Life is in the detail

South Tyrol in northern Italy is one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever visited, with mountainous landscapes and an intriguing mix of Austrian and Italian culture. Head to the Mendel for a cabin in the woods experience with hikes, wildlife and local produce aplenty.

Susie T - Original Traveller

Susie Thorne

Original Travel Expert

I have extensive travel experience throughout Australia, New Zealand, New York, Hong Kong, Malta, Mauritius, Canada and Italy.

My travels

Travel Things I Want To Do Before I Die

Take the Blue Train across South Africa and see the Big Five
Visit India where my grandmother grew up
Drive around the entirety of Norway and see the Northern Lights
Explore the wilds of Madagascar

Best Moments

Eloping to New York City then eating pizza and drinking champagne under the Brooklyn Bridge as our wedding lunch
Road tripping around the North and South Islands of New Zealand
Whale watching in Nova Scotia, Canada
Walking part of the Great Wall of China

Toughest Travel Moment

Getting lost in Xi'an, China in -5℃, carrying 30kgs and speaking no Mandarin at all

Weirdest Travel Moment

Being on the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan in a wedding dress with everybody else commuting to work. No one batted an eyelid

Explore my blog posts

The Original Travel Quiz: Week 4

Family quiz, friends' quiz, work quiz... lockdown has really got us exercising those general knowledge muscles. The hardest part? Finding fresh questions each week. While you might be able to recycle a few questions here and there, if you find yourself in desperate need of new material, look…

Beer, Chocolate, Boutiques and Moules Frites: What to do on a Weekend in Brussels

Brussels - the birthplace of the European Parliament, Jean-Claude van Damme and the Marmite of Christmas side dishes, the mighty sprout. Although this petite Belgian city is often overlooked as yet another boring administrative government centre, in reality Brussels is full to the brim with…

Keep Track! Our Top Five Train Journeys That Are Better Than Plane Journeys

They say that the journey is as important as the destination, but let's face it: flying is pretty boring, not to mention environmentally suspect (although, if you haven't heard, we do off-set 100% of air and ground travel for all clients and staff), so we want to sing the praises of an…

Beyond the Beach: Our Favourite Beach Holidays with Culture

Confession time. While we might sing the praises of wild destinations and final frontiers made for intrepid adventurers, we're also partial to the occasional indulgent beach holiday where you can spend your days worshipping that holy trinity of sun, sea and sand. However, some of favourite…

Off-The-Beaten-Track Holidays

They say three is the magic number but really we all know it's 57,268,900. It is, after all, the landed area of Earth in square miles - positively spacious, we think you'll agree. It would seem that there's a whole world of, well, world out there to explore. Which can be hard to believe when…

The Best Spring Holidays for 2020

Want to put the spring back in your step after the dark doldrums of winter? We've got just the ticket, and with Easter plus two May bank holidays, spring is one of the best times of year for an epic escape. Here's where to go in spring 2020…

Top Honeymoon Destinations for 2020

There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to honeymoons. Some want pure beachside R&R - and rightly so, we would always recommend some downtime as part of a honeymoon (never underestimate how tired you'll be after the months of preparation and wedmin) - while others want to start…

How to Travel Responsibly: Our Top Tips

Responsible travel, sustainable travel, eco-travel - call the concept what you will, but these buzzwords are making waves, and with good reason. We all want to safeguard our beloved planet, but we don't want to (and shouldn't) give up travel altogether, so how can we create the conditions…

Slow Amazing - Our Favourite 'Slow Travel' Destinations for 2020

Here at Original Travel, we're big believers in the benefits of Slow Travel (which we define as travelling by modes of transport other than plane or car; such as train, horse, walking, biking, boating and more). As well as giving you the chance to appreciate and connect with your…

Our Top Tips for Travelling Together on Sabbatical

We've already talked about the potential for anxiety when leaving everyday life and - more importantly - friends and family behind during a sabbatical, but now it's time to get practical. Whether you want to counter those fears by taking family with you, or by having friends visit, or if you…

