Covered Magazine are running a little competition for bloggers that I thought I'd take part in. All you need to do to enter is to post a picture of your favourite holiday memory, and tweet the link to @covered_mag on twitter and you could be in the running to win a pretty amazing prize.

Since I'm currently lusting over holidays abroad, and picked up some brochures to start looking for next summer already despite still planning for this busy summer of travelling, I thought that this competition gave me the perfect opportunity to look through some photos from previous holidays. It also lets me escape the snow that is currently flying about my window despite it being spring!

There have been so many holidays that I've been on that I have loved so much that I cry on the last night. Family holidays are one of my favourite things ever, just having the family away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday routines we're in, relaxes us all. I've always enjoyed spending quality time with the fam, and being somewhere new that we can explore together adds excitement to that time.

One of my favourite places in the world is Turkey - all my family and friends know that I dream of travelling the Aegean coast of Turkey when I finish university, and discovery all the ancient towns that I'm taught about in my degree for myself. This desire was realised when we went on a couple of family holidays to Turkey. The history that these towns have is just so fascinating - with so many different cultures and influences shaping the different areas. The last time I visited Turkey, we stayed in Gumbet, in the peninsula of Bodrum - the birth place of my favourite ancient historian, and a site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It's no surprise that Bodrum is on my list of places to travel to - a rare occurrence as there's so many places to see, so why go back to one you've already seen?

When I saw this competition, I started to look through my album from this holiday, consisting of three different memory cards, so indeed it was no mean feat. There were so many pictures that I wanted to share - some nights when we got drunk on the all inclusive cocktails, boat trips, scenic pictures of the bay that we were lucky enough to wake up to everyday and many of the historic areas that I loved. But the picture that I've decided on is, ironically, not even from Turkey.

Bodrum is just a short boat ride to the Greek island of Kos, so one day we booked tickets to go and visit the island. The day wasn't a favourite day of the holiday, we found the beaches of the island to be pretty crowded, and more about tourism rather than culture, but non the less we enjoyed the scenery and the heat.

This picture was taken by my dad. We had decided to have a break from walking and settled at the harbour, where we sat on the top step, and had our feet dangling in the water which lapped up at the second step. We were all engrossed in our books - a standard sight from our family, who are all avid readers especially on holiday. What I like most about this picture is that we are all looking out to Turkey, which is the land you can see beyond the sea. This picture seems to encapsulate the heat of the sun on our backs, as well as the gentle and refreshing sea breeze, and the stillness and calm that surrounded the island.

Let me know in the comments if you've ever been to Turkey and what you thought of it? Or have you got a place you're dreaming of visiting one day, like me? Be sure to enter the competition - the winning hamper looks awesome and a total dream to win for those who have caught the travelling bug - and if you do, leave me your links for me to check out your #MyHolidayMemories.

Love,
Emily
xxx

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