Travel has always been a huge part of my life, long before it became my job and long before I became a mum.

These days, the way I travel looks a little different. Most of our bigger adventures are as a family, but I still try to carve out space for at least one trip a year that’s just mine, whether that’s travelling solo, joining a FAM trip or disappearing on a retreat for a few days.

There’s something completely different about travelling without having to think about what anyone else wants to eat, whether they’re tired or if they’ve remembered to bring their water bottle. I love travelling with my family, but I also love the independence of going somewhere entirely on my own terms.

And in 2027, that trip is going to be Sicily.

A few days on my own in Sicily

I’ve done plenty of solo travel over the years, but inevitably there’s been less of it since becoming a mum. So I’m really looking forward to having a few days where the only person I need to organise is myself.

I want to wander around markets, find tiny restaurants, sit somewhere with a glass of wine and a book, change my plans because I feel like it and spend far too long over lunch without anyone asking me when we’re leaving.

We’re planning the launch of our Cellar Collection, built around places where wine is genuinely part of the travel experience rather than simply something nice on the menu. Sicily feels like exactly the right place to start researching it: vineyards growing on volcanic slopes, small producers, incredible food and a wine culture completely tied to the island itself.

Provence, by river

This one is going to feel completely different.

I’m taking my mum on a river cruise through Provence, which I’m really looking forward to, partly because Provence is somewhere I could happily spend a week eating cheese and drinking wine, but mainly because it’ll be lovely to have that time together, just the two of us.

River cruising is also something I want to understand better myself. I’ve sold plenty of it, but I’m interested in the smaller, more experience-led side of cruising where the ship is really just your way of moving through a destination.

Provence feels perfect for that. Waking up somewhere new, heading off into little towns and markets, visiting vineyards and tasting our way through the Rhône, without having to pack up and change hotels every couple of nights.

And yes, there’s a work angle here too.

The trip will also form the research for our Cellar Collection, but from a completely different perspective to Sicily. I want to understand what a really good wine-focused journey looks like when you don’t necessarily want to drive yourself around vineyards or plan every tasting individually.

Between Sicily and Provence, I’m hoping to come home with a much clearer idea of what I want that Collection to be.

Although taking my mum to research French wine does feel suspiciously like I’ve found a very good way of disguising a holiday as work!

Then comes the big one…

Our biggest research trip of 2027 will be a family adventure through India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

We’ll be travelling as a family, which is really important to me because I don’t just want to know whether a hotel calls itself family-friendly. I want to know what it actually feels like to stay there with a child.

Can we have an adventurous day without everyone being completely exhausted by dinner? Are there things we genuinely want to do together? Does the restaurant make eating with a child easy? Do the staff actually enjoy having families there? And crucially, can the adults still feel like they’re on an amazing trip too?

That’s the sort of stuff you only really understand once you’re there.

India

India has been sitting near the top of my list for a very long time.

We’re planning to start with the Golden Triangle, and I’m ridiculously excited about the colour, the food, the history and probably the sensory overload of it all.

But I’m also interested in figuring out India with a family.

It’s the sort of destination I think people can be slightly nervous about tackling with children. I want to see how we can make it adventurous and exciting without turning every day into a military operation of sightseeing and transfers.

And obviously, I have a rather long list of hotels I want to poke my nose around while we’re there.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is one of those slightly ridiculous gaps in my travel history. I’ve planned and sold so many trips there over the years, know the routes and hotels incredibly well on paper, and yet I’ve never actually been myself.

So I am very excited about finally changing that.

We want to experience as much of the country as we can without racing through it: the Cultural Triangle, Kandy, tea country, Ella, wildlife and the coast, with plenty of time outside and a lot of good food along the way.

I’m especially excited about the variety. One day we could be exploring ancient sites, the next walking through tea-covered hills, then heading out on safari before eventually reaching the Indian Ocean. For a relatively small island, it packs an extraordinary amount in.

There’s a big Canopy element to this trip too. I’ve followed and sold some of Sri Lanka’s smaller hotels for years, so I’m looking forward to finally experiencing them rather than knowing them through other people’s trips.

We’ll be looking at what really works for families, where it’s worth slowing down, which experiences live up to the hype and, inevitably, which hotels I come home completely obsessed with.

I have a feeling Sri Lanka might be dangerous for the size of the Collection.

Finishing barefoot in the Maldives

After India and Sri Lanka, I suspect we’ll be very ready for this bit.

We’ll finish in the Maldives, but I definitely don’t want it to be six days of lying beside a pool.

We’re keen divers, so a big part of the research will be underwater. I want to experience the diving in Baa Atoll, get out onto the reefs and, fingers firmly crossed, be there at the right time for the mantas.

I’m particularly excited about experiencing Amilla for myself. On paper, so much about it feels very Canopy: a more natural island, sustainability woven through the way it operates, loads of space, great food and plenty happening beyond the beach.

But that’s exactly why these trips matter.

There’s only so much you can learn from photographs, conversations and hotel presentations. I want to know what somewhere feels like.

And after several weeks of travelling through India and Sri Lanka, I’ll also be conducting the extremely important research of whether a barefoot island and a cold drink can restore two tired parents.

I have high hopes.

Three very different ways of travelling

When I look at these trips together, I think that’s actually what excites me most about 2027.

A few days completely on my own. Time travelling with my mum. And then one huge adventure with my family.

They’re completely different trips, and I wouldn’t want to choose between them.

Travel has changed for me over the years. The way I travelled in my twenties isn’t the way I travel now, and becoming a mum has certainly added a lot more snacks and emergency entertainment to my hand luggage.

But I don’t think I’ve lost the part of me that wants to disappear somewhere new and see what I find.

If anything, building The Canopy Collection is giving me an excuse to lean into it again.

And throughout 2027, I’ll be sharing what we find Under the Canopy: the hotels I fall for, the places that surprise me, what works when travelling as a family, the reality of the research trips and probably quite a lot of food and wine along the way.

I can’t wait.