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Paula Gaughan

@wildchildwander

50.8K

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Scottish Family Influencer of the year 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Travel Storyteller 🌍 | Holiday Inspo ✈️| Solo Parent 👩‍👧 GetYourGuide: SAVE15 🤍

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Influencer of the Year - Family 2026/2027.

Congratulations to @wildchildwander ✨️

Thank you to our esteemed judge @ionacrawford for presenting the award.

#scottishinfluencerawards

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@clivewatkinsphotography
@gerardojac

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I can’t believe I’m writing this… I won Scottish Influencer of the Year – Inspiration 2026 😭🏆

Three years ago, I was just trying to survive the worst time of my life.
I never could have imagined then that I’d be collecting this award after sharing my experience.

And if I’m being honest it’s a really strange feeling.

Having something so awful happen in your life, and then something positive come from it.
It felt really emotional in the lead up to it all.

I never set out to be an “influencer”, I just started sharing my reality to process my grief, and in the hope I’d find people in similar situations who I could relate to.

The grief of losing my husband.
The pressure of being a solo mum to three.
The sheer loneliness.
And then realising I wasn’t the only person out there.

Being shortlisted alongside four incredible nominees was already amazing. The whole experience of going to an event like this felt surreal.

I never in a million years expected to win. It honestly means more than I can ever put into words.

Every single nominee in that room was a winner, and I felt so proud to be among them.

I met so many incredible people, and it was so lovely catching up with familiar faces too thank you for making me feel so welcome. ❤️

A huge thank you to Mary for having me, all of the organisers, and the sponsors. Thank you Amy and Jennifer for presenting my award ❤️

Thank you to Jodie at Rainbow Rooms for the complimentary blow dry, and to Megan for doing my make up. It was fully cry-proof 🤣 thank you so much for getting me glammed up for it ❤️

And thank you to my lifelong friend Rachel for coming as my plus one. Rachel works in social media and actually set up my accounts 10 months ago, it meant so much getting to share that moment with you 🤍

This award isn’t just mine.

It’s for every person who’s messaged me saying they feel less alone.
For every widow, or anyone navigating a life they didn’t choose but are slowly learning to live again.
For everyone affected by suicide.
And for everyone grieving in silence.

Because even in the darkest moments… you’re never alone 🤍

#ShareYourStory #HopeAfterLoss #FindingStrength #RaisingAwareness #GriefToGrowth

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SCOTTISH INFLUENCER AWARDS

Influencer of the Year - Family

The finalists are:

@thesocialmama.x ✨️

@entertaining_dad ✨️

@theolivetreefamily ✨️

@wildchildwander ✨️

@winging_mamahood ✨️

Congratulations.

#scottishinfluencerawards

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SCOTTISH INFLUENCER AWARDS

Influencer of the Year - Family

The finalists are:

@entertaining_dad ✨️

@theolivetreefamily ✨️

@thesocialmama.x

@wildchildwander ✨️

@winging_mamahood ✨️

Congratulations.

#scottishinfluencerawards

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Plan Your Dream Safari Today
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📲 WhatsApp +255 749631637

#discover #exploring #expeditions #tanzania #wildlife

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Thanks to Paula and her beautiful baby girl for being our guests. It was a pleasure and we look forward to seeing you soon! 💙🙏☀️

#visitnaples
#roadtonaples
#bnbnapoli

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International Women’s Day
Today we celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. We are very lucky here at Aqua Marina UK to have worked with so many amazing women over the years. Here are just a few of the wonderful women that we’d like to shout out today…
* Paula and Stella @montessoriplaying
* Sarah @rooftent_tales
* Kayleigh @sid.the.border
* Emma @a_ridiculous_hiking_goal
* Maggie @maggieszczepanczyk
* Flo @40_is_the_new_thirty
* Sancha @saltbirds
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#wonderis_allaround #aquamarina #sup #paddleboarding #adventure #explorer #meandmyaquamarina #aquamarinaglobal #isup #standuppaddleuk #paddle #watersports #onthewater #travel #aquamarinasup #aquamarinauk #inflatable #internationalwomensday #women #womensequality #equality #genderequal #nodiscrimination #unbiased #inclusion #inspireinclusion #womensachievement #aquamarinawomen @aquamarinaglobal

