My Guilty Pleasures When Travelling!

Innocent until proven guilty? That’s how the saying goes isn’t it? 

Ummm no not in this case. 

I’m full on guilty and i’ve been caught red handed. Oops!!!

CUFF ME… TAKE ME AWAY. SEEEE YA!!!

But before that…. ask me one question…. Do I have any regrets???….

…..Ummmm. ABSOLUTELY NONE!!! I WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

Okay guys, calm down, before you all start panicking that I’m some sort of mass criminal lets rewind the clocks… don’t worry.. I haven’t committed any crime, I’m purely talking about my guilty pleasures when I’m on my travels. February fools? Soz.

So here they are… all of the terrible sins I am absolutely guilty of committing when on my holiyays, which give me nothing but pleasure and zero regrets. I wish I could commit these crimes on a daily basis. But then I guess I wouldn’t appreciate them as much as I do when I’m on holiday… (Oh please, who am I kidding, I would die inside if this was my life every day).

• BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

My first guilty pleasure was obviously going to revolve around food, so lets kick things off with my favourite meal of the day. Breakfast!

I actually get ridiculously over excited to wake up every morning of holiday knowing I’m going to tuck into a feast of food. And I mean it.. I go FULL OUT on holiday. It’s a bit embarrassing really. I’m a real life human piglet. If theres a buffet I WILL try everything. If there are pancakes on offer, I WILL have ten. Did we once spend over $150 dollars in New York on breakfast. Yupppp. Dont judge me, just join me? You won’t regret it.

Anyway here’s a pic of that time in Dubai when we ordered so much on the menu it nearly didn’t all fit on the table. Sureeee.

• BEACH WALKS

Plonk me near a beach, that its, theres no getting rid of me. I’m literally a serious beach bum and get over excited any time I get to feel that golden soft sand sift between my toes. 

There is nothing that gives me greater pleasure more than going for beach walks, barefoot whilst wading through the sea and putting the world to rights, and no matter where we are in the world me and the hubby always try and go on at least one huge walk a day.

However I am guilty of getting ridiculously over excited when on said beaches, and not paying attention to my surroundings. Like that time in The Maldives when we would always walk back from breakfast in the sea and be chatting away so much we wasn’t paying much attention to THE SHARKS THAT WERE NEXT TO US. Oops. Or that other time in the Maldives where I begged Wayney to let us walk back to our beach hut bare foot in the sand in the pitch black, rather than get the golf buggy, and we basically got attacked by 1000 crabs in the sand. Oopsie. Ohhhh and that other time last summer when we arrived to Dubai in 50 degrees heat but I INSISTED we explore the beach and go for a walk as soon as arrived, only to realise half way through said walk I was feeling dizzzzzzyyy…, and faint…. And uh oh… ‘Wayney help me I think I’m gonna collapse from overheating’……..Oops. I did it again. Never a dull moment is there?

• BEING A BOOK WORM

Ive always been an avid book reader. When I was a little girl my mum called me a mix between Matilda and Belle because my head was always in a book and my imagination was always away in the clouds from it. I defiantly think that is why I love writing so much now and why I went down the creative job role. Every Christmas my favourite present to open, without fail,  is a pile of new books for the year ahead, and that will never ever change. 

I have a very particular tradition when going on holiday that begins at the airport and I genuinely get so excited about it (and my hubby looks forward to the half hour break he gets from me). So…my favourite thing to do is escape to the book shop in the airport before our flight and choose a huge selection of different stories to take with me. There is nothing more calming for me than standing there absorbing the backs of each books and working out what twisty and thrilling tales are going to be joining me on the beach.

When we went on honeymoon I brought ten. Yes TEN books with me. And did I devour each and everyone? Absabluddylutely. Although this isn’t particularly a crime, I do worry that one day I am going to be the reason why we have to pay a serious amount of excess baggage from all of the weight of the books. Hehe oops. 

• FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Oh here we are again. It didn’t take long for me to start talking about food again did it? But this is a serious crime that I am ALWAYS guilty of committing. When I am on holiday I revolve our entire day around food. During breakfast we will discuss where we are going and what we are having for lunch? During lunch i’ll ask what time we are having ice cream on the beach? And whilst demolishing said ice cream on the beach I will be planning the nights dinner plans with excitement. Find me on holiday I’m either eating, talking about food or day dreaming about it. And that’s just the way I like it and the way it’s always going to stay. And I’m not even sorry about it. 

