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New Years Resolutions! 25:25

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Hi everyone,

So I’m a bit late to the party with this but I’ve been thinking an awful lot lately about what I want from 2016, and my travel plans are well and truly underway which fills me with lots of excitement!! I recently had a meeting with a fantastic consultant at STA Travel who really helped me understand what it is I want from my upcoming career break/gap year/I-need-to-escape year! And so, I’ve set myself an almighty challenge…

*NEWSFLASH!* I’ve decided that I want to have visited 25 countries before my 25th birthday… big statement I know! That’s where the 25:25 plan comes in and now, at the turn of the year, seems like the perfect opportunity to put things into practice! I’ve always said that 2016 was going to be my year and I’m determined to make it more amazing than ever!

To more experienced travellers I guess this doesn’t really seem like a massive deal, I bet you’ve all travelled across plenty of countries, and continents, exploring hundreds of cities and ticking off numerous famous landmarks! To me, however, this personal goal is huge and is somewhat of a life changing moment in my short 22 years on this beautiful planet! I’ve worked since the age of 16, been in full time employment since the age of 18, and never really had the chance to fully explore and take exotic vacations like other travellers.

At school and growing up we went on family holidays to Cornwall and different places around the UK and, if we were lucky, we also got the chance to enjoy package holidays to the nearby Spanish islands! My childhood has been amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing, but I feel like now is the time to start altering certain aspects of my life- and travel plays a HUGE part in that!

 

Now is the time for change though, and I’m fully embracing it! I’ve decided to focus on Europe; I’d like to inter-rail across the continent and trek across 10 countries in the hope that I can see as many cities as possible. If you’re an avid reader of this blog you’ll know by now that European city breaks are my FAVOURITE type of vacation! I’m looking at hitting France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria to name but a few. I’m also hoping to end up in Sweden to attend the fantastic TBEX conference in Stockholm with lots of fellow bloggers! But my plans are always changing, so we’ll see about that…

At the other end of the spectrum I’m also hoping to take on a road trip across the East Coast of the USA… I’ve never been to America before and there’s so much to see and do that I’m just dying to explore!

I will of course keep you updated with my travel plans once everything is firmed up… where’s the most exciting place you’re travelling to in 2016? I’d love to hear your itineraries!

Love Jess x

PS. Don’t forget to VOTE for me in the UK Blog Awards 2016 under the TRAVEL section! You can keep voting until 25th Jan yay!

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2014 ROUND UP!

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Hi everyone, So as we are nearing the end of this year I thought I would round up my highlights of the last twelve months and showcase how much my blog has grown since I started my brand Journeys with Jessica. As many of you know, my blog has only been active for the last six months and I run it alongside my full time job as an estate agent so unfortunately cannot give it my undivided attention although I do try my absolute best to update it as much as I possibly can!

I’ve been on some brilliant trips this year and have loved sharing my adventures with you all, so long may it continue and here’s to more success in 2015! There have been so many to choose from, but my top three highlights of 2014 are as follows:

1) Family holiday to Majorca

2) Winter city break to Reykjavik

3) Summer city break to Barcelona

Please click on the relevant links to view my blog posts for the separate trips! As well as growing my blog I’ve also updated my Trip Advisor account to Senior Contributor with currently over 30,000 readers and have been voted in the top 1%  in Oxfordshire. Please click here to view my Trip Advisor account and to view my travel map!

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I have grown my social media outlets this year and have a record number of followers on Twitter, Facebook and WordPress so that’s all down to you lovely lot! Thank you so much for choosing to keep up to date with all my latest adventures, I hope you continue reading and enjoy my posts – I can’t wait to bring you more in 2015! My current plans for next year are a bit up in the air at the moment, but I am hoping to go interailing around Europe over the summer and will squeeze in lots of city breaks so that I have tonnes to write about whilst getting my latest travel fixes!

Finally, I have made some wonderful friends in the blogosphere over the past 6 months and am excited to take this to the next level when I start attending travel conferences next year. I cant wait to meet some of the people that I have been interacting with recently! A big thanks to you for all your tips, friendly messages and helpful words of advice. Special mentions must go to the lovely Char from Taylor Hearts Travel and to the brilliant Jess from The Travelista as you two have been particularly helpful to me – can’t thank you enough!

That completes my round up for 2014 – it’s been a blast! I would like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and fun-filled 2015… speak soon!!

Love Jess x

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