Meet Elena

I’m Elena – traveller, dog mum, bookworm, and serial coffee drinker.

Technically, I’m also a law graduate with a background in management, marketing, and customer relations. But honestly, the most important things you need to know about me are that my houseplant collection is slightly out of control, my reading list grows faster than I can get through it, and I’ve recently taken up gardening – complete with a meticulously organised spreadsheet.

Travel has always been the constant thread through everything. Since my first trip in 2018, I’ve been completely hooked – not on the sun loungers and all-inclusives (I appreciate a good poolside moment, don’t get me wrong), but on the hidden streets, the local spots nobody writes about, and the history you feel in your bones when you’re actually standing in the middle of it.

For about 15 months, I ran my own travel agency, planning trips for other people – and I loved parts of it. But I kept running into the same feeling: I wanted to help people travel better, not just sell them a holiday. So I made the leap, closed the agency, and started this instead. Honest advice, real experiences, no agenda.

I’m a Certified Egypt and Iceland Specialist – two destinations that completely changed how I think about travel. But mostly I’m just someone who wants to find the local café and the view that isn’t on any poster.

What travel means to me

Cookie Travel Club started from one simple truth: the best holidays are the ones that feel completely, unapologetically yours.

For me, that means travelling with my dog. It means choosing destinations with real stories to tell. It means planning the kind of trip you come home from feeling like a slightly different person – in the best possible way.

This blog is my honest travel diary. The places I’ve been, the lessons I’ve learned, the moments that didn’t go to plan, and everything I wish someone had told me before I got on the plane.

Meet Cookie

And now, the real star of the show.

Cookie is a Maltipoo with a personality roughly three times bigger than his actual size. He is cheeky, joyful, endlessly loving, and absolutely convinced that the world was made for him specifically.

His hobbies include chasing bubbles with a dedication that puts most of us to shame, exploring new places, and collecting toys. We’ve genuinely lost count of how many he has at this point. We are, quite literally, stumbling over them.

He gives the best cuddles and has the cheekiest face.

The whole house is his. He knows it. We know it. We’ve made peace with it.

He’s the reason this blog exists – and if you’ve ever loved a pet the way I love him, you already get it.