So now I’ve decided to keep the blog travel (with a heavy dollop of lifestyle) focused, I need to think about restarting the actual travel part. But where? In the UK? City breaks in Europe? Or further afield with long haul? The marketer in me, knows that it would be a good idea to identify/segment/target for the perfect niche; but travel has a way of wanting it all, and more.
In fact when it comes to travel, greed is good – but how to balance this with the practicalities (and mundanity) of everyday life. For now, I’m going to be like a regular traveller and see what takes my fancy, and fits my schedule. A few lazy weekends away are the perfect kickstart although I can’t deny the lure of heat and adventure thousands of miles away sounds dreamy.
Pandemics are generally grim, what they lack in cheer they more than make up for in endless hours of (sometimes uncomfortable) contemplation. I felt extremely fortunate to have travelled so much. I like everyone else I imagine, didn’t regret a single trip; yet with international travel one of the last things to reopen and still a way to go until the seamless experience we knew and loved pre 2020 I know that I perhaps need to be more discerning whilst also saying yes to everything. It’s the post-lockdown euphoria that sees people saying YES When Harry Met Sally style to opportunities/love/happiness: all of which can be found in abundance when travelling.
What is it about travel that has the ability to reset me, to top up my happiness cup? Is it just me? Travel – or the lure of it – has the capacity to be daily distraction and has me pondering in a Carrie-a-la-Sex-In-The-City way: ‘Is regular, and fulfilling travel the key to happiness?’ Now i don’t purport to possess the answer to happiness, neither do I actually want to know: instead I’m happy to pursue the elusive and just out of reach answer as I visit each new destination.
Travel for me is the reward for routine, for the dark mornings, for the worry, for the grind – it’s how you see right with the big plan – a privilege I have never taken for granted, now more than ever.
Travelling with Boo, multigenerational travel, solo travel, perhaps even travelling as a couple – it’s nice to have so many options as to how to travel.
One thing I know I want to start with is a trip that lets me exhale, it’s been two long years of watching, waiting, holding of breaths and with an even more turbulent global landscape – there is never a perfect time; only privileged (and ever appreciated) opportunities.
Be it a night away in a new city, getting lost during a hurried airport transit or staring out at the vastness of a desert – travel has me wanting it all, with what I’m certain is an insatiable appetite.
