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January Newsletter!

Hello and welcome to my first newsletter of 2016!

I have soooo much news to share with you all, so this jam packed edition of my monthly newsletter will give a round up of my oh-so-busy January! It’s been a crazy month and it seems like its dragged on FOREVER but I’ve squeezed an awful lot in to the past five weeks! Without further ado here it is, are you ready?…

I MADE MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS!

I kick-started my 2016 with a positively inspiring challenge which is the motivation that’s going to see me through these dull winter months! I’ve tasked myself with visiting 25 countries before I’ve reached the ripe old age of 25! Find out how I’m going to achieve it here…

I’VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR MY FIRST EVER AWARDS COMPETITION!

So on 4th January I entered my little blog into its first EVER awards competition, UK Blog Awards 2016, and I’m delighted to announce that, after over 70,000 votes across 18 different categories, I’ve been shortlisted as a FINALIST in the travel category!! You can read more about my big announcement here… I’m still so thrilled and can’t quite believe it, a big THANK YOU to all who took the time to vote for me, it means everything! <3

I CELEBRATED MY BIRTHDAY!

#birthday #lastnight #vip #oxford #nightout 👯🎉🍸🎊

A post shared by Jess Buck|JourneyswithJessica (@jessica16_x) on Jan 17, 2016 at 2:44am PST

I turned 23 on the 16th and spent the day with family followed by an evening of celebrations with my closest friends in my home city of Oxford! We headed to the fantastic Varsity Club for cocktails and then onto one of the city’s biggest clubs for a VIP experience in a private booth! A fantastic night was had by all and we rolled in at 5am so our heads were a little sore the next morning day/night/week! A big THANK YOU to everyone who celebrated with me. <3

I WORKED ON MY FIRST SPONSORED POST!

This month I was given the opportunity to review a fantastic new guidebook for Disneyland California and I relished working on my first ever sponsored post! Read my write up on this fantastic guidebook here – thanks go to Amazon and Independent Guides!

I GOT PAID FOR MY FIRST EVER FREELANCING JOBS!

I’ve recently started writing for US based company www.abnsave.com and recently received my FIRST paycheck for my FIRST lot of freelance work! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing for ABN over the past few months and can’t wait to expand my portfolio. Here’s to many more paychecks!

I WATCHED LES MISERABLES IN LONDON’S WEST END!

What a show! Literally had goosebumps the WHOLE way through! Incredible. 😱🇬🇧🎭👏

A post shared by Jess Buck|JourneyswithJessica (@jessica16_x) on Jan 30, 2016 at 10:14am PST

I had an AMAZING time watching the fantastic Les Miserables musical in London recently – it was definitely an experience to tick off the bucket list! The show, which is now in its 30th anniversary celebrations, was incredible from start to finish- everything from the lighting to the music to the cast was out of this world! I could watch Les Mis over and over again I never tire of its fantastic score and mesmerising scenes – I was left feeling very emotional that’s for sure!

So that completes my January round up- told you I’ve been busy! Stay tuned for some big news coming up in February… I’ll reveal all soon I promise!

Love Jess x

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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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UK BLOG AWARDS 2016!

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Hey everyone,

I hope your first working day of 2016 has gone well! Mine went super quick (yay) and I’ve been dying to get home and write his blog post as I am SO EXCITED to share some big news with you all!

After deciding some time ago that 2016 was going to be my year I entered the UK Blog Awards (Travel Section) for the first time in the hope that I can add award winning blogger to my increasingly long website description and bio on all my social profiles.. doesn’t that sound AMAZING?! A girl can dream huh!

In all seriousness, I’m not expecting to win anything or even be shortlisted but I’ll be pray hoping that the exposure will boost my site and that it’ll give me a great opportunity to interact with even more fellow bloggers!

So, why am I writing about this now I hear you ask? Well, today marks the first day of VOTING for this fantastic award and I need YOUR help to get some votes for my little blog!! Any votes at all would be hugely gratefully received and voting will be running between now and 25th January at 9pm.

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Voting couldn’t be simpler and takes literally just a few seconds! What’s more, you can vote for my blog multiple times (yay) off multiple devices (yay again) but only one vote per device per day is permitted. So you could vote each day on your mobile, tablet AND laptop and treat me to lots of lovely votes! Please click here to cast your vote! I’ve also sneak cleverly dotted various VOTE NOW buttons throughout this post so it’s eyecatchingly obvious that you can vote vote vote!

