I wear many hats, both of the fashion variety and hypothetically so my career sees me fluctuating between writer, blogger, online presenter and stylist – all while juggling the personal role of being a new mum!
You can therefore imagine how much travelling my work involves and how important it is for me to build a home from home environment no matter where I am.
Let’s take the past week for example. In less than a week I have travelled to Birmingham, London (twice), Brighton and Sheffield for work. With Christmas drawing ever-near, my diary is bulging with parties and exciting events. At the start of the week, I headed to London for an evening with Karen Betts, the UKs leading permanent makeup artist. She does incredible work with the Katie Piper Foundation and it was so lovely to spend time with her clients.
I then headed to Sheffield to visit Meadowhall Shopping Centre. I’m the Centre’s Resident Fashion and Beauty Advisor and often scope the malls for the latest fashion and beauty trends so I can blog or vlog about my findings. I also host my Personal Shopping services at Meadowhall. This week’s client was the beautiful Abbie whose parents bought her a shopping trip with me for her 16th birthday. Abbie looked fabulous in a range of skinny jeans, printed tops and sequinned partywear.
Birmingham saw me visit the NEC for the BBC Good Food Show and I’ll be back there this weekend for Clothes Show Live. I returned to London to take part in a beauty workshop with Beauty Mart to watch some of the world’s leading makeup artists such as Lee Pycroft (who has made up famous faces including Elle MacPherson), share their expert tips. Comfortingly, the experts mentioned that even Elle MacPherson takes hours to look the way she does!
At the end of each event, I like to head back to a space that makes me feel settled, comforted and safe at once. I take a few essentials with me to help create a homely atmosphere such as my iPhone brimming with family photos, Diptyque Mini Travel Candles to create a familiar smell, my silk pillow case for a touch of luxury that turns even the lumpiest of pillows into bliss and a pair of snuggly moccasin slippers that bring me instant comfort.
Of course, it helps also if you stay in a hotel that delivers that all-important comfort itself and I was both surprised and impressed with the newly made over Travelodge rooms. I had a preconception that Travelodge rubber stamped the pit stop image but instead, found myself relaxing into a home from home oozing modernity and convenience. With a fresh image, modern furnishings and the new Travelodge Dreamer Bed, I find it easy to snooze in style every time.
Not all Travdelodge’s around the country have been updated with the bed, but the ones that have include many of the London hotels as well as hotels in Cardiff and the hotel in Edinburgh central. For a list of the hotels that have undergone the makeover, click here.
