The holiday roundup: what I used on my holidays

When I mentioned that I was off to Gran Canaria at the end of last year, the lovely chaps at Beachfactory.com offered to send me one of their fabulous sun hats to protect my poor bonce, which always gets burned – especially my parting.

I have to say, I was really impressed, and it did just as well on the cruise too. The hat has a lovely wide brim and withstood being wedged into a suitcase and stuffed into a beachbag with no damage whatsoever – a quick shake and it regained its shape instantly I even got caught in the rain and it dried out really well and without sustaining any damage. It’s an absolute must, especially if, like me, you really need to keep your head and face out of the sun.

If you get a chance, do visit The Beach Factory. Lovely Anne has been running the company for 9 years and tells me that her suppliers call her The Queen of Lycra such is her amazing knowledge of specialist sun protection swimwear! They have some fab brands, like O’Neill, Quiksilver and RipCurl as well as Platypus, Seafolly Girls and Tiger Joe from Australia, Sunbusters and Snapper Rock from the USA and Mitty James – check them out if you’re off on your hols.

I also tried out a Caxton FX prepaid currency card (and when I received it I found they’d added £50 to it for me, which was a really lovely surprise!). I’ve never used one before but found it quite easy. I was slightly concerned that in order to top it up you have to register your debit card with them online but they assure me it’s 100% safe. Once you’ve topped up your card, you can use it as a Visa card or at ATMs without being charged. Once you’ve registered your card, you can top up the currency card by phone or even by text, leaving your own cards safe at home, which I think is quite a good idea. I used it at an ATM in Miami with no problems at all. Impressive and I’d definitely use it again.

Lastly, I gave the Targus rotating iPad case a whirl. I blooming love this case as it rotates, allowing you to stand the iPad up (particularly useful when you’re reading online magazines and want to see the whole page portrait rather than landscape. It also has a couple of different positions so you can adjust the pitch of the screen. Very impressed. You can find Mobile Fun’s range of iPad cases here. Many thanks to them for sending me the case.