My trip was planned with a little less than two months to go, and I wasn’t really intending to get into travelogues about Hamburg. I started by casually reading up on the travelogues I’d read for Copenhagen which had various mentions of the city, often the first port of call for travellers coming by boat from England. Just doing that sparked my curiosity, though, and I ended up going a bit deeper than I’d intended with my reading!
Latest Posts
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17 Books and Travelogues about Hamburg and Lübeck to read as travel prep
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4 Weeks in Japan: Part 4, 5 Nights in Kanagawa with Young Kids
We didn’t actually stay in Tokyo, but rather in the suburbs of Kanagawa with young kids all packed into my friend’s family home. After a wonderful (and also exhausting but still wonderful) time hanging out with old friends in Osaka, and then traipsing around the oft-forgotten city of Nagoya, and then exploring the hot springs and mountains of Hakone, it was time for me to get to work.
I had some work meetings in the centre of Tokyo, which did mean we had to go into the city – it’s 1.5-2 hours to get there! Traveling during rush hour in Tokyo again is kind of fun when you know it’s not your day-to-day life.
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4 Weeks in Japan: Part 3, 3 Nights in Hakone with Young Kids
I am so glad we did 3 nights in Hakone with our kids! Most people only do one night on the way from Tokyo, but we wanted to spend time in quieter places. I had also never been to Hakone, and it seemed like a good one to check off my list while we were doing a fairly basic Japan tour with the kids. Accordingly we headed there from Nagoya on our way to Tokyo (and from Osaka before that) ready for some mountain time.
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4 Weeks in Japan: Part 2, 5 Nights in Nagoya with Kids
Traveling from Osaka, we headed to Nagoya with kids in October 2025 excited to start the next chapter of our Japan trip. After this we would spend 3 nights in Hakone and 5 nights in Tokyo, but for now it was time for Nagoya.
Nagoya was my favorite part of the trip. This was despite our baby getting sick enough that he didn’t sleep at all one night, everyone ended up yelling at each other at 3am in the hotel room, and we had to take him to an after-hours urgent care clinic in the morning for medicine. Adventures, adventures.
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4 Weeks in Japan: Part 1, Osaka with Young Kids
Osaka with young kids you say? What about Nagoya, Hakone, and Tokyo too? I’ve lived in Japan and visited many times, and this was my first time going with my children. It was our chance to do a big trip before my son turned five and had to stay in school. So we went for a long time. Our itinerary was:
- 2 weeks Osaka
- 6 days Nagoya
- 4 days Hakone
- 5 days Tokyo
- Then we did 10 days in Hawaii and 2 weeks in California before circumnavigating the globe to get back home in Europe!
If you’re thinking of doing a good ‘basic’ trip to Japan with small kids, perhaps my experience can help. I know most people can’t go for nearly a month, but these bases are all well on the beaten track — and a lot of fun, too.
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Trip Planning: A Fun Solo Trip with Young Kids in Hamburg and Lübeck, Germany
Another trip — this time a solo trip with young kids in Hamburg and Lübeck? Yes, please. After our last-minute trip to Hanover in February, I knew I wanted to go back to Germany with my kids again soon. It was such a nice, dare I say easy, time away with the kids. So I booked another solo trip the day after my son finishes school to head to Hamburg on the train. Frustratingly, there’s no direct train from Amsterdam, but I did manage to book the private kids compartment for both legs — it will take about 5.5 hours.
I wanted to use this post as an experiment in trip-planning, and then compare how it actually went afterwards. A big part of my hobby of traveling is the anticipation of it! The excitement and planning is integral. It certainly adds to the enjoyment – unless you fall into the trap of over-expecting and then being underwhelmed and disappointed if an experience or a hotel under-delivers. I’m notorious for this when I go to very nice luxury hotels – it’s easy to expect a lot from them because you’re paying so much or have heard so many good things.
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Luxury Hotel Crawl in Geneva with 2 Kids
I traveled to Geneva with 2 kids and their grandfather in June 2025. After much indecision, we went with Geneva for a few reasons: it’s a simple city break with lots of flights from Amsterdam, there are some nice hotels, and it’s very easy to transfer from the airport. Geneva was also one of the last hotel crawl trips I planned with my friend when I was pregnant in 2024, which was never to be (we ended up doing Miami instead). So it was on my radar.
There are lots of nice hotels in Geneva. Perhaps one of the most well known luxury hotels is the Four Seasons. We didn’t stay there; out of budget. I also was not that impressed with the last European Four Seasons I stayed at (the Cap Ferrat in Nice). Small rooms in an older building, stuffy atmosphere, they weren’t that interested in us, etc. So after a bit of research (this was really a whirlwind choice — we booked the tickets and hotels two days before), I went with La Reserve and the Mandarin Oriental.
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Solo trip to London with kids for 4 nights
I booked my first trip back to London with kids after two years of not visiting. It was something to look forward to after our long two-month Japan / US journey. I guessed I’d be simultaneously exhausted from traveling but also depressed that our travels were over! Well, this was a perfect mini-break and not too hard either since we could go by train (4 or 4.5 hours from Amsterdam).
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Mini break to Hanover with kids for 3 nights
Hanover was a last minute trip that I took when my friend invited me (like me, she was traveling alone with her children). I decided to go as part of my new experiment of just saying yes when I get asked on a trip. Crazily enough that happens more often than I thought it would and it’s only March!
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My new travel rule: ‘just go’
Have you heard of the concept of a travel rule, or is it something I’ve just made up? My trip planning has had to get a bit more rigid lately. My son is now old enough that he’s required to stay in school full-time. Combine this with my obsession with Ramit Sethi’s Money for Couples podcast (he suggests you set ‘money rules’ for yourself), and I decided to try out a new rule (experiment?): if someone invites me on a trip – just go!