Out of Office: Indonesian Edition

Lovely new haircut from Dom at Rush Tower Bridge*

This evening Steve and I are off to Indonesia for just under three weeks. Obviously I'm excited. I'm excited to see my sisters, my friends, and to discover a new country. But I'm also a little scared. I'm scared of falling into the sulphurous blue lake of Mt Ijen, of being bitten by a Komodo dragon on Komodo island, and of not being able to protect my skin from sunburn. But hopefully I'll be ok and everything will go to plan.

HOTEL REVIEW: YOTELAIR, Gatwick Airport

I love an early morning flight, it means you arrive at your destination with an entire day of exploring ahead of you. However, I am not a morning person in the slightest and despite my 31 years of existence, I have yet to embrace the habit of waking up early feeling fresh. Fortunately for me I am willing to put myself through the discomfort of an early alarm if it means I get to jet off somewhere exciting. Nevertheless a 7am flight still fills me with a little dread so I've started to look for ways to make the experience of break of dawn travel a little easier. Say hello to airport hotels.

24 Hours in Maastricht, The Netherlands

Maastricht was the final stop on our whistle stop tour around the Netherlands. Despite it being a couple of hours away by train from Utrecht, it was en route to Brussels which is where we caught the Eurostar back to London. Maastricht is very different from the other cities we visited. Cultural similarities here are much more in tune with Germany and Belgium, compared to the north of the country which feels more Nordic in comparison. Because of this Maastricht ended up being my least favourite city but that's not to say I didn't enjoy our time here because I absolutely did. The city is traditional, picturesque, and full of history. Whilst you won't find concept stores, street food markets, or pretty canals like the rest of the country, you will find some excellent attractions and a sophisticated foodie scene. We spent just under 24 hours in the city and it was the perfect amount of time to see everything that took our fancy.

Here's my Maastricht city guide.