Favourite Winter Sun Destination

Firstly, sorry I have been a little inconsistent with my blog posts of late, I've recently had a death in the family so my mind has been elsewhere. With that on top of trying to get ready for Christmas, I've been a little pre-occupied! I'm still behind with my present buying, but I'm slowly getting there!

Today I have another travel post for you, this time discussing my favourite winter sun destination! For a girl that's fairly well-travelled, I've yet to add a little variation to the months that I choose to go on holiday. I've flown abroad in between the months of April and October, but nothing outside of this timeframe. When booking a holiday abroad, we automatically think to book in the summer months, because 'that's when it'll be nice weather'. It appears that a lot of us forget about those countries which tend to keep their heat all year round. Places such as The Canary Islands (i.e. Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria etc) can maintain temperatures up to 25degrees in winter months! I experienced my first autumn break last year, flying out to Tenerife in October. It felt a little strange going out of season, I will admit! But it was lovely to escape the chills of England, and indulge in a toastier climate for a week, without having to wear jumpers and coats! Its also a great time to go to avoid children (if you avoid half term breaks that is!). It felt like I'd been blessed with an extended summer, and it was a great way to postpone that chilly weather for another week before winter well and truly set in. I remember that I had to keep reminding myself that it was late October, and not July! I've been to Tenerife before in the height of summer, and it's somewhere I probably wouldn't revisit in these months, however its somewhere that I'd be happy to revisit for a winter getaway, whether it be before or after Christmas. I know a few people who have spent their Christmas here, and I've heard Tenerife know how to put on a good street party, so I definitely wouldn't hesitate in spending a Christmas there one year!

Sunset in Tenerife, October 2014.

Another winter destination that we are contemplating visiting next year is Florida! As you know, I visited Florida in September this year, and also back in June 2013 (read all about my travels here). Of course they were still in the summer months, but I'd absolutely love to go back nearer Christmas to experience Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. The lights at night, the music, the festive cheer... I can only begin to imagine. Temperatures in Florida in the winter months can reach up to 29 degrees, which is crazy, but so very tempting, especially with all the festivities. I think Magic Kingdom would be the place to visit if you're lacking that Christmas spirit, and I definitely am this year! (Another bonus of a winter holiday!)


source: google images

Another place that I've never visited, but I'm noticing is becoming a more and more popular winter holiday is Mexico! Cancun offers temperatures up to 27degress in the winter months, and although the flight time is fairly long from the UK, the photos definitely tempt me... do all your Christmas shopping in England then jet off here and within 24hrs knowing you could be de-stressing on this beach with a good book and cocktail would be absolute bliss!

 



source: google images



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of people suffer with SAD in the winter months. For those that have never heard of this condition, SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder, and is related to daylights saving and the fact that we have less sunlight. People suffer with low moods, sleepiness, lack of motivation, a loss of interest in normal activities etc. For people who have this condition, taking a holiday in the winter as opposed to the summer is a great way to fight those winter blues! There are lots of winter destinations to choose from that would still provide you with ample amount of sunshine. Is winter the new summer in regards to holidays? Who knows.. who knows!

 

This is my entry to alpharooms winter sun escape competition where you can win a fab 5 night winter holiday to the Costa del Sol.

Check out their infographic - stats that may help you choose your next winter getaway!

 

Have you ever took a winter holiday? If not, where would you like to go?

 



Cheerz - Big Fat Box!

A few weeks ago, the guys at Cheerz kindly got in contact with me to review some of their products.

For those that may not have heard of Cheerz before, they are a company that enables you to print your Instagram photos (as well as any other photos) and turn them into unique little things, such as fridge magnets, posters, or even wedding invites/thank you cards etc.

 

 

I chose the 'Big Fat Box' which enabled me to select 100 photos which were individually printed (similar to polaroid pictures). They were of high quality and had a great high gloss shine to them. I was given the option of including a border on them, which I did (I had intentions of adding hand-written captions to each of them but later decided against this idea). The 'Big Fat Box' came in a cute blue box which I thought was really unique as opposed to a standard photo album. I thought this would be good placed on a coffee table so when guests come, they can happily browse away. I however, chose this box because I knew I wanted to create some wall art that I had pinned on my Pinterest (go follow me!) a long time ago, and knew someday I wanted to recreate it, and that's exactly what I did!

I redecorated our bedroom back in the spring, but since then, there were a few walls that were still blank canvases, but I just never knew what to fill them with, so when this opportunity arose, I knew straight away what I was going to do with the space, and I'm quite happy with the result if I do say so myself!

 

 

Obviously I still had photos left in my 'Big Fat Box' so they will lay around the house for people's perusal. 

Having only 2 small framed photos in my living room, I felt like that was yet another room that would benefit from a few more photographs to showcase our memories. Due to lack of surface space, I didn't want lots of individual free-standing ones, not only because of the space issue, but I think it can look cluttered. Because of this, I opted for the poster, which consists of 35 photos, made into a mosaic poster. Cheerz gives you the option of adding a frame to this, which I did (for an extra cost). The only colour option for the frame was black, which was too harsh for my light shabby chic styled living room. Because of this, I purchased some pastel blue washi tape to go over the frame in order to match my decor. Because of the transparency of the tape, I'm not overly happy with the result of this, and I may paint the frame a pastel blue in the near future instead. 

 

 

The ordering process of the products was fairly easy, the only disadvantage when selecting your photos is you do not get the option to select the positioning of the photos on the poster, for example. There were a few scenic shots that were collated together that I would have preferred to have been spread out a little, so the photo subjects appeared more varied. But nonetheless, I was extremely happy with the products, the quality, delivery and service of the company, and I fully recommend them to anyone that has some good instagram snaps they want printing! They'd make a great Christmas gift too for those sentimental people in our lives!

Cheerz is such a fab little company, and one that I would definitely revisit when I want more photos printing!

Go check them out!