Michelle Murray
My expertise
I'm based in
Storrington
It's Nice To Meet You
Hello, my name is Michelle and I am based in Storrington, West Sussex.
I am delighted that you have taken the time to view my page and would like to offer my services as your personal travel agent.
I have over twenty years’ experience in the travel industry, and will provide a stress-free experience for all your travel needs. Nothing is any trouble - whether you would like a bespoke trip entirely tailored to you, or you'd prefer somewhere you have been before. I can make your dreams a reality, and for a lot less hassle and time than organising it yourself. Let me do the hard work for you.
As I work from home, I can be here at a time to suit you. This means I can provide unparalleled personal service and care before, during and after your trip. That's a VIP service for no extra charge!
My great passion is travel and I enjoy exploring new countries and old favourites, discovering new cultures. For work and for pleasure, I have visited and revisited over 65 countries in six continents and would love to inspire you with my travel knowledge.
Among some of my favourite places are - Foodie paradise Argentina, River cruising down the Danube and Douro, Animal watching in the Brazilian Pantanal, The Galapagos Islands, The Costa Tropical in Spain, Vibrant New York, Morocco - so near but so different, the sheer beauty of Bali, lively Hong Kong, Safari in Kenya, diving in Belize, ruins in Mexico and Peru, beaches of the Caribbean and Mauritius, the mountains of Bolivia, amazing Sri Lanka, Stunning Vietnam… I could go on!
Whatever the occasion and whatever your budget, I will ensure you will have a truly personal experience booking through me. Family holidays, River and Ocean cruises, solo trips, honeymoons, weekend getaways, business travel - nothing is a problem.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my website, I look forward to hearing from you!
Travel guides
Explore my guides and blogs
Seychelles: Why This Indian Ocean Paradise Should Be Next On Your Wishlist
A blog from my 2026 gold trip
17 Sept 2026 6 min read
Athens and the Athens Riviera
Athens & The Athens Riviera: My New Favourite Escape
16 Sept 2026 4 min read
Chile, Argentina and Brazil
Our Easter adventure to Chile, Argentina and Brazil!
28 May 2026 5 min read
Wonderful Namibia
One of the best countries for wildlife and adventure as well as beautiful scenery. Namibia has it all.
13 Mar 2026 3 min read
Fabulous Cambodia!
We started our Cambodia trip by flying from Hanoi to Siem Reap. A great city in its own right, but also the base for exploring Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We stayed at a wonderful hotel called The Avary and it really was well located and one of our favourite hotels on the trip: https://theaviaryhotel.com/ There was even a laundromat nearby and for £3 ish we did a whole load of wash
16 Oct 2025 3 min read
Vibrant Vietnam Adventure
Vietnam This was my first visit to Vietnam in nearly 20 years and I was so excited to take the kids this time too. I had booked flights a year in advance so had a great price for economy, but decided at the last minute to check for upgrades at check in, and Qatar had a good deal on, so we treated the kids and ourselves to Business class. I wanted to try out the Q Suite on the LGW to Doh leg and
15 Sept 2025 6 min read
A short sunny stay in Dubai
We decided to go to Dubai in the depths of UK winter for a short trip to get some vitamin D and we were not disappointed. Dubai was a lovely 24 degrees every day while we were there, which meant we could sit outside and dine in the sun, and even sunbathe without being too worried about getting burnt. It was a delight to get my flip flops out again! We stayed at One&Only Royal Mirage, which is a
04 Mar 2025 2 min read
Incredible India
I have just returned from an incredible trip to India's Golden Triangle. Our destination management company in India, TBI hosted 11 of us alongside one of my favourite hotel chains, Oberoi. Oberoi own some of the most beautiful and iconic hotels in India and the rest of the world. We stayed at the The Oberoi, Gurgaon, The Oberoi New Delhi, The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur and The Oberoi Amarvilas
28 Sept 2024 6 min read
Beautiful Corfu
I've been to Corfu a few times now, and each time it amazes me how beautiful and captivating an island Corfu is! This time we returned with a few friends, and started with a villa, rented through one of our villa partners, Vintage Travel. The villa was situated on the West side, in Chalikounas which is only a 10 to 15 minute drive to one of my favourite areas of Corfu, Messonghi. We loved the v
03 Sept 2024 4 min read
Gold Trip to Sri Lanka
This may have been my favourite Gold trip to date! We were hosted by our DMC, Colombus Tours, who many of you know of as we use them as our people on the ground in Sri Lanka for our tailor made trips. I was blown away by their staff, their ethos and how well Bobby and her team looked after us. The hotels that hosted us and our head office and supplier partners also made this amazing trip possib
19 Jun 2024 2 min read
Bali - the land of smiles and beauty
We went in April to Bali for the first time as a family. I'd been before, but just after the Kuta bombs and with work, so a very different experience. We started in Ubud, which we absolutely loved. The food was outstanding and the hotel exceeded our expectations. My husband asked for views of the jungle, and that’s what we had from our two bedroom pool villa. We stayed at Jannata Resort & Spa:
16 May 2024 3 min read
Singapore - slings and more!