Our Top Tips for Planning a Sabbatical

No two travellers plan in the same way. Some of us favour detailed spreadsheets and minute-by-minute itineraries, while others just have a great long list of love-to-dos that need turning into an actual plan. Whether you're in the early conceptual stages, already have a rough idea or own a…

Are you Ahead of the Game? Where to Head this Autumn

Summer may not have even begun (and who knows if it ever will) but before we know it autumn leaves will be falling, the Pimm's will be heading back into the cupboard for another year and the pervading pong of barbecue will have faded from the air. A stark reality we're sure you'll agree. And…

Reboot Your Resolutions

'New year, new me'. Many of us have uttered those immortal words, certain that this year we really will start morning spinning classes and dedicate our evenings to learning Spanish. Almost inevitably, once the first week of best intentions wears off, those resolutions start to slip. In fact,…

Where to go in January

While the rest of the country dejectedly throws out the Quality Street rejects (Strawberry Delight, anyone?) and valiantly attempts a Dry January, why not beat the blues by jetting off to pastures new this January? Whether you're looking for good old fashioned outdoorsy adventure,…

The Final Frontier

Space travel may be coming to a Virgin store near you in the not-so-distant future but there's really no need to start practising your zero gravity moonwalk when there is so much of good old Planet Earth left to explore. Space may be the final frontier (thanks for the soundbite, Captain…

Live Like a Local

The way we travel is constantly evolving. Destinations fall in and out of favour and technology makes more and more of the world accessible, but the current trend du jour is definitely all about circumventing your fellow sightseers and living like a local while on holiday. That's where we…

Six of the Best: Hotel Bars

The satisfying pop of a cork, the glorious glug of a bottle, the reassuring rattle of a cocktail shaker - whether it's a Virgin Mary, a classic G&T or a Bubble Bath Martini (lychee, poppy-seed, lavender, rose air and a rubber duck, obvs), a good drink at the end of a day spent by the…

Cool Combos

Dynamic duos: think gin and tonic, French and Saunders, pineapple and pizza… okay, maybe not that last one, but the fact remains that some things are just better together - greater than the sum of their parts and thus elevated to legendary status (definitely not that last one, then). The…

Authentic African Adventures

Authenticity: a perennially peddled promise which is rarely truly fulfilled. Yet authenticity is increasingly what we look for in our holiday experiences; the desire to feel like we've seen the real destination; that we've got beneath its skin and seen into its soul. Well, authenticity just…

Summer Lovin': Leaving it to the Last Minute?

Whoever said failure to prepare is preparation for failure clearly never experienced the thrill of being spontaneous or, for that matter, the chaos of trying to juggle (delete as appropriate) family/work/home/pets/social life. While it's all very commendable to book things months and years…

Secret Scenes

We all know that slightly smug feeling of having discovered something new, be it an experience or a place. We also all know the struggle that follows - do you let the cat out of the bag? Or do you keep schtum and save it for yourself? Well, our inner blabber-mouth just can't keep it together…

Arrive in Style

What do Bond girls, the Pope and Boris Johnson have in common? They all know how to make an entrance (who can forget Boris swinging from that zip wire?). And while we don't necessarily recommend 'doing a Boris', the slightly smug feeling of having really arrived in style is something we can…

Don't Miss the Boat: Planning for 2019

Life often feels like a whirlwind of work, social commitments and life admin: frankly it's exhausting. Well, that's where your travel guardian angels come in (that's us). We're here to show you the light and point you towards the giant beacon of hope that is a holiday. And when it comes to…

overlooking the landscape view from a tent

Glamping in Asia: Five of the Best

Travel trends come and go, and for every fad that eventually gets committed to the tourism equivalent of Room 101 (extreme heat holidays, anyone? - have a google) there is one that becomes entrenched in the collective travel psyche. Having burst onto the scene in the mid noughties, glamping…