Hi guys, Lucy here! How are you? This blog was started so I could document my Dad’s battle with cancer and find an outlet for all of the jumbled up thoughts and emotions that go with that. However, in the light of Dad’s passing it turns out that from great loss can come great things and I have been more inspired than ever to make the most of my time on this spinning rock. Therefore, this post is more of a re-introduction as I pivot the content to Mama’s & Mini’s Adventures.
The logo I’ve made for Mama & Minis Travels
Since April 2022 I have been fulfilling my life dream of travelling the world including ticking off my bucket list destination of Sri Lanka; what’s even better than that is I am doing it with my 9-year-old daughter who is literally my best friend. Since Dad passed away I have travelled to the following new Countries and have 3 new trip / countries booked in:
Spain
Cyprus
Montenegro
Sri Lanka
Hungary
Poland
France
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Turkey
Holland
The blog now consists of tales from our amazing travels which will hopefully one day become recommendations and maybe a website for an Independent Travel Agency that I’m considering joining. It will also have exerts from my Army days which I am writing over time and one day hope to publish, daily blogs from the prompts as I love the randomness of it, but mainly lifestyle stuff centring around family travel.
I love to write and can’t profess it’ll be much good (although I have received some lovely comments on some of my posts), one thing is for sure – it’s never boring here.
So, strap in and lets go!
You can also find our adventures in picture format via my Instagram account – Mama and Mini’s Travels which you can find HERE.
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
I’ve learnt that the most important ‘thing’ that you should carry with you AT ALL times is actually not ‘a thing’ at all.
It’s self-respect.
A lot of my life I have had very little self-respect (for various reasons, none of which were my fault) which has led to me being used, abused and walked all over.
I’m learning to like myself, to love myself and to know that I am worthy of things like respect and consideration and patience.
There are so many things on my already busy mind at the minute…
I’m holidaying in Greece and should be enjoying myself with a blank brain but all I can think about is the people of Gaza and how the so called ‘Leaders’ are not only looking on whilst making their hollow statements but facilitating war crimes, genocide and ethnic cleansing in full view of the world.
I have signed up to join the new political party (Your Party) started by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in the hope that something can be done…even if it’s only to apply pressure to Starmer / Trump etc I have relentlessly shared factual evidence on social media, been on marches, donated money, signed petition after petition after petition but it’s NOT enough!
We weren’t around to see the decimation of the Jews in the 1940s but we are seeing it now, real time in 4k and the world STILL isn’t outraged enough! In the words of Miriam Margoleys – ‘Hitler won. He changed Jews into some there were not’.
When we look back on this period of history what will you be able to say you did to stop innocent men, women and children being murdered, starved, tortured and killed??
My favourite thing about myself is that no matter what shit, trauma and heartache I have endured, I still try and face each day with kindness and love.
In the last 3 years or so I have learnt that travelling with your family can be one of the most rewarding experiences, but it often comes with lot of unexpected challenges. Below I’ve listed what I think are the top 10 issues facing families who travel and some practical ways to solve the issues that can arise:
1. Different Interests and Expectations
Issue: Not everyone wants to do the same activities.
Solution: Create a flexible itinerary with optional activities. Include “free time” where family members can do their own thing. Use a group vote or rotate who picks the activity each day.
2. Budget Constraints
Issue: Costs can spiral with more people involved ie tickets for trips etc
Solution: Set a clear travel budget upfront. Use family deals, multi-room Airbnb stays, and off-peak travel. Track spending with apps like Splitwise to help manage your budget.
3. Packing Disputes, Forgetting Items and Overpacking
Issue: Too much luggage or forgotten essentials.
Solution: Use shared packing lists (eg Google Docs). Assign each family member specific responsibilities. Stick to a “one suitcase per person” rule and use packing cubes (best invention EVER!)
4. Dealing with Kids’ Challenging Behavior
Issue: Tantrums, boredom, or exhaustion.
Solution: Keep kids engaged with travel games, snacks, and breaks. Plan your days/activities/trips around nap times. Give them a travel journal or camera to stay involved.
5. Jet Lag and Fatigue
Issue: Time zone changes and long travel days make everyone cranky.
Solution: Arrive a day early if possible if you have an event to attend ie wedding. Schedule light activities on arrival day or a complete rest day. Stay hydrated using a travel water bottle and get plenty of sleep before travelling.