Singapore and Bali We have wanted to travel to Bali as a family for a while and thought to break up the journey it would be nice to go to Singapore in both directions. We started in Singapore and had four nights there. We flew Singapore Airlines, who were great, a bit confusing as we took of at 8, had dinner, a few hours sleep and then lunch before landing at 5pm. Husband looked at the post sle
16 May 2024 2 min read
Taking a group to Iceland!
I have organized many group trips for clients, but this was the first time I took a group out and went with them. I admit, I was a bit nervous but really enjoyed it! We knew we were in safe hands with our amazing DMC, Obeo - truly the best people on the ground in Iceland. The threat of a volcanic eruption did not mar our trip as we changed the Blue Lagoon to Sky Lagoon and felt very safe in Rey
17 Nov 2023 2 min read
Travelling around Turkey
I have just returned from an amazing two weeks in Turkey. In our usual style, we stayed at three places, an apartment for 5 nights, an all inclusive for 6 nights and a city hotel for 3 nights – we love doing this as it means we can see more of the country and explore a bit but still have a few nights all inclusive for the kids to enjoy. I can organize holidays for clients too in the same style
15 Sept 2023 5 min read
Marvellous Miami
Our Mexico and Miami trip continued.....! Next and last stop was Miami. We stayed at Abae Hotel: https://abaehotel.com/ This hotel had an amazing location, a few blocks from South Beach but with its own lovely local area too. I have to say, I fell in love a bit with Miami – the people, the food and the ambiance excelled. Miami is a lot friendlier than I realised and we spent a fabulous four day
21 Apr 2023 3 min read
Magnificent Mexico
We have just returned from an amazing trip to Mexico and Miami, a trip we planned in 2019 (with a few changes) and due to the pandemic had to move and rebook a few times. What can I say, apart from it was worth the wait! We had a fabulous time and now the kids are 11 and 13, and up for a bit of adventure I think the combination of apartment, hotel and city break created the perfect holiday for u
21 Apr 2023 4 min read
Elounda, Crete
During lockdown we had a few webinars from hotel groups rather than in person meetings, and it was during such a webinar with the fabulous Elounda Beach group I found out I’d won a 3 night stay at Elounda Bay Palace. Fast forward a few months and out of lockdown, we decided to book our stay for the start of June. I took my long suffering husband and jetted off in trepidation, after hearing a
10 Jun 2022 2 min read
Sailing from Rome to Corsica on Regent Seven Seas Voyager!
In March I was lucky enough to be invited onto a whirlwind trip to Rome and then onboard RSSC Voyager for 3 nights. Regent has to be one of my favourite ocean cruise lines and when you step on board you realise why - everything is included and it’s truly luxury at sea. They think of everything, from included room service breakfast if you have an early start, to big fluffy towels and dressing go
01 Jun 2022 2 min read
Maldives Gold Trip 2022
I have just returned from what I can only describe as an amazing 4 nights in paradise! We have an annual gold trip to celebrate being gold - which means we are in the top 10% of the company for sales, retaining clients and getting new ones. A feat I am always grateful to my wonderful clients for, so thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope I can continue to look at wonderful holidays for
30 May 2022 2 min read
Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai family fun
Desperate for sun and in need of some R and R, we thought we’d go away for a February half term break. Having sold Dubai a lot but never actually visited, I thought it was high time we went to the UAE and saw it for ourselves. We spent the first three nights at Rixos Bab Al Bahr and to be honest, we didn’t really expect much as I’d booked it as a cheap flop-on-a-beach escape before our Dubai cit
02 Mar 2022 3 min read
Regent Seven Seas Splendor
Regent Seven Seas Splendor, a fabulous FAM at sea. I was invited onboard RSSC Splendor to experience her second maiden voyage. I say second as the first maiden voyage was in January 2021 and sadly she couldn’t go anywhere for 18 months. However, as part of the restart process, many of the major cruise lines put on trial cruises, including this one on Splendor which I was especially happy to join!