There’s stiff competition this year for the awards, and I’m up against 100 odd other other talented bloggers in the Travel Section, including Jess from The Travelista, Sophie from Sophie’s Suitcase, Victoria from The Girl on the Move, Emma from Paper Planes and Caramel Waffles and Vicky from Eat Sleep Love Travel. I admire each of these travel bloggers hugely and am delighted to be in the same category as them. Best of luck to all of you guys too! <3

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Voting is now open so if you could find it somewhere in your heart to give me a little vote between now and 25th January I will be eternally grateful and it would mean the absolute world to me!

Don’t forget you can vote MORE THAN ONCE and I’ll be posting links and promoting this heavily on social media throughout January! Thank you in advance, you lovely lovely people!

Love Jess x

PS. Don’t forget to vote 😉

UKblogawardsvotenow

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2015 WordPress Review!

Hi all,

I’m currently putting together my super duper round up of 2015 but, in the meantime, here’s this snazzy WordPress review with those all important stats! 2015 has been an unbelievable year for me, and my first proper year of being an ACTUAL REAL LIFE BLOGGER!

My blog has been viewed over 3700 times MORE than it had done throughout 2014 and my readership has pretty much quadrupled! I’m so so thrilled that people like YOU still want to read my blog and keep up with all my adventures.

Here’s to a bigger and better 2016 filled with lots more travel… watch this space!

Love Jess x

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,600 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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A Magical Disney Christmas

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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!🎄🎁🎊

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful break! So if you’re an avid follower of my  Instagram account you’ll know that I’ve not long returned from an AMAZING trip to the beautiful Disneyland Resort Paris with two of my best friends, Lauren and Tiffany, where I had the most magical time! Here’s some of the highlights from our Disney trip, as well as a lo-down on the parks, hotel, restaurants and attractions.. get ready to be mesmerised!

 

The Journey

We chose to travel the most convenient way possible to Paris and hopped on the fantastic Eurostar from St Pancras in the heart of London direct to the Marne-La-Vallee station at the entrance of Disneyland itself. The journey couldn’t have been easier! All it took was a quick check in at St Pancras, a smooth 2 and a half hour train ride between England and France and before we knew it we were on Disney soil! Don’t forget to check out the GIANT Christmas tree at the station made up of hundreds of Disney toys- so beautiful!

Our booking included the Disney Express option which was fantastic and well worth adding on if you’re travelling as a family. The option enabled us to check in to our hotel on board the Eurostar; Disney cast members registered our bags and handed out our park tickets and accommodation vouchers before we arrived at Marne-La-Vallee station. We then made our way up to the Disney Express stop to drop off our luggage, safe in the knowledge they would be waiting for us at our hotel later, and were then able to head straight to the parks for our first taste of Disney magic!

The Hotel

We stayed at the cosy 3* Sequoia Lodge Disney Hotel which was perfectly located right on Lake Disney just to the rear of the fantastic Disney Village. The hotel was impressive on arrival and, after a brief check in, we were taken to the outdoor luggage store to retrieve our bags and take them straight up to our room. As we had already ‘checked in’ on the Eurostar this usually painful process was nice and easy and super speedy!

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As there were three of us we had two comfortable double beds in a good size room which was clean and tidy and boasted a fantastic view across to Lake Disney. The bathroom was spotless and there was plenty of hanging safe along with a fully working safe to store our valuables.

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The cosy bar and onsite boutique store at the Sequoia made for excellent facilities onsite and we heard great things about the swimming pool – unfortunately it was closed during our visit but we would have loved to go!

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Breakfast was included with each day of our stay and we were treated to an unlimited continental feast of cereals, croissants, breads, meats and cheeses. We were seated in the Hunters Grill or Beaver Creek areas which doubled up as buffet restaurants in the evening- both looked lovely but sadly we didnt have chance to eat in the hotel!

Top Tip! Take some rolls and fillings and make your own lunch to take with you to the parks- this will save you a fortune on daytime meals throughout your stay!

Click here to read my Trip Advisor review of the Sequoia Lodge Hotel.

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Disneyland Park

The Park is split into 5 lands all filled with fun and adventure offering something different for Disney’s guests….

Main Street USA is where most of the action happens, including the many daily parades and character appearances. The star of the show is the beautiful Sleeping Beauty’s Castle which looks even more magical lit up for Christmas!

Fantasyland best for little ones, fly with Dumbo and Peter Pan or lose yourself wandering around Alice’s maze in Wonderland. There’s also plenty of opportunity for Meet n Greets and a chance to spot Royalty outside the Princess Pavilion!

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Adventureland best for boys who’ll adore the Pirates of the Caribbean theme and the rides/attractions that are in this section. There are also plenty of restaurants and cafe’s to choose from.

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Frontierland the Wild West theme runs prominently throughout this land and is reflected in the fantastic Cowboy shops, restaurants and attractions. Yee-hah!

