The Purpose of this Blog

Most importantly with this blog, I want to share my experiences with family and friends. I try to always stay true to myself, and my approach to this project is no exception: I want to document my travels in an honest, authentic way – not to be an influencer in the twenty-something sense. I know I am incredibly fortunate to be able to take this journey, and so I hope to inform you, inspire you, perhaps to even give you a good laugh over my travel mishaps. Therefore, I will not be documenting the minutiae of my day (I took a train to such an such, etc.). And the teacher in me won’t be able to help throwing in some fun historical facts.

Starting my journey

I decided to start my round the world adventure in England, in part because I scored a great deal on a direct flight to London, but also because it’s a “soft” beginning: polite British society, no language barrier…and because this history/literary dork has so much to take in here! Simply, I love it all, including the polite notices (see below), the quirky words and phrases (e.g. “bits and bobs”) and the names of towns and places (Dorking Deepdene, Valley Truckle, Pixie Cottage, etc.) My family traveled here five years ago, so I wasn’t going to the expected London spots this time around.

I started out in Bath, focusing on Jane Austen haunts and the Roman Baths, which were beautifully lit with torches as dusk approached. The museum exhibits were really impressive too, and the city overall was lovely.

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I’d resigned myself to the fact that I’d need to stay in some hostels to budget for my trip, and to be honest, I felt anxious about this. I’m a forty-something, after all, and groups of strangers intimidate me. But, part of why I chose to go on this journey was to challenge myself. So, for my first hostel experience, in St. Ives, I was gearing up to “put myself out there” and force myself to socialize, only to discover that a youth group had booked most of the facility. Sigh. 

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I went on a beautiful hike along the South West Coast trail from St. Ives: blankets of flowers, bright aqua water, dramatic cliffs and rocky outcroppings. This was followed by a traditional English lunch and a Pimm’s at Tinner’s Arms in Zennor – a really old, classic workers pub with low, wood ceilings and a stone fireplace. Highly recommend.

Tintagel Castle: The castle is mostly ruins by now, but it has supposed origins in the legend of King Arthur and was romanticized by Victorians to the point that someone built “castle” lodging in town for tourists over 100 years ago. This castle is still difficult to get to via public transit, but worth the effort – including the dramatic, misty coastal scenery.

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Rookie mistake: I didn’t realize how expensive the trains were here until I arrived (pricier than the rest of Europe), and I also didn’t realize how long it takes to get around rural England. I was already locked in with hotel/hostel reservations for this portion of my trip. I did get to some beautiful spots, but it’s really tiring figuring it out/spending so much time on buses and trains…so I made the difficult decision to scrap my reservation for the Cotswolds to make sure I could get to the Lake District instead via Liverpool. I’ve also started to adjust my overall approach for the rest of my trip.

Liverpool boasts the oldest Chinese community in Europe, due to its trading connections during the industrial era – many Chinese seamen settled here and set up a large diaspora, which is now commemorated with the largest Chinese arch outside of China.

Oh, and former students – there’s a Horrible Histories movie playing here!