Mondo Mulia

When you’re navigating cobblestone streets when visiting Rome, hiking through Alpine villages, or capturing sunset moments over the Mediterranean, your smartphone is more than a communication device. It’s your camera, your map, your travel journal and your connection to loved ones back home. Yet it’s also vulnerable to drops, sand, salt spray and the everyday hazards of travelling.

Long flights, delayed trains and hours spent waiting at airports can make even the most exciting trip feel a little tedious. Once you’ve finished your book, scrolled through your photos and checked the departure board for the fifth time, it’s useful to have a few other ways to pass the time. Over the years, I’ve found that a little preparation makes a difference.

Timber frame homes have plenty of character: exposed beams, generous open-plan spaces and, often, a wood-burning stove at the heart of the living room. But once you have a crawling or newly walking child, some of those lovely features need a second look. If you’re also thinking about updating your home as your family grows, my guide to simple ways to transform your living space has some ideas for making changes without starting from scratch.

If you’ve moved to Britain from another country, or you’re thinking about buying property from overseas, the system here can take some getting used to. In countries such as France, Italy and Spain, notaries play a central role in property transactions, so the process can feel quite different from what you’ll encounter in England and Wales.

Being Italian doesn’t make me any less curious about Italy. If anything, it has made me more interested in exploring the parts of the country that aren’t necessarily on the standard tourist itinerary. I was born in Rome, but some of my favourite Italy holidays have taken me well beyond the city, from eating my way through Emilia-Romagna to discovering the wines, markets and small towns of regions I knew far less well. Tagliatelle al ragù in Bologna The thing that keeps shaping those trips is food.

“Free Wi-Fi” tells you very little about whether a hotel is actually suitable for working. It might mean a reliable connection throughout the property, or a signal that works perfectly in the lobby but struggles in your room when several guests are online. The same applies to the rest of the hotel: a beautiful room is less useful if there is nowhere comfortable to work, and a peaceful-looking resort can become surprisingly noisy during your working hours.

Have you ever set off on a long drive only to realise halfway there that you forgot to fill up, the windscreen needs cleaning and nobody has thought about where you’re going to stop for lunch? Road trips can be one of the nicest ways to travel, giving you the freedom to take a scenic detour, stop when something catches your eye and explore places that are difficult to reach by public transport. But a little preparation can make a long car journey considerably more comfortable.

Have you ever set off on a long drive only to realise halfway there that you forgot to fill up, the windscreen needs cleaning and nobody has thought about where you’re going to stop for lunch? Road trips can be one of the nicest ways to travel, giving you the freedom to take a scenic detour, stop when something catches your eye and explore places that are difficult to reach by public transport. But a little preparation can make a long car journey considerably more comfortable.

Most of us return from a holiday with far more photographs than we know what to do with. Our phones are filled with sunsets, street scenes, long lunches, hotel balconies and the small details that seemed irresistible in the moment. Then everyday life resumes, the suitcase is unpacked and those hundreds of images disappear into a camera roll, cloud folder or hard drive, rarely to be seen again. Your favourite travel images deserve more than a brief appearance on a screen.

A minimalist home can look deceptively simple. Clean lines, uncluttered surfaces and a carefully restrained palette create the impression that there is very little to think about, but good minimalist design is rarely as effortless as it looks. Behind those calm rooms are dozens of practical decisions: where the heating comes from, how fresh air circulates, where you plug in a lamp, how quickly the shower heats up and where all the things you actually use every day are stored.