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Welcome to, or Welcome Back to Monday Escapes on the first Monday of the New Year, thankfully a bank holiday so the real world doesn’t have to start for most of us in the UK just yet!

I finally finished my review of the years trips and there is a reason it took so long, as we took 53 trips! If you want to find out what we got up to, our end of year review is here!

Over the Christmas break we’ve had some fantastic family time and I’m driving to Cornwall today for a week of day trips and wintery walks with the girls before they head back to school on the 9th!

Out for a family walk down by the beach. Love the holidays! We’ve all got cake too! #ukexplore

A photo posted by Karen Beddow (@mini_travellers) on Dec 27, 2016 at 5:15am PST

Monday Escapes is a place to link up your travel memories and is hosted by Me, Sarah at Extraordinary Chaos, Lisa at Travel Loving Family and Clare at Tin Box Traveller. We also have a fabulous sponsor Lonely Planet.  We are absolutely delighted to link up with Lonely Planet to offer our number one favourite blog post of the fortnight either a destination guide, or a title from the Lonely Planet Kids range.  (See T&C’s below). Just another great reason to link up with Monday Escapes!

Monday Escapes is all about looking back at wonderful, happy travel memories and sharing them with others. It doesn’t have to be about a trip abroad or even be a written post. If you want to share your favourite snapshots – whether it’s a famous sight, scene, dramatic view or even a favourite family photo, then please feel free to link those up, too. Likewise, posts don’t have to be about holidays or weekends away, they can also include day trips, walks, attractions – any travel experience that you want to share.

Claire and Lisa’s favourite posts from December are:

Lorelei from California Globetrotter has firmly placed Strasbourg on our travel wish list for next Christmas! Her photos capture the festive atmosphere perfectly and the Vin Chaud (mulled wine) and warm crepes sound delicious!

Strasbourg is the City of Christmas

Ice Hotel and a Wedding Dress

I love hearing about unconventional weddings and so was captivated by Feet Do Travel’s story of marrying in Lapland with outside temperatures of -33°c! Their photos of riding sleighs pulled by reindeers and sipping drinks in ice bars are truly inspiring. Not too keen on the idea of icicles forming on my eyelashes though;)

I enjoyed Keri’s account of her kid-free week in Thailand which also came with lots of tips for visiting with family and some sobering sustainable tourism facts about how visitors are impacting this beautiful destination.

The Phi Phi Islands could be the ultimate paradise… but for how long?

Rachel had a surprising and fabulous luxury break close to home in Malaysia. The secluded resort she picked for her anniversary sounded like the perfect couples getaway!

Pangkor Laut Resort

and their favourite Instagram photos!

This holidays, we were so busy vacationing in Bintan followed by Thailand, that we almost missed this year’s Christmas Wonderland. Finally managed to squeeze in a visit today and it was much less crowded compared to our visit last year. Probably due to introduction of admission fee? * Personally, I am in favour of having admission fee for crowd control. But when visitors pay for admission, they come with higher expectations. And somehow I felt this year Christmas Wonderland was not as nice as last year’s in spite of charging for admission. Oh well… Regardless, Christmas Wonderland is still one of my favourite annual event in Singapore. Because when else do we get to catch fake snow in a #Spalliera? * Christmas Wonderland is happening till 1 Jan 2017 at Gardens by the Bay. * More info 👉🏻@christmaswonderlandsg @gardensbythebay * #bbmlocaltourist * #gardensbythebay #christmaswonderlandsg #supertreegrove #marinabay #marinabaysands #Singapore #singaporetrip #singaporetravel #singaporeinsiders #YourSingapore #VisitSingapore #travelblog #travelblogger #iamtb #travelmom #travelbloggeres #mondayescapes #traveltuesday #wednesdaywanderlust #wanderfulwednesday #citytripping #myfavouritetrip #familytravelhq #airhead #airheadsflock #ricohtheta #ricohthetas #ricohtheta360