27 Sept 2021 2 min read
Back to Corfu! Our wonderful week in Olivar Suites
I wanted to prove to myself and my clients how it is still possible to travel and if it was easy or not to do so. I attended a training session early in 2021 on the new hotel that the Voulgaris group were opening in Corfu. As we had fallen in love with the crystal blue seas of this side of Corfu last year, I thought I would watch the training and see what this new hotel was about. I honestly fel
06 Aug 2021 4 min read
Wonderful Corfu - sun, sea and a break from reality
This was an unexpected holiday as originally, we had booked to stay at the in-law’s apartment in Spain. As time went on and it became clear that we couldn’t visit Spain and seeing myself and my brother’s businesses suffering due to Covid, my mother kindly offered to take both our families to anywhere of my choice. Marbella Corfu has been a popular choice for many of my clients for a while now. I
05 Oct 2020 4 min read
Weekend away in Belfast
When a few friends suggested we go away with our oldest kids, I thought maybe we’d have a weekend away somewhere warm and sunny. One of my friends came up with the idea of Belfast which I had never even considered for a weekend away. It turned out to be a fabulous suggestion and one I can now wholeheartedly recommend. Belfast has everything you could want from a weekend break (apart from maybe the
24 Oct 2019 3 min read
Cyprus Chill
As the family travel agent, my mum tasked me with finding a suitable location for a big family holiday. My mum wanted to take myself and my family, my brothers’ family and herself away to celebrate her semi-retirement. Pressure aside, I enjoyed finding something that would tick the boxes for all of us and I decided to book a fabulous hotel in Cyprus that I had sent many of my clients to and wanted
25 Sept 2019 3 min read
River Cruising through the Balkan Danube with APT
I was beyond delighted when I heard I had been chosen to have the opportunity to go on a Balkan river cruise with APT. After the wonderful experience on the Emerald Douro river cruise last year, I decided that river cruising could perhaps be one of my favourite forms of transport, and this Balkan cruise reaffirmed that thought! We boarded the MS AmaVerde in Giurgiu in Romania, around an hour’s d
23 Aug 2019 3 min read
A night at the opera in Verona!
A few years ago, I went on a girl’s short break to Verona. We had a fabulous time and I fell in love with this amazing Italian city. At the time we toured the glorious Arena di Verona and discovered it was holding a rock concert in the coming days, which alas we couldn’t make due to flying home the next day (and not knowing the foggiest about Italian rock!). Fast forward three years and I was sur
15 Jul 2019 2 min read
Disneyland Paris – Micky and his many friends!
Having always wanted to visit Disneyland Paris (or EuroDisney as it was called in my day), I used the excuse of my son’s imminent 10th birthday as a reason to visit Mickey and his friends. As we live only an hour and a half from Ashford, we decided to take the Eurostar from this quaint little station rather than brave the masses at St Pancras. It really is a lovely little terminal and you can par
21 May 2019 5 min read
Crete: Delicious food and luscious lakes!
We have recently returned from a short break to the Chania region of Crete. We stayed in Anemos Luxury Resort, a gorgeous place located close to the town of Georgopoulos, around 40 minutes from Chania airport. I would best describe the resort as modern, with beautiful features, large well-appointed rooms and an eccentric Greek/Arabic style which I really liked. The staff are beyond welcoming and
01 May 2019 3 min read
Perfect Prague
Prague is absolutely perfect for a short break. The flight is less than two hours and when we went the time difference was only an hour. We stayed in the new part of the city, but all the major attractions were a short walk away. Saying that, we did clock up over 25,000 steps a day as Prague is a wonderful city to amble about and discover by foot so bring comfortable footwear! The food in Pr
23 Mar 2019 3 min read
Quokka selfies and other tales - the fabulous city of Perth!
Qantas and our destination management companies in Australia and Singapore very kindly invited myself and nine others on this amazing FAM trip in November. On receiving the itinerary, I knew it would be a very exciting trip – not only were we visiting Perth, Brisbane and Singapore, I had also heard on the grapevine that we would be visiting the home of the Quokka, the cutest marsupial in the world
05 Dec 2018 3 min read
Brilliant Bangkok
The final leg of our summer holiday took us to Bangkok. It had been a good decade or so since I last went to Bangkok, so I was intrigued to see it with fresh eyes. First impressions were of a clean, less chaotic city compared to my first visit. The Kao San Road seemed smaller somehow and less hectic, but this may have been due to me not staying at a backpacker hostel on this occasion! We sp
06 Nov 2018 2 min read
Hugging an Elephant at Elephant Hills
I really do not know how to put into words how awesome this place is. They collect you from either your hotel in Phuket and surrounding areas or several airports (the list is on their website but please feel free to ask me!) and take you to Elephant Hills early in time for lunch. The food provided is buffet style but delicious, with plenty of choice for even fussy children. The first thing tha
26 Oct 2018 2 min read
Family fun in Phuket!
