Quick Cuppa: Hotel Habits, and an Interesting Travel Themed Book!

Another tea break post…..but before we start talking about hotel habits books or anything else, I just want to say a big “cheers” and hats off again to all of you good bloggers who have kept it going over the years, posting original blog content and engaging with other bloggers. No need to wait for bloggaversaies to celebrate this! 👏 🥳 🥂🎊 🍻 💙 🍾 🙌

I hope you’re all keeping well.

Mine’s a soursop tea by the way. Very sweet, tropical and aromatic, smells and tastes just like the fabulous fruit. I added two small teaspoons of tea leaves to my tea bag. Picked up this pretty little box from TK Maxx of all places….lots of hidden foodie gems in there if and when you have the time to trawl through everything! Also picked up some lovely packs of pasta and some tomato/spinach spaghetti – to be tried and tested at some point.

Anyway, I have quite a few posts floating in the wings so will likely be posting a bit more regularly for a while 🤭 I know I’ve sort of slowed down a bit, but let’s get into it!

Hotel Habits

We did a quick review of an airport hotel in the last post, and it just got me thinking about the kind of hotel guest I’ve become over the years and some of my hotel habits….I’m sure we all have a few that we keep to ourselves, but here’s a quick reflection on some of mine.

Get it all out

Over the years I’ve become an unpacker. Yep.

I’m now one of those people who likes to routinely unpack as soon as I enter a hotel room, even for short stays. It makes me feel settled, ‘at home’ so to speak, and able to function smoothly in the room.

Packing cubes help a lot with this, I might just put packing cubes on a shelf or in a draw – not necessarily take all the contents out of the cube, but it just allows for easy access and quick location of where things are.

The once over

Wiping surfaces and handles down with some dettol/wipes – always a good idea before you get comfortable….sounds a bit OCD, and I don’t always do this but try to remember to.

Safe and secure

Not specific to hotels but….test your padlocks.

I splashed out on some ‘good’ padlocks and accidentally locked my keys in my suitcase and ended up trying to pick the lock with a safety pin. Thankfully I managed to unpick the lock in a matter of seconds (I’d never done it before in my life, I promise), but then so could a thief, given how easy it was. Not so ‘good’ padlocks then. Test yours before using them – and don’t be an idiot like me and lock your keys in the case lol.

Hotels safes are usually great, but I’ve come across the odd one that I refused to use, including one that used a manual key (which you had to pay extra for upon check-in (unbelievable) and also those that work with AA batteries – which I suspect anyone could remove from the outside and get into the safe. 

Check!!!

After reading about someone who entered their hotel room only to find a man hiding under the bed….I now leave luggage against the open door and scan the whole room, including behind the shower curtain and inside any wardrobes and out on any balcony areas and behind any long curtains before closing the door and getting comfortable.

I always flip the deadlock into place when I’m in the room and if the door has a chain, put it on. There are lots of different door alarms you can buy these days too – also handy on sliding balcony doors and windows.

Boil it

I always boil a full kettle of water to clean the kettle and pour that out before refilling again to make tea. I used to boil two lots of water – but now I just do it once!!! 🤭

Underrated hotel habits

I always bring a pair of flip flops for the shower – great for avoiding slipping and sliding, as well as protecting feet from any unseen nasties. Hotel carpets are probably an amazon rainforest of germs….I never walk around hotel rooms barefoot. 

What are some of your hotel habits? I wonder if we share any…..

How’s that tea doing, nearly time for a top up?

Mini book review and my overactive suspicious mind!!!

I don’t talk about every book I read but this one has a strong travel theme and a unique storyline.

Long story short – you’re a traveller and you have a psychopathic obsessed stalker following you around the world, close up, in person, even boarding the same flights as you. There you go.

You’ve finally cottoned on that there’s something weird about how you ‘think’ you keep seeing this person popping up wherever you are. What you haven’t clocked yet though, is that every time someone shows a romantic interest in you they seem to end up ‘unalived’. Coincidence – not.

Reader – connect the dots.

The even bigger shocker was that toward the end of the book – I imagined something very far fetched might be happening and to my surprise I was right!!! However it does show I must be overly suspicious and conspiratorial because where I plucked the idea from I do not know – but it turned out to be pretty much the exact thing that transpired in the story.

This is what you might call a ‘travel thriller’.

I won’t say too much about the final ending, but it’s quite an ending to ponder on.

Gentle reminder:

Stalking is a crime in the UK, and stalkers exist online as well, so we should be vigilant and careful about what we share both on and offline – stay safe, and happy travels 🙏 🤗 🔆

Immersive advertising??

Anyone around London over the summer – did you spot this or even go in?

I was heading out of Tottenham Court Rd station and got stopped by some students trying to get me to sign up and donate money to something or other right outside this Samsung set up. Is this the direction advertising is going in nowadays – immersive…..I was half expecting them to start handing out VR goggles:

This little moment of PR didn’t really bend my arm on the idea of buying the new folding phone though. Hmmm – yes nice and compact for the pocket or handbag but probably ‘fiddly’ and not really worth a splurge, for me anyway!!

I read somewhere that you shouldn’t put your phone in your pocket btw – that’s too close to your skin and body – absorbing harmful radiation all day long sort of thing….I’m no scientist but probably best to err on the side of caution right!

Anyway – have a beautiful, productive or relaxing week ahead, whatever your plans, and happy blogging 🤗