Moving from the big smoke to Surrey in 2010 is one of the best decisions we ever made. POD arrived on Christmas Day that year and she’s grown up enjoying the outdoors whatever the weather. She always says she loves it when it rains as she can jump in muddy puddles and catch raindrops on her tongue.
POD is five years old and an adventurer through and through. On the surface, she may seem like a girly girl, and she is to a degree, but in the great outdoors she’s consistently the first up a tree. Before she could even walk, she’d scale chairs, tables and other pieces of furniture which prompted the tag ‘Danger Dove’ (actually on my husband’s list of boy’s names!). If she’s not scaling trees or launching herself off fallen tree trunks, the bigger the better obviously, she’s drawing with sticks in the mud or collecting fir cones.
We were well travelled before POD came along and we’ve explored for much of our lives. My husband Jonathan spent his childhood holidaying across Europe, with his RAF Wing Commander Dad stationed on various Air Force bases in Germany throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. His wanderlust came to a head when he went travelling in 1995/1996 across South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
I lived and worked in Australia for two years, coincidently at the same time my husband was there although our paths never crossed. As a couple we’ve travelled far and wide with exploits in Africa, Australasia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, North America and South America as well as extensively across Europe for sun, ski and city breaks. We’ve stayed in some unusual places along the way with a former railway carriage in New Zealand and a camp deep in the Venezuelan jungle certainly the most memorable. As well as picking some unusual holiday destinations. My husband and a friend spent a week travelling around Lebanon and Syria. Thankfully well before the latest troubles.
Even with a five-year-old in tow, our travels are still very much focused on discovery, adventure and exploration. Last year saw us head to Greece and Corsica before driving along the Opal Coast in France. We loved taking the car to Europe so much, we recently drove to Belgium and we’re back in France next month. Now POD is a bit older, its meant we can explore different kinds of destinations with the journey part of our holiday experience too.
In the summer, we’re heading to Northern Spain by cruise ferry where we’re staying in a cottage overlooking the Picos de Europa. There is so much to explore there we can barely contain ourselves – you can read about it on our travel blog. We have a thing for quirky accommodation and we’re itching to stay in a tree house or somewhere equally as free where there’s green space aplenty. Although it’s nice to relax in the evenings, we’re an active family that absolutely has to get under the skin of a place.
We spend most of our spare time outdoors. It’s glorious when it’s sunny but if it’s not we layer up, grab waterproofs, wellies and a change of clothes. It’s not that long ago since I took POD to the beach in a monsoon-like downpour. I drove for an hour hoping it would clear before we arrived and luckily for us it did. Quite miraculously just after we’d finished our Marmite sandwiches! You can’t beat that, an almost deserted but beautiful beach where your daughter is free to jump the waves, dance in front of beach huts and generally act the giddy goat!
Living in Surrey means we are surrounded by the most wonderful scenery and we really are spoilt for choice. We wouldn’t be without our National Trust membership as there’s so much locally and I get my macro photography fix at RHS Wisley. There’s also Painshill Park, a haven for beautiful follies and a crystal grotto, and the simply divine Loseley Park where you can also grab an ice-cream like no other. There is a lot of green space ripe for outdoor fun that’s for sure!
The Doves are a family of three – myself, my husband Jonathan (the POD Father) and our five year old daughter POD. We love exploring new places wherever they may be – covering adventures both here and on our travel blog, POD Travels, which launched last year. I’m a business owner, multi-award nominated blogger and photographer with 20 years experience in the marketing industry. I’m Editor of the PODcast and POD Travels blogs as well as being Editor of BritMums Photography Round-up.
Canopy and Stars provide a wealth of accommodation options that are perfect for wild adventurers whether you’re heading to the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal or Italy. There are yurts, tree houses, boats and riverside options, wagons, train carriages and buses plus cabins, lodges and family friendly choices – a whopping 500 options in all. Their website always makes me smile as everywhere looks incredible. We’d absolutely relish the opportunity to work with Canopy and Stars as part of the #CSCollective.
PODcast is a Finalist in the Best Photography category of the MAD Blog Awards 2016. If you enjoy our posts, we’d really love it if you could please vote for us. Thank you so much 🙂