After our three-day city break in KL, we flew to Phuket for a bit of beach and pool time! We flew from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket on Air Asia and actually, they were pretty good. We had booked cases in the hold and had a surprise meal included in the price. The seats were comfy, and it reminded me a lot of EasyJet. On booking this trip, we expected Phuket to be a bit wet in August. After all, we
24 Sept 2018 3 min read
Three nights in Kuala Lumpur
I have just returned from our summer holiday to Kuala Lumpur and Thailand. I had always wanted to go to an elephant sanctuary so planned the entire holiday around a visit to Elephant Hills, an amazing sanctuary situated in Khao Sok National Park in the South of Thailand. More about Elephant Hills in a later blog – I could talk about this amazing experience all day but so not to bore you in one go,
14 Sept 2018 4 min read
Secrets of the Douro - Sailing down the Douro with Emerald Waterways
I have just returned from one of the most relaxing and enjoyable trips I have been on, sailing on Emerald Radiance on the Douro river. On landing in Porto, we were met by the very courteous and prompt Raphael. There is no getting lost as every flight is met and fellow cruise passengers are transferred together to the ship. Suitcases are taken care of and you do not see them again till allowed i
10 Aug 2018 4 min read
Venice and Lake Garda!
My husband and I recently spent a few days in Venice and then Lake Garda to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Neither of us had visited Venice before but as it features in so many films we thought we had a rough idea of what to expect. How little did we know! Venice is a place unlike no other. Some aspects are slightly familiar due to various James Bond films and other movies. However,
14 May 2018 3 min read
Split – an unexpected delight
I have just returned from a four-night break to Split. Having never travelled to Croatia before, we decided on Split over perhaps the more popular Dubrovnik simply because the departure times were more convenient from Gatwick! However, what a surprise Split was! We arrived to splendid sunshine and decided to leave our bags and head straight out to enjoy some sun before dusk. Something I hadn’
13 Apr 2018 4 min read
Dominican Republic and BA FAM trip Nov 2017
I don't even know where to start with this fabulous country. I had the most amazing week visiting some of the Dominican Republic's amazing properties and beaches - oh and maybe sampling a little of the country's famous rum too! The familiarisation trip was run by the Dominican Republic tourist board as well as British Airways. I can't lie, being upgraded to Club for the flight out was a good st
27 Jan 2018 4 min read
A bit of Andalucia and Costa Del Sol
Avid readers of my blogs may notice that I've written about La Herradura before. We are lucky enough to have a family apartment there so go quite often and the kids adore it there (and so do I)! However, to make our summer holiday this year a bit different we decided to two centre our holiday by spending 10 nights in La Herradura and 3 nights in an all-inclusive near Estepona. The 10 night
19 Sept 2017 3 min read
Mini Cruise on P&O Azura to Guernsey
I have just returned from a lovely mini break on Azura. The cruise was a 2 night cruise from Southampton to Guernsey and back. I decided it would be a fantastic sampler of this ship and a lovely way to travel to Guernsey with a few friends! We sailed on Friday and arrived at Southampton around midday. Check in was painless and we were onboard in half an hour or so. What I really loved was th
03 Jul 2017 2 min read
Qatar trip 17-20 May 2017
I’ve just returned from an awe inspiring trip to Qatar with the Qatar Tourism Authority. We flew on Qatar Airlines, now one of my favourite airlines. The seat back TV is almost as big as the top of the chair in front and the choice of films, programs and music is plentiful. One other thing I had not seen before is that instead of shutters, the windows have dimmer switches. This is meant to reduce
10 Jun 2017 4 min read
A long weekend in Rome
I have travelled a fair bit but I think Rome may be the most beautiful as well as the most extraordinary city I’ve been to. Even the kids were entranced by the combination of Roman ruins, medieval architecture and monuments seemingly on every road we walked down. It is a fantastic walking city - we managed to get the kids to walk miles fortified by ice creams, delicious Italian food and their i
02 May 2017 1 min read
Berlin City Break
I've just returned from a short break to Berlin and what a fabulous city it is! We managed to squeeze in a lot into our two night stay, arriving by lunchtime on Friday and departing after lunch on Sunday. Which was good as the food being so delicious, we needed to fit as many meals as possible into our stay! We stayed at the Mecure Checkpoint Charlie which as it sounds, is very close to Che
03 Apr 2017 2 min read
Amazing Amsterdam!
