2022 has been filled with travel fun...

What a fabulous year of travel 2022 was for me personally…visiting lots of places for the first time and revisiting some old favourites! Canada brought with it a few days in the vibrant city of Toronto – in the middle of their Pride celebrations, so it was a crazy 3 day party! As fabulous as Toronto is, on this trip I would have to say that our visit to the Niagara Falls was the highlight. We got soaked to the skin, and then soaked a bit more on the boat, and then jumped in a helicopter for a birds eye view. Such a once in a lifetime experience. Also managed to tick off one of my personal bucket list destinations. Cappadocia in Turkey. I am sure that everyone has seen the magical hot air balloons floating over the rocks and fairy chimneys….but I have to say it is impossible to describe the feeling when at dawn we lifted off, with hundreds of other colourful balloons around us. Above us, below us, beside us….every which way I turned I could see other balloons floating over this incredible landscape. We watched the sun rise and floated up and down the valley, sometimes high, sometimes low for 90 minutes. Utterly breathtaking and this is a trip that will stay with me forever. In Spring, we spent a month travelling around France and Spain in a motorhome. We left home without any plans…not a single one…and decided to just keep moving to wherever we fancied. We drifted down to Southern Spain and spent days and days just popping around all over the place…we found tiny beaches, pulled up the motorhome for the night and just sat in the warm evening sun enjoying the sea. For a planner like me…going away for a month with not a single plan…was a touch anxiety inducing, but I loved the freedom of just moving on whenever we were ready. And the beauty of my job….I still managed to work every day and look after my clients. A Mediterranean cruise in September started in Athens. Spending two days there pre-cruise was brilliant fun, a long (steep!) walk up the Acropolis was worth every breathless step when we got the Parthenon. This ancient site was so interesting to wander around and the view from every angle has to be seen to be believed From Athens, we spent time in the pretty little Greek island that is Santorini, then we moved to the ancient city of Olympia. From Greece we moved to Italy and spent a day in Sicily (which is already one of my favourite European destinations, and this visit just cemented that, such a great island!) and a then time spent at the Amalfi Coast. Then it was time to leave Italy & Greece behind and head to Corsica. This French island felt like such a mish-mash of Mediterranean cultures, that we had to keep reminding ourselves which country we were in! Onwards to Spain and Ibiza Town. Bars, clubs, market stalls, fabulous shopping and very lively characters gave us a few fun experiences. Palma came next…the capital of Majorca. I think like many others I think of Majorca as a beach destination and forget what a cosmopolitan capital city it is. I now have Palma firmly on my radar to revisit to enjoy it for a bit longer next year. Our penultimate stop was Valencia – a city I know well before our final destination, Barcelona. As far as cruise itineraries go, I think we chose a brilliant one, with incredible ports every day. The Gambia was next. Or was it? I had been invited to visit this beautiful African country to learn more about everything it had to offer…but the day before I was due to go covid reared its ugly head…so this one has been rebooked for my 2023 travels! Quite a busy year of travel in 2022, and already 2023 is looking to be even more fun filled...with lots booked already! Watch this space!