About Us

We’re going on an adventure is an award-winning family lifestyle blog written by Colette Burgess and based in the North West of the UK.

I started blogging back in 2012 as a mainly personal record of life with Ben, Chloe and Amy – a place to note down the things they have done to make us smile, their achievements and our adventures as my now not so little people “take on the world”. 

As the kids have grown up I’ve moved more from writing about general day to day life and major milestones to concentrating on creating helpful content to support parents in planning their adventures and days out with articles about holidays, camping trips, festivals, days out and seasonal what’s on guides.

If you’re interested in working with us – check out: Work with Colette and We’re going on an adventure

To see where we’ve been featured, check out our “as seen” page.

Why “We’re going on an adventure . . . “?

I’m not sure how it started but when Ben and Chloe were really little, I never really told them our plans just that we were “going on an adventure“.  This meant that it never mattered if plans had to change, they couldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t know what we were doing in the first place.  And now that they are a bit older we still say “We’re going on an adventure” if we’re heading out for the day – sometimes they know where, other times we don’t tell them anything at all – I always think surprises are so much more exciting anyway!

So here we are. A family of five . . .

Colette

I’m 45 and although a Yorkshire lass at heart I’ve been pretty much living the Manchester side of things for most of my adult life (bar a brief and wonderful respite in Leeds in my mid 20s and a year or so in Todmorden). After living in Manchester for almost 20 years and bringing up our family here for the last 16 years, I like to think I’m pretty expert when it comes to planning days out and adventures with children, especially in Manchester!

I’m a qualified primary school teacher and have been teaching for 22 years now.  I gave up my full time job in 2012 and moved onto supply – which was possibly the best thing I’ve ever done.  I’m now just about the only teacher I know who has actually achieved that mythical thing called a “work / life balance” – I get to go to work a couple of days a week and I get to just be at home and be Mummy a few days a week. I take great pleasure in the mornings I get to take Amy to school or go to assembly or have a quick chat with her teacher – I never thought I’d get to do that.

Outside of my Mum duties I love the chance to put on a full face of make up, some nice shoes and go to gigs – this is of course rare! I’m also a fan of going out for breakfast.

Dave 

He’s 45 too – though he would make pains to point out that he’s younger than me (less than three weeks I might add).

My lovely husband is a massive geek – and proud of it.  He LOVES tech and spends an obscene amount of time reading news and reviews of phones, tvs, audio things – all stuff he is unlikely to ever own but it does make him useful when people are planning on buying new things – I very rarely understand what he’s talking about.

He is a fairly keen (if fair-weather) cyclist and trains for some big rides each summer – a couple of years ago he was supposed to be doing Ride London for the second time but that was cancelled so he’s currently working towards doing the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride with Ben.

Ben

Ben, born summer 2009, is now 16 and taller me. Where he used to be full of questions now he just knows the answer to everything! Ben loves Maths and Science and wants to be an engineer when he’s older – he’s currently studying A Levels in Maths, Computing and 3D Design.

Ben took up cycling at the start of 2019 and raised over £600 by doing a 40 mile bike ride in August in aid of Diabetes UK! He used to regularly cycle around 40 miles a week with Dave but now he spends his time playing Rugby Union. When he’s being less active, you’ll probably find him slouched on the sofa playing on the Xbox.

For now, he’s still pretty good at coming on days out and adventures with us but I know my days are numbered!

You can read a bit more about Ben here!

Chloe 

Chlo, born summer 2011, is now 14 and is growing up fast – she has developed a real love of books which fills me with pride – she’s currently obsessed with Harry Potter (both the books and films) and is also enjoying binge watching all the Marvel films with Ben. She’s definitely a drama queen (couldn’t possibly say where she gets that from!) and loves a lie in. Chloe is also a big fan of being outdoors.  She loves to draw and write and is constantly working on new stories – writing is something she has a real talent for. 

Amy

Amy was born in autumn 2013 and is now 12.  She is super sociable (I always joke she could make friends in an empty room) with a ready smile and a bit of a Mummy’s girl.  She loves playing outside with her friends, making videos and drawing – she’s also bit of a telly addict! She absolutely loves music – especially the Wombats and Becky Hill, she’s always got something playing in her bedroom (and ruining her Dad’s Spotify playlists in the process) Her favourite thing in the world is cows – she used to want to be a farmer when she was little but now she’s not so sure!

Poppy

Poppy is the latest addition to our family, joining us in March 2020 – she is a brindle boxer puppy and we are so in love!

That’s it. That’s us!  Hope it wasn’t too rambling!

If you’re interested in working with us, pop over to my “Get in Touch” page to find out more