Travel

Packing:

Have any of you been watching Race across the World? I love this programme. It both irritates and frustrates me as well as inspires me. I love seeing where they go and how they choose to get there, their grit and determination, and how, for so many of them, they work on ‘issues’ that they’ve had before the race; relationships, health, confidence etc. I also get frustrated with some of their stupid choices, (not that I’m saying I’d do any better, but it’s easy to be a judge from the safety of your armchair no?).

This time they’re heading from Japan to Indonesia and both my eldest and I were annoyed with ourselves that we didn’t apply! This is one of our favourite parts of the world.

Anyhoo, I am digressing. Hubby and I will be off before long to one of the places we were inspired by in the very first RATW. I am not going to say anymore than that, so you can have a think. It is in Asia too…

I am in a league of my own when it comes to packing, not because I’m good at it, I’m pretty useless actually, despite having done a lot of travel in my time. I have been known, in days gone by, to pack for everyone else in the family and then to forget my underwear or any t-shirts for myself. It really is a new found freedom to have adult children who now all go off on their own adventures and discover they don’t have clean crackers!! I also over pack hideously. I took my Brownie oath of ‘Be Prepared‘ to extremes!

So in my excitement of this intrepid ‘adult only’ exploring and glorified ‘backpacking’, we are taking on together, my packing has now gone to new heights and I am ridiculed (and understandably).

At least a month before I’m due to depart my wardrobe is on the floor with me sorting out what I’m going to take. It then sits, in piles, gathering dust for a couple of weeks. I then choose to pack it to check it fits (bear in mind, I’m likely to unpack it and repack it at least twice before we actually leave!). Hubby on the other hand is from the ‘pack the night before’ club. We are chalk and cheese!

Does this improve my packing, do I end up remembering everything, being able to find everything when I get there or on the flight? Does it bugger!

So after being the brunt of my kids’ and other half’s jokes for several years, I’m trying a new tack. I am still an early bird, it’s in my genes: time, bed, packing, handing in assignments at university, I can’t help it. However, I am a bit late to the party here, but I have found packing cubes. So not only can I now pack in advance I can pack it into small neat cubes that make me squeak with joy!!

Rather than my original packing routine of somewhat random crap being packed from the floor, rolled if I’m using my rucksack, or folded (ish) if using a case, I now pack using these. I lay out my ‘outfits’ and how they might go together and I’m trying SO hard to reduce the amount I take too as I never wear it all. I can make t-shirts go twice and take a small amount of travel wash to rinse stuff through. I then pack stuff into the cubes and, this is the best bit, if you fold it right, it stays fairly uncreased (how sad am I to say that to the public?).

The other tip I have, is something I’ve always done. I pack a separate bag (cube in this case) of a couple of days of outfits, just changes of t-shirt and trousers/shorts and clean underwear and put it in my carry on. This has been a long standing thing since a. having kids and needing a change of outfit due to one or other puking on me or themselves mid flight and b. my luggage being left behind one time and being stranded with nothing but the clothes I was in.

This extra clothing in my hand luggage doesn’t take up much space at all as I tend to travel with my favourite harem style pants. I have lots of pairs that I’ve bought over the years from either festivals or in Asia and they are really lightweight (so they dry easily) and pack small. I have them in so many colours and patterns that they can be mixed and matched. I also have literally one patterned top in my drawers, everything else is either black or a plain colour as it can then be mixed up too, keeps it simple.

So that’s it. From this:

To this, 2 weeks worth of clothes and kit required in three main cubes:

My carry on bag, if I’m taking a rucksack (which I am this time as there’s a lot of travelling within the country) is either a hold all style if I have a rucksack, or a brilliant Gandys weekend backpack if I’m using a case. In either I have a little travel bag that holds all my gadgets including: powerpack, metal or silicon straw, lip salve, cables, an eye mask, ear plugs, a little fan (god that is the menopausal travellers best pack ever!), my kindle, a collapsible water bottle (with a filter) and hair ties. I also carry a separate little plastic bag with teeny refills of my favourite skin stuff for long haul flights and if my main bag goes missing, and I always carry a scarf wherever we go for either warmth, to ‘jazz’ up a t-shirt in the evening, but more importantly to cover my head for respect if needed. Most of this stays put throughout the year so I don’t have to find it all each time I go away.

