Top tips for travel bloggers

  World Travel Market (WTM) in London is a must-attend event for any travel blogger or journalist. Every year I dread it. It’s vast, held in the ExCel Centre in far east London and utterly exhausting with all the stands, crowds, opportunities and ideas. That said, I also wouldn’t miss it for the world. I always come away energised and excited about covering travel and about all the...

Disney Dream cruises: good for family – and adult – fun

All cruise ships are big but on the new Disney Dream ship (1,250 staterooms, 14 decks) if you want a break from the children as they play on deck 5, you can have a drink in Hong Kong. Or New York or Paris, depending on the day. A panaromic LCD screen at The Skyline bar (deck 4 aft) provides the vista; the knowledgeable young bartender pours the cocktails. Among the other 4 bars and nightclub in “The District”...

A magical night of Christmas storytelling in Henley

Avril Lethbridge was disenchanted with Christmas seasons animated by the latest Nintendo or Apple accessory. As a result, this granny decided to do something about it. “I dreamt up this very silly idea of a walk around trees, which are lit, and the trees tell you their stories.” A simple idea: to create a holiday experience connected to nature and storytelling rather than frenetic stores and shopping. And...

Travel: Should there be child-free flights?

Nobody enjoys hearing the wail of a child on an airplane – it wakes you from your fitful uncomfortable doze, it drowns out even the sound of the engine, sets your teeth on edge and makes it hard to watch the reruns of Frasier. For parents, the problem is figuring out not just to keep your child happy but to keep them from making others unhappy. Is the solution segregating passengers with child-free flights?...

Should you buy an iPad for your kids?

The burning question we had on holiday this year had nothing to do with sunscreen. It was whether we should invest in an iPad. Or rather, should we invest in an iPad now or wait until there’s 3G here in the UK or wait until they improve the battery life or perhaps even wait until they come in different colours. All these questions necessitated lingering in the Apple store whenever we visited Barton Creek...

When it's time to leave the beach

Given the old choice of mountains or beach, I'll choose beach every time. The sun, proper surf for wave-jumping, bodyboarding or surfing, and sand in places my doctor's never seen. Bliss. Every year we visit the same resort in Texas, Port Royal in Port Aransas. I hestitate to even mention it by name. As unlikely as it might seem that a bunch of Brits would turn up on this lightly developed section of...