Are you looking for a new hobby? Do you want the freedom to go wherever you like? Concerned about the new normal but want to travel more?

Sailing could be the hobby you have been waiting for! Learning to sail will open doors in ways you never dreamt, and give you the chance to see sights from a new perspective.
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Feet Do Travel share 6 reasons why you should try sailing.

​Do you have a travel bucket list? If not, why not? The world is full of fantastic destinations and there isn’t enough time to visit them all. Compile a list of your own personal “must see” places and plan some trips. Not all destinations require a long haul flight and plenty of cash, there are plenty of amazing destinations close to home.

​Ditch the thoughts of your two weeks in the med this year and visit somewhere new! 

​China had been top of my bucket list for many, many years but for one reason or another, I hadn’t visited it. With an impending special birthday and my “one thing to do before I die” was to cuddle a panda – BINGO!! China was finally a place I was going to visit! I could have my cake AND eat it!!

Prior to the 18-day touring holiday, I won’t lie, I had a lot of reservations! The way animals are reportedly treated and stories of lack-of human rights (eg the one-child policy) niggled at me, I also knew that it could potentially be a tough place to visit due to the language barrier.

I am pleased to say that all of my concerns were blown away within a very small amount of time!

​Shanghai is the biggest City in China with a population of 24,256,800 and is filled in part with neck-breaking, sky-scrapers that soar up high towards the clouds. If you want a vision of how fast an economy can grow in 30 years, then look no further than the Bund! What used to be woods now has the Shanghai Tower which, at 632m, is the 2nd tallest skyscraper in the world.

Highly influential for economic and financial trade, Shanghai is famous for its tall buildings, quality cuisine and is known by shopaholics as the “Oriental Paris”, but how would you choose to spend two days in this international metropolis?

Chengdu is in the Sichuan province of China around 1.5 hour's flight from Xi'an and is probably most famous for the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, but it is also full of other unexpected surprises.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when we first heard of this City, we thought it would be small, maybe in the middle of nowhere, perhaps a bit rural; we didn’t even think there would be cash point machines so we made sure we had enough currency in our wallets just in case we ran out.

We couldn’t have been more wrong!

When someone mentions to you “Hong Kong” do you conjure up images of the famous harbour skyline, world-class shopping or do you associate it as having the highest number of skyscrapers in the world? For us, Hong Kong was about Bruce Lee. Both of us are Bruce Lee fans so when we visited China, we had to take a trip here - also known as the "Pearl of the Orient".

With a population of 25 million, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world and by jove, doesn’t it feel like it?!! Sooooo many people ev-er-y-where!!

If Bruce Lee is not of interest to you, don’t stop reading here! Let us show you that we saw and did a lot more than just search for Bruce Lee related references, after all, we were in Hong Kong – a place I had personally wanted to visit for many years, I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Hong Kong?!

You may not have heard of Guilin or Yangshuo in China, however you may know of the Li River which is synonymous for its mountainous beauty, and limestone karst hills. If you have ever looked at the 20 yuan note, a scene from this stunning part of China is printed on the back.

There is an old saying in China "Guìlín's hills and water best under heaven".

Guilin is an easy 1 hour 25 minutes flight away from Hong Kong or seven hours by bullet train from Shanghai making it convenient to visit when touring China ... and it will be worth it!

​We visited Guilin & Yangshuo for three days as part of an 18 day tour of China. It was part of our tour programme and we didn't know what to expect, but those three days ended up being a highlight.

What was it about Guilin and Yangshuo that made our trip to China so memorable?

Beijing – a City with a huge amount of history! The bustling capital of China is the 2nd largest City after Shanghai, even its name means “the north capital” (Bei means northern, and jing means capital).

Before 1979, Beijing was known as Peking (hence Peking Duck, the very popular dish!), but the City’s name never actually changed, it’s down to the use of the Pinyin method of translating Mandarin (Beijing’s official language) to the International standard.

​We visited Beijing for three days as part of a bigger tour throughout China. It was August, a time of year when it’s hot, humid and busy! 

​Asia has become an increasingly popular destination to travel to in recent years. But with the number of diverse countries to pick from, how do you decide where to travel first?

Well, as a starting point, we’ve gathered six destinations which offer a memorable experience you’ll treasure forever.

The Terracotta Warriors – surely this is the only reason to visit Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province and the oldest of the “Four Great Ancient Capitals of China?

​Actually – no, I personally thought there were a few things to do and two days here was about right for our 18 day tour of this magnificent Country.

Historically, Xi’an was hugely important and was the capital of China during several of the most important dynasties since 1046 BC including Qin (221 BC–206 BC), Han (206 BC – 220 AD) and Tang (618-907AD). It is also the start of the Silk Road, the ancient network of trade routes which was invaluable for connecting China to Europe via India. The Silk Road was an integral part for forming political and economic relations between the civilizations. Now do you see why it is considered one of the "Great Ancient Capitals"?