I returned from a wonderful weekend in Amsterdam recently. Starting with one of the shortest flights I’ve ever taken and the most efficient train journey from Schiphol airport to Centraal station, it felt like it took no time at all to reach this fabulous location! We spent two days mainly walking and eating. I rediscovered my passion for chips and satay sauce and even converted my husband to t
01 Feb 2017 1 min read
Beautiful Verona
I recently spent a long weekend in this fabulous city – and what a hidden gem Verona is! If you like cobbled streets, Shakespeare (Verona inspired many of his plays), beautiful houses and delicious Italian food you’ll love this wonderful place. As an added bonus, wonderful Lake Garda is close enough to visit in a day. We spent our days walking around the city and as it’s quite small you can
29 Sept 2016 2 min read
Lisbon city break
I spent four days in Lisbon to celebrate my (special!) birthday. Lisbon is simply wonderful - we spent four days eating, drinking and walking around this beautiful city. The city is stunning and the mixture of cultures is evident on the beautiful wall facades and architecture. You can spend many hours walking and discovering but beware, Lisbon is very hilly - however, there are numerous options
26 May 2016 1 min read
New York city break!
New York New York - what an amazing place! We went for a three night (four if you include the flight home) mini break to this fabulous city, declared 'the best city EVER!' by my six and four year old children. We flew on Virgin Atlantic - great service and an excellent choice of films. Star Wars was showing so the kids were very happy! We stayed at The Court - St Giles hotel in Midtown. A fa
27 Apr 2016 2 min read
Argentina
I’ve just returned from a wonderful trip to Argentina, a country close to my heart as most of my family live there. We spent most of the time in Buenos Aires – a vibrant and exciting city with everything you could want from a cosmopolitan capital and more. If you like steak, red wine, culture, shopping and cafes you can’t go wrong with Buenos Aires (it didn’t hurt that the currency devalued duri
04 Jan 2016 2 min read
Antigua!
I have just returned from a fantastic holiday in this beautiful country. Jet lag aside (coming back is far worse!), I am feeling relaxed and invigorated after spending two weeks in the sun. We spent our fortnight in two hotels - 7 days at the Jolly Beach and 6 days at the Verandah resort. I have to admit, I did prefer the Verandah but that didn't mean the Jolly Beach is a definitely no no. It
06 Sept 2015 3 min read
Britannia Inaugural celebrations
I was fortunate enough to be invited overnight on the majestic Britannia, the newest and biggest ship in the P&O fleet. We embarked in Southampton, and immediately what strikes you as you approach the dock is the sheer size of the ship. With its huge Union flag on the front (apparently the biggest in the world!) which identifies it as part of the P&O fleet and 16 floors, it is definitely a magn
09 Mar 2015 2 min read
La Herradura, Costa Tropical - Granada Province
As a family we LOVE La Herradura. If you asked me why, I would tell you about the location of this beautiful bay on the Costa Tropical but with some hesitance. I don't want everyone knowing about it! We are fortunate enough to have family with a flat there and so many a school holiday has been spent happily relaxing in this fabulous hidden gem of a town. However, there are several hotels and
09 Mar 2015 2 min read
Hong Kong - the city of bright lights!
When I told people I was off to Hong Kong for four days, most reactions were that I was mad to go all that way for such a short time. Fresh off the flight today I can tell you it's the perfect destination for a long weekend break. Flying direct on Virgin Atlantic was great. We flew Premium Economy and I have to say it's worth the extra money in my opinion. We had extra leg room, a wider seat an
21 Jan 2015 3 min read
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Tailor-made for you
Your holiday isn’t just a trip away. It’s a longed-for escape, time to reconnect with loved ones, or a dream adventure you never thought possible. That’s why I take the time to truly get to know you and understand your hopes and expectations, then use my experience, connections and passion for the destination to create a trip that makes those dreams a reality.
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When you plan a holiday with me, you’ll be given my personal mobile number from the very first call. I’ll listen to your thoughts and ideas like I would a friend and arrange accommodation, activities, and flights that are all personalised to you. And I’ll share my personal tips and recommendations, so you can experience the true beauty of each destination.
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