Travel stories from a mum looking for holidays filled with bonding not baby sitting.
Prologue: This is a departure from what i would normally write, but i realised recently that holding onto darkness can stop you from being what you should become, but bringing things into the light can only make things better even if it hurts. For my friend Dean, my time with you changed me and your... Continue Reading →
My mum had me, her only child, at 18 and raised me by herself. Despite conventional wisdom of the early 70's, I don't think it ever occurred to her that she couldn't do it on her own. What other people thought was of no concern to her. This fact was the subject of the biggest... Continue Reading →
For me, travel has always been intrinsically linked to music. It certainly wasn't due to the state of the art music system in the car I holidayed in as a child. On the contrary, In the late 70's when my travel memories began neither the Kombi, the Moke or the Datsun 180B that mum owned... Continue Reading →
My best friend and I live in different states, and our kids are the same age. She has two boys, and I have a girl. We often discuss typical teenage issues, but I don’t tell her enough how much I admire her. She’s raising two respectful, intelligent, and well-rounded young men. I used to be... Continue Reading →
Let me start by saying Limbo, the new Spiegeltent show currently playing in Newcastle, is spectacular. The talent in that cast is breathtaking. The combination of the music and the physical skill is amazing. If you haven't already seen it, run, don't walk and make sure you see it before they finish up on May... Continue Reading →
You won't believe this but there has been a misunderstanding, on the internet. Shocking, I know. Back in March a tiktok account "callmebkbk" who posts lost of anti-misogyny education videos ended a video by saying "If you are in the woods alone seeing a man is 10 times scarier than seeing a man" to which... Continue Reading →
I have a significant birthday coming up. 50 which is only muttered in hushed tones when people ask. I have no issue with the number but I do feel like every milestone number makes you contemplate how far you have come, if you have done enough with your life, if you are where you want... Continue Reading →
Turning 50 was spectacular, partly because I have decided to start telling people I’m 65 so they think I look outstanding for my age. When you add on all the messages, phone calls, and flowers with very expressive language on the card delivered to my door, what more could you ask for. It’s also lovely... Continue Reading →
There is a country saying “There is something about that old boy I don’t like about myself”. It always makes me smile because watching someone be outraged at a total stranger’s behaviour can at times say more about the person than they actually want to give away. We have had decades of hearing things about... Continue Reading →
As I write this the world does feel quite heavy. Things in the Middle East have never seemed more tense or closer to spilling over into World War 3. The American election is a nasty circus. The news just seems more depressing than ever. I’m not qualified to talk to you about any of these... Continue Reading →
Years ago, I read a book by Ellen Degeneres, called My Point and I do have one. A collection of short funny essays one of which was called “Letter a friend”. The letter is an apology for a series of incidents at a party that started with her mistakenly getting two underage relatives drunk and... Continue Reading →
About 10 years ago, I went for a very routine doctor’s appointment. I’m generally pretty healthy and there wasn’t anything particularly wrong, the appointment only prompted by needing my migraine medication. My GP is very good and mentioned that I hadn’t had a blood test for a while and he would like me to go... Continue Reading →
I love having friends who disagree with me. Partly because I live for an intelligent, well-argued debate, and I think to have that, you need to be able to sometimes see things from a different perspective. Given how polarised the world is, it's nice to hear a counterargument from someone you like rather than the... Continue Reading →
On tour with the kid 