My Blog

Cruising - How I got started and why I am obsessed with it. In October 2018 a friend of mine that had just retired from British Airways invited me on a cruise. My original reply was - nah - not for me…old folks…boring…not a water person…  My friend was persistent and we jumped on a Princess cruise out of San Pedro, 5 day Cabo San Lucas. It was on the Star Princess (itself no longer in the Princess fleet, [...]

Wildly unique experiences. Positive impact travel. “Travel for the new now... trips you couldn’t plan yourself, even if you wanted to". Sound up your alley? To design custom, dream itineraries explore ELSEWHERE. It’s a new concept where they match you with vetted locals in a destination to help you plan your trip, as opposed to going through a larger tour operator to do so. I have not used their services yet, but I am intrigued and hope to do [...]

So…you are moving, perhaps downsizing or just want to seriously edit belongings. Or, you’re an heir and selling your parent’s home, also with a lot of belongings left after family have selected what they want to keep. In either scenario you just cannot wrap your head around it even being possible that you could make that many trips to Goodwill, or rent a dumpster and heave things into it.  Fear not. I have the resources to help you. On [...]

Cruise much? If you do or dream about doing so please do yourself a huge favor and follow Gary Bembridge’s Tips For Travelers YouTube channel (he’s also on Facebook Instagram and Twitter). Gary lives in London with his partner and after many years in a high level corporate marketing job, a cancer diagnosis and successful treatment, he radically changed up his life. He cruises at least 10 times per year (I am not kidding! - his Facebook shows a list of cruises taken and upcoming [...]

Strand Hill Properties is a member of Forbes Global Properties. From Forbes library I offer this article which I think is timely as we head into 2023.  In this piece, some practical nuggets to guide your entry into the real estate investment scene. If you implement these steps, this article promises you'll have a strong chance of success regardless of location or the economic climate.

Being a bit of an av-geek you can imagine my devastation when I heard that Boeing just delivered its last ever Boeing 747 in December 2022. After over 50 years of building them, the very last one coming off the production line is a B747-8F to Atlas. Since production began in 1967, Boeing has delivered 1,574 of these beautiful birds known fondly as the “Queen of the skies”. Boeing’s B787 Dreamliner, B777 and Airbus A350 - collectively the “big [...]

2022 was a year of joyful post Covid revenge travel for me - - 37,784 miles flow, 4 cruises taken, 9 countries visited!! So grateful, and never happier than with rollaboard in tow. Heading out on some more great itineraries in 2023 as work allows. Here’s a short recap of one of my favorite trips of 2022. Happy New Year everyone, wishing you much success and joy in 2023 and beyond! London ~ Why London you might ask? When [...]

Strand Hill Properties is a member of Forbes Global Properties. From the Forbes library I offer this article which I think is timely as we head into 2023. Saving for a house is very different than saving for retirement, even at the current prices and mortgage rates. Here are some ways to make saving for a down payment easier and some fresh ideas about where to put your money for maximum return in a finite amount of time. [...]