A couple of months ago, I joined a fabulous group of women for a global writing challenge—Gail from Is This Mutton (UK) Deb from Deb’sWorld (Australia), Mary Katherine from MK’s Adventures in Style (USA), Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper (UK), Jill from Grownup Glamour (Australia), Australian blogger Sue Loncaric from Women Living Well After 50, Leslie Clingan from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After and Marsha from Marsha In The Middle.
On the third Thursday of every month we’ll respond to the prompt “Tell Us About XXX” which could cover any subject matter. It could be a blog post with opinions or memories; a poem, photos, anything at all. Last month, the challenge was ‘Curiosity’ and was prompted by by Michelle (who has since given up blogging). This month, the prompt is Travel and was set by Sue from Women Living Well After 50.
I’ve never quite understood why people don’t like to travel. You know, when they remain in the same house, same town and same country they’ve lived all their lives, not wanting to step anywhere further than down the road. I just couldn’t live like that. Of course I understand that many people simply can’t afford to do much travelling…but surely the occasional jaunt to the next town or county isn’t pushing the boat out, is it?
I think my love of travel stems from the fact that I left my home country of England with my family when I just ten years old. Up until then, I’d lived in two houses. One, a small place above a little corner shop where my parents worked for a while (or so I’m told…I don’t remember it at all, although I vaguely remember there being an ancient graveyard in the back garden!), and the other, a lovely house on a lovely street that my parents bought after they won the Pools (yes…it does happen!). And if you’re wondering what the Pools are, well…it’s a kind of lottery based around football.
Up until then, we’d always taken holidays in caravan parks (see above pic) on the English east coast (places like Skegness, Bridlington, Cleethorpes and Mablethorpe). But after the win, we’d go further afield to places like Majorca, Corfu, Ibiza and Malta. We even went to Barbados once! We got robbed there too… apparently the thief had been hiding under mine or my sister’s bed, which is rather terrifying when you think about it! Fortunately, he was just a petty thief and had only gotten away with a bit of money. My dad had woken up, seen the thief in their bedroom and had jumped out of bed and chased him halfway down the road before realising he was completely starkers!! My other memories of Barbados were the flying fish and my sister, mum and I having our hair braided with beads.
A few years later, we visited Portugal and that’s when Mum and Dad decided to move here permanently. For a ten year old, it was a shock to the system, I can tell you! That was 1986. A popular year for British people to move here, apparently. It also happened to be the year that my future husband moved here too…all the way from Essex!
For a while, we stopped travelling altogether, because why would we need to go away when we had everything all the other destinations had, right here on our doorstep? Sun, sea, etc, etc. It was a wonderful place to be, but after I met Michael (when I was 16), and we moved in together (when I was 19), we started to want to travel a bit. We didn’t have much money back then, so our travelling consisted of driving to the likes of Lisbon or Porto, for example. But after we got married (when I was 22), we saved up and went abroad for our honeymoon. We chose the Lake District in England! It was our first proper holiday together and it was amazing. The Lake District, in the northwest of England, just before you reach Scotland, was everything we’d hoped it would be. Although I remember being shocked that you had to pay to park everywhere! LOL. Since then, we’ve travelled to (and through) many other wonderful places within Europe…the highlands of Scotland, Wales, Southern Ireland, the Azores, Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, the US and Canada. I particularly love travelling around the UK though, it has so much history and beautiful architecture.
Sadly we haven’t been across the pond for a few years because of covid…but we’re hoping to get back there sooner rather than later. Our very first trip to North America was to do a road trip from Banff across to Vancouver, taking in Vancouver Island too. It was one of the most breathtaking road trips we’ve ever taken! We’ve since done a road trip (we love to drive) from Toronto across to Montreal, taking in Mont Tremblant for a few days too. We ice skated on the Ottawa canal, but sadly our friend fell over and broke her arm!
We’d love to return to Canada and do a trip around Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. As for the US, we’ve been to New York, Boston, Washington DC, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas and many of the states in between. I would love to do a road trip from California up to Seattle and also New Orleans is on my must-visit list, as well as many other cities and states! My favourite US trip was when we went to Universal in Orlando. I cried when we walked in lol. The emotion was just too much for me. I LOVED those two days so much. It was the first time I’d ever been to a theme park and I was like a kid again. I’m dying to go back. Maybe we’ll check out the one in LA next time though.
Up next for us however, is a trip closer to home. We’re hoping to visit Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire in the north of England this autumn with some close friends. We’ll be taking in the city of Newcastle, but I’m also hoping to nip down to the seaside town of Whitby. That’s a place I’ve been wanting to visit for so long. It holds the Whitby Goth Festival, but that’s at another time of year, sadly. If you’re wondering why Whitby sounds familiar, it’s because it has a special connection to the world of Dracula. It was featured in Bram Stoker’s famous novel as the place where the Count Dracula arrived in England after a shipwreck. Whitby’s beautiful abbey, situated on the cliffs, and the iconic abbey steps are key locations in the story. With its rugged coastline and rich history, Whitby offers a unique experience for those interested in the supernatural and the legacy of the novel….just one of many reasons why I’d love to go!
I didn’t get round to telling you about my most recent trip to Switzerland. Well…I’ll save that for another blog post next week! Stay tuned!
Now let’s see what the other gals have to say on this wonderful subject of travel.
Marsha and her husband, AKA Nigel, rode the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle and loved each and every minute! But, they didn’t stop there! Head over to the blog to read all aboard…ahem…all about it! Find Marsha’s post at https://marshainthemiddle.com/all-aboard-crossing-the-usa/
The only traveling Leslie is going to be doing is among the blogs of her Tell Us About buddies reading about the traveling they are enjoying. Stop by my blog for a power nap. She’ll join you!! https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/tell-us-about-07-2023-travel
Debbie’s family motto is ‘To Travel is to Live’ and her blog is all about Midlife – travel, fun and adventure, and yet she had a lot of trouble with this prompt. Go back to the beginning to read how her family got the travel bug! https://wp.me/p2juKh-e3l
In theory Gail from Is This Mutton is well travelled but she hasn’t seen very much. Find out why https://www.isthismutton.com/2023/07/tell-us-about-travel.html
At first Penny thought she had nothing to write about as she felt her travelling days were over and then, on reflection, she’d had many adventures when traveling as a young woman. In fact she had so much to say Travel has been split into two parts! The second part you’ll get shortly. Check it out at https://frugalfashionshopper.co.uk/wp/tell-us-about-travel-part-1/
MK finally gets to write about her favourite hobby and reflects on some of the fun times she’s had on trips over the years. Find her post at https://mksadventure.com/2020/07/20/tell-me-about-travel/
Next month, I hope you’ll join us because it was turn to choose the prompt and with my vivid imagination, that’e exactly what I chose: IMAGINATION!
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