blonde.travel

Notes from the Road

A traveller’s record of places, provisions, and the small companion who now comes along. Read about the author if you’re a curious traveller, or work with me if you mean business.

Around 200,000 people see my travels on Instagram and Facebook. Here, you can read the story.

Featured Stories

Most read in the past month

  1. The white and blue Afrosiyob high-speed train standing at a station platform in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan by Train: The Silk Road, My Way
  2. Olga, wearing a white dress and straw hat, looks across Lake Como from a carved stone terrace as two wooden taxi boats pass below. Italy 1 Day in Lake Como from Milan: The Perfect Day Trip Itinerary
  3. Pencil illustration of a hand holding overlapping Leaders Club, Gold Ambassador and Marriott Bonvoy American Express cards above a Louis Vuitton organiser, with two other membership cards on the desk. Publication Hotel loyalty programmes with benefits beyond points

Portraits

Lives that shaped travel

Meet the pioneers

Worth a place in your luggage

From the other side of the desk

BAR best available rate “Best” is part of the label, not proof that every seller has been compared. DMC destination management company It supplies the local arrangements: drivers, guides, excursions and the people who make an itinerary work. MCT minimum connection time It helps determine which connections can be offered, but it is a minimum working allowance, not a measure of comfort. GTY guarantee cabin A guarantee booking leaves the exact cruise-cabin assignment to the line within the agreed category and terms. OBC onboard credit It is worth what it replaces from your planned purchases, not automatically its face value.
Travel Industry Basics
At the gate “At the airport, the most useful currency may be a few hours of somebody else’s time.” Flight overbooking: why it happens and what you can negotiate A fair question How can adding flights make a holiday cheaper? How hotel booking works

The journal

Further afield