So that’s it. From crap-packer to backpacker for the over 50’s.

Borneo and Malaysia

It seems like a LONG time ago now that the post I wrote about below happened and not quite according to plan either, but that was not for lack of blog post writing and packing! Sometimes when you travel, life carries on without taking notice that you are not in your home country and things happen that you have to return for, so without dwelling on it too much or turning this into a downer post, we had to return prematurely for my mother-in-law who fell ill and subsequently didn’t make it to Christmas. It was sad, but three months on, it’s time to talk about the trip!

Ok, so the plan was for me to fly to Singapore whilst hubby went on his business trip to Hong Kong, during this time I would relieve myself of my larger luggage with my brother and sister-in-law in Johor, and take a flight to Kuching in Borneo with a much smaller pack so I didn’t need to pay for hold luggage.

My flight arrived in Singapore, Changi airport, and my first ‘intrepid adventure’ was getting the bus over the border into Malaysia. My brother-in-law had offered to tackle Singapore’s traffic to pick me up, but hell, no! I was Indianna Jones (notice what I did there? I can write, I can’t tell jokes!). In all honesty, it is SO easy and SO cheap but I did have a small panic at the first border at Woodlands. All passengers have to get off the bus but can leave their main luggage. You have to go on foot through the Singaporean exit whilst the bus goes round and meets you in Malaysia. You then get on again for about 2 minutes and you’re dropped, this time you MUST TAKE YOUR LUGGAGE as this is where the bus leaves you. The seasoned travellers know this but as the pasty tourist, you may end up looking the fool running back to find your bus gone along with your clean underwear for the next three weeks!

My brother-in-law was there to meet me at the bus terminal in Johor, but what I’d not appreciated is the amount of people and the slow pace of getting through customs on the Malaysian side, you need to plan for this if you’re catching forward travel. There are people who literally stand in these queues on a daily basis as they work one side and live the other!

The second thing I’d not appreciated is that Johor has its own airport and flies directly to Kuching. I had originally booked a flight from Singapore so was intending on doing the reverse of this journey the following day until O explained. Air Asia, however, being your cheap as chips local EasyJet did not do refunds, so I resigned myself to the stupidly early return trip on the bus the following day until luck intervened. About three days before I left the UK I got a notification that my flight was cancelled from Singapore and therefore I’d be on a much later flight or I could have a refund! Well… refund applied for, I booked the morning flight from Johor and saved myself a whole heap of hassle.

Kuching, for those who don’t know Borneo, is in Sarawak in the south of the island. Borneo as an island is IMMENSE. It is the third largest in the world and swamps the whole of mainland Malaysia. It is comprised of the states of Sarawak and Sabah and the principality of Brunei. Most of the island is part of Indonesia and the rest Malaysia and it has a very complex history which I won’t even attempt to pretend I understand.

Most people, when going to Borneo, go to Sabah. Kota Kinabalu is the home of Mount Kinabalu a highly popular and beautiful mountain, across the island on the East side is Sandakan which is home to rainforests, orang utan and probiscis monkeys, another huge tourist draw. To give you an idea of the enormity, Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan is a 7 hour drive!

I obviously wanted to do the tourist ‘stuff’, but Sandakan, where the orang utan sanctuary is, was just a bit too far for a three day trip from the mainland, so I opted for the much smaller and far less touristy, Kuching. I chose here as there is also a smaller orang utan sanctuary about a 45 minute drive from the city. The flight was only just over an hour from Johor and was costing me less than £30, so…

Kuching (the cat city) is fantastic. It sits on the banks of the River Sarawak and is an eclectic mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese. As a female traveller and a solo one at that, I never once felt unsafe wandering around. No one hassled me, even shop keepers were not on my case to buy things.

I had, in advance, booked myself into a ‘hostel’ for three nights and through ‘Klook’ booked onto a tour to the sanctuary and a second trip out on the river to find Irrawaddy dolphins.

