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Insights
Travel ideas and practical advice from The Departure Guide, alongside personal stories and favourite places in Our Postcards.
The Departure Guide
Destination ideas and practical advice to help shape your next holiday.
City then beach: why this combination works
There’s a particular pleasure in arriving by the sea with a few days of exploring already behind you. You’ve walked unfamiliar streets, found somewhere wonderful for dinner and finally seen the place that made you book the trip. Now there’s time for a slower breakfast, a swim and an afternoon that doesn’t need much organising. A city stay followed by time at the beach gives a holiday a natural change of pace. It also answers a familiar dilemma when planning a trip together. O
Japan by city, culture and countryside
A first trip to Japan often begins with a familiar collection of images. Tokyo’s bright streets, Kyoto’s temples, a bullet train passing Mount Fuji. They’re compelling reasons to go, but some of the most interesting parts of a journey happen between those headline sights. There might be a morning spent browsing ceramics in Kanazawa, a walk through woodland between old post towns, or an evening at a traditional inn where dinner deserves as much attention as anything you’ve vis
Stopover cities worth adding to your holiday
When you’re planning a long-haul holiday, the connection between flights can feel like something to get through. But with a few extra nights, that airport stop could become dinner beside Singapore’s waterfront, a ferry ride across Hong Kong harbour or an evening exploring Bangkok’s food stalls. A stopover gives you the chance to try somewhere new without dedicating your whole holiday to it. It can also bring a different experience into the trip, adding city life before a beac
Our Postcards
Personal stories, favourite places and family memories from our own travels.
Our Postcards: Greece
Kefalonia, the island we keep coming back to Our son, Tyler, discovered Kefalonia before we did. He first went in 2020 to volunteer with Wildlife Sense, later becoming a member of staff, and has now visited an impressive ten times. We’ve managed three so far, although each time we return, his growing tally becomes a little easier to understand. Our first visit was in late September 2021. We rented a villa with our daughter and her best friend, while Tyler was working on the i
Our Postcards: Bali
How the island won us over Bali was never really on our radar. The journey felt long, the culture felt completely different, and it simply wasn’t somewhere we had seriously considered. Then our daughter visited and came back full of stories about the villas, the atmosphere, the restaurants, the sightseeing and the slower pace of island life. Before long, we were researching flights and wondering why we had not thought about Bali sooner. There are many ways to travel here. Bal
Our Postcards: Barbados
Barbados, with all the family When I think of Barbados, I can still hear it. The sea lapping the shore below our balcony, birds calling, frogs and crickets filling the evening air, and the sound of steel drums drifting up from the beach. We travelled as a family of eleven, across three generations, with my husband, our two children, my mum, my aunt and uncle, and their daughters and partners. My aunt and uncle’s 45th wedding anniversary gave us a wonderful reason to bring eve
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