I have started drafting the home pages for my forthcoming website on WordPress which I hope to have running within the next fortnight. Here's a peek at the draft of one of the home pages:
What is my experience and how does it compare with yours?
Travels Overseas
My first holiday overseas was at the age of five. Quite adventurous in the 1950s. My husband started traveling later and then overtook me. He likes to go hiking and trekking, Everest, Kilimanjaro, that sort of thing, wearing out special boots and poles with spikes.
Romania Hiking
I know because I did that last year in Romania. with a group. Anybody can make a mistake once.
He prefers a smart car such as a Rolls Royce of a Jaguar. Failing that, he is happy with a yak. And a porter carrying the tents. I once rode on a camel to Petra in Jordan. A camel lets you off by bending its front knees so its back becomes diagonal, like a water chute. If you are not expecting it, you shoot forward over its head. I was less scared shooting the rapids in the USA and in New Zealand. Frankly, I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel or shop for shoes, thank you very much.
Camel in Jordan
I once rode on a camel to Petra in Jordan. A camel lets you off by bending its front knees so its back becomes diagonal, like a water chute. If you are not expecting it, you shoot forward over its head. I was less scared shooting the rapids in the USA and in New Zealand. Frankly, I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel or shop for shoes, thank you very much.
I'll try anything once. I usually try it again, ten years later, and find my memory was right. Things have not improved.
In Romania I didn't have sufficiently waterproof shoes. As a result, I was abandoned on one side of a puddle which had turned into a pond. Left alone for three hours, I watched the puddle (which has a technical name) thinking that there must be something alive in it. Sure enough, there was.
I stayed still and it came out. Then another. A whole army of them!
I amused myself watching and videoing them - they were either toads or frogs. A day later, with renewed interest, I read the information boards about wildlife. They were yellow-bellied frogs.
Everest
I was horrified to learn that most of those out in the wild trips to placeEverest Everst, with all the porters and permits, and special clothes, can cost more than staying in a five-star hotel.
My husband regards hiking like this as easy. He prefers something more challenging like Everest. He goes off with a yak and a personal porter carrying the tents and a birthday cake on the top of the mountain.
I would rather sit in the club lounge of a hotel, enjoying the free drinks, or shop for shoes in the hotel sale.
Up and Down
So I frequently veer from the expensive to the cheap and cheerful, from Singapore Airlines to Ryanair, from feast to famine. Since I and my husband are both freelance, our income goes up and down.
I understand the desire to try something new, whether its truffles or pink champagne, but everybody likes a bargain.
Comedy
Yes, I am still married, which surprises most people. I went on a stand-up comedy course. My opening line was: "My husband and I have separate bedrooms. Mine is in London. His is in Singapore." I am reminded of a badge (Americans call it button) which I saw in San Francisco. It said: If you're rich, I'm single.
Morocco Honeymoon
When we got married, we honeymooned in Marrakesh, in the Mamounia hotel where Winston Churchill stayed. We were given twin beds!
I became obsessed about double beds, and four-poster beds and honeymoon suites. Everywhere hotel I went into, I asked to see the honeymoon suite. I wrote for Brides magazine.
Camping
Quite a contrast to the camping sites in the UK and Europe which I wrote about for Good Motoring and Camping and Caravanning magazines. I also wrote about Butlins for a mother and baby magazine. Whilst I was earnestly and happily chatting up a woman whose daughter had lost her front tooth, and a man in tattoos, my husband declined to join in the sing-songs. He stayed upstairs lying on the bed reading motoring magazines.
Polite Praise
I used to have a goal of visiting a new country every year. Now my goal is to learn a new language every year. My aim is to tell you the truth, but politely, as they say, to damn with faint praise. I would never want to hurt the feeling of the majority of people working in restaurants and hotels who sometimes appear completely incompetent but are doing their best, like so many writers having achieved success in one area, start again at novices in another, earnestly trying to do something new for the first time, like me and you.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author and speaker. My books are on Amazon.com and lulu.com Please share links to your favourite posts.
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