6. Health Issues
Issue: Illness or injury away from home – our speciality!
Solution: Carry a first-aid kit, medications, and make sure you have travel insurance. Know where the nearest pharmacy or clinic is. Bring a doctor’s note for any complex pre-existing conditions.
7. Tech Dependency and Screen Time
Issue: Everyone glued to devices instead of engaging with each other or activities.
Solution: Set “tech-free” times (eg meals or activities). Download useful offline apps ahead of time. Use tech for family games or travel-related apps like geocaching.
8. Too Much Togetherness
Issue: Spending 24/7 together can lead to tension aka getting on each others nerves!
Solution: Build in alone time or small group outings. Book accommodations that allow space (eg separate rooms or a suite if budget allows). Encourage everyone to respect personal boundaries.
9. Navigating Transportation
Issue: Coordinating multiple people, bags, and destinations is stressful.
Solution: Plan transfers in advance. Choose direct routes. Use apps like Rome2Rio or Google Maps to simplify logistics. Keep essentials in a day bag kept on your person for easy access.
10. Unrealistic Expectations
Issue: Hoping for a “perfect” holiday can lead to disappointment.
Solution: Embrace flexibility. Expect minor hiccups. Focus on creating memories, not perfection. Remind everyone that the goal is shared experiences, not rigid schedules – accept that there is no such thing as perfect.
I hope the above helps you and your family have a stress free holiday and gets you a step ahead of some holiday troubles.
If you would like to come along and see my family adventures, give us a follow on Instagram via our Mama & Minis Travels adventure account – I warn you, its not for the feint hearted!
I was driving down a road close to my home today – the A653, more commonly known as Dewsbury Road…nothing unusual but it was today that something finally clicked about an experience I had been a part of as a child back in 1996-ish.
Like many children I would get the bus to and from school…and Dewsbury Road was part of the bus route. There were/are many shops and restaurants on the road and today I noticed a small international food store that used to be a tyre shop.
It made me think about 2 of my female school friends who used to go to the tyre shop after school to see their much older Asian ‘boyfriends’ who would give them cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol. As a young girl of 13/14 it never crossed my mind that this was weird and wrong – they just seemed really happy to be getting free cigs, drugs and booze and as someone who smoked and got off my face on cheap white cider in parks and fields, I thought it was quite cool too.
However, as an adult and now as a parent – I can see that this was grooming.
I don’t know how far it went with these older Asian guys – I mean, I know my 2 friends were having sexual contact with these men and were also meeting them on a night to be driven around in their cars…but although that’s terrible and awful, for some of these young grooming victims it has been so much worse. Thinking back, they’d often ask me if I wanted to go to the tyre shop with them but for reasons unknown, I just never went. As a neglected child who was left alone a lot, who was desperate for love and affection, some acceptance or a feeling of belonging it could’ve gone very, very wrong for me.
I never saw these girls again after we left school, so I don’t know what kind of lives they went on to have but I hope it was happy and full but more importantly not affected by whatever happened in the tyre shop and beyond.
Because life gets in the way; read work, school, hobbies and a plethora of other shitty reasons we haven’t done anything as a family of three for a while…so in a bid to rectify this I booked us all to go and see the new Lilo & Stitch film at Cineworld, White Rose, Leeds.
It’s our number one cinema and although there are a plethora of other accessible cinemas locally, this one is our favourite – it’s close to home, there is an abundance of free parking, a Starbucks on site, comfortable seating in the screens and also there is a whole shopping centre and multiple eateries at your fingertips once the film has finished. Being able to kill two (or more) birds with one stone as a busy Mama is always a win.
We arrived in good time (you can take the girl out of the Army and all that), printed our tickets at the self-check out terminals and wandered into Starbucks to get our portable ‘in film’ goodies – mine is a white hot chocolate and a door step cinnamon swirl, Phebe is a caramel frappachino…I mean, what else would a 10 year old drink. We then went to the snack bar for a some cheesy nachos, popcorn and tango slushes…50/50 mixed flavours of course because is there any other way?! We also managed to avoid the film of the week merch at the counter which can at times be a task in itself!
