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@divawithabackpack

So, I’ve been getting ready for an epic train trip

So, I’ve been getting ready for an epic train trip, followed by a very long flight (taking two holidays almost back to back for…reasons), and I realised that I haven’t even posted about my last epic train trip, except to stories and does that even count?
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So welcome to my first #photodumpfriday where I try to right my wrongs. Starting in #toronto .
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I flew in with my elbows up, ready to spend a few days before taking an epic cross-country train ride on The Canadian (or so I thought…we’ll get to that).
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First stop, my usual - a walking tour. I think it’s just the best way to get up-close-and-personal with the sights, learn a bit of history and burn off some calories before I start pounding cocktails. The harbour, the ‘Canadian Walk of Fame’, St Lawrence Market (mmm…butter tarts) and a lot of sports stadiums. All in the pissing rain. Luckily we could take cover in the indoor metropolis that is The PATH so no fun spoiled…until I got the email cancelling my train. The whole point of this trip. Of course that would happen to me.
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I spent the Flixbus ride to Niagara plotting my next move. Luckily I was there to hop on a big yellow school bus for a wine tour around #niagaraonthelake . Always think better with a bottle in my hand. Such a gorgeous day - it even stopped raining! - as we drove around the wine region, stopping @vieniestates for bubbles, @newarkbrewing for beer and poutine and @riverviewcellars for orange wine. The town was so pretty in a Little House on the Prairie meets Back to the Future III kind of way (I know what I mean) and I wish we had a chance to stop and walk around. By the time we’d downed an entire flight (each!) @gretzkyestates , I’d solved my train dilemma. Just enough time to catch a rainbow over the falls before heading back to the city.
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With an extra afternoon in Toronto before my flight to (???), I headed to @distilleryto to fill my face. Affogato and thick Mayan chocolate @somachocolatemaker , a G&T @spiritofyork and the filthiest (in a very good way) birria quesadilla @elcatrinca washed down with a large spicy marg.
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Then off to the airport to fly to…see you next week.
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#divawithabartabontour #divawithabartab

Sorry Raye, no joy. And I travelled 41,642 miles,

Sorry Raye, no joy. And I travelled 41,642 miles, to 28 cities in 13 countries, so you can’t say I didn’t try…
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So time for my travel review of 2025, and it’s been an epic one. Not that you’d know from IG as I’ve been absolute shit at posting. I was busy!
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Started off in February with slow travel - Eurostar to Amsterdam to hang out with a friend, then the Nightjet to Zurich to hang out with another. 3 fab days in Switzerland - including a picture-perfect winter wonderland trip on The Glacier Express to StMoritz, which was so fancy I was surprised I wasn’t turned away at the border.
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So sad to leave, but home I went. Via NYC and Singapore(a story too long for this post, but very me-coded).
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In March I ‘accidentally’ found a 2-day cruise on MSC Preziosa for lass than £100 - what’s a girl supposed to do? Free balcony upgrade and lovely peeps on my solos dinner table - I’d call this a win.
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Repenting my carbon footprint sins, I travelled back from Hamburg strictly by rail. Via Innsbruck. Had to make it interesting… Def have to spend more time in Austria.
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May was a Bank Holiday weekend in Athens with the girlies. The ones who know all the good restaurants and all the best wines so I was way out of my league. But I lived WELL. Also got to visit some bars I’d had my eye on for years. And the ruins, obvs.
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Nothing beats a Jet2holiday…especially when you find return flights to Paphos for £50 in JULY. Ok, so I was I was only there for 36 hours…but true to form, I packed a lot in.
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September. So proud of September. I will do some proper posts about how it came about, but I found myself in Cape Town celebrating my birthday - and my 50th country - at #afrowineweek2025 . Organised by @tuanniprice and her team, an epic week of fabulous wine and food from Black/African producers. Unforgettable experience with wonderful people.
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While I was in the area, took a side quest to Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park (countries 51-53) which were mind blowing. OMG have so many pics to edit and post!
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So that was 2025 (not really. I’m posting this from Düsseldorf…). I took every opportunity to travel and was very grateful for them all.
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Now can I top this in ‘26…?

It’s August, it’s sunny - so perfect time to flash

It’s August, it’s sunny - so perfect time to flashback to #Switzerland in the snow?
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Holiday countdown (five more sleeps!) takes me back to February, when I got one of my ‘ideas’: The @glacierexpress.ch , an iconic, scenic rail journey through a picture-perfect Swiss winter wonderland that I was obsessed with thanks to YouTube. Well, I love trains, was already going to be in Zurich…I just needed to convince my travel buddy we needed to get up at 5am so that we could travel across half a country (and back!) in just one day. No probs.
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Nearly didn’t make it. A really tight change at Bern and a really mean train attendant (we forgot to validate our tickets - did I mention we woke up at 5am???!!) made things tricky, but we made it to Brig with just enough time to pick up some mini bottles of Fendant wine for the road.
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Once the train pulled in from Zermatt (way too far to do the whole route in one day), we got to sit in the nicest second class carriage I’ve ever seen. Comfy seats, huge picture windows so we could check out the view, proper table service, serving real food in actual courses from a legit kitchen a bar (not free, but still…). And everything was spotless.
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We spent six hours in what I’d call luxury, relaxing, sipping wine and taking in the stunning views as we pretty much travelled through a Christmas card. Bliss. Then we pulled into #saintmoritz❄️ and got to fake being rich bitches for an afternoon.
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A stroll around town (window) shopping for Chanel and Saint Laurent. Aperols @skybarstmoritz . Dinner a little spot with après-ski vibes (well there was a fake ski lodge in the courtyard, so…) and a stop at a posh chocolate shop to buy treats to scoff on the way home. On the cheap, normal, definitely not scenic train.
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Epic day trip that I’d definitely recommend if you are in Switzerland in the winter. Maybe stop overnight somewhere though? It was bloody exhausting…
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.#glacierexpress #stmoritz #wintertravel #visitswitzerland🇨🇭 #scenicrailway #traintravel #luxurytravel #luxurytrain #luxurytraintravel #divawithabartab #divawithabartabontour

