When I was 20 years old and very brave I booked my first ever holiday on my own to San Antonio in Ibiza, it was a Club 18-30 holiday and cost me just over £250 for 2 weeks, whilst the holiday wasn't exactly what you would call a luxury vacation (I can't even...) I did get my first taste of taking off on an aeroplane, that moment where you lift off the ground and your head is pressed into the seat, like making the ascent on a roller coaster for the very first time only you know on an aeroplane you are on your way to experience new adventures, gloriously different cultures and you know (mostly) when that plane touches down and the cabin door is opened you'll feel the heat on your face that says "You're not in rainy old England anymore"

For a lot of my life I holidayed in the UK and I still love to do that, next week, for instance, Looby, Harriet and I (plus The Holly Bobbins) are having a caravan break at Sundrum Castle on the Southwest Coast of Scotland, it's very much a bargain break at just over £250 for the 4 nights from Monday to Friday including Holly who was £40 on her own (celebrity beagle, eh?).  It will be so lovely though so be in rural Scotland exploring some of the 17 or so castles they have in the area, I love a good castle with a lovely garden.  Looby chose the holiday, She's going to Tenerife at the end of August with dad and so she wanted to holiday in the UK with me and that's fair enough, Abigail, however, is slightly more aspirational, we, of course, visited Mallorca and toured practically the entire Island in less than a week and so when she told me that she wanted to go the Cote d'Azure for her summer holidays I wasn't exactly surprised, she's passionate about speaking French fluently and so there's no better place to do that.

Now it could be that we paid more than I wanted but at £999.11 for both of us including flights and luggage for 7 nights including breakfast, in the first week of the school summer holidays, I think I did quite well.  Although it has to be said that Harriet and I are going to Madrid for 4 nights at the end of June and we paid £263 each including flights, luggage and transfers.

So this year is all about travel, I've never been to Madrid and I've never been to Nice so I'm very excited about both and Looby still has one summer experience left to choose although she's already indicated that she'd like to go to the Berwick holiday park where we went for a bargain break a couple of years ago.  I think for Looby, she's been so excited for over a year about Tenerife that she doesn't want to ruin it by going somewhere more exciting with me, plus she knows I won't tolerate a solid week of just sitting next to a pool!

I'd hate to put a finger on which experience will fulfil me the most because each one in it's own way is special, I love being able to take Holly on holiday even though I know she's always quite happy with "Brother Iain" or "Auntie Harriet" but I still love landing somewhere you have never been before.  I'm currently trying to learn Spanish and French, they seem to be the two countries I spend the most time visiting and as my business becomes more autonomous during the weekdays it really does lead me to be able to experience a life of travel and adventure.  During the weeks I mainly do an hour of work here and there and as long as I fill my calendar with 10-20 photo shoots every weekend it releases me from the need to look desperately for other work.

So onwards to my next adventure and more than anything, I hope that you'll join me for the ride!

Mallorca, the perfect single parent spring break with an active teenager

There are not many things better in life as a single parent than spending a week with your teenage daughter in the sunshine, I actually can't think of anything better actually, I mean I could have taken them both along but this doesn't work because Looby likes pool, Abigail likes exploring and never the twain shall meet!

I was lucky that I got an absolute bargain with lastminute.com and we payed less than £340 for our hotel, the lovely Isla Del Sol apartments which are quiet, beautiful and set in a residential area, with Can Pastilla being only a couple of miles away from the airport it's a short transfer time, something I was pretty grateful for after travelling as it always makes me tired!

I had been to Mallorca previously but only for 5 hours, that might sound slightly odd but it wasn't an OAP bus trip, it was just the final day of a cruise so I saw a tiny bit of Palma de Mallorca and instantly fell in love, the city of Palma itself actually reminds me of Barcelona in many ways, maybe a touch less busy but still a big bustling and beautiful city, when you get away from the city though, there are miles and miles of beaches, you can walk 15k along gorgeous coastland paths and around small bays of sleepy villages with azure blue clear water from the Mediterranean Sea.

I'd always thought of Mallorca as a beach resort kind of a place but it is so full of cyclists and walkers, particularly at this time of year and there's plenty of things to do, places to see, you can quite happily spend a week there.

It's true we packed a lot in, the little train to Soller, Palma Aquarium, Palma Cathedral,  the caves of Drach, a 12.5-mile walk from Can Pastilla to Palma and back, it really was the most glorious adventure, even on the day when it rained and was so cold I had to wear a jumper, cardigan and an emergency hoodie which cost more euros than I care to admit but I was very much a sitting target and in need, the shop in Soller I noted was doing a roaring trade in umbrellas, ours lasted approximately an hour before being so broken we had to throw it away!!  Mallorca only gets 65 days of rain a year, if you're going soon, don't worry, there are only 64 to go and yes, you're welcome!!

We never really had what you would call a hot day, there was always a pesky breeze although we didn't mind too much and I did come home a much healthier colour than I was a few weeks ago and yes, I used my P20 every day, I am good at sun protection, I wore factor 20 and Abigail wore factor 30, all day every day!

