What a Year! - 2019 in Review
As the year draws to a close, we naturally start to look back at the past 12 months, and look forward to the next. And what a year 2019 has been for us!We saw January in at the heart of the Peak District, and the adventures kept coming from then on. We’ve enjoyed a few quick getaways locally, but our year seemed to be mostly filled with big road trips exploring new and far-away places.Our first big trip of the year also happened to be our first time taking the caravan overseas, when we headed to Paris. There, we spontaneously spent my birthday on the outskirts of the city, with exciting day trips that involved reliving childhood memories at Disneyland and making new ones together at the Eiffel Tower (let’s not mention driving through central Paris during rush hour!). It was one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve ever had, and one that will definitely be hard to beat!
Shortly after our French Trip we set off on possibly our favourite adventure yet- The Outer Hebrides! I blogged about this at the time so I’ll spare you the details now, but we really had such a memorable time (not just because of the eventful ferry crossing). Starting in the north of the islands we filtered our way down, soaking up the rich culture along the way. We saw some incredible sights and met many wonderful people, but the highlight for us has to be finding white sandy beaches that I was able to get my wheelchair down onto! We will never forget the feeling of strolling along the sand, side by side, while the waves gently lapped up at the shore and the sunset coloured the sky.
Our next big road trip was across the English Channel once again, where we excitedly drove through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and into Germany for the Caravan Salon at Düsseldorf. It was our first time visiting the show, and our first time in Germany altogether, so we were eager to see how the leisure industry differs over there. The weather put on a great show for us and we had a fantastic time exploring the never-ending halls in the sun and spending time with some great friends.
2019 has certainly been a great year for road trips, but it’s also been a whirlwind year for us in other ways.
I’m thrilled to have had my first few articles published in magazines, along with Stephens beautiful photographs, and was completely honoured to have received the Douglas King Award for written journalism at the Caravan Writers’ Guild dinner. In October we took part in our first ever speaking engagement on stage at the Motorhome and Caravan Show- this was both super exciting and nerve wracking, but a fantastic opportunity that we’re pleased to have had. I’ve been constantly pinching myself at everything that has happened over the past twelve months and cannot thank you all enough for the support that you give. We love what we do, but the fact that it’s appreciated by you all makes it even more worthwhile!
It’s certainly been another fantastic year for us- we’ve seen some amazing places, experienced new things, spent time with good friends and made new ones along the way. We’ve made a million new memories and can’t wait to make even more in 2020. We already have some really exciting preliminary plans, and we’re looking forward to bringing you along for the ride!
We hope you all have a wonderful New Year and a 2020 that is filled with love, happiness, good health and amazing adventures!