A photo posted by Bumble Bee Mum (@bumble_bee_mum) on Dec 27, 2016 at 6:57am PST

All you need is ❤️️ and a walk down Carnaby Street in London at Christmas! . . . . #carnabystreet #london #visitbritain #timeout #visitengland #christmas #xmas #christmastime #christmaslights #europe #ig_daily #mondayescapes #city #citytripping #wanderfulwednesday #citylights #capital #bbctravel #forbestravelguide #travel #ig_captures #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #streets #streetview #love #allyouneedislove #hope #peace #1960s

A photo posted by Tracy @tracystravelsintime (@tracystravelsintime) on Dec 22, 2016 at 11:04am PST

We enjoyed the most fantastic time at the Wonderlab in the Science Museum in London yesterday. 🔭🔬 I cannot even begin to recommend it! We were there for four hours and could have stayed longer! 😍 Everything is so well thought out, from the details at all 50 interactive stations to what you call the members of staff who are on hand throughout – “explainers”. My personal favourite was the 20 minute interactive demonstration on rockets. 🚀 I am not even exaggerating when I say it was absolutely brilliant (live explosions! 💥) and I totally got more into it than my kids! Ha! 🙊Take yourself there when you’re in London with your kids – it is a really great experience! . . . #wonderis #sciencemuseumlondon #sciencemuseum #littlefierceones #myhappycapture #worldoflittles #childhoodunplugged #candidchildhood #thatsdarling #ig_motherhood #familydaysout #familyjaunts #flashesofdelight #abmlifeisbeautiful #abmlifeiscolorful #abmhappylife #letsgosomewhere #letsgoeverywhere #mondayescapes

A photo posted by Louise (@littleredsuitcase) on Dec 19, 2016 at 11:29pm PST

Day 12 of my Marcothon (a min 25 minute run evert day of December) and I was sorely tempted to hop on and pedal off today! Loving keeping a photo diary of my daily routes. Rosie x . . . . . #dailyrun #getfitstayfit #scottishrunning #marcothon #trailrun #runmummyrun #adidas #adventure #fitness #getfitstayfit #fitat50 #lifeonskye #isleofskye #tinroof #rustyrooftop #shed #singletrack #exploretocreate #vsco #outdoorgym #ukexplore #mondayescapes #farawayfiles

A photo posted by Truly Madly Kids (@tmkuk) on Dec 12, 2016 at 7:02am PST

and the winner of the Lonely Planet book this time is Keri from Our Globetrotters please do get in touch to claim your prize!

 

What’s in it for you?

The number one thing is you’ll be sharing your fantastic posts with a like-minded community and grabbing some travel inspiration for yourself. As a bonus you have a chance to have your blog post and/or hashtagged Instagram posts featured on all four, yes four of the hosts’ blogs each fortnight, introducing your blog to even more people. How great is that?! Our number one favourite post of the fortnight will also win a Lonely Planet destination guide, or a title from the Lonely Planet Kids range. How great is that?! (*T&C’s – The chosen Lonely Planet book must be in English and can only be sent to bloggers living within Europe).

So how do you join in?

• Link up to one post/photo – old or new.
• Please make sure to include the Monday Escapes badge at the bottom of the post, on your site, or a link back to the hosts.
• Posts are anything travel-related, and can include photos, reviews, days out, attractions and walks – at home or abroad.
• Comment on posts by the co-hosts and at least two others. Blog hops only work if you share the comment love. That’s why they’re so great!
• If you tweet any of us your links @minitravellers @sarahjchristie @tinboxtraveller or @travellovinfam, please use #MondayEscapes and we will be sure to retweet.
• Similarly, if you want to show off your photos on Instagram using #MondayEscapes, we will show those photos some love.

Monday Escapes will go live every two weeks, alternating between the hosts and will be open Monday to Wednesday. Every fortnight we will be giving a shout out to some of our favourite posts and photos, and choosing a Photo of the Fortnight via Instagram.

There is also a Monday Escapes Pinterest Board – so if you’d like to start pinning some of your favourite photos, do get in touch.

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So why link up below!

 

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