I'd love to go back to Mallorca again, mostly to go to Soller in the sunshine, it was the most beautiful place with an awe-inspiring train and tram journey and I can only imagine what it looks on a glorious sunny day.  I think though with all of the walking we did we definitely went at the right time of year, I can't imagine doing a 12-mile walk in 30-degree heat!

Mini Cruise to Amsterdam from Newcastle

When I  asked Abigail if she wanted to finally go on a mini cruise to Amsterdam from Newcastle to celebrate her 14th birthday and her resounding response was "Yes, when do we go?"  Now I must admit that by the time I actually got on the DFDS website to book I'd left it until just a few days before we were about to sail so I knew that we wouldn't especially get the best deal, in the end it cost £204ish for our 2 bed seaview cabin.

The last time I went on a cruise was the Norwegian Epic mini cruise from Rome to Barcelona, see how they both have the same name?  Mini Cruise?  Well let me tell you, that is where the similarities end unfortunately.  Whilst I sailed the med in the lap of luxury enjoying fabulous food, wonderful weather and great company the DFDS mini cruise felt more like I was sailing across the North Sea in an overpriced 1980's velour clad budget cabin.  Now it's no surprise that people just kind of deal with it when you consider that a lot of the passengers simply seemed to be there for the alcohol, perhaps that's why the cheapest thing on the boat was alcohol, no surprises then that there were uncouth men throwing up on the back of the bus on our transfer from Ijmuiden to Amsterdam.  Perhaps they couldn't afford to eat?  After all, a trip to the Pizza restaurant left us with a €60 euro bill for Abigail and I, that's 2 pizzas, a lime and soda and a diet coke!!  A trip to the buffet restaurant cost us a staggering €75 after we "splashed out" on a large bottle of still water.  Breakfast was the least expensive at €32 euros but at least it included the drinks.

The cabins were so basic they didn't even come with a tea tray or kettle and there was only 1 european plug point for both of us, in this day and age, 1 plug socket per cabin just isn't enough.  Still at least we could see the sea, those poor people in economy, well that doesn't bear thinking about, I just can't imagine how bad it is down there.  I wondered if Commodore Class would be any better, at least they got complimentary breakfast, wifi and a TV, yes a TV, we had europop radio, 3 or 4 channels of the stuff.  Now I know that satellite wifi isn't the best, I've been there and done that before but I would have thought they could install it ship wide and not just in a couple of the bars.  I think one of the main problems might be the age of the ship itself, both the Princess Seaways and King Seaways were built in 1986 and refurbished in 2006, that's still 10 years ago, a very long time indeed! I think my biggest kindest suggestion would be that they take these ships out of service, or up their service, maybe a pool would be a lovely idea, better bedding, a kettle, more plug sockets, anything to make it more of a mini cruise than a budget ferry trip.

Now you may be thinking that my scathing review means I had a horrible time but I actually loved spending a couple of carefree days in the company of my beautiful daughter Abigail (who didn't complain about anything, not even the cabin) and we adored our 5 hours in Amsterdam, and that's it people, that's all you get, not even vaguely enough time when you consider it takes around 17 hours to get there!  We did however spend a pleasant 75 minutes on board Terra Nova, a 110 year old luxury boat cruising around the canals of Amsterdam with around another 10 people, this is the way to see Amsterdam, don't go on the crowded boats, go on the comfy lovely one, the cost was €37 for Abigail and I, one day later and it would have been 42, child age seems to end at 14, better than on the boat though when it ends at 11!  After our cruise we wandered and walked and we ended up on the roof terrace of de Bijenkorf, Amsterdams oldest luxury department store, we only went for the cake but it did not disappoint!

5 hours is enough to give you a taste of the madness and beauty of Amsterdam, home to 500 museums ranging from bags and purses to death and my personal favourite, the Kattenkabinet

, a museum about cats with it's own cats.  I hope that we might return sometime soon but we'll fly with KLM and we'll stay in central Amsterdam or maybe out amongst the canals where it's quieter and prettier and the smell of cannabis doesn't hang so heavily in the air, Abigail will certainly not have a problem recognising the smell of drugs as she grows older.  Amsterdam is a curious city, full of colour and dare I say it, iniquity all muddled together with culture and beauty and the curiousness of hustle and bustle beside the peaceful canal life where time seems to slow down, well just for a while anyway.

I wouldn't say I hated the mini cruise but if I were to be persuaded to get on board again it would have to be in the luxury of Commodore Class, perhaps DFDS could turn my head with just a little more luxury and then I'd deal with the food prices as it was at least well cooked and a great selection of vegetarian Abigail and carnivorous me.  Just a bit more sparkle and a little less tired would work a treat I think and whilst they might not think a pool would be good surely a jacuzzi or two would be nice.  I loved the Sky bar but it was messy and uncared for and crowded with smokers ignoring the designated places and basically smoking wherever they felt like it without anyone to stop them, just because you're outdoors doesn't mean it's any more pleasant.

We even spotted Holly Bobbins Dutch beagle cousin!

So to sum up, I loved time spent with Abigail, I loved Amsterdam but the cruise itself should just be named the no frills ferry.