The Thames Path in Bishops Park
About The Well-Travelled Postcard
Welcome! I'm Virginia, a travel blogger, Master's student, languages graduate and serial expat from the UK, and travel is an utterly fundamental part of who I am. I hope to inspire you to get out and explore the world, through helping you find opportunities to travel, work, study and live abroad, and by sharing some of the amazing places I’ve encountered so far! Click here to find out more...
Where are you dreaming of jetting off to next?
Follow me on Instagram at @VStuartTaylor
New blog post! Tomorrow I'll turn 30 🎂🎈 so it’s about time I reviewed progress on my pre-30 Travel Wishlist. Take a read to see how many I managed, and are any of these items on your list too?
This post also covers 6 guiding principles I live by and travel by. The first is about trying to actively learn with everything I do in life, keeping an active and open mind, and seeing each day as a chance to grow.
Also scroll right for a mini gallery of the last 5 years: turning 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and now nearly turning 30.
https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/07/11/turning-30-my-pre-30-travel-wishlist-in-review-and-6-guiding-principles-to-live-by/
#travel #travelblogger #birthday #thirty #travelgoals #bucketlist #traveller
New blog post! 20 Essential Travel Experiences to Do in Your 20s
It's exactly one month until I say goodbye to my twenties, and the milestone has understandably put me in a reflective mood. Looking back over an incredible decade of lots of travel, here are the most essential experiences I'd advise everyone to have in their twenties, when there's that much more freedom and so many opportunities to see the world!
How many of these have you done? And what would you add to this list?
This photo is from my recent trip to New Zealand - watch my story from NZ for more of beautiful Milford Sound!
https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/06/12/20-essential-travel-experiences-to-do-in-your-20s/
#travel #travelblogger #twenties #20s #twentysomething #travelphoto #milfordsound #newzealand #visitNZ #fiordland #fjord #newpost #travelblog
New blog post! 8 Places to Go Wine-Tasting around the World
I recently went wine-tasting in beautiful New Zealand and it reminded me of the other incredible vineyards I've been lucky enough to explore (and taste!). These photos are actually from @santo_wines in beautiful Santorini. So this latest blog post is my guide to wine-tasting across 4 continents: ranging from the UK to Portugal, the US to South Africa, all the way to New Zealand!
Are there any other wine regions or vineyards you'd add to this list, which I should try?
https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/05/06/8-places-to-go-wine-tasting-around-the-world/
#wine #winetasting #vineyard #travel #winerist #santorini #santowines #sunset #bay #greece #winelover #winery #travelblog
New blog post! Thoughts from 40,000 feet: 2019 so far
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A look at my travels and life in the first 3 months of the year, written at the start of an epic 25-hour journey to New Zealand! 🇳🇿
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https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/04/15/thoughts-from-40000-feet-en-route-to-new-zealand-2019-so-far/
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#travelblogger #blogger #travel #q1 #2019 #lifeupdate #newpost #sunset #silhouette #longhaul #journey
Exciting news: I’ve created a podcast!
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There are 10 short and snappy episodes of 7 minutes each, which look at the 26 European borders I crossed in 6 months in 2017, based on my ‘A Journey Across Borders’ project.
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They’re all available to listen to through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Anchor, and in the blog post below you’ll find the links, along with my reasons for creating the podcast and how I actually set it up.
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This podcast is a new experiment for me, so I’d love to know what you think?
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https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/03/27/launching-the-podcast-of-a-journey-across-borders-crossing-26-european-borders-in-6-months/
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#podcast #podcaster #borders #travel #travelpodcast #longread #travelblogger #anchorpodcast #podcasting #nonfiction
"Donning a catsuit makes you feel invincible, like a superhero on skis!"
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My race report from the 2019 Inferno Ski Races in @MurrenGimmelwald is now up on the blog! I feel very proud to have (somehow!) completed the Combination @Inferno_Rennen_Murren, comprising a 6km Nordic race, a Giant Slalom race and a 14.9km downhill ski race - the world's longest and hardest. Congratulations also to all the other finishers, especially my fellow @KandaharSkiClub racers!
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Have a read here: https://thewell-travelledpostcard.com/2019/02/13/the-2019-inferno-ski-races-in-murren-tackling-the-langlauf-the-giant-slalom-the-worlds-longest-hardest-downhill-ski-race/
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#ski #skiing #skiracing #murren #switzerland #suisse #swiss #infernorennen #kandaharskiclub @kandaharskiclub #catsuit #skiing🎿 #schilthorn #lauterbrunnen #racing
Merry Christmas from the Stuart-Taylors + honorary sister @_jessvallance! Hoping that the festivities and merriment of Christmas have brightened everyone’s day, and especially thinking of those who are missing, or far from, their loved ones.
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#christmasday #christmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #joyeauxnoel #buonnatale #feliznavidad #feliznatal
The last stop on my birthday tour of Tallinn merits a post all of its own as the best restaurant I visited all year: @NOA_restoran, 15 minutes outside of the city, on the waterfront, facing west towards Tallinn. We had their tasting menu and a front-row seat to watch the sunset over the bay 👌🏼🎂
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(PS. If you’re wondering why I’m posting this now, when my birthday was actually in July, then read the caption in my Whitehall post - I’m catching up! Also see my Story from Estonia too.)
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#estonia #tallinn #noarestoran #noa #finedining #tastingmenu #birthday #birthdaypresent #citybreak #baltics #eesti #europe #summer #july #luxurytravel #visitestonia
Back in July I spent my birthday in Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪 with my sister @oliviamst! She created the most elaborate route map of my birthday treats around the city, from cake for breakfast 🍰 to a walking tour, from lunch to a full body massage, to cocktails and dinner. It was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had, and Tallinn is very very cute!
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(PS. If you’re wondering why I’m posting this now, when my birthday was actually in July, then read the caption in my Whitehall post - I’m catching up! Also see my Story from Estonia too)
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#estonia #tallinn #birthday #birthdaypresent #walkingtour #citybreak #baltics #eesti #europe #summer #july
Sometime in mid-2018, I discovered Instagram Stories and instantly became hooked! Almost all my photos and videos are now shot in portrait so they’re Story-ready and I love how much simpler and faster it is to post a Story than craft a well-edited and captioned Instagram photo. The casualty of my love affair with Instagram Stories, however, is that I barely ever post Instagram photos in the old-fashioned way, (with the sad knock-on effect that I then don’t re-share anything on Twitter or my blog’s Facebook Page).
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So before 2018 ends, I want to rectify some of my neglect for old-fashioned Instagram and do justice to the brilliant trips I had in the second half of the year!
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First up though are photos from the place where I spent the majority of 2018: at work on Whitehall, in the heart of London! I work in the Treasury building and one perk of the job is getting to flit between the most incredible buildings for meetings: from the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet Office, to the MOD. Nearby Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, the Houses of Parliament and St James Park are also equally photogenic! The 2nd October 2018 marked my first anniversary of working for the Civil Service and of working on Whitehall, and sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember just how historic and beautiful Westminster is, and how lucky I am to work amidst these so-called ‘corridors of power’.
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PS. The award for the very best Whitehall Instagram account has to go to @treasury_cat - Gladstone is a hero.
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#whitehall #westminster #SW1 #thisislondon #LDN #corridorsofpower #ukcivilservice #foreignoffice #treasury #horseguards #themall #parliamentsquare #parliamentsquare
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