By and large, I’m a solo traveller and I think it’s time I started emphasising that a bit more.
Back in the days when I could solo travel, I gravitated towards Iceland, Scandinavia and the Arctic, with occasional visits to places like the Baltic states and eastern Europe but you’ll find plenty of Paris and Switzerland and western Europe here too. Actually, my non-Wessex UK travels are here as well, so come with me to Scotland, London and a few other places around my own country.
All Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have five homes around the world, the World Centres. We have one of them right here in London, Pax Lodge, and I spent the Thinking Day weekend there. Thinking Day is the most important day in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)’s calendar – it’s… More Turn Back Time: A Pax Lodge Challenge Around London
I didn’t know a lot about Malta before I went there. I didn’t even know what town my hostel was in – I now know it’s officially Marsa but it seems to be at the crossroads of every town I’ve ever heard of and a few I haven’t. Everyone at work knows Malta pretty well… More Valletta: a day in the fortified city
In 2014, Iceland quietly had a massive volcanic eruption that lasted for six months. Hardly anyone outside Iceland heard of it because unlike when Eyjafjallajökull erupted, it didn’t affect anyone else. It was a fissure eruption up in the Highlands that poured lava and poisonous gases and fire fountains for six months and resulted in the… More The Volcano Adventures – Leirhnjúkur
Here’s something I’ve not really seen on travel blogs before. People assume everyone knows how to get on a plane but I know there are people who don’t, so hello those people – these blog is just for you! Print-friendly PDF of this post available right here for taking with you Step One: finding the… More Flying 101: How to get on a plane by yourself
The first thing I did in Malta was go to Gozo. That’s what had been recommended to me most in the couple of weeks – well, ten days – between booking and flying, so that was my first stop. It was hot when I reached my local bus stop, which was made out of glass… More Hopping around Gozo
Airlines have reputations and in Europe, the airline with the single worst reputation is Ryanair. If you’re fortunate enough to have never encountered Ryanair, it’s a low-cost low-frills airline of the lowest kind. To quote my boss’s disgruntled mum (to be fair, she’s disgruntled about everything and that’s putting it very politely), “we didn’t even get… More I flew on Ryanair for the first time!
Is this a post about my weekend in Glasgow in July or is it a post about traveller’s guilt? I don’t know. I went to Glasgow in July and although I did do some things, mostly I sat in my lovely flat, reading books and eating toast and lying in the bath. I don’t feel… More Me-time in Glasgow
When I first said that I planned a day trip by train out of Amsterdam, my sister was astonished. We were only going to be there five days, we wouldn’t have the time or the inclination to leave the city. I was adamant – I almost always take a day to see at least a… More A day out in Haarlem
In November I went to Amsterdam. I went with my sister and because – and only because – of her, we went to Anne Frank’s house. I wasn’t at all sure about that. For one thing, I’m not a museum sort of person. I’m just not. For another, I wasn’t at all convinced about the… More The Many Diaries of Anne Frank
I went to Amsterdam in November. From the fact that it’s taken until January to start writing about it, you might not be surprised that Amsterdam and I didn’t get on all that well. If you’re into getting drunk and stoned and sampling the delights of the Red Light District, then this city is for… More The problem with Amsterdam…