About me
Hi, I’m Hayley, 43, single, childfree by choice and living in the beautiful and leafy part of London that is Crystal Palace.
How Travels with Hayley started
From always doing 2 weeks on a sun lounger type of holidays, I discovered a few years ago what I actually love is travelling the corners of the globe having crazy adventures, meeting new people from all walks of life, pushing myself as far out of my comfort zone as possible and generally making memories to last a lifetime. Feel the fear and do it anyway is my new motto nowadays and it’s seen me hot air balloon over ancient pyramids, snorkel with stingrays, salsa dance in the middle of the street and shoot close up photos of deadly vipers, to name but a few!
Hoping to keep hold of those memories as I become more aged and decrepit I started putting pen to paper (or finger to smartphone if we’re being pedantic…) and keeping diaries of my travels, which others soon became interested in reading – thus, Travels with Hayley was born.
Mission Statement!
I want to show everyone that travelling is accesible, safe and fun as a lone female in their 40’s, in a society that normally does the sympathetic head tilt to the ‘aging spinster’ and sees holidaying alone as the weird or ‘lesser’ choice. I want to inspire a love of the world and the people in it and just keep on exploring dream destinations for as long and often as I’m able to – because who knows what is around the corner in life – carpe diem and all that!
How I travel
I travel a mix of alone and self organised and also with Intrepid, a company that offers small, socially responsible group tours. Sadly, they do not sponsor me in any way – I’m working on it!
Photography
I’m an aspiring self taught photographer and love choosing and editing pictures for the blog, mainly using the iPhone photos app, google photos and occasionally Snapseed. All pictures are taken on my phone (I don’t own any other type of camera and don’t really know anything about them!) – the last two trips (Cambodia and Mexico) were shot on an iPhone 15 pro max which I think has an awesome camera, would highly recommend
Some random facts about me!
1. I’m super accident prone and am always covered in bruises. If there is a hole to fall down or a door frame to walk into, I’m there.
2. I’m a terrible, terrible driver – see above. I drove for 11 years and never managed to get even 1 years worth of no claims bonus…I take the bus and Uber nowadays 😂
3. As well as travel, I’m passionate about interior design and own so many cushions you could build a (very stylish…) fort with them! I love rich, jewel colours, big leafy houseplants and interesting curios you want to get closer to take a good look at.
4. I don’t like tea or coffee but I’m a very big fan of a biscuit and have only visited one country in the world that I haven’t managed to lay my hands on a packet of Oreos (Cuba). If all else fails, have a biscuit and a lay down is the life advice I would leave to the world if they ever asked…
5. I’m close to my parents and younger brother (who leaves fabulous comments on the blog, much funnier than anything I write!) I’m 5 foot 4, he’s 6ft 7. No one else in the family is tall – we don’t know where he came from…!
6. When I’m not travelling I love to salsa dance (with vastly more enthusiasm than skill…), read novels set in different countries and cultures, binge box sets and hang out with my nieces and nephews.
Get in touch
I love reading all your comments so please leave them on any of posts and ask any questions you want, I love a chat and will get back to you!
Lots of love always
Hayley xxx
Travels with Hayley 