12 months, 12 trips. Easy you’d think for somebody that likes to travel? Not so. There are months when we are either busy or away travelling with work and just want to hold the sofa down or enjoy a weekend in the garden and not go out and have an adventure. Despite this, we did just about manage to ‘take 12 trips’ (excluding work travel which would be cheating the amount we’ve done this year…) and even in the months when we didn’t have the energy, just a day trip somewhere or other was always worth it, or a weekend spent with friends.
Glad to see the new year arrive we threw ourselves into a busy working month – the real treat was to be guests of The Crown Inn, a gorgeous village pub with rooms just an hours drive north of London. We had a very relaxing stay, dined very well indeed and loved the walk in the nearby countryside the next morning. It was just 24 hours away but it was incredibly restorative and relaxing!
The first of my birthday treats and the need to use up rapidly expiring Virgin airmiles! We popped across to Paris for the weekend on the Eurostar and enjoyed mooching around a city that we already know. This meant we didn’t need to rush around all the tourist bits (we did a bit anyway) and enjoyed lazy lunching and some different attractions. I found us a gorgeous little Boutique B&B – Eliel – that was the perfect base, luxurious but away from the hum-drum.
Also on the blog in February – a foodie night out in Winchester
My birthday treats didn’t stop in March, which was a real delight. As we had a marvellous weekend at the newly restored Cliveden House. We had the most gorgeous suite and were treated like royalty. Quite simply one of the most luxurious yet relaxing hotels I have been lucky enough to stay in. The grounds of the house are National Trust and as you might imagine pristine. The facilities are great too – being able to swim outdoors in the winter was a real treat!
We took ourselves off to Cornwall for Easter to visit family and do some more exploring of this magical part of the UK. We had a dining delight at Kota in Porthleven, explored the Lost Gardens of Heligan and found plenty more bits of mining and coastal beauty to enjoy. We were incredibly lucky with the weather during our visit, en route home we stopped off at Camel Valley vineyard and even enjoyed a little glass of the top notch pink sparkles sitting on the sun deck!
Also on the blog in April – days out in London, work travel to India and getting my avgeek on in the Boeing 787
For some years May has always been my busiest month at work and this year was no different. Thankfully however my big sign off was done and dusted before the 2nd of the bank holidays so we took ourselves off to Stourhead National Trust gardens in Wiltshire. It was a stunning day and we enjoyed walking around the lake and smelling the summer flowers. There’s some quirky architecture around the gardens too – I would have loved to have grown up in grounds such as these!
Also on the blog in May – there was something about London
The Maine attraction… We try and take one large holiday a year and this year we’d done our usual and phoned British Airways to find out what air mile availability there was to match our annual leave bookings and then I set about setting up a superb itinerary for our trip. Boston was the perfect jumping off spot for us – we love the city and really wanted to head further north and see something new on the east coast. Maine has some stunning places to stay and places to eat and really for anyone that likes to take a photo or two, I recommend you buy an extra memory card for your camera – it’s gorgeous!
I had forgotten until the late spring just how much I enjoy sailing. A fantastic few days of sailing in July – some inshore, and then a weekend racing offshore to St Malo and back, winning the race and surviving on 3 hours sleep in 2 days – it must have been fun to keep me awake without my usual 9 hours a night!
Also on the blog in July – Vienna in a heatwave
The watery theme continued through the first half of August, and thankfully it was accompanied by some sunshine too (but annoyingly not enough wind really…) August is the month for Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race – an exhausting, highly social and sleep deprived few weeks of sailing. We needed more wind to be successful but we were instead blessed with enough sunshine and loads of fun and laughter!
Busy month indeed – Mr P started a new job and was away quite a lot. As such not a lot happened. But the sun came out a lot – I spent plenty of the weekends in the garden. When he was home we went and explored a little more of the south downs, proving that you only need a few hours away from the house enjoying the fresh air to feel relaxed.
A day trip to Blenheim. It is one of those places that I have driven past the signposts on the A34 countless times and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to take a look around… Only to not. So with a good weekend of weather forecast a friend and I packed a picnic and headed for a day of catching up and walking around the lovely grounds! Highlights were definitely the cookies Jo baked, the butterfly house which was incredible and generally just being able to make the most of being outside. We did prove that we lack common sense and made a complete mess of the maze, going in the out and not reading the instructions!
Also on the blog in October – Autumnal Loveliness
We managed to sneak down to Cornwall for three days between Mr P’s work travels. And we were incredibly lucky with the weather. I found us the cutest little hotel by the sea in Portloe – The Lugger and we loved the smell and sound of the sea and waking to a gorgeous sunrise on both mornings! We had a stunning cliff top walk in the sunshine and even when it rained on our last day we found solace (and warmth) inside the biomes at the Eden Project.
A month spent with friends and family and trying to make the most of the fresh air when it didn’t rain – which wasn’t every often. We seemed to get battered by one storm after the other in December so I’m glad we took our chances to be outside when we could.
So would I take the 12 trips challenge again? It would be more likely than me doing Project 365 (take a photo every day for a year) but I think I will informally just keep it in mind as visiting somewhere new in the local area is always a fun adventure as small as it may be as part of a busy life! 2015 has been a fabulously fulfilling year and has had some funny (not-glossy) moments too. Lets see where the ride takes us in 2016. Personally – right now, I just hope it stops raining, until then you’ll catch me dreaming about where to go next!
12 travels over 12 months is such a cool idea to get us moving!
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Not sure I will attempt it this month – no chance of doing anything in January if it carries on raining….
I loved the Lost Gardens of Heligan too and it must have been amazing to win that sailing race later in the year
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I would love to see those gardens in the snow… Shame it doesn’t snow in cornwall often!!
I love your blog! I could spend hours here. I’m going to try and take a trip every month this year as well. Liverpool in January, California in February, Wales in March – not sure where April will take me but reading about your up-and-go to Boston has got me inspired! x
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Thanks Amy, I need to snoop on yours when I have good internet! Sounds like you have an exciting few months, anything for an excuse to get away each month I say!