49 pages. Black words on soft off-white paper. The book nestles in my hands, the cover smooth, cool and unobtrusive. Unfamiliar prose, I navigate sentences and paragraphs clumsily, seeking connection. I recognise cynicism and scepticism. Perhaps this is a Rorschach test. Perhaps on a different day I would feel carefree and at ease like the…
We call it the ‘Sleeping Giant’s Toes’. It’s actually one of the first landmarks that you spot as you drive onto Dartmoor from Bovey Tracey. One of the busiest tourist areas, with many visitors never venturing further than the calloused granite rocks of Haytor. The children believe the formation looks like toes peeping out of…
Am I a tourist if the destination is forty minutes from my home? I sat on the warm cobbled ground of the boat slipway and pondered the question for a short while, watching my two youngest children dip their toes in the cold ocean with squeals of delight. The furthest we had travelled since before…
As coronavirus spread throughout the nation and words such as ‘furlough’ and ‘lockdown’ became the new norm, the virus changed not only day to day life, but our hopes and dreams for the future too. The majority of people are now spending more time at home reflecting on their lives than ever before. Saccharine memes…
Read more Moving the goalposts: Creating a vision board during a pandemic.
My husband suggested travel writing and I scoffed at him, I can’t write! It’s not just something I can do, I blasted. I started to half-heartedly look at post-graduate marketing courses offered by Plymouth University, where I’d studied for my History degree. I craved learning, I longed for the library and new knowledge. One evening…
I set myself a new dream, setting up a travel business via a home working franchise and making it a success; for a while that was fulfilling. I wanted to be involved in the positivity of organising travel, because for me, the emotions felt when visiting a destination are tangible at times. I’ve cried reaching…
My eight year old son often approaches my desk, making small talk before a request that he doesn’t want to aim at his father, because he’s learnt that if I’m busy I’ll usually grant him screen time. One day, earlier this year, he asked if I’d always wanted to sell holidays and I replied truthfully,…
It started life as a briefcase, perhaps loved and cherished, but certainly designed with a practical functionality in mind. I do not know how it came to be in the hands of the craftsman, but when the case fell into disrepair, he salvaged the leather that he could and gave it a new lease of…
One of my favourite possessions is a small leather notebook cover, purchased from a craftsman at a local Christmas market a few years ago. I was perusing the stalls laden with handmade goods such as fragrant soaps, intricately designed wooden jewellery boxes and kitsch tree decorations, when I noticed his table tucked away in the…
