Every year I set myself some goals, things I want to do both personally and professionally and for the most part I do try and complete them.  This year of course is the year of adventure and so I want to find more interactive ways to reach people.  YouTube seems the obvious choice, I've had an account with them for a very long time, in fact I'mm one of YouTubes early adopters, it's my 10 year anniversary this April, it's my 10 year anniversary of my blog at the end of February, makes me feel quite old when I think about it like that, YouTube itself only launched 11 years ago!

So, when I was on my travel assignment for Cruise International magazine on board the Norwegian Epic I shot some videos and they're all going to go live to coincide with the publication of the article which comes out on February 12th 2016 and I'll finally be able to tell everyone about it, it's been killing me to keep it under wraps for so long.  Last night though I created a trailer with a preview of some videos yet to come, it's a bit of fun and it's not 20th Century Fox quite yet but I do hope that many of you will give it a watch and if you're also on YouTube or you have a Google account you can subscribe to my channel

I honestly don't know where this journey will take me and it's just a bit of fun, it's there to help me engage even further with you, the dear readers who turn up here to read my blog and take the time to email me or leave comments.  Nothing in my 10 year journey would have been possible without you all.

It's snowing outside my window currently, Holly Bobbins didn't seem too keen on the flaky white cold stuff bleaching down from the skies and it really has been pretty much a constant blizzard since I got out of bed at 7.30am and according to the weather it's not likely to stop until this afternoon, in the words of a very famous film heroine "Do you wanna build a snowman?"  I really hope it doesn't stop so that Looby and I can build a snowman when she comes home, I am definitely borrowing her snowy moon boots (Ssh, don't tell her, she's at school and she'll never know) and taking Holly Bobbins for her very first proper walkies in the falling snow.  There's been very little in the way of snow since I adopted her but I'm guessing with all of the sniffs she loves she's going to get a very cold beagle nose today, don't worry, you can be sure that I'll make a video of her first proper time in the snow.

Have a great day everyone, wrap up warm, go have a snowball fight with someone you love and then exchange warm hugs over some creamy hot chocolates, the ones with the flakes and marshmallows and the cream!

And so that was Christmas...

I can barely believe it's over, those twinkling lights, the promise of magic, the expectation of wonderful packages underneath the tree...

I have to admit that our tree is still up, the lights are still twinkling, apparently it's unlucky to take down the decorations before or after the 12th day so tomorrow we have it scheduled in our calendars to de-Christmas!

I have to admit to having had the most wonderful Christmas and New Year, it was filled with the best of times, the most amazing friends and one or two slightly fuzzy heads.  I don't think I stopped for breath much over the festive season and I have loved it.  I love my life now, it's full of fun and friendship and laughter and hugs.  I'm surrounded by the most wonderful friendship group of people who I love dearly, they really are the people I would proudly choose as my family.

Every year I choose a word, that word becomes the focus of my year and whilst last years word was "Renew" this years word is most definitely "Adventure".  Even though it's the dark days of January and I'm sort of feeling the effects of seasonally affective disorder I am already planning and plotting to make this the year I want to write about, I want to fill it with new and interesting experiences, people and places, I want to journey overseas and also in the UK, I want to take Holly Bobbins for many dog friendly adventures and I want to make sure my kids have the best year ever.

of course I can't achieve this without working super hard, I worked the hardest ever last year and I've no intention to do any different this year because when I work hard I create the means for us all to have a better life and that's what it's all about really, fun, adventure and happiness.

I'm excited as we go into 2016, I actually can't see what happens next, I hope to get more travel photography and writing assignments overseas and I cannot wait to see my article about my cruise from Rome to Barcelona on the Norwegian Epic published in Cruise International Magazine on February 12th, I'll probably be queuing at WHSmith to get my hands on a copy!

Best womens camera bag featuring Mooli London

Ever since I first spotted the Mooli range of camera bags I've wanted one so when the chance to work with them came up and they gifted me their beautiful red bag my camera bag has never been quite so brilliant.

My Mooli London Hampton camera bag has traversed with me near and far, it's been to Rome, Barcelona, Pisa, Palma de Mallorca, Cannes...

It's been on trains and planes and cruise ships and it's been all over the North East of England being admired by friends, photographers and clients.

To be honest I use this bag 24/7, it doesn't always have my camera in, it just looks like the most amazing handbag, a thing of beautiful quality and unparalleled good looks.  Looby even agreed to pose with it and I think she would love one for school, most kids have tech these days so why not have a smart handbag to protect it?

I apologise for inflicting these photographs of me on you all, Loobys skill as a photographer is much better than mine as a posing model, one of the reasons I've spent the last 10 years behind the camera and not in front of it.

For any photographers out there who do travel it's the perfect bag, even when it's been on aeroplanes it fits neatly under the seat.  Let me share with you just a few of the places I've been with my camera bag over the last couple of months...

Pisa, reminded me of a set from an Italian mob movie once you were facing away from Miracle Square

The beautiful harbour in Cannes, possibly the most glamorous place I've ever visited.

A beautiful Mediterranean sunset

Palma De Mallorca, really glamorous which is something I'd never imagined about Majorca, I really want to return to this balearic island and spend more time exploring, it's so beautiful and tourism and history mix nicely together without it feeling over commercialised like some places in Spain

The leaning tower of Pisa, a sight to behold and when you sit at the top of it, well it's even more impressive

The Camposanto, Pisa, there were just a few people wandering around the Camposanto in the beautiful November afternoon sunshine, there's nowhere I've ever been which has felt quite so still or special, it was almost a break from the entire world.

