hand Therapy from Crabtree & Evelyn is my absolute favourite. It is so fresh and spa-like. When preparing to land, I hit the bathroom and apply some deodorant and use my waterless toothbrush. 


Back at my seat I use another wipe to refresh my skin and then apply a powder foundation, after a bit of concealing. I have tried plenty but the Collection Perfecting Mineral one comes with a built in brush so you don’t need to apply liquids or carry extra brushes. This powder foundation does give quite good buildable coverage. I prefer this to using a pressed powder foundation and a sponge. I always have my brows and lashes tinted before trips so I don’t need to worry about that. I carry a Tarte Blush in Tipsy and just lightly use the foundation brush to apply it. A bit of a bold gloss and I am done on the face front. My go to lip gloss is the L’oreal Glam Shine Stain in 200 Princess. A gorgeous reddy coral. Just bright enough to perk you up without being OTT.

I take my hair out and give it a brush and I am done.

If I am on a short flight, I will keep my make up on and just refresh myself with my Vitamin C spray and perfume. Keep my hands and lips well moisturised, apply some more lippy before landing and be on my way.


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The Coniston Hotel, Skipton

Coniston Hotel Skipton

The Coniston Hotel is set on a country estate just outside the Yorkshire town of Skipton. Within the grounds you can arrange fishing, shooting, archery, golf, falconry, cycling and off-roading. It’s an outdoorsy hotel with an opulent luxury to it. It has it’s own 24 acre lake and it is a working estate.
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My Travel Essentials

My Travel Essentials



Hello Lovelies,

I travel quite a lot, whether it is within the UK, for business or across the world for holidays. Every trip I tell myself I must pack less in to my carry on / hand bag but I am one of those over packers that covers EVERY eventuality. I have whittled my essentials down as much as possible for this year and I am determined not to pile junk in again. Of course some things I carry serve both Mr Tramp and I.
If I am on a flight, my usual travel bag is a Jansport rucksack with my handbag tucked inside. It’s not glamorous but it is robust, spacious and keeps both hands free. If you are stuck in a queue for 2hrs in a baking hot airport, the last thing you want is a heavy handbag cutting in to your shoulder while you juggle your suit case and passport. My travel handbag is my Zatchels Saddlebag.
  




When I travel, I like to keep myself entertained as it is the only time I am not being hounded by clients or dealing with workloads. My Kindle Paperwhite never leaves my side, nor does my trustySamsung Galaxy S5. I can handle most of my professional tasks from it so I don’t usually need to bring my ipad. For long journeys I always carry my good old Ipod Classic 16gb full of tunes and a little portable speaker (not pictured) and my JVC noise cancelling headphones. With the new rulings on powering electrics for airport security I carry portable charger packs and all my wires. Handy tip here, I pack all my charging wires in to a sunglasses case to keep them safe and compact.
This tech with is fine but for those dreaded periods where you either can’t use electricals or don’t want to display what you have, a small book is a godsend. I always pick an amusing one, like quiz questions or a Where’s Wally and Mr T and I read it together this year’s book is 747 things to do on a plane. I always carry a small notebook and pen with me too you never know when you’ll need a pen and paper for blog ideas, directions or giving your details to that cool new person you meet.
I suffer terribly with ear pain on airplanes so I always have handfuls of foam earplugs with me. I have tried everything, truly, to get me through this but I always go back to the cheap disposable ones. No stress if you lose one. Take off and landing, these bad boys get me through. I always carry an anti bacterial spray as I prefer these to the gels as I can sanitise my surroundings as well as my hands. Tray tables, loo seats, hands, it’s multi purpose. Same goes for wet wipes. I buy ones that can be used on the face as well as hands if I need to refresh my face.
As a glasses wearer, I always travel in my glasses and make sure I pack plenty of contact lenses, my prescription sunnies and plain sunglasses. The plane air dries eyes out so it can be quite uncomfortable to wear lenses. Even with the fancy eye drops.  As the air both in the airport and on the plane is quite dry due to AC and altitude, a foldable water bottle is a brilliant way to keep hydrated without lugging a big bottle round. You can fill it up whenever you need to keep hydrated then roll it back up. I always have mints or chewing gum with me too to keep my breath fresh.
For traveling comfort, I always make sure I either wear or pack a pashmina and my favourite folding slippers from Muji. Perfect for those trips to the galley or bathroom. If you are facing a long journey,a neck pillow and eye mask are a must. I prefer the inflatable pillows with soft jersey covers as they save on space. If you struggle to sleep during the day or suffer with jet lag, an eye mask is great. My favourite one is from NPW in their Inflight Comfort Kit as it is very soft jersey and comes in a cute bag with the pillow and some ear plugs. I keep a spare top and underwear in my hand luggage too (not pictured) as it really does help you feel fresh after a 14hr flight or when you’ve spilled your coffee. I keep the pashmina and clothes in a rollable airless pouch (not pictured) to save space and to avoid spills.
Finally, the Muji pouch is my number 1 tip. For journeys, I keep my “must haves” in this pouch and keep it with me. It fits my kindle, ipod, anti bac, wet wipes, tissues, beauty products, gum, ear plugs and pen in one place so I don’t constantly have to fish for things in my luggage. It sits neatly on top of my book with my headphones looped round. If you don’t have an aisle seat, it saves so much hassle and time. It also means if you need to visit the toilet, you can take your pouch with you instead of juggling things to take.

The only thing I haven’t included is my camera. To be honest, if I am going away with Mr T, he is the photographer out of us, so I leave it to him and use my phone for quick snaps.


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