Once in the cinema screening room itself, we kicked back in our reclining seats and enjoyed the film which was actually great – I was a little sceptical of yet another Disney ‘live’ remake, but it was really well done, with great actors and sfx that were appropriate and not overdone. Would recommend but if you’re not a big Stitch fan wait for it to come out on Disney+
All in all, another fantastic cinema experience at Cineworld! We’re looking forward to our next trip already 😊
Why not follow along on all of our travels and adventures at home in the UK and abroad via our Instagram account – Mama and Minis Travels and see what we get up to in real time; I must warn you, its not for the feint hearted!
I love to travel and every time there is a break in the school calendar I look to get away. So far this year we have already been to Riga in Latvia and backpacked our way around Albania so this time I was looking for something cheap and cheerful after a couple of spenny trips but something that was absolute relaxation.
I scoured the Jet2.com site and couldn’t believe our luck – there was a week away to our home away from home, Denise Apartments in Kos for £520! It got better when I applied the solo adult traveller discount and got another £60 off – that meant I got a week away for 2 of us, flights, luggage, transfers and self-catering accommodation for £460!
We flew from East Midlands airport which we have never done before but it was straight down the M1 motorway, and I booked ‘meet and greet’ airport parking which meant we dumped the car right outside the terminal…it was seamless and went without a hitch. The airport is undergoing some construction/refurbishment, but it wasn’t tangible and there was plenty of places to eat/drink, sit, relax, shop etc
The flight out went without incident, and before we knew it we were walking into our second home – greeted by our amazing hosts Nikos and Efi. We’ve stayed at the Denise Apartments twice before and its been the most gorgeous of stays…the owners are 3rd generation hoteliers, they remember your name, how you like your food cooking, your drinks preparing, they make a point of going out of their way to ask you how you are and if there is anything you need or that they can help you with…the difference with this is that they are the most genuine souls and they mean it!
There are about 40 apartments spread over the complex; the apartments are basic in style/decor but there is everything you need to be comfortable consisting of dining table, chairs, kitchen, utensils, fridges, rooms are cleaned daily, mattresses are replaced each season and every room has a spacious balcony.
Away from the rooms there are beautifully kept gardens, a bar-come café/restaurant serving coffees, soft drinks, alcohol and a wide variety of snacks/meals throughout the day/night. Each meal is prepared on request, and ingredients are locally sourced and are fresh each day. A stones throw away from the bar/café is the pool – a huge rectangular pool that is cleaned daily and is nice and deep which is great for jumping in and pool games. Around the pool is a lovely space that contains outside toilets and a plethora of sun loungers with mattresses attached plus large parasols that are all free of charge. From what I can tell there are no official opening/closing times for the pool; you can dive in after it’s been cleaned and you can go in it as late as you desire although most people seem to vacate it by 7pm.
There is always some kind family friendly entertainment throughout the week be it a Greek barbeque which is amazing but is at an extra cost (I believe 15Euro per person which is well worth it given what is on offer), there is a quiz, karaoke, Chinese bingo all hosted by the wonderful Nikos…however, I must warn you; you are likely to receive an unexpected free shot of Ouzo or two when Nikos is in hosting mode! There is also a lounge area where there is a small library, board games for guest use and a pool table…
It’s quite quiet around the apartments (which to me isn’t a bad thing) but within a 10 minute walk (on a purpose build flat coastal pathway) there are multiple beaches, Greek restaurants, supermarkets, shops, bicycle and car rental places, crazy golf, beach clubs, scuba diving school and the bus stop to get into Kos Town which a couple of miles away – either than or Efi can order you a taxi! Kos town is beautiful and well worth a day of your time…gorgeous Greek streets, tavernas, the tree of Hippocrates, Kos castle plus the ‘I ♥ Kos’ sign for the Gram and the harbour is also there where you would depart for the 3 Island Tour trips / glass bottom boat trips or days out to Bodrum, Turkey if you’re feeling adventurous!
All in all I would 1000% recommend Denise Apartments in Kos – I am not the kind of traveller that returns to places; there is too much world out there to see but in 52 days my family will be going back for our 4th trip to Denise Apartments and I am as excited to go now as I was the first time…it feels like going home and we cannot wait!
Why not follow along on our adventures by following us on my travel blog on Instagram – Mama and Minis Travels and see what we get up to in real time; you wont be disappointed!
