Someone asked recently for more Girlguiding content. It fits in as much as this is a travel & adventure blog and I do play up the adventure side for you. But what I want to do today is get across just how much time I put into this stupid organisation. When we’re trying to recruit, … More An hour and a half a week: how long a Girlguiding volunteer really spends on it
On Monday/today, Girlguiding launched its new interest badges. Let me backtrack a little so you understand the significance. It’s been the messiest roll-out that was supposed to be a massive PR show – the BBC put out their news article somewhere around 2am, CBBC, Wales Online and the Telegraph somewhere around 6am, which is about … More Brownie leader reacts to the new Girlguiding interest badges
In the early hours of yesterday morning, the twelfth eruption in the Reykjanes Fires, the period of eruptive activity ongoing since 2021, started up. It’s the ninth in the vicinity of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon and we’ll see what chaos it causes. I’m actually starting to write this on Wednesday morning ready for the … More Iceland is erupting for the 12th time
I should really make more noise about solo female travel. I’m far from the only one who does it – it feels like the most popular form of travel after family package holidays , certainly the most popular kind you see online and you never see “solo male travel” but despite its ubiquitousness popularity, it … More How I started solo female travelling
This came up on Instagram on Monday – the Louvre closed its doors in June under the pressure of “unmanageable crowds”. Oh, it’s not just the crowds, it’s also chronic overstaffing and structural problems but the thousands upon thousands of people seem to have been the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Near From … More Do you really want to go there or have you been told that you have to?
Have I mentioned recently that I’ve joined a Facebook group dedicated to answering the same questions about a first-time trip to Iceland? What brand of rain pants should I get? Are these waterproof socks ok? Can we tip in dollars? Is this itinerary ok? The itinerary is never ok. It features a month’s worth of … More An Iceland Itinerary for people who get Facebook to do all their research
It turns out, for some reason, I never posted the film photos I took last year in Dubrovnik. It was a beautiful time and a beautiful town, despite the billions of tourists and the number of cruise ships that came into the port every single day. Besides, I love 35mm film. I like how it … More Dubrovnik on film
This is an accountability post. I’m writing a book, theoretically. I’m also logging the time I’m spending on it, which means I can see things like “just over an hour and a half of writing in all of 2025 so far”. The trouble is that it’s for fun, which means when I’m busy, it just … More I’m writing a book about baths
This is a question that’s come up on the Iceland travel Facebook group so many times that I’m going to write an entire blog on the subject: “my flight gets in at 6am and I can’t check in to my AirBNB/hotel until 3pm. What can I do in Reykjavik?”. Really, the answer to this is … More What to do in Reykjavik when you have an early flight
It’s been a while since I added a new instalment in the Journey to Paddlesport Instructor series and that’s partly because there’s been no major step forward for a while and partly because I have an entire separate paddling blog now (I’ll admit it at last: I’m plotting to become one of Paddle UK’s #ShePaddles … More My Paddlesport Leader training course
I Am A Polar Bear 