When I'm shooting around the world I tend to use the Fuji X system cameras because they're compact and light and they fit neatly into my Mooli bag with all of my other gubbins.  At weddings though I've had in my bag 2 camera bodies, a flash, 3 lenses, makeup bag, purse, iPad, iPhone...  It's literally a bottomless cavern and it's got enough pockets for me, you and the rest of us as well as the fact that it's gorgeously padded with separators you can move around to perfectly fit your camera kit packing needs.

I love the long strap which turns it into a cross body bag, it means I can walk 5 or so miles on a photo shoot and it's still comfortable.

I see no reason now to ever use a new handbag but I do have my eye on another Mooli London Camera Bag, I have my eye on the brown Hampton bag next.

I travelled through Europe on assignment for Cruise International Magazine and you can read all about my adventures on board the Norwegian Epic in the February 2016 issue which is out in the shops on 20th February 2016.

Italy and Amsterdam from above

I'm sitting here on my sofa, it's 8am and it's the 1st of December, the rain is throwing itself at the ground in an angry tantrum and I'm looking at a smooth silky beagle sitting in front of a sparkly festive 7 foot Christmas tree!

How did this happen dear reader, how can it be, for example, that on Saturday I was wearing a summer dress and flip flops in Palma de Mallorca and now I'm back in freezing cold wintry Newcastle thinking I really must start the Christmas shopping.

I have to say that I had the best adventures in Europe whilst on assignment for Cruise International magazine but if you want to know the low down on my adventures in 4 countries in 4 days you'll have to queue up to buy the magazine on 20/2/16 as I can't talk about it until then, I promise though that it will be worth the wait.

What I can do though is share something I shot from the aeroplane on my way to meet the Norwegian Epic in Rome.  I had great seats on my KLM flights on the way there, not so much on the way back, I couldn't even see out of the windows but oh my, I managed to book 2 comfort seats on my journeys from Newcastle to Schipol and then Schipol to Rome and you know I love to view places from above, well you just can't get much higher up than an aeroplane, the world looks so beautiful and peaceful.  When we took off from Schipol the weather wasn't great but as we flew towards the verdant coloured canvases of  Italy below it was like the summer had returned,  if only for a brief respite.

I love that it's really obvious which photos are beautiful Italy in the sunshine and cold, stormy Holland in the rain, it sort of makes me want to up sticks and leave but to be honest I found that the people of Italy are so ambivalent towards tourists I'm not sure I'd want to reside there.  The tour guide at the leaning tower of Pisa told us he'd had enough, we should go now and then went and hid in a cupboard, I kid you not, you'd never get away with that kind of behaviour if you were a tour guide at a British attraction!

November was a crazy month on the whole, lots of bad weather got in the way of outdoor photo shoots and I feel that I've been forever trying to play catch up and of course it now means that January is already filling fast for portrait sessions.  I mostly get excited when I see I have an indoor session coming up and as we veer towards Christmas I think indoor photos in front of Christmas trees always have the most magical qualities.

Now here we are on the very first day of December and it promises to be a brilliant month both professionally and personally, I have a deadline for my cruise article of 20/12 but I need to get on to that in the next week really so I can clearly remember every detail and I can't wait to tell you all about it but for now it's back to the rainy cold reality of December, the promise of Christmas lies teasingly peeking around the corner inviting us in to the most wonderful time of the year.

Diary of a cruise virgin part 1, Norwegian Epic Solo Traveller Cruise

It's 68 days until I depart on Norwegian Epic from Rome to Barcelona, 3 countries in 4 days and more photographic opportunities than you can shake a literal stick at, to say I'm beyond excited is an understatement.

At the tender age of 41 new experiences don't happen every day and it's fair to say that I've dreamt of going on a cruise for quite a long time and if I had a list of places I've longed to visit you can bet that Rome, Barcelona and Florence would definitely be on my list so to see them all in a week is very much a dream come true.

I've a pile of European travel books on my night stand and I just don't know where to start, how do you pick the best experiences in every single city and then at the same time get the most out of a ship which certainly promises to live up to it's name, over 40 restaurants and bars, multiple entertainment extravaganzas including a touring production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, yes that's a certainty for this musical loving lady.

My daughter Looby, not a fan of boats, we know this,  but even she said I must go on the waterpark on the ship, I'm not surely I'm even nearly brave enough to try the big plughole slide, I only ever went on theme park rides under duress, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to adrenalin filled activities.

One place I have to go and this is a certainty, Tibidabo, a retro theme park on the side of a mountain with the best views of Barcelona on the sky walk,  yes it's a theme park but it's 100 years old and it's so much prettier with a retro feel and amazing views, no doubt one of the reasons Woody Allen chose to film Vicky Christina Barcelona there.

You know what I'm most looking forward to though? A whole week (there or thereabouts) of unadulterated me time, no schedules other than what I want to do myself, no demanding teenagers (although I'm going to miss them really and Holly the beagle of course who's going on her own doggy holiday) and maybe even time to read a book although I have a feeling there'll be far too much to see and do for that, it's an option though and I may even take it.  I've already decided to rise really early every day so I can catch the sunrises when we come into the ports.  I intend to take thousands of photographs and write like a demon and you'll be with me the whole way not only here but you'll be able to read my article in Cruise International magazine once that's published.

So I hope you'll enjoy my updates, I hope you'll leave comments and give me your hints and tips if you've been on a cruise of if you've been to any of the cities I'll be visiting, what worked for you? What were your highlights?  Is there anything I need to know or be prepared for?

It's going to be quite a journey...