• BUBBLY, BUBBLY, I’M SO DAMN BUBBLY

There is no better way to fully get in holiday mode than by jumping into a giant tub of bubbles and immersing your self in there until you become a wrinkly delight. One of the first things I look for when booking a hotel is what the bathroom is like and how big their bath is. Ive been lucky enough to visit Soho Farmhouse a couple of times this last year and having the bubbliest of bubble baths whilst drowning in their divine cowshed products honestly made me the happiest girly in the world and got me so relaxed.

Although I try to have as many baths as possible at home its never quite the same is it? I can always hear the hubby screaming the house down watching footy in the background, or accidentally start thinking of my ‘to do list’ whilst trying to relax. Bubble baths on holiday are on a whole other league of their own and I urge you all to make this part of your holiday ritual. 

• QUEEN OF ITINERARIES

I’m afraid to admit that I am a huge control freak, especially when it comes to holidays. Its not my fault though, the second that flight has been booked I become an over excited child and like to plan everything in minute detail!!! (Basically so I can spend every waking moment up until the flight thinking about said holiday). 

I remember when we went to Florida with friends in 2016 for two weeks, I had every day meticulously planned from where we were having breakfast, lunch and dinner, what theme parks we were going too, what shows we were going to see, and what fireworks we would be attending. There were no details missed and my poor friends didn’t know whether they were coming or going. I was the same when I planned Wayney’s 30th in New York. The itinerary was printed, laminated and came with us everywhere we went and every single day had been planned with so much attention to detail. 

Although it seems a bit much, I am proud of my itineraries because I put so much thought and effort into the research and planning things and always want to make sure our holidays, especially city breaks, are as perfectly planned and as special as possible. But having said that I am learning that it’s also okay to have NOTHING planned and to be totally spontaneous too. Our last few holidays have been chilled beach holidays, and I’ve just totally gone with the flow and enjoyed the moment so I know how important it is to have that balance. 

( I say this now, but my next holiday will be with our little one PG so bring on the planning and the spreadsheets hahaha).

• GETTING GLAMMED UP TO THE NINES

The final thing I am guilty of doing is being a bit ‘extra’ on holiday, and bringing out my inner Essex girl. 

Whether its working on a game show in the studios or chilling at home on one of my days off, its about 99.9% likely you will find me wearing a tracksuit and trainers channeling my inner Vicky Pollard. So when I go on holiday I absolutely LOVE to get glammed up to the nines and pretend just for a few weeks that I am a glamorous queen. 

Before a holiday I will spend weeks pouring over every clothing item that arrives in ASOS new in section and put a whole load of outfits together. And my postman can defiantly expect to see me at least five times a week during this time. Hey hun. I’m very guilty of basically buying a whole new entire wardrobe and spending silly amounts of money on gorgeous items of clothing I will only wear once a year and then shove in the back of the wardrobe never to be seen again. Meanwhile I will wear the same pair of grubby jeans for months on end at work. Why am I like this? Please tell me you’re the same?

Speaking of which I’ve made a little guilty pleasure beach/holiday outfit Inspo mood board at the bottom of this blog, and the second I book a holiday after the baby I am buying every single item on that list. 

(Ummmmm hun, aren’t you forgetting that your on maternity leave and getting about two pounds a week from the government???? Oh shhh!!!)

So there we have it, all the little crimes I am guilty of committing when on holiday. But in my eyes you can lock me up and throw away the key because I think holiday time is a time for everyone to be pampered, eat as much as they like, and do whatever the hell they want. It’s your holiday, your precious time off, and you deserve to spend it whatever way you want.

I would absolutely LOVE to hear about all the crimes you are guilty of when planning a holiday, so please do comment below.

Thanks so much again for reading!!! Love ya always!!

Sammy xxxx

MY HOLIDAY WISH LIST MOOD BOARD

Disclaimer- This post contains products with affiliate links, that will earn me a tiny bit of commission if you choose to purchase them. (It doesn’t cost you anything extra). All items on this page are ones that I genuinely love and adore and I will 100% tell the truth on everything!!

P.S For any one using the app Like To Know It, you can now find me on- https://www.liketoknow.it/summersholiyay or add me on Summersholiyay! YAY!!

If you enjoyed this post you can read my other hotel reviews here:

Soho Farmhouse

A magical stay at The One & Only Royal Mirage!

The Atlantis Hotel, Dubai.

A weekend at The W Hotel Barcelona.

The Ned- a London staycation!