It’s been a while… . I’ve been so bad a posting th

It’s been a while…
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I’ve been so bad a posting this year. Have to be in the mood, I guess?
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So what have I missed?
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The rest of my #switzerland trip, that took me to #stmoritz via the #glacierexpress . The longest Margarita crawl in the world (JFK to the roof of the #marinabaysands and back again. Yes really). A mini cruise to #Hamburg. A sleeper train to #innsbruck . A girls trip to #athens . 36 hours in #paphos . Oh and I just got back from a week in Edinburgh for the TV Fest. But that was work so it doesn’t count.
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I’ve posted a bit on stories, but it was nice to be a bit more present through all my travel this year. However, I have missed keeping a record of my experiences. Looking at my bad pics and reading my cringey stories does cheer me up on bad days and sad days.
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So…
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In preparation for my next trip, my annual birthday festival of random that kicks off in about 10 days time (it’s a secret!), I will do a bit of a photo (and cringey story) dump. Not that I need any help getting any more excited than I already am, but it will likely be my last trip for a while so it’ll be good to reflect and appreciate the amazing travel year I’ve had so far.
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Holiday countdown starts…now?
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#solotravel #solotraveller #solotraveler #solofemaletravel #solofemaletraveller #solofemaletraveler #blackgirlstravel #blacktravelfeed #divawithabartab #divawithabartabontour

A couple of days in #Zurich is just what anybody’s

A couple of days in #Zurich is just what anybody’s doctor would order. All those mountains and lakes, all that fresh air.
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Then there’s all that cheese, all that chocolate and all of those cocktails. And some bloody good local wine(the Fendant was chefs kiss). Not so healthy now, are we?
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So what did we get up to?
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A fun stay at #boutiqueHotelJosef - an easy sprint from the main train station when you need to race for a 630am train (we’re getting to that. Next post).
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Pretty much bottomless fondue @swisschuchi washed down with several glasses of the aforementioned Fendant and walked off with a trek along the river and up to the #Lindenhof viewpoint.
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A bit of culture @landesmuseumzurich , a trip to the #TopofZuich at #Uetilberg for the best views of the city with a mountain backdrop and an afternoon @lindthomeofchocolate just so we could try every random flavour of Lindor going (cheesecake, anyone?!). And go back for seconds. And a couple of hot chocolates too.
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Then, of course there were the five- star cocktails. @widderbarzurich in the Old Town, inception Margaritas @latebloomers.zurich , @roter_delfin where they gave us a postcard to write to our mate while a bit drunk AND ACTUALLY POSTED IT and the seriously glam @bar_am_wasser which deserves ALL the awards.
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People were lovely - especially our pal Yost at the tourist information desk who saved us a FORTUNE on train tickets (leaving some change for Aperols in St Moritz - big thanks for that!). Weather was perfect. And don’t believe the lies - it was cheaper than London (I guess that makes London REALLY expensive?!).
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More to come. Let’s see if I can get through posting before my next trip (which I might have booked already…?)
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#visitzurich #visitswitzerland #solotravel #solotraveller #solotraveler #solofemaletraveler #solofemaletravel #solofemaletraveller #blacktravelfeed #blackgirlstravel #zurichcocktails #divawithabartab #divawithabartabontour

A journey is from A to B. . Is it though? ‘Scuse m

A journey is from A to B.
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Is it though? ‘Scuse me while I throw in an A.1, 2 and 3 along the way. The destination was Zürich and London has 6 airports…but it also has train stations, #eurostar has sales and once on the continent you can get almost ANYWHERE.
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This is how I ended up dipping my toes into the #slowtravel pool, booking a day train and a couchette on a night train for about the same price as a BA flight (advanced booking is the trick here…). And how I bought myself a bonus afternoon in #Amsterdam.
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Catching up with a friend and getting more of a ‘locals’ experience, wandering through the back streets and canals away from the tourists and stag dos. A stroll through a crowded farmers market selling the giant wheels of cheese and the biggest tulips I’d ever seen (seriously mutant). An iced americano @saintjean.nl , seemingly THE hype coffee spot followed by early evening picantes, laced with mezcal, served with a side of bitterballen.
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A perfect, sunshiny afternoon, just hanging out, catching up with gorgeous people. Just the thing set me up for a 12-hour overnight train journey sharing a compartment with three randoms, stuck in the top bunk with a shaky ladder and no air con.
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Why do I do these things to myself?!
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#solotravel #solotraveller #solotraveler #solofemaletravel #solofemaletraveller #solofemaletraveler #blacktravelfeed #blackgirlstravel #traintravel #nightjet #divawithabartab #divawithabartabontour #divawithabartabontour

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