My advice to someone going at the time of year I went is to not get too concerned about booking stuff in advance. It was a quiet time of year and as things happened it put a total shift on my plans. Firstly, the place I’d booked was a little more basic than I cared for at 50, so on night three I ‘splurged’ on a far nicer hotel two doors down to ensure I’d at least be able to get out of bed on the third day! Secondly because I was out of season, no one was booked on either of the trips I’d paid for, so I had the choice to cancel, again, or, as I did, ensure my trip to Semenggoh to see the orang utans did actually run as they needed a minimum of two people, so I just paid for Mr Invisible…let’s be honest, when would I get the chance to see these gorgeous creatures again, so felt it worth the extra £20 for my best ever, silent travel companion!

The dolphin trip I did cancel and booked on a day trip with a local company to Bako National Park where we hoped to see probiscis monkeys, wild pigs and a huge range of incredible flora and fauna. The top three pictures are some of the amazing wildlife we did see, as well as a flying lemur and this cool crab.

Kuching is small. There is plenty to do for three days, but after that I had itchy feet, so we are planning to return to Borneo in a couple of years but to explore the north, Sepilok and Turtle Islands are on the agenda.

I flew out of Kuching to Kuala Lumpur where I was meeting R, O and J and we were going to spend a few days before taking another bus this time down to Melaka. Bus transport in Malaysia is ridiculously cheap and pretty comfy (£6 for us both to go from KL to Melaka), however, the part of Malaysia we were in, is not that exciting for scenery as they have removed a lot of the indigenous forest for palm oil plantations so it is hour after hour of palm trees, which even to those of us from the northern hemisphere, gets a touch yawn after a while!

We had booked an AirBnB in KL which had incredible views of the Patronus Towers. KL as a city is very young, thus there is (for me) a limitation to ‘things of interest’ unless you love to shop designer items. Obviously there are the towers which are worth a visit and there is a great China town too. There are caves on the outskirts of the city that are accessible by the subway (Batu caves), but apparently these are dirty and not very looked after, so we opted against going there. However, the food culture is incredible. Our AirBnB was in Kampung Baru, and right above an incredible food market. We ate there both nights we stayed as it was so good.

Next stop was Melaka (sometimes spelled Malacca). This was around a 2-3 hour drive from KL by road and is one of KL’s federal territories. It has a huge Portuguese influence from it’s past and this can be seen in the style of the houses which look very colonial to my ignorant knowledge. It’s also on the river Melaka and has such a beautiful waterfront with colourful houses and cafes. It’s also home to the infamous Jonker street night market which runs Fridays and Saturday.

From here our trip was unfortunately cut short, we returned to Johor and rather than the planned weekend in Singapore going to the Marina Bay Sands (the restaurant, not the hotel itself!) we had to organise flights home. We are planning to return to Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore before my brother-in-law is repatriated, R wants his Borneo trip and I’d like to go over to Turtle Islands to see, well, turtles so hopefully for 2025! We do have a couple of great trips organised for this year and early next that I’ll write about when we get back, and I’m hoping to do another solo crone trip to Asia when R goes to Hong Kong in the Autumn and I piggy back. This time I plan to follow him and spend a couple of days up in Guangzhou.

Planning for solo female travel in your fifties

Ok, so this is a new style of post for my page as I thought I’d share some of my thoughts about solo female travel planning in your fifties. First off many of you might wonder why on earth I am travelling alone. Firstly, why not? Secondly, he will be joining me later. Fear not, I am not abandoning him.

I think it is important to lay it out there that as a female solo traveller that there are always going to be more things to consider than if you are a male solo traveller. I have travelled independently before, in my teens and twenties I went to Egypt alone, rafting on the Dorgdogne and the aforementioned trip to Mexico, and a trip to Uganda in my forties etc. However, with all of these I met up with other solo travellers. I’ve also travelled to Seattle and New York alone, but as I used to live in the US, these count less. You will always, positively or negatively, draw ‘some’ attention to yourself just by ‘being solo and female’.

So the trip I am planning for is back to South East Asia and whilst, some of it will be with my better half and I do have a base with my brother and sister in law in Johor Bahru for some of it, I am planning to do a trip over to Borneo on my own at the start.

I am therefore going to try to list how I set about this as a solo, female traveller in my fifties and then add on the things that need considering. Do also bear in mind, this isn’t meant to be a blog suggesting that any age is better than the other, or that solo travel is superior or less, just that it does take some planning and there are LOTS of great blogs to choose from if you’re solo adventuring in your younger years, but less for us who have just passed the 40 boundary!

