Tin Box Traveller family travel diaries: October 2017

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I shocked myself when I totted up the number of adventures we’d had this month – 12 in total. That’s some going even for us. It’s got me thinking head to how many trips and days out we will have ticked off by the end of the year in two months time.

In 2016 we took 22 trips and visited 64 family attractions. I’m pretty sure we’re going to better that and I know October will have helped.

Here’s how our month looked:

At home

A post shared by Claire – Tin Box Traveller (@tinboxtraveller) on Oct 25, 2017 at 1:05pm PDT

I may have jinxed myself last month by saying we’d had our fair share of illness at the beginning of the school year.

Despite having chicken pox when she was a baby, Tin Box Tot caught it again from her little sister. Cue another few days of me working at home with a little helper. I’m now not making any assumptions about how healthy we’re going to be in the run up to Christmas!!

On a brighter note we had a lovely friend come to visit, which was a good excuse for a bit of local sightseeing – as if we need one really – and a child-free evening out for me. Fabulous!

The last week of the month was all about the autumn school half term and our first experience of juggling childcare and work. I usually work three days a week and while the girls were both in nursery we only took them out for family holidays.

Thanks to a bit of help from the Tin Box Grandparents we got the week covered between us. The Christmas holiday and beyond are going to call for more creative thinking. Let me know how you juggle the school holidays and work!

Our travels

A post shared by Claire – Tin Box Traveller (@tinboxtraveller) on Oct 5, 2017 at 11:22am PDT

I was one of 120 bloggers invited onboard MSC Preziosa for a blogging event with Trips100. The ship was on a changeover day in Southampton and we were treated to an insight into family cruising with Europe’s no. 1 cruise line.

It was also a great opportunity to spend time with other bloggers from around the country specialising in family, food, travel and lifestyle blogs including my Cruising With Kids and Monday Escapes pal Lisa from Travel Loving Family.

At the beginning of half term we took a trip across to West Devon and Dartmoor for a family and dog-friendly short break at Moorland Garden Hotel.

This 4 star hotel has plenty of character with lots of interesting art and installations inside and out. We found it was a great base for exploring in the Dartmoor National Park and the city of Plymouth.

Adventures

A post shared by Claire – Tin Box Traveller (@tinboxtraveller) on Oct 19, 2017 at 10:47am PDT

Thanks to half term and some busy weekends sightseeing locally we were able to tick off lots of adventures in our home country of Devon in October.

I’ve already written about some and there will be posts to come on the others as I get to them. Here’s a taster:

• Greenway House – the holiday home of Agatha Christie
• The Round Robin tour of South Devon by boat, bus and steam train with lunch at the Royal Seven Stars Hotel in Totnes
• Dartmouth Food Festival
• Buckland Abbey – the home of Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe
• The NOW 14-18 Poppy Tour at Plymouth
• The Miniature Pony Centre on Dartmoor
• The National Marine Aquarium – the UK’s largest aquarium
• Totnes Rare Breeds in Totnes
• Paignton Zoo in Paignton

Blogging

Back before the summer the girls and I travelled to France to help make some promotional videos for Al Fresco Holidays.

Here’s about more about our stay at Yelloh! Village Pin Parasol in the Vendee region and a the final results of the filming:

My most popular post of October was my reasons to learn a language online followed closely by a new competition I’m running with the kids outdoor clothing people, Kidunk.

I’ve also written about: having afternoon tea at the Waldorf Hilton in London; the BookBeat audiobook app; hidden views on London’s South Bank; and our outdoor adventure at BeWILDerwood in Norfolk.

I published two Youtube videos: one about MSC Preziosa and another about our day on the Round Robin tour in Devon.

On Cruising With Kids – the family cruise blog I co-edit with Sarah from Extraordinary Chaos, Karen from Mini Travellers and Lisa from Travel Loving Family – I’ve written about:

• the Ultimate Family Suite onboard the new Symphony of the Seas
• what to see in Florence if you do a shore excursion with toddlers
• things to do in Barcelona before  joining a cruise
• a new children\’s book published by Carnival for charity
• and a shore excursion for families in Marseilles.

This month I’ve been featured in Jetline Cruise’s reasons by you should book a Carnival Cruise and have worked with Devon Association of Tourist Attractions on its #DevonHalloween campaign.

I think that will do nicely for October, now bring on November! You can also catch up with September 2017.

As ever, thank for reading and don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin’, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube and LinkedIn.

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