Peace and Love as Always, Lucy 💖
PS This is not a paid ad – just a honest review of an amazing family business who thrive on making sure you have a good time 🙂
The first time I did a task that I was paid for was a ID parade for West Yorkshire police – they needed a ginger young female and I fit the bill…I was paid £15 (I think) for an hour of my time and I spent it on some food in a city centre cafe and a packet of cigarettes!
I then joined the Army and held various roles:
Radio Operator working on HF/VHF radios – I didn’t last long at this as I was rubbish at it!
Post NCO (Kosovo)
Command Clerk – Junior administrator
Company Clerk
Senior Company Clerk
QMs Clerk – Logistics Administrator
Recruiter – touring the UK promoting careers in the Army and the AGC(SPS)
Staff Clerk – working to a few senior Officers in a Headquarters
SSA – Discipline Sergeant
Documents supervisor – Easiest job ever! Working with HRIS, employee data and files!
I then left the military and have had the below roles:
Time and Attendance Site Point Person (Payroll)
HR Administrator
HR Assistant
HR Advisor
HR Business Partner
HR Manager
Operations and Admin Assistant
I’m currently unemployed but am loving the following roles:
Travel Blogger
Writing
Self-care provider
However, the best job I ever got was to be a Mum to my gorgeous girl 💗
Whenever a soldier died in our tactical AOR (area of responsibility) they would be flown home to their respective country via Kandahar Airbase. There were many nations stationed at Kandahar…British, American, Canadian, Dutch, Romanian, Italian…the list goes on so sadly, this was a regular occurrence.
When I first arrived ‘in theatre’ I was told about the ceremonies and that every time a deceased soldier was to be flown home, I would be required to send a certain amount of personnel each time; our department was only small, so it meant that we all had to attend each service.
The ceremonies were always at night – safer for the flights not to be attacked under the cover of darkness. Personnel would get into 3 ranks by nationality/service at the side of the pan (aircraft manouvering area) and watch the soldier, sometimes soldiers onto the plane. It was awful…and then unfortunately the death tolls began to rise, and the ceremonies became more and more frequent. I was so impacted seeing the constant flow of death and loss and sadness. Survivors guilt was in full swing…
It was a few weeks into regular ceremonies that I began to see the impact it was having on the more junior members of my team too…whenever we were told we needed to attend a repatriation parade the office became very quiet and I could see the dread in their faces. There had been a spate of suicide attempts by American soldiers on camp and with all of that in mind it was at that point that I made a command decision and told them they didn’t need to attend any more ceremonies if they didn’t feel up to it. I decided that I would take the blame if I was questioned why I hadn’t made it mandatory for my team to attend so I attended alone for the remainder of my time on tour. I felt guilty for not sending my team to pay their respects but I had to put them and their mental health first; the living. From then on out I went to each ceremony alone and just tried to emotionally detach myself from the moment, but it was so fucking difficult.
One repatriation that will live with me forever was when an American soldier had been killed and was taken onto the plane to be flown home…however, the difference that day was that I had been held up at work so was slightly late and ended up parading with the Americans. Once the coffin had been placed onto the plane, the coffin bearers joined the rear of the parade. One of the young men who had carried his friend onto the plane stood behind me to watch the takeoff. This young man was absolutely and completely emotionally devastated. My heart was breaking for him. He could barely breathe because he was crying so much; I thought he was going to collapse under the weight of his grief. I don’t know what came over me, but I broke ranks (a big no no), turned around and hugged him so tight – I needed to comfort him. It was the most natural, human reaction in the most unnatural and most awful circumstance. I fully expected someone to bollock me, break us apart and tell us to get back on parade, but they didn’t. They just left us in our embrace. Thankfully, the parade didn’t last much longer, and we were given the command to fall out (meaning we could leave). I wished a safe tour, he thanked me for the hug, and we parted ways. I didn’t know that man, I never saw him again and I wouldn’t know him if he walked past me in the street, but I’ll never forget him….how weird is that?!
After this thankfully the frequency of the repatriations dropped and we didn’t seem to be losing as many people. My team also staged an intervention, and we decided as a team to send one person at a time on a rota to future parades (plus more if we could which we often did) but that we were to speak out if we didn’t feel mentally resilient enough that day to go. It wasn’t about not paying our respects because we all did that in our own ways every single time, it was about making sure we got through the tour in the best shape we could. We might not have been out on the ground fighting, but I was doing a very important job arranging R&R flights (where soldiers get to go home for a few days mid-tour) and ‘end of tour’ flights where soldiers got to go back home to their families for good – I was no good to anyone if I wobbled and neither were my team.