First off, it’s easy to be far more confident in your fifties! This can be both a blessing and a curse. I have far less trepidation doing this than I would have if my 19 year old daughter was doing the same. This is partly because I have travelled quite a bit, so I think I know what to expect, certainly in SE Asia, but also because I have wrinkles and some grey hair, so far less likely to be harassed. As is the case in many countries, I’m actually more likely to be respected as an older person as is often the culture, particularly in Asia or Africa.

But, I am 50, and thus more wizzened by experience and age, so possibly a little more suspicious, thus more protective of my cash, cards, passport, shadow, other people etc. This comes, sadly, from a previous encounter many years ago in Europe wherein my husband and I were duped out of some cash and a rather more worrying account with a drunk driver and his gun in South Africa in the 1990s when I was hitchiking with friends! This does lead me to be more reserved with talking to others.

I am more confident in my ability now than my 18 year old self to navigate transport timetables or money exchange and I like to think I have a ‘fairly good’ ability to sniff out a tosser! I als have, possibly more importantly, as a 50 year old, a £ contingency that would get me out of somewhere fast if I needed it to ie: if I needed a hotel and it were more expensive than my budget , or I was stuck somewhere and needed a taxi or a flight and fast. It is far more scary to be in a country on budget as a teenager who may not have the financial resources to back up and get you out of a tricky scenario.

The things I do need to be more aware of as an older traveller, however are time zones. It’s easy to pack in A LOT but then be too knackered from your long haul to actually enjoy it. I have therefore factored in a rest day at the start of my trip.

My levels of comfort have changed. Whereas when I was a teen or younger traveller, I would have been happy in a tent or a budget hostel, these days, the thought of lying on a bed where I can feel the springs for any more than one night is always going to push me to booking somewhere with at least 3 stars or lots of glowing reviews Princess and the Pea style, and I always carry my sleeping bag inner and mozzie net.

As an older traveller I am aware of my own idiosyncracies: I am an overthinker. I like to plan and research and plan and research and prepare, and sometimes even a bit more planning! I will have a Plan A but also a Plan B and likely a Plan C! This doesn’t mean I don’t or can’t throw caution to the wind once I know the lay of the land, but I do need those intial plans are laid out.

I know my limitations in terms of ability, desire to dice with my mortality and food! I feel the latter two are linked!

I always carry my own loo roll! See the previous point!

I am far happier doing less and observing more.

So my top tips would be:

Choose your flight wisely, look at your time zones, think about the direction you are travelling and choose the best your budget will give you. I’m doing a late afternoon from the UK which I hope to sleep on, as it runs into my ‘sneaky nap time when I’m home alone’…this lands me in Changi the early hours of the next day for which I intented to use for absolutely bloody nothing.
Pack wisely: again, obviously country relevant, but also think about ‘how’ you pack it. I’m not sure I have the answer, but for me, I’m doing a 65l backpack designed for a woman – this is SO important, with a waist belt – also SO important. It has a small day sack that zips to it that I can remove for the zip over to Borneo, leaving the crap I don’t need behind in Malaysia with the rellies. I have also used it several time before, and like me, it’s worn in, so it’s not on its virgin outing creating a dichotomy between the two of us! My cabin bag is going to be a holdall style so I don’t need to carry something else on my shoulders. It’s also easy top access for the flight, so I don’t end up throwing all the contents over my neighbour when trying to find my headphones or socks and turning the air blue with my cussing!
Do your research! I want to see the Orangutans – it’s a bucket list thing, (especially as I missed out on the Gorillas in Uganda thanks to a nasty dose of giardiasis that put me in Bwindi hospital learning fast how to use squat toilets!) therefore I have looked up countless blogs about where and how to etc. If you feel at all unsure or unsafe, speak to your hotel in advance. It may be that they run the trip you are looking for and for a fee they may be able to organise it. This is what I will likely do as I know I can get a Grab car there, but unsure if I can get one back. I also now avoid salad in tourist hotels!
Don’t cram it all in. Sadly, whilst we may only feel 18 and may be as fit as fiddles, we may also find it just slightly harder to overcome the jet lag or even the day/night before.
Take some travel strength probiotics (and start them prior to your trip.) Whilst you may ‘think’ you have the iron constitution of the clasp Mrs T’s favourite handbag, and maybe you do, new foods and spices are slightly harder to get to grips with on the sunny side of 40!
Choose your accomodation for location rather than low cost budget being the priority. If you are a female, it is likely you are going to feel a little more comfortable in areas that are well populated or easy to find or lit up at night. Stretch your budget here if you need to. Contact your hotel in advance to let them know you are a single female traveller, for no other reason than they may be quicker to respond to your requests to put you at ease.
Always remember a scarf for covering your head or shoulders, and a pair of flip flops (for your feet obviously!)
Get an e-sim for your phone, it can be done online before you leave the UK with some companies, alternatively, buy a Sim in the country you are in so you always have communication. Put your emergency contact in your speed dial.
Download any apps you think you might need if you can before you go: Grab is a useful one, also if you can find train or bus apps that allow you access to timetables or even paying your ticket online.
Finally, think about your time of the month if you are unlucky enough to still have to! Whilst you are likely to find what you need, products may not be what you are used to, and sanitation equally (see my earlier Bwindi experience!) Bring hand sanitiser and nappy bags so you don’t feel uncomfortable. Remember there are many cultures that do not discuss feminine hygeine as we tend to do in the west, so be mindful.

