Tag: holidays

Up and away

What are your future travel plans?

We’ve got a few trips planned this year, and are already planning ahead for where we are venturing off to in 2026. This last year 2024/25 we took things slow and stayed at home as our dog Alf was unwell and we knew he wouldn’t be with us a great deal longer, so we decided to forfeit time away to spend quality time with him, and I’m glad we did. Sadly he left us in August of last year and since then the only trip away overseas we have had since, was when we went to Iceland in February of this year.

Alfs last holiday in Devon with us, he could hardly walk

We have had two or three further breaks away, in the UK and thoroughly enjoyed them, and I think the following year will contain a few more trips away such as those, we have a beautiful country here with so much to see that at present is unseen to our eyes, so I do think a number of our future breaks will be closer to home.

Devon

However, that said we are off to somewhere completely different and alien to us this year, that we are kind of looking forward to but not really sure what to expect. We are off to the island of Madeira. Now fortunately we are visiting with a cousin who just so happens to be married to a Portuguese national, so there will be no barriers as such and we do at least have someone with us who knows the island, and that can only be a bonus.

Then come February next year we are returning to Iceland to venture further around the island, we love this place and we are now getting to see things off the beaten track as they say.

Iceland

Later next year we will be returning to our favourite place on the planet after a hiatus of two years. Cyprus. Southern Cyprus to be precise. It’s a home from home, and the locals in the remote part that we go to, are more like friends to us. I just can’t wait.

Our little home away from home in Cyprus

There will no doubt be days and weekends away interspersed with all of the above, and they will be most welcome breaks to get us both, (especially me) away from the drudgery of shift work.

My dream of retirement sits just over the horizon and hopefully the next few years will bring that dream to fruition.

Until then, we just keep on, keeping on.

Happy day everyone.

Cyprus & Iceland

What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

For me, there are two places on this planet that I’d go to at the drop of a hat and those two places are southern Cyprus and Iceland.

The two features that both destinations give me are safety and a feeling of being welcomed. I feel safer in these two places than I do in my own home city, and that is quite sad and real in equal proportions.

Akamas peninsular- Cyprus

We’ve been going to Cyprus on a regular basis for pretty much 30yrs now. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing. We avoid the really touristy parts and situate ourselves on the west coast of the island in two areas pretty much untouched by all the madness of modern day tourism. We get on exceptionally well with the locals who have come to know us like “Neighbours “ as we are there that often. We have regularly thought of upping sticks and moving there, but something has always held us back. It is still an option to this day though. Friendlier locals you’d struggle to find anywhere, they are just so welcoming and friendly, and you feel safe to go anywhere and that is most important.

Skogafoss – Iceland

Now Iceland is a relatively new destination for us, we’ve been there three times now and number Four has already been booked. Horrendously expensive but don’t let that put you off, it is such a friendly, welcoming destination, it’s a “New” country that is constantly evolving due to its volcanic and seismic state. It is a fascinating island to witness nature at its most violent, and it is amazing to witness the locals just taking it all in their stride. There is no panic and madness, a calmer bunch of folk you’d struggle to find anywhere else in the world.

That’s it for me, my two favourite places. If I’m not at home you know where to find me.

Have a beautiful day.

Laughs & Giggles

List five things you do for fun.

Good morning all. I’m having to get my thinking head on today for this one, not that I don’t have fun, but when put on the spot like this you have to think the answer over. There are probably things that I call fun that others out there would probably find nauseating and strange. Hey, we are all individuals and it would be boring if we were all the same. I’ll do a little list now but it’s not an exhaustive list, this is only a list of things I might do. I’m sure there are plenty other activities I can turn to:

  • Football: Been following my team Leicester City, through good and bad in excess of 30 years now. Unfortunately, now is a bad spell but that’s the trials of being a fan of any sport. And I love having a Balti pie and a pint, or in winter a nice hot cup of Bovril. It’s tradition.
  • Walking: to be honest haven’t done a lot of late but I’m already planning some nice walks to do in the next couple of months. There is nothing better than getting out there into nature and just drinking it all in. You have time to think and clear your mind, and it’s probably one of the best and healthiest activities you can get involved in.
  • Art: I love art and have a genuine appreciation of anyone that gives it a go. I’m really bad at it but I’m a trier. let’s be honest some of the worlds finest artists must have been bad at some point, it’s just I’m making an art of being bad. It gives me immense joy and satisfaction just creating something, so it can’t all be that bad….can it?
  • Holidays: My wife and I have found that since our dog passed away we now have a lot more time and availability on our hands. We are now taking a good few holidays and having more short breaks away. We love each other’s company and that’s a good place to be. We have holidays in Iceland, Uk and I believe we are planning one to the Caribbean later in the year. I say “I believe” as the wife is concocting a plan with her cousin for the big holiday at the tail end of this year.
  • Family days/nights: Our families are quite spread out around the Uk/Sth Africa/ Australia so it is rare to get a good gathering of the clans together. When it does occur as it did around July last year it is pure carnage, but good old fashioned raw fun and laughter. You need this every now and then to charge the memory banks. Here’s to the next one.

