![A woman in a pink t-shirt looks over a stone bridge towards a church to represent adventurous living](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Dienville-470x140.jpg)
If anyone has been looking closely at this blog (and, let’s face it, I won’t blame you if you haven’t!) you may have noticed that…
![Visiting Rabbit island in Japan aka Ōkunoshima](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Rabbits-on-Rabbit-Island-in-Japan-470x140.jpg)
Rabbit Island in Japan sounds as though it’s a place that has been made up. An island populated by bunnies? Somewhere you can stroke and…
![Girls in kimonos in Japan](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Girls-in-kimonos-in-Japan-470x140.jpg)
Whenever the first blossom starts to appear in the UK, it always takes me back to our honeymoon in Japan. We timed our three-week trip to…
![The Last Supper, Milan](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_2688-470x140.jpg)
Buying tickets to see The Last Supper You’d think that buying tickets to see one of Italy’s – if not the world’s – most famous…
![Travelling when pregnant](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IMG_3004-470x140.jpg)
After taking our dreamy babymoon in Italy, I discovered there is a lot more to think about when you’re planning a trip while pregnant. In…
![Our Italian babymoon](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IMG_3257-e1562792416379-470x140.jpg)
Our Italian babymoon was the very last trip Mr A and I took alone together before our first little adventurer’s arrival. It was quite a…
![A little piece of (big) news](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/me-and-bean-e1504632161227-470x140.jpg)
Some of you may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet on the blog recently and I can only apologise and hope that you’ll…
![Is travel wasted on me?](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IMGP5879-470x140.jpg)
I have a confession to make, which as a travel blogger is probably not ideal. I have the worst memory ever when it comes to…
![From ancient castle gardens to contemporary art in Kanazawa](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/unnamed-1-470x140.jpg)
After our fairytale stay in a grasshouse in Ainokura we travelled on to Kanazawa, another Japanese city steeped in history. Located in the Hokuriku region,…
![Staying in an Ainokuaru grasshouse in Japan](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/imgp5413-470x140.jpg)
While one side of Japan is a hustling metropolis of tower blocks, late night karaoke bars and 24-hour cat cafes; its other side is laid…