So, it was a shock to say the least. I’d just thrown my bag down on the 220 bus in Wandsworth after a long, busy but always hilarious day at school and someone had slid into our DM’s. IN Adventures. Who was this?

Hola Camilla & Natalie! I’m Pau, founder and skipper of IN Adventures, where we combine sailing, yoga, organic food, outdoor exercise and healthy life while sailing around Mallorca on  modern sailboats during 4 days on eco-friendly basis. This June we have our first events. I wander if you can be interested in any kind of collaboration with us, we really like your profile and style and would love to have you on board. 

On board? Is this company actually talking about us being on their boat? In Mallorca!?This must be a joke or a scam. I forward it through to Camilla who said just give it ago, so we did, and this is how we fell into our first press trip experience.

Now, we’re not going to lie, we had all kinds of Taken theories running around in our heads. Maybe we won’t make it past the airport, maybe they’ll take us once we get to the port. Maybe there actually might be a little rubber dingy and they’ll throw us off one we hit open water… our Dad wasn’t the most positive supporter either, actually Googling ‘what to do if your daughters are abducted’. He’s 58, it didn’t fill us with hope if we did. Sorry Dad, you’re no Liam Neeson.

However, as soon as we got an email with all the other influences going we relaxed. This might actually be happening, in a non-creepy, we might not die way. We connected with everyone over Instagram and the countdown was on, one week to go!

Yet, that’s another thing, you have to be ready to go, like straight away. With us both working, we were juggling saying ‘yes’ and trying to get the time off work – a tall order when Camilla has limited holidays left for obvious reasons and me trying to get two days off slam bang in the middle of the summer term. In the end, we got left with the crew bunkbed cabin but hey, we were going to be sailing around the Mediterranean, not spending the time in our bunks.

As we hadn’t done a press trip before and because some/ all of the other influencers going were a lot ‘bigger’ on social media than ourselves, we were a tad nervous to say the least. What if they saw our measly Instagram following and literally laughed us off the boat? We felt like it was our first day of school all over again – queue Mean Girls. Therefore, the night before was a mix of obvious excitement you would get before any holiday, but also, oh s***, oh s***, oh s***! It’s an amazing but strange world to be in and it throws your insecurities into the limelight in a big way. What if we don’t do a good job at advertising the brand? What if were not taking enough photos? What if were taking too may? Are we trying too hard or too little?

Luckily, for us it was a 6am flight out of Luton, we joke. But, after a sacred PRET at the airport and a long nap on the flight we stepped off the plane into the sun and felt ready; we had travelled before; we enjoyed travelling; we have covered a chunk of the world including some less travelled places like Jordan and India; people do follow us and do read our blog (hey readers) so we can do this. We headed out of the arrivals gate and were greeted by some of the other influencers and then we realised, it was everyone’s first day of school and we we’re one step ahead, because we had each other.

After that it was a flurry of hellos and trying to learn 16 names before we headed for lunch and onto the boat (not out strongest point names, but when in doubt ‘babe’). The way we relaxed into the experience was amazing and within an hour we felt really relaxed in our surroundings. The next task was to meet Pau and the rest of the In Adventures team. Again, a rush of nerves took over. How professional do we need to be? Are we going to have a briefing explaining what is expected of us? Oh, how we worried and how pointless it was!

Pau was maybe the most relaxed guy we have ever met. No scary boss man here, it’s probably a sure result from spending the last decade sailing around the Mediterranean. Pau explained, “Do what you feel is natural. We chose you because some influencers are too big and therefore too staged and we want an authentic review of the trip”. Well, that we could do.

We set sail after being divided onto the two boats. We had only known the other influences for an hour but we had already bonded over Aperol Spritz with a few of the girls and it was a tense few moments figuring out if you were going to be on ‘the better boat.’ In our eyes we hit jackpot and hey ‘better boat’ here we come!

Everyone relaxed into their cabins and off we went, no messing around. One thing we bonded over very early on and a major topic for the rest of the trip was food. Luckily, we had an amazing chef on board (Javi from UMAMI Mallorca) so it was something we didn’t have to worry about. Yet, we were always excited for our next meal.

Over the next couple of days, we ate, we sailed, we swam, we took yoga classes with Davjonesyoga and it felt like we were on a friends group holiday. It was perfect. What was even more perfect was we were all there for the same reason, to Instagram the hell out of the trip. Normally, when we are away it’s, ‘oh, would you mind taking a quick snap of us,’ ‘oh guys hold up a second we just want to take a quick picture,’ which is normally met by the usual groans or ‘not another walking away shot girls!?’ But not this time. This time it was like a creative photoshoot frenzy! Everyone had ideas and everyone was willing to literally go for hours until we were all satisfied. Influencers have the patience of saints.

It wasn’t only the creative visual side which gave us a new rush of determination to make Sister Sister Travels work, but the advice we got from the other influences. TheFlyAwayGirl, LittleBlackShell and Flamingoaround were absolute dreams talking us through how they have built their audience over the last few years and all their little ‘tricks of the trade’. We felt like we were on an influencer crash course and if we had thought to bring a note pad and pen then they would have been firmly taped to our hands 24/7. Just realised how old school that sounds, we were taking notes on our phones obviously!

Overall, it was one of the most daunting things we have done to date, but it also was one of the most incredible. We have left with a bank of ideas, a bunch of new friends and amazing memories with In Adventures. This is where it’s going to turn into an Oscars speech but we genuinely want to thank everyone who was involved in the experience it was one of the craziest and best things that has happened to us to date.

Roll on to the next one!

From the delicious and organic food, breath-taking views, brilliant activities and relaxing morning yoga, we absolutely loved our trip with IN Adventures! Fancy getting in on the action yourself? Use our code “SISTERSISTERTRAVEL” to receive 5% off your trip.