And that’s probably that, for now, I think these activities probably rate in my mind as the five things I most enjoy participating in, for fun.

Have a great day everyone, may peace and joy radiate throughout everything you do.

1976

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

For some reason 1976 always features in my memories. It was the year of the heatwave, summer was just how you’d expect it and the six week school holiday was utter bliss.

Things were different back then when you went out and played in parks, woodland and farmers fields, making your own entertainment and just having such fun. Now they are all sprawling estates.

No distractions such as mobile phones etc, you went through seasons of football, marbles, cricket, conkers, making catapults, you name it and we did it.

We had national strikes and power cuts but as a youngster that was still a couple of years away from being a teenager, none of that really mattered.

I sure miss those days of innocence, fun and enjoyment with your mates. Truly superb times.

Then we grow up.

I do believe the younger generation of today have missed out on those hazy days gone by. But then again I guess it’s our generation that changed that.

I have always found it easier to be a child rather than an adult. My wife would whole heartedly agree.

Stay happy. Don’t grow up.

Journal – Post two

Good morning all and i trust you are well. For the second instalment of this riveting read i will bring you up to date with what has occurred in the last few days.

We have advanced from Summer to Autumn, we still have ridiculous amounts of rain fall, and to top that this morning we have had a hardy spread of frost. I’m really surprised about the weather to be honest, as normally at this time of year we are holidaying in Cyprus and when we are there they always seem to have a heatwave back home. This year seems to be an exception to the rule.

The usual discussion of “Should the heating go on” is high on the agenda at the moment, with the wife staunchly stating that it’s not going on before mid October. We live in a 1930s house with the rear of it facing North, to say its sometimes cool is an understatement, it leaks heat like a bucket with a hole, but in the heat of summer (if it ever happens) its as cool as you like. Great Mediterranean architecture design’s shouldn’t have been a consideration of builders in the 1930s UK.

Tabs house

I’ve mentioned about the feral cat we inherited when we purchased our house all those years ago, we call her “Tabs”. Well a couple of days ago the wife decided as the weather was still turning that she was going to buy Tabs a house. During the winter months she lives either under the covered garden furniture on the decking or in the next door neighbours garden under a lean to. It’s been fun watching the wife trying to coax Tabs into here new home, she will go in if we put treats in there but she firmly leaves her rear end poking out of it….she still needs convincing. We have had disagreements regarding its siting, i say it should be down the garden but the wife insists it should be near the back door. Time will tell. I lay money on it that our resident Hedgehog community will visit and check it out before too long.

Work has been gearing up to probably the season we hate most and that is leaf fall. It’s fast approaching and we will no doubt have trains slipping and sliding all over the network before too long. It’s a real challenge to get sites treated before this happens and it’s a busy time for us on the ground. People may laugh and scoff, but just don’t understand the issues that we face. It’s real, and it’s a real problem.

We are both suffering the holiday blues after a wonderful small break away in Norfolk, hence we have now booked all our holidays for next year. We didn’t go abroad this year as we knew our dog Alfie was unwell and we had decided our priority was him and looking after his wellbeing, we had a beautiful holiday with him this year in Devon that we will forever cherish. We still have a couple of small breaks this year, one is for a 60th birthday in Devon and the other is down in the Twickenham area of London to meet with a friend of the wife’s for a few days who is struggling with her health.

Next years agenda is like so: January back to Norfolk for a relaxing small break. February we are back to Iceland as we love it so. June we are back to Norfolk for a big family gathering and then to top it all we have treated ourselves to two weeks in Aruba in October. Never been there before, heard a lot about it so we are giving it a go. I should still have some days available after all of this that we will use for days out etc. We haven’t been this organised for years, and we both love having something to look forward to.

I’ve been back to fixing a few items but to be honest I’m not concentrating that well so my decision making whilst fault finding is a bit shot at the moment, I’ve stepped away for a few days to regain some composure then i will return.

Working late shifts at the moment 14-2200hrs and they are full on. I have a day off tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that as much as i would a holiday.

Look after yourselves and stay warm.

In silence

How do you celebrate holidays?

Not sure what’s exactly meant by celebrating holidays but I’ll have a crack at it. Working the hours I do pretty much every day I get off is celebrated just like a holiday because those days are few and far between. They are very much days that are treasured and always spent with my wife and family.

If you mean public holidays such as “Bank Holidays” they are nothing special and to be honest I pretty much work every single one of them so no celebration there.

If you mean annual holidays then I still don’t quite get what is meant by celebrating them? Do you imagine that everyone is a crackpot dancing a jig and running around like a banshee just because they are on holiday.

I imagine just like me, most people celebrate in silence, just happy that they’ve made it to a holiday and to be in the company of those they love. And no more work for that period of time.

Have a super day.