24 hours in Hay-on-Wye
Right at the beginning of the year, we spent a night in gorgeous gorgeous Hay-on-Wye, aka the UK's first book town. We went with my parents, and my dad kindly drove us all there; I'd booked us a cottage through Airbnb, which was really sweet and within walking distance of the numerous book shops dotted throughout the town. We of course went in every single one, as well as some charity shops, and visited in the castle too. The next morning we went for a nice walk along the river before heading home, and it was just the bets way to kick off our 2025 travel.
A week in Italy
I absolutely LOVED this week; we based ourselves in beautiful Verona, and spent time exploring the city and some nearby areas like the Venetian lagoon, the Dolomites and Lake Garda. The weather was perfect and we saw so many incredible sights. 10/10 would recommend! I've written plenty of blog posts about our time in Italy, and it's a trip I look back on with such fond memories. Honestly, Verona has shot into my top 5 city break destinations and I'm itching to go back again already.
A long weekend in Wales
As we headed into August, we really just needed to get away for a couple of days due to some ongoing stress - but it was impossible to find anything that would work with my limited annual leave and wouldn't break the bank while we were still saving for our wedding. We ended up booking 4 nights in a caravan in Towyn, Wales, and we had a ball. We got the train there and just relaxed the whole time, visiting Rhyl and Llandudno, playing cards and board games, watching the F1, exploring the caravan site... we did end up coming home a day early due to a storm absolutely rattling the caravan, but it was a trip that made me feel nostalgic for my childhood and we had such a lovely time.
Poznan: our minimoon
If you don't know, Poznan is my absolute favourite city - my second home, really. I just love it and naturally, there was nowhere else I'd want to go for our minimoon. Luckily my other half loves it there too, and we booked a few days there to relax after the chaos of our wedding. We stayed at Palazzo Rosso Old Town and spent the whole time wandering around, eating good food, drinking amazing mocktails and just soaking up our newly wedded bliss. It was absolutely perfect, and the best way to wind down after the big day.
24 hours in Oxford
I've always wanted to visit Oxford - but there's never really been the right opportunity. My wife decided we should just do it, so with my one solitary remaining day of annual leave I booked a Monday off and we headed there on a Sunday morning. When we arrived we went straight to watch the final grand prix of the season before our night away really started! We had dinner at the Ivy and did a really interesting walking tour, and it was just lovely.
Kanuas weekender
Me, my wife and our two best friends put £5 each into a Monzo pot every week, and we use the money to book trips or experiences. We'd booked a night at the darts for an early Christmas night out, but as we had plenty of money left over in the pot due to a cancelled Christmas 2024 cottage weekend (thanks to a huge storm in the area), we decided to book a weekend away. The cheapest return flights that went Saturday-Sunday in December were to Kaunas in Lithuania, so we booked it.
We also did plenty of hikes and day trips, including Moel Famau, Llangollen and Castel Dinas Bran, exploring Hebden Bridge and Haworth, and a thwarted day in Conwy where I fell off a rope swing and injured my calf. And I visited London for work approximately 8 times!
So that's everywhere we went in 2025, including UK trips and some places a bit further afield in Europe. We've already got four trips pencilled in for 2026, including a cruise for our honeymoon, visiting family down south, a weekend in Wales and a week in Turkey. Let me know in the comments where *you* want in 2025...
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