I did a thing, but let's get re-acquainted first.
Hi, I am Annabelle, a 40-something mother of two, lover of all things culture, diveristy, travel and food.
I have lived in 4 different countries. Porto, Portugal is currently home.
For as long as I can remember I have dreamt of far-away lands, foreign languages and meetings with people who were different from me.
My childhood was filled with van life trips to the British Isles. I started travelling on my own as a teenager when my parents agreed to let me take a transatlantic flight unaccompanied to meet up with my penpal and her family.
As a mum, I have travelled in all different manners and styles, planned and survived very different adventures:
📌 transatlantic flight solo with a toddler and a child? Yes! Twice!
📌 camping road trip in Italy with kids? Yes! We might even have visited a hospital there!
📌 experienced a tornado while on a holiday? Kids thought it was fun!
I love writing about travel. I have done so on this blog for a while, though these articles were never really the most popular. But more than writing, I absolutely LOVE planning trips. It might even be the best part of travel. So I decided to make travel planning for families my job.
I have had the immense privilege to be able to be a mother first and foremost for the past 10 years. I wouldn’t change that for the world. However, this came with a crazy mental load (travelling partner with no family support) and at the expense of finding myself again after leaving academia over 10 years ago now and spending my time dabbling in several fields including teaching, writing, marketing and creative businesses.
I feel like it is time to find myself again.
Those who follow me elsewhere may have noticed I have launched a little business. My own little business. I am trying to combine my love for planning, organising with my escape, my passion and the legacy I am trying to leave to my children. Something I am good at and something I love: organising travel.
It is a travel planning business.
What does that mean?
It means I get to plan the most amazing, entirely custom and entirely independent travel experiences for people and, mainly, families. I do all the research. All of it: accommodation, food options, activities, transport, etc. Clients (hello, mothers) can just tick that box off from their crazy to-do list. They can still travel, discover, connect and share with their family without having to do all the legwork beforehand. Because travel with kids doesn’t have to just be about resorts in brochures.
How different from a travel agent is this?, you may ask. Travel agents will pick what is on their books and get paid from referrals/commissions. I am 100% independent. I choose my clients. Not the travel company.
If you want to find out more, head on over to my website for more details.
