January Talking Meme - Recent Fun Travel

Have you done any recent fun travel?" asked by cesy

And the answer is: always!

I love travelling, and I love finally being at a point in my life where I can afford to do it without scrimping or help that usually has strings attached.

Last year I was in NZ for January and February for sad reasons (my mum died November 2023 and I went out there to look after her and then sort out her affairs) but tacked onto the end best flatmate usuallyhats came out to meet me and we had a couple of weeks' holiday in NZ together and it's honestly one of the best travel experiences of my life. It was lovely to try holidaying just the two of us, it was wonderful to get to show New Zealand off to someone, it was wonderful that that someone was said usuallyhats, one of the top people I'd most want to show NZ off to. And so much aligned, we had some absolutely perfect weather when we went to the South Island, we found some really magical places to stay, we ate some lovely food, went on lots of lovely walks, it was just gorgeous. We're hoping to go back.

On the way back we stopped over in San Francisco for long enough to go peep at the Golden Gate Bridge, at which point J's flight called her back to the airport but I popped down to I forget where but near the water where I saw a bunch of sea lions and ate a truly delicious clam chowder bread bowl that I still think about a lot.

Other fun travel last year included road trips with best C's and J to Wales, a house party at friend I's parents' house near Liverpool, the annual trip to the Lake District where I finally tried sailing and windsurfing, and multiple trips to Spain to visit cardamomtoast and family, where I finally tried sea kayaking, which was even more amazing than I'd been lead to believe.

Also not mentioned: the time I spent in Melbourne with cardamomtoast and fam. Admittedly that was a pretty chaotic time for lots of reasons but it had lots of cool bits, and will always be remembered fondly for, if nothing else, all the progress all three of her kiddos made with swimming. <3 (They came out to NZ to support me for a bunch of December and January, and it was so helpful having them there, and I loved showing them bits of NZ, and exploring some new bits together.)

The other big highlight also features usuallyhats and grief. We planned a trip to Fort William for the anniversary of mum's death (mid November), and it truly was an inspired life choice. It was magical, I can't quite believe it happened, and by the time the anniversary rolled round, I was so braced for it that I was vibrating out of my tree and in desperate need of a break. Scotland is really beautiful, did we know? I'm not always touched by the UK's natural beauty but so far the Lake District, Scotland, and Formby are really working for me. (Be great to find somewhere a bit closer to hand though.)

This year is mostly a few UK plans, more trips to Spain, and a trip to Portugal to see Taylor Swift (the degree to which I lost my mind procuring Eras tour tickets is a whole other post) but more may yet materialise!