I’ve been thinking about my time in Afghanistan recently, brought on by my daughter questioning me what wars I had been a part of during my time in the Army – she had been learning about VE Day at school, and I suppose it peaked her interested about my experiences of conflict.
I thought about my helicopter trips to Camp Bastion where we would be RPG’d, the ‘speeding tickets’ that were issued by military police for driving faster than 20kmph on camp that brought a fine of 12 donuts from Tim Hortons, my weekly Sunday afternoon half marathons (running the perimeter fence) with an RAF colleague (the threat of being snipered always made me run a little faster on certain legs of the route), the stench of ‘poo pond’ (the faeces of thousands of troops/locally employed civilians and contractors pooled in a open top tank) on a hot 35 degree day and the irony of the placement of the laundry right next to it ensuring our clothes smelt of nothing but dirty water and shit…but the 2 things that struck me were the following. Christmas Day in Kandahar and repatriation ceremonies.
Christmas Day on tour is something I had become used to as I’d spent a Christmas in Iraq a few years previously. Now, as you can imagine, it’s a difficult time for personnel who are deployed to be away from home at this time of year but in a bid to make it more ‘normal’ we are always provided with a Christmas Day lunch. The Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers and Senior Ranks will roll up their sleeves and the serve the Junior ranks and Privates their lunch in a gesture of thanks for their hard work over the course of the year…
This year our Christmas dinner was under threat – the word around camp was that the delivery of our Christmas dinner ingredients had been blown up en route by local insurgents. Morale was low. Word had obviously gotten back to the UK about the untimely demise of turkey and trimmings and an effort was made to save Christmas…our dinner was flown in directly to Kandahar airbase.
A camp of thousands filed through for lunch department by department apart but unfortunately for us the Taliban didn’t stop operations because it was Christmas Day, in fact they seemed to up the ante and mortared us all the more. As we were being served our food we were mortared. We were all so used to it that in typical British stiff upper lip fashion we simply continued to move our trays/plates along the hotplates from the floor shouting up instructions ‘no sprouts’, ‘more gravy please’. The all clear sounded and I made it to a table to look up and see Sky News on the TV’s reporting the death of a Royal Marine from the previous day – a colleague of some of the men sitting to my left and my right. I don’t know why but nobody seemed to see how that could be a problem…nobody in power thought that soldiers might not want their dead colleague plastered on the TV screen whilst they ate their Christmas dinner. I instantly spoke to one of the senior Officers and suggested that they may want to turn off the TVs and put some music on instead. I will never forget this man’s face – it was like I’d suggested something quite bizarre and radical, so I continued…It doesn’t scream Christmas spirit and high jinks does it, seeing your dead oppo on the TV whilst were eating our pigs in blankets. The penny finally dropped, and the TVs were turned off and BFBS radio was put on instead where we only heard about the dead marine in-between Christmas music and family dedications from loved ones back at home. Only marginally better, but better.
Anyway, the mortaring consistently continued; we were in our chairs, under the table, back in our chairs, under the table so the next time the mortar alarm went off my table grabbed our plates of dinner and took them under the table with us and ate our dinner there even when the all clear sounded – it must’ve looked ridiculous…hundreds of soldiers in dusty combat wear and paper hats from cheap Christmas crackers sat eating a plate cold Christmas dinner under the tables.
Anyway, we had our dinner and went straight back to work. There was no official time off allocated although I let my team have the afternoon away from work to ‘do sports or exercise’ aka phoning home and drinking brews in the Naafi; whatever it took to try to forget they were thousands of miles away from home on Christmas Day.
The post about the repatriations will be written separately to this.
In writing this blog post I took the time to learn about the Marine who was killed on Christmas Eve 2008 – his name was LCpl Benjamin Whatley of Lima Company, 42 Commando and he was killed by enemy fire in Nad-e Ali, Helmand Province. He was 21 years old. A son, a friend, a leader and a true bootneck; may he rest in peace.
Life with Lucy | A Life Inspired From Loss 