Looking ahead to 2023

I’ve been umming and ahhing over whether I should write one of my usual ‘looking ahead’ posts because when I look back over what I wrote in previous years, I find I rarely end up doing half the things I say I’m going to do and end up doing something completely different. Alas, planning is not my forte!

I started last year with no travel plans and ended up going on lots of impromptu last-minute short trips here, there and, seemingly, everywhere.

I kicked off 2022 visiting friends in Manchester and Lancashire, then spent a week in north Norfolk (above, so pretty).

I also popped to London to visit friends and family on three separate occasions, visited friends in Essex and made many a trip to west Wales to visit friends and for work.

I also ventured abroad for the first time in two years. First up was a rather disastrous kayaking trip around the Norwegian fjords, followed by a much more enