travel – The Prim Girl

Holidays, they make us happy right? Holidays for me are an adventure, a chance to explore a newness and to take a break from hard working days. So as we enter the sunny season I find myself sat at my desk permanently procrastinating, thinkin’ about what paradise I could try and pop off to next. The page tabs at the top of my screen are a line-up of holiday sites, travel blogs and maps, most just earmarked as ideas for when I feel I can afford it. Some tabs, showing more affordable short city breaks or short haul destinations are the ones I linger on longer, and feel could be a real possibility within a breathable budget. I like far-flung places, I like to feel I’m reaaallly getting away from it but I’ve recently been looking closer to home and it’s hit me that there’s so much worth exploring, within easy reach. I grew up travelling a lot with my family, I was a lucky gal, my Dad holds a real wanderlust and instilled in me that travel is the best way to invest your time and money, as a result, I’m always dreaming of new places to discover. Chatting with Dad on the phone the other night we agreed that getting to and from the airport is often the most frustrating and faff-some element of a trip – he has always adored a ferry crossing for its ease and elegant sail – so it got me gettin’ onto the idea of a ferry trip somewhere, as an affordable getaway this summer.

Isle of Wight, Jersey, Holland, France, there’s lots of coasts which I’m curious to explore but I’ve yet to visit the gorgeous Guernsey and, I’m tellin’ ya, the idea has kinda got me hooked. This cute, calm and cultured Channel Island is pretty simple to get to, and it’s affordable too, whooop! With its crackin’ coastal cliffs and blissy beach resorts like Cobo Bay, I’m wondering why I haven’t stepped my feet onto its ground before now. Ferries can be ace because they’re open for all; families with cars, couples on foot, or a solo traveler with a bike, and, you get to relax, eat, stare at the sea, and start your holiday from the moment you get on board.

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Getting away, be it on your own *fist pump to my fellow solo travelers out there* or with loved ones, is sooo important for your headspace and your health, but I’m realizing it doesn’t always have to be real far away. Channel Island holidaysare a great option if you want to get away but don’t want the hassle of a very long journey. Guernsey is a gem, you can camp, do a luxury stay, keep it at an easy budget or go on walking tours and stay in a new place every night, this little land mass has a whole heap on offer. Whether you love local food, wildlife, beaches or water-sports, it kinda has something for everyone, plus you can easily island hop to Sark to do some kayaking or, hey, there’s a sheep racing weekend in July ya know? Just imagine all the sheep and sheepdogs you could stroke! You can also hop to the tranquil car-free island of Herm, or pop to St Malo for some French fun. On Guernsey itself there is so much to see you won’t be bored. Castle Cornet is an 18th century harbour fort with military museums showing this island’s wealth of history. Hauteville House is the bloomin’ beautiful former home of Writer, Victor Hugo. I personally adore looking round old homes, they make for magical imaginings. I loooove animals, those and travel are my favourite things in the world, and in Guernsey you can watch dolphins and sea birds if you opt for a marine life day trip….yay, sunny day trippin’ with new things for my eyes to see? Yass! I’m in. Get me to Guernsey.

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Close your eyes and jump! I said to myself as I hit the *Book Now* button on a 10-day solo trip to Bali. I wanted my very own adventure, just for me. I wanted to become my own best friend and learn to rely on myself, but I was also kinda terrified. New territory, new terrain, somewhere as far away as possible where all I recognised was the skin on the back of my hands. A self-proposed challenge, I faced it fuelled by a whole heap of anxiety and anticipation. I wanted to do this to grow. I had to.

Bali, well, it bloomin’ embraced me. New sights, sounds and smells surrounded me so densely that I didn’t have a chance to feel alone. Engulfed by new experiences, my eagerness to explore replaced the doubts which had dominated, my senses were too preoccupied with pleasure. I based myself in Ubud, a haven of Hindu traditions. Green, green rice fields, temples and streets strewn with the prettiest Canang Sari; twice daily handmade flowery offerings to the gods, thanking them for peace. Such a calm pace of life I could hardly even contemplate for life back home, their dedication to devotion defied my usually busy life. This calmness was the coolest feeling I have ever had.
Walking the patchy pavements avoiding holes and uneven surfaces, I felt I was forever stepping carefully over these sweet scattered offerings, so many that the streets looked like they’d been littered with Party Poppers, explosions of cute colour at my feet. Scooters swarmed like mosquitoes, injecting a rush of activity, Mothers straddling bikes, no helmets, with children held on laps, trusting their own way of life. Markets had a super stench in the heat. Leather, spice and sweat coupled with constant calls to buy, all stimulating my senses to the point where, I could not stop smiling.

I visited a Hindu healer, with no idea what it would hold. After him repeatedly banging hard on my head and pushing his thumbs so forcefully into my closed eyes that I wondered if it was a joke, he told me, I had to be my own hero.

As I spent my last evening watching the sunset at Tanah Lot, I took it all in, every single bit of it. I’d had monkeys on my head, eaten fruits I’d never heard of, shared a bedroom with lizards and lingered with locals. I had done this, I had navigated my own adventure. Faraway from anyone I knew, I felt an intrepid confidence blooming. Teaming tour groups around me, selfie sticks obstructing the view, and with a somewhat hands-on tour guide trying to sit too close, I caught on to just how far I’d come. I realised right there, I already was my own hero.

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Instagram is a very brilliant place, not only is it a never-ending orbit of pretty pictures from the whole wide world, it’s also an ace place to find out about new people and things to be a part of; and by far one of THE coolest things I’ve discovered is The Lucky Dip Club. Now, I’ve been having heart shaped eyes at this club for a long while, it’s run by a gal called Leona in Hackney and this is what happens; you get online at 7am on the first day of each month and if you’re super fast on your typing, you can get your name down for a box to be delivered to your door…a box full of the cutest treats based around a different sweet theme each month, it’s basically like finding THE BEST trinkets from creative types but without having to hunt them out…Leona finds them for you and bundles them up in a box. Then, PLOP! Through your letterbox comes a surprise present JUST FOR YOU, YES, ALL FOR MEEEE! You cannot overestimate the element of surprise, to get a present through your door and unwrap it is RIDiculously exciting, it’s like allowing yourself an extra sneaky birthday, my kitty Walter, heck, even he was buzzing too to see what was inside! This was my first box (I’m not generally awake at 7am on any morning but a sunny August morn made me hit the website JUST in time…BOY was I chuffed with myself!!) and the best thing about the Lucky Dip Club is that it makes you feel like you’re part of a very cool gang, a gang that LOVES cuteness and treats! A one-off box is £20, or you can have a long-standing subscription for £18 a month and each box contains a personalised item…Oooof it makes you feel very spesh indeed. I can’t rate this thang enough, it’s a little box of wonderfulness and you can just feel that it’s been put together with love. AND their branding has polka-dots too, just like my Prim! A real treat. Boom, I’m hooked, you wanna join the gang?

So, what was inside my box? The theme for August was ‘A Geek Girl’s Guide To Travel’ and this is the load of loveliness I received; a cute as heck newsletter, a pencil case with my initial S on the zip, a camera necklace, a pack of note-cards, stickers, a fabric patch and a postcard…..Hurrah for Lucky Dip Club!