Ok, so I am sure I haven’t thought of it all, I’m sure there are many of you out there who are far more travelled as solo female travellers than I am and I’d love your top tips. Finally, I will add to this retrospectively as hindsight really is a beautiful thing!

Morocco and Bali

What an incredible place Bali is! We spent a beautiful 10 days in September 2022 with a group of similar minded travellers on an Intrepid trek around Bali. If you are not familiar with Intrepid they are a Bcorp travel company who run small group trips around the world. These trips vary in length, how basic or plush they are, how adventurous they are etc. Whilst this was our first experience with Intrepid, we have used similar companies before. In my early twenties I spent 3 weeks touring with Explore around Mexico, Guatamala and Belize and the year before that, went rafting down the Dordogne river in France with them. Intrepid also run 18 – 25 year old versions of the trips with slightly more basic accomodation, a younger travel group, lower cost and probably more activities which our middle child joined when he went to Vietnam last summer.

We had chosen a 7 day active trip that saw us staying in a range of hotels from budget to mid end and all were pretty good. We travelled by van which is pretty much the only way to travel around Bali as a group as there is no rail system or internal flights as it is a small island. If you are just a couple, you might consider a moped. The roads were not too bad, perhaps very twisty in the central region, but for you Brits out there…it’s a left hand country so at least you haven’t that extra thing to navigate. Interestingly when we were in Thailand, we were advised to NEVER hire your own car or moped as you will not get insurance and thus…however in Indonesia and Malaysia, we’ve been told that it is quite common place. To be fair, I’ve not investigated this, so always do your research.

In terms of money and prices, most places, food particularly, was pretty cheap. Obviously if you are to hang out in the very touristic areas, prices are elevated, but on the whole we found that we could get a good meal for two of us for around £20. If you enjoy eating local cuisine when you travel, we loved Nasi Goreng which is on every menu and is a fried rice dish with veggies and topped with a fried egg. We have tried to replicate it back home with varying degrees of sucess. Transport prices around are very low. We only needed to use a taxi a couple of times. If you download the ‘Grab’ app, something our son told us about, this gives you the equivalent of Uber for SE Asia.

Bali is such a diverse island for flora, fauna and landscapes. The image that came to my mind prior to our trip was that of white sandy beaches and blue sea. Well that is correct in the southern part of the island, but in the north, much of the coast line is blacker sand from the volcanic geology and then there are the lush mountains and forests.

During the 7 days we moved around the island we saw rice paddies (many rice paddies!), climbed Mount Batur at 3am for the sunrise, visited temples and a family for a tea ceremony and trawled the incredible shops of Ubud, which, for an old hippy like me…I was in my element with all the incense and tie dye, wooden carvings and silver jewellery. At the end of the 7 days, some of our group went across to Gilli Island wherein they saw and sent us the turtle picture, then they extended further to Lombok.

As we’d not got the physical time due to work restrictions (and the fact we’d already been to Morroco earlier in the year!) to do this section, we decided to add on three days at a hotel in Nusa Dua which is on the little peninsular on the south of the island.