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Looks like we…made it!
Hey Momma!
After putting up trees that looked like bags of skittles.
In order to see smiles.
Decorating multiple rooms, spending a month shopping by day and playing elf by night,
Making sure the kids had the exact Outfits they needed for school and wanted for celebrations , plus the exact pajamas they wanted and insisted you match🥹!
Crafting, hanging and visiting lights…
Doing ALL THE THINGS !!!
(yes, by choice but it was still hard work!, and some of us really struggle to make it happen in more ways than one!!!)
Remember when you
“get back” tonight from wherever you may have traveled today or back from your family room to your kitchen… the house does not need to sparkle before you go to bed!
Look around at the signs of
“The Magic” not
“The Mess” …
YOU DID THAT!
Now give yourself the permission to REST!
P.S.
If no one else told you today, Thank you for everything you do, everything you did this holiday and everyday!
I’m Flipping Proud Of You!

Merry Christmas!🎄
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#broughtthemagic #themagicofchildhood #christmasday #christmasfood #christmasmorning #christmasmodeon #christmasmemes #mommemes #momma #bringthemagic #itstime #merrychristmas #merrychristmas2023 #momlifebelike #motherhood #motherhoodquotes #realmomlife #mamaclaus #theelfontheshelf #theelfhasleftthebuilding

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Witches ride and children hide 🧙‍♀️ 🍬 🍭
Lots of spooky things are seen 👻 🧛 🧟‍♂️
Tonight is Halloween! 🎃 ☠️

Happy Halloween, here are some of our favourite Halloween paddling photos! If you have any you’d like to share don’t forget to tag us! 🎃 👻
📸 1. 🎃 @jessycarioca
📸 2. 🧙‍♀️ @montessoriplaying
📸 3. 💀 @discoversup.ie
📸 4. 🦈 @supsandycove
📸 5. 🧙 @yellow_sup_marine
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#wonderis_allaround #aquamarina #sup #paddleboarding #adventure #explorer #meandmyaquamarina #aquamarinaglobal #isup #standuppaddleuk #paddle #watersports #onthewater #travel #aquamarinasup #aquamarinauk #inflatable #halloween #autumn #halloweenpaddle #suppaddle #spooky #paddleskills #autumnuk #autumnpaddling #staycation @aquamarinaglobal

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I know lots of you got really excited about the farm I posted about yesterday, so I wanted to do a static post with some more information. It seems a lengthy post, but stick with it as it gives you some tips to make your travel worth it and helps you plan your trip.

@farmstopaberdeenshire is in Aberdeen, and it's a family run farm. The staff were extremely welcoming and friendly and really knowledgable about the animals. They are happy to answer your questions about them and help you handle, pet, and feed the animals in a way that keeps you and the animals safe and happy. They also offered to take family photos for you, which we thought was really lovely.

At present, the farm is pre-booked visits only, and each visit is 2 hours long. Before your visit, you will be sent a little schedule of your visit broken down into 30 min slots, letting you know what animals you will be interacting with during each 30 minutes. This helps you maximise your visit, ensuring you get a chance to visit all the animals. 2 hours doesn't seem like a long time, but it ensures the animals aren't overwhelmed, and to be honest, we felt like we were there for ages!

As it can be a long drive and after a fun day at the farm / by the time you've eaten, you may have tired kids and may wish to consider staying over if you are able to.

We did, to make the most of the trip up, so here's some other things you may wish to consider if so.

We stayed at the @premierinn Anderson Drive, its the same as any Premier Inn and its a great location for all the below suggestions I'm going to make (as well as the farm) as most are within a 15-20 min drive of it, it also kept our trip budget friendly.

Aberdeen has great parks, including Duthie Park and Hazelhead Park, where kids can burn off some energy - Duthie Park also has a lovely botanic garden.

The beach is nearby and the eplande is home to an amusement park with carnival rides & a liesure park which has a cinema and bowling etc

@greyhopebay is where you can go dolphin spotting. There is a lovely little cafe overlooking the water, which provides free binoculars it's open 10am-4pm Wed-Sun but closed on Mon & Tues.

#WhatsonfortheKIDS ❤️

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