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Discoveryland explore the sci-fi element of Disney and find your inner geek. The scariest ride in the park is also found in this land – Space Mountain Mission 2 is not for the faint hearted!

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Walt Disney Studios

Split into two parts, Front Lot and Back Lot, the Studios offer a wealth of fun and discovery and are a fantastic way to spend the day! There’s a whole host of top rides including Crush’s Coaster (scarier than it looks!), Aerosmith Rock n Roller Coaster and the terrifying Tower of Terror.

There’s a Toy Story village for kids (yeah we definitely didn’t go on those rides… ;)) as well as animation shows and Stitch Live over on the Disney Junior stage. Although the Studios no longer hosts a daily parade, there are plenty of Meet n Greets throughout as well as restaurants, kiosks and Disney stores.

Disney Village

The Village is an additional bonus and a great way of extending the Disney magic way into the evening after a long day of exploring at the parks. The Village is home to a number of popular restaurants, bars and cafe’s as well as a large range of Disney Stores for hours of endless shopping!

We chose to go on the fantastic Panoramagique, a hot air balloon ride, which took us 100ft up in the air for the most magnificent views across the parks and the rest of Marne-La-Vallee. The cost was just 12 euros per adult and this was a great way to end our last day at Disney!

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Disney Attractions

If the parks and studios aren’t enough to keep you entertained and you’re still wanting MORE you’ll be pleased to know that Disney runs tonnes of extra shows and programs throughout the year and Christmas is no exception! We were truly mesmerised by the incredible lights show, Disney Dreams of Christmas, an illuminated musical extravaganza bringing the magic of Disney (and Christmas) to life with water fountains, glittering lasers and spectacular fireworks!

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During our stay there was also a host of other shows on offer throughout the week, including a Frozen Sing-a-long show at the brilliant Chapparel Theatre (kids will love it!), a special Frozen parade, and a Royal Christmas Wishes show on the Castle Stage featuring all your favourite Disney Princes and Princesses. We caught this show twice throughout our stay and it was beautiful. The Disney Magic On Parade runs daily through the park and is not to be missed!

We also bumped into the Princes and Princesses walking through the parks just after the shows had finished, and we caught them at the start as well just before they went on stage! Little finds like that just add to the magic and we were so pleased to have seen the shows. At the end of each day there’s also a Magical Tree Lighting Ceremony with Mickey & Friends where the giant Disney tree is spectacularly illuminated- don’t miss it!

Eating Out

Our stay was offered with a free Half Board Meal Plan which I had never used before, I’ve previously only stayed Bed and Breakfast but the Meal Plan worked surprisingly well! Our standard option entitled us to breakfast and dinner as well as an afternoon Tea Time Treat (soft drink and sweet snack) on each night of our stay. The Meal Plan limits the restaurants you can eat out in for dinner, so booking ahead is strongly recommended. Don’t do what we did and leave it til the day otherwise you’ll miss out!

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We ate in the Silver Steakhouse in the Disney Park, the Empire State Lounge in Hotel New York and the superb Cafe Mickey in the Disney Village. For lunches/afternoon snacks we ate in the parks outlets including Bella Notte, Toad Hall and Casey’s Corner as well as Annette’s Diner in the village. The food was expensive when we weren’t using our vouchers so money wise it’s a great option to have the meal vouchers included!

Disney Characters

We were on the lookout for plenty of characters throughout our stay and we certainly weren’t disappointed- we saw LOADS! Christmas was a great time to see extra characters in additional parades and there were lots of Meet n Greet locations set up between the two parks. My friend Lauren brought an autograph book and we were like little children running around chasing all the characters for their signatures!

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We queued for over an hour to meet Winnie the Pooh, Marie from Aristocats and, the stars of the show, Mickey & Minnie themselves. We also met Pluto, Goofy, Chip n Dale, Gepetto from Pinocchio and Rafiki & Timon from The Lion King as well as glimpsing the Princes and Princesses and lots of other characters in the fantastic parades.

For us, character interaction was a massive part of our trip and the highlight was the incredible Cafe Mickey, an amazing dining experience for adults and children alike. Located in the Disney Village, the menu is pricey but it is worth it to have the interaction with the characters!

The likes of Mickey, Minnie, Tigger, Eeyore, Goofy, Pluto and many more come round to each table to spend time and have photos with each guest making you feel truly special whilst enjoying your meal. I’ve been three times throughout my life at different ages and I have just ADORED every single visit, I’ve had wonderful experiences which will always stay with me!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my amazing Disney trip.. I can’t wait to go back to my happy place in the not too distant future! Have you been to Disneyland before? Or have you been to Walt Disney World in Florida? How do the two compare? I’d love to find out!

Hope you’ve had a magical Christmas!

Love Jess x

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