December 31st, the moment has arrived when I reflect on our travels over the last year. I guess 2023 was a bit of a landmark one, the tenth where we've spent months on end wandering about. Consequently it also marks a decade of travel blogging. Whoosh! 'Who knows where the time goes?' as the late great Sandy Denny sang.
In truth 2023 has not been a classic, every trip has been affected by some health problem or other, mostly niggles but a couple of more serious issues too. Maybe the root cause of of our problems was Covid related. Though Gill tested negative last March, I wonder if the result was inaccurate. The virus we contracted towards the end of last winter's trip certainly resembled Covid. Gill developed perosnia a few weeks later - olfactory issues are more typical of long Covid than a fluey cold.
Was it simply bad luck that we succombed for a second time as we headed north from Languedoc in October? Right now we have really bad colds again, mavbe Covid has impacted on our immune system generally leaving us more susceptible to seasonal bugs, even though we both had our flu and Covid jabs back in early November.
In 32 days time we will be on a ferry heading for Santander, hopefully by then both of us back to being fully fit and healthy. The post-operative fact sheet I was given after my recent surgery reckoned I should be able to resume all my usual activites after six weeks, that's next Thursday. In truth I have been feeling more or less back to normal over the last week. A few days ago I went for a short bike ride, it was fine, though it struck me afterwards that weeks of enforced inactivity had reduced my stamina and fitness. I am looking forward to improving that on Spain's beautiful via verdes over the next couple of months.
Still, despite some challenges, our travels over the past 12 months have had their moments. So, Gill's top three:
My favourite three moments:
2. The Via Verde del Noroeste east of Mula
3. le Henan and the l'Aven estuary
As for our plans for 2024, in February and March it will be back to Iberia, then in early summer perhaps a return to Meze and l'Escala. Hopefully from late August to mid October we will manage the trip to Sardinia we had to put on hold this year. This leaves the last months of the year free for a bit of longhaul - our first trip outside of Europe since 2018. We haven't got past the planning stage yet, but what we are thinking is to fly to San Fransisco in late October or early November - maybe a birhday lunch for Gill's 70th with a view of the Golden Gate. Then onwards to Auckland to spend a month in New Zealand's North Island. A stopover in Singapore on the way home would complete the trip with a circumnavigation that takes in both hemispheres - a geographically pleasing prospect!
It's a plan, we are never short of plans, however if this year has taught us anything it's that you can never be sure what the future holds. On that note a big thank you to everyone who has read the blog over the past year., wishing you all the best for the next one - good health and happy travels from Pete and Gill!