In hindsight, I wish we had added on the extra section, to see the turtles would have been exhilerating even if the crossing to get to Gilli Island is by boat and hideously choppy. One of the group then went off on his own, extending his stay in Bali further still and landed up on Komodo Island and saw some of the incredible namesakes of this remote island in the crossway where the Pacific meets the Indian Ocean. What an experience!

Bali imprinted a huge mark on my heart. There are few places in the world that I feel I would like to return to as time is short and there are lots of places on my list, but certainly if I were that way again, I wouldn’t hesitate to return.

So my top tips would be:

Pack less and pack light. Bali is hot. Even when it rains, you don’t want heavy clothing drying.
Download ‘Grab’
Do carry lots of loose change for tips, the Indonesian culture is a tipping culture.
Don’t worry about squat loos. Loos are sometimes a little more basic off the beaten track, but I only saw 1 squat loo.
Leave space in your rucksack for the awesome handicrafts.
Don’t just go and sit on the beach!

Van life for Geriatrics!

Well, we did it! after many years of looking at van conversions and hankering after the independence that a van might bring us, we did it. I think Covid gave us the nudge we needed. I had plans of grandeur that included a home DIY job, but when reality hit we were reminded that neither of us are particularly ‘handy’, so we got a local company to do it for us. She’s turned out better than I could have imagined. And, just to prove that I did join in some of the ‘handy’ I’ve added some finishing touches to enable us to have the homely touches we wanted (spot the sneaky drill!).

We have plans to take her to Norway, Scotland, the Lakes, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and many other places eventually, but so far we have visited Pembrokeshire briefly and Suffolk. We have other trips planned this year, including York and I’ll be going in Millie to Calais for a week to work with the refugees. We want to see mountains, sea, meadows…I can’t wait.

Crete

This was a first for me. I’ve never been to Greece, so this summer we rented a villa in Skepasti on the northern coast.

In a nutshell, we found the people absolutely lovely, the towns touristy and the scenery incredible.

We walked the Imbros gorge, a smaller one than it’s more famous Samaria cousin, and we were not disappointed. A two hour, quiet, less tourist riddled path from the mountains mid Crete to the southern coast.

This concluded with a well earned beer and a ride back to where we’d parked in the back of a pick up. The likes of such I’ve not done since I went to South Africa back in 1991! Apologies for my incessant giggling and whoops as we veered around those 100+hairpins if you were the rather unfortunate other passengers in the back with my and my (much more restrained) family.

Knossos had to be done along with the archaeological museum in Heraklion. It’s hot, full of tour groups and slightly reconstructed, which frustrated my history boffin hubby. The museum is quite small and well laid out, however, be warned, if you don’t like pots, you may be a little frustrated.

But, what took our breath away was the delight of Chania and, to a lesser extent, Rethymno. Both Venetian ports, the quaintness and beauty was lovely. Chania is on the return-to list. Have a look for yourself…

This has definitely whet my whistle to explore more of the Greek islands. Crete is not a picture postcard, quintessential ‘blue and white houses Greece’, primarily due to it’s history of invasions, but it has a rugged charm all of it’s own with a huge amount of stuff to see and do. Local food in Tavernas filled with local people will not fail to disappoint and Cretan beer on a hot dusty day…just sayin’!

New York and Washington

Whenever I travel, I always carry a ‘little black book’ (well, that’s a lie because it’s not remotely black, but hey ho). In that book I write down many of the places we visit and what I think of them, in case I ever want to go back or a friend goes and I can pass on. As I visit new places (or old) I’ll try to keep this updated so that if you ever want/need any places or tips, I might be able to help you out.

We recently spent 3 days in Washington and 4 in NYC for R’s 50th birthday treat. We flew into Kennedy and then travelled to DC by train which, although easy, wasn’t as much of a dreamy experience as I’d hoped. It certainly beat flying down and all the hanging around in airports. However, I’d not really thought through the fact that, yes, we were passing through the different states, most railroads these days run through the industrial part of town, the bit that time forgot. Passing over the Chesapeake was pretty and pulling into some of the city stations we could see the skylines, but for the most part it was quite long and pretty darned expensive.

Washington:

We tried out two restaurants for dinner whilst we were in DC; Matchbox, which we soon discovered was actually a chain and whilst served average style diner grub with a friendly smile, they did stock one of the most amazing red wines I think I’ve ever had. Sadly all I can remember (and that is not because I was inebriated, purely I lack the memory), is that it had the word, turtle, in the title. Oh well, a lost gem.

The second evening we decided to try out a Balkan restaurant that Trip advisor had many fantastic reviews for. We were quite excited for this having never tasted Balkan cuisine before and had little idea what to expect. Well…the fireworks and bells didn’t really go off for us. It was rather flavourless and there was a lot of cabbage and sprouts. It did make me spend the next hour boring R to death as to whether or not we (generically) have desensitised our palates with all the overly spiced, overly salted foods that modern day gives us…but that’s for another day, he’s married to me and had to listen, you can just click that little cross in the top right-hand corner and not come back!

Georgetown is well worth an afternoon mooching around. You’ll need to take a bus up there, but we used the Hop on Hop off buses. We went to Washington back in about 2008. I remember it well, it was March and it was FREEZING. I have a picture somewhere of a small 4 year old daughter under a hat and a blanket asleep atop one of these buses. Georgetown is the one of the university districts. It seems to ooze an olde worlde type charm that central Washington doesn’t have due to the fact that there aren’t many people that actually live centrally. There are some cute shops and we stopped for noodles at one of the restaurants on the main street.

Prior to this, we’d jumped off the bus at Adams Morgan which, according to my guidebook was going to be right up my alley…coffee shops, eclectic shops, antiques etc. Sadly it did not live up to expectations. Much of it was shut down or run down, there was a perpetual whiff of weed in the air everywhere, however, we did find one gem of a coffee shop called Tryst that served a rather lovely spiced chai masala.

New York:

Yunno, everyone sees New York differently. I am not really a city girl, however, for me, New York is the one city that, in small doses, I can’t get tired of. I went earlier this year, in March, by myself to see some girlfriends up in CT and was a little wary that I may have ‘done’ it when I went this time.

Oh no Jose!

We had splashed out a little and I would highly recommend the ArloNomad next to the Empire state building. Compact micro rooms, but views so big that you just don’t care. Attached to ArloNomad was an amazing Italian, Massoni. They don’t have a huge range, but this, for me, was a highlight. In all my years in the US, I had NEVER, let me repeat that for ya, never, experienced a proper pizza pie. We had to go back for a second evening spent there eating the same again. Oh and btw, Laurie Berkner, my pizza pie is not round like the moon, it was square!

We grabbed breakfast each morning from Bread and Butter on 31st and 5th. It’s an organic food market worth going to just for the experience alone. The precinct cops certainly appreciated their breakfasts before they went out each morning. Prices were great too. I had a mushroom and avocado wrap with cheese for $3.95 cooked from scratch and a green detox juice $5.95. We gave that an internal 9/10. It’s like an old warehouse, busy, fantastic range of food but it does lack a bit of atmosphere in the seating area, so if you’re looking for something a little bit more upmarket, or hip, perhaps this won’t be for you.

One of the things we’d never done was walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Stunning! Although, be warned, the best times to go are early in the morning, by that, think just dawn and then early dusk. By around 9am it’s heaving with tourists and workers trying not to kill them as they scoot over on their bikes.

Take a day to walk along the High Line and finish at Chelsea Market. The High Line is only around a couple of miles long but weaves around the back of buildings from a disused railway line that has been beautifully turned into a park. You get some great views to the Hudson and the piers as well as seeing into areas you may not normally see. Chelsea Market has a wealth of foodie delights including one of the most amazing fish markets where you can buy sushi or lobster to eat out of the container on the day. It also has some boutique style shops. From there head East towards Union Square where there is often a market. Hidden behind Union Square is an amazing vegan restaurant that I discovered in March called Peacefood on 41E 11th St.

Of course, not everything is always rosy and on our last day it poured with rain. This was the day we’d allocated to go to MOMA (My husband’s choice…I have no idea, seriously guys, he’s normally the kind of person who would make facetious comments, so I really have No.Idea what came over him…perhaps it’s a 50 thing?). Well, what a farce! We bought tickets online beforehand hoping we’d be able to skip the queues, only when we got in, there were queues everywhere, all across the foyer both latidudinal and longditudinal, diagonal and even up the stairs (and down). We joined the queue for the people who’d bought their tickets and were wanting to go up the escalator to the museum start. Only we happend to come across a super officious jobsworth who told me that my very small backpack wasn’t allowed to be with me and we’d have to check it into the cloakroom. This is a small, handbag-eque backpack, not a flipping 30litre. Of course, last day, it contained all our flight info, my tablet, our passports, my wallet, my phone…you get the picture and we had nothing else to put these into. So I asked what I was supposed to do, to be told I would be issued with a plastic bag…awesome!

Well, you can guess where this is going can’t you. No bags are issued, of course they’re not. So after queuing across another queue to hand in our only small bag for the small bit of shit we had on us, we then had to carry all this stuff in our pockets and loose around the rest of the museum. Not good! My rant was ON baby I was not going to take kindly to whatever this place had to throw at me. I was wet, fed up and lugging important stuff in my hands because of the security guard who seemed just fine at letting a whole load of other backpack wearing tourists into the museum later on. Gah! On the plus side though (and you have to find one) I was pretty impressed that some really famous paintings were not under glass and you could get close to really admire them. I suppose no one manages to steal them or damage them in MOMA because they can’t be arsed to tackle the bloody jobsworthies on the way in.

Norwich

I really like this city. Along with Edinburgh and New York, I think it’s one of my faves. It’s compact as cities go, but as a university city, it’s eclectic and there’s a lot going on. My eldest is currently studying here, so I am hoping over the following years I’ll get to see more of it.

It’s a cathedral city, home to not one, but two cathedrals, I bet you didn’t know that! There is an Anglican one and a Roman catholic one. It also boasts a Norman castle on a hill (my middle son will probably be able to tell me what type of castle it is – it has a moat, I think it’s a motte and bailey, but don’t quote me!). I spent a lot of time as a child enjoying the hands on activities in the castle, my favourite and most hated part in a twisted way was the cavemen exhibition (I don’t even know if it’s still there!). I used to get really nervous about it, but still had that weird desire to sneak in and look at the cavemen.

The city has an excellent and pretty cheap bus system so getting around is easy. It also has an incredible permanent outdoor market. There are food stalls, vintage clothing, yarn, fruit and veg, wholefoods, tat and lots more besides. That really needs a good hour or more to check out.

Jarrolds, the main department store has been there for eons. I also have fond memories of having the best scone (actually I think they were called morning buns – a cross between a scone and a muffin) in their store on a Saturday morning with my grandparents as a child. Actually I also remember puking in their toilets after my grandmother let me drink cherryade…I’ve never touched the stuff since!

There are LOTS of great places to eat and drink, but some of my favourites are:

Wild Thyme which is in a little yard called Vain yard just off the Guildhall. Sadly it suffered a fire in the wholefood shop below in the summer, but I did notice that their facebook page makes mention of the fact they hope to be back open in the New year or late December.

Shiki is a fantastic sushi restaurant found down in Tombland (I know right, great name!) They have a discount night and their menu is so fresh.

The Greenhouse Cafe is another gem. Much more basic and not necessarily a night out style, but for a really wholesome and healthy lunch it’s lovely. Added bonus is that you can truly switch off and be present with your meal as they have a ‘no phones policy’ and if yours rings, you are fined a couple of quid.

The Tipsy Vegan: swiftly heading for the UK Vegan capital, Norwich hides away this amazing little gem just past The Plough on Benedict’s street. I took ALL my family this time, yes, read that as ALL including my non-vegetable eating middle child. There was a good choice of food on the menu and even he found something to eat. I enjoyed a Seitan steak burger with chips and vegan mayo. Really lovely. The only downside is the loos! I know, but it’s important. When you have a busy restaurant, one loo is not enough guys!

If you like real ale, then there is a gem of a pub called ‘The Plough‘ on Benedict’s street that brew their own. I LURVE this place, not just because they do lovely beers, but also the place is just so gorgeous and rustic and friendly and, and… The staff all seem friendly too and will advise and give samples, be warned however, one of their current beers is around 7 or 8% if memory serves me correct. You might be admiring their ceilings if you have too many of them.

I am sure I will add to this in due course, however, for now, Norwich do a really comprehensive city guide that you can find in all the bookshops as well as some of the pubs and restaurants. The 2018 version has a bright orangy-yellow cover.