Let me start by saying that I had an amazing trip. I am, however, glad to be home! I felt the difference of being a year older than last year, I felt the impact of having ‘stuff’ going on at home and needing to stay connected, and I also discovered that the format of this … More Cambodia and Vietnam – reflections on my trip
My Hanoi stay has been in two parts, with a trip to Halong Bay in the middle (see my previous post here). I arrived into Noi Bai airport after a slightly delayed (which it seems they *all* are) 1-hour flight from Da Nang, and it then took me almost twice as long to locate my … More Vietnam part 5 – Hanoi
A trip out to Halong Bay was pretty much a non-negotiable on this trip. Sandwiched into my Hanoi stay, I booked myself onto a 2-day / 1-night cruise and decided that this would be my ‘treat’ to self… so booked myself a suite with its own terrace. Sounds good, no? Well, I have to tell … More Vietnam part 4 – Halong Bay
This post may seem like a bit of a diversion from my set of blog posts on my travels in Vietnam, but bear with me! Today, after a heavy morning of sightseeing (about which more in the next post), I went for a massage on the recommendation of a fellow traveller. And it got me … More Massage!
I had intended to treat Hoi An as ‘downtime’, booking a hotel outside the city centre with its own beach. It hasn’t quite worked out like that, although having settled bedside the pool on Thursday morning it was really difficult to move my bum and go exploring! My plan for the beach on Friday afternoon … More Vietnam part 3 – Hoi An
When is your first day in Hoi An not your first day in Hoi An? When you decide to book a full day tour to Hue! This was a deliberate decision to keep the pace up before allowing myself to settle into the more relaxed rhythm of my beachside hotel, but after a late arrival … More Vietnam part 2 – Hue
It’s a shame that my first impression of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) was the international arrivals hall of its airport! Immigration was slow and the luggage slower… not helped by the baggage carousel belt stopping at least three times when items got stuck 😩 Nevertheless, I was finally united with my taxi transfer, and … More Vietnam part 1 – Ho Chi Minh City
The second part of my mini-tour of Cambodia was to Siem Riep. We did a minibus transfer that took the best part of the day, with several comfort stops and lunch at a community-run silk farm – fascinating. We arrived at our hotel at around 5pm – a really lovely hotel, with a fabulous pool, … More Cambodia – part 2
Reader, I can hardly believe it myself, but 50ShadesofBrave hits its 10 year anniversary in a matter of weeks! The blog itself was conceived as a record of my commitment to mark my 50th year with a series of challenges – you can read about the inspiration (and to be honest the ‘necessity’) of that … More Can you help me?
You may remember my post last year about my scheme to motivate myself during 2024 via a bingo board of goals and challenges (https://50shadesofbrave.blog/2024/11/19/my-2024-bingo-challenge/). It was an activity that led to plenty of action and a degree of reflection, so I decided to repeat it for 2025. If you’re looking for a TL:DR for this … More Bingo board 2025 – successes and failures
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