12 Cities in 12 Months

I've set myself a mission: I'm attempting to visit twelve different cities over the course of twelve months.

The trend of visiting twelve different countries in twelve months is something that was adopted by a number of travel bloggers in recent years, however to start slow I've adapted it slightly, so it's a little kinder to my bank account, and I've pledged to visit twelve cities outside of my hometown (London) over a twelve month period. I decided to start this after realising I had unintentionally planned three different city breaks over three consecutive months; Berlin in March, Reykjavik in April and Gothenburg in May. I suppose that I kind of fell into the trend and decided to continue it to make it my own.

Jacket: Vintage via Charity Shop

Waistcoat: Vintage via Charity Shop

Hat: Catarzi x ASOS

Dress: Topshop

Boots*: Kurt Geiger 

Photos: Kaye Ford

Why did I set myself such a challenge?

I suppose that's kinda of a rhetorical question; I mean, who doesn't want to discover as many cities as possible as soon as possible?! I'm not particularly 'well travelled' as I didn't really go on holiday that frequently growing up, and I've only started travelling a little more in the past couple of years. I guess there's a part of me that feels a yearning to 'catch up' for the years I missed, because when I travel I'm honestly at my happiest and without sounding like a cheeseball, I'm keen to make as many memories as possible this year. 

I've had the desire to travel for a while, but it can be difficult whilst holding down a 9-6 office job five days a week and limited annual leave, so I'm really curious to see if I can manage it. Twelve cities rather than twelve countries is much more realistic in my situation, particularly as I haven't taken advantage of any bank holiday dates to make the most of my annual leave. There are also plenty of cities in the UK that I'm still eager to visit, including Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and oh so many more!

It's also a great way to tick off lots of bucket list destinations in one hit, and I've found it really makes you consider your budget when you travel because you know you need to keep money set aside for your next trip. Twelve short vacations in a year may seem impossible when you're on a limited budget, but I've found myself scanning the cheapest flight deals and nabbing budget Airbnbs all in the name of travel. I recently booked three days in Copenhagen including flights & accommodation for just £100! Initially I was looking at a weekend away to Manchester but it turns out the return train ticket was over double the cost of the return flight to Denmark, so go figure (although Denmark is incredibly expensive, so the jokes probably on me)!  

I'm not one for luxury travel, (although to be honest I wouldn't pass up an all inclusive, fancy ass trip to a island somewhere - who wouldn't?!) so I'm not too concerned about where I stay or how I fly. As long as I've got a bed for the night to crash out in after a long day of exploring and a flight that can get me safely from A to B, then I'm a happy traveller. So, over the course of the next year you can expect content from lots of getaways that's I've *hopefully* somehow managed to scrape together on a budget!

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm pretty new to this whole frequent travelling thing - unless it's Amsterdam as I may as well call it my second home - so if you have any tips or tricks related to budgeting whilst travelling then it'd be much appreciated! I'll also use this series to start writing a little more about how to travel on a budget and how to make the most of your annual leave if you're in a full-time job like myself. I mean, I'm pretty much going to figure it out as I go along but I'll record my progress both on my blog and over on my Instagram channel under the hashtag #Leighs12in12.

Most importantly if you have any cities that you think I should definitely visit over the coming year, please do let me know in the comments.

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