Woman travels to 16 cities in six months

By Emma Dunn via SWNS

A woman traveled to 16 places in six months - using just 11.5 days of annual leave.

Ella Brown, 24, didn't want her job to get in the way of her travels and planned some of the best ways she could make the most of her annual leave.

In the first six months year she has been to 16 places - including Croatia, Sorrento in Italy and Munich in Germany - by using the Easter and late May bank holidays and cramming in short breaks over weekends.

She also visited Turkey in August - using up a further nine days of her annual leave.

Ella, who works in PR, from Hockley, Essex, said: "It's a nice way to continue see the world and making the most of weekends and time off.

"I'll click on anywhere on my chosen dates on Skyscanner and it will come up with all the solutions.

"Don't turn your nose up at places you might not know.

"You don't realize how many lovely cities there are until you go there.

"I look at the time to see where I could strategically book dates.

"I'm always attaching it to weekends.

"This year is the first year I've really planned out what I wanted to do.

"It's all quite logical."

Ella got the travel bug after taking a gap year in September 2021 and spending three months in America.

When she returned to start work in September 2022 she wanted to still "pursue travel" and looked at guides on how to maximize her 25 days off a year.

She started looking at dates in December 2023 and planned to fly out to Malaga, Spain, in January 2024 with her boyfriend, Sam, 24, a physiotherapist - using a half day on a Friday and flying back on Sunday.

But their flight got diverted on the way back and they ended up spending a day in Paris - and one extra annual leave day.

Ella said: "We made the most of it.

"Malaga was incredible. The UK is depressing as a place in winter and it's nice to get a bit of winter sun."

In March the couple went to Nantes, France, for a weekend - using no annual leave.

Ella said: "It cost us $190 each for everything."

Ella went away with her family in April over the Easter weekend - taking four days of annual leave.

She said: "We did an inter-railing trip. We did Rome, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Capri in Italy.

"I did love Sorrento - we stayed at an Airbnb on a lemon farm."

Ella then went to Zadar, Croatia, for a girls weekend - taking just one day of annual leave.

She said: "It's one of my favorite countries. It's absolutely beautiful."

Ella and Sam booked five days off for a 10 day trip - using the late bank holiday in the middle.

They traveled around Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Munich and Nuremberg.

Ella said: "Hallstatt is the village which inspired Frozen.

"It was a hectic 10 days but we saw so much.

"We were getting up early and going to bed late.

"As soon as you get a focal point in Europe it's so easy.

"Some of the trains were cheaper than my daily commute costs."

Ella booked nine days off for a trip to Turkey in August and has three days annual leave already taken off for a trip to Mallorca in October.

She started the year with 27 annual leave days, after carrying two over, and also took half a day for a hen do and a day to go and see Taylor Swift.

Ella now has three annual leave days left which she may save for a trip to Australia in January.

She said: "You can do it for a lot cheaper than people realize.

"We noticed if me and my boyfriend were are home for a weekend we spent £100 to £150 on dinner, brunch, shopping.

"That money would pay for us to spent in a different country.

"There is no point putting your love of travel on hold for work."

Places Ella has been to this year:

• Malaga
• Paris
• Nantes
• Rome
• Sorrento
• Positano
• Amalfi
• Capri
• Zadar
• Budapest
• Bratislava
• Vienna
• Salzburg
• Hallstatt
• Munich
• Nuremberg
• Turkey

Ella's tips:

• Plan around bank holidays and weekends to maximize annual leave - "Even though you can maximize using bank holidays you should still be considerate of colleagues"
• "Be as flexible as possible with your destination"
• Book the earliest flights out you can to get more time at a destination
• Pick a focal point and travel around to different cities while there
• Use your weekends for short, budget trips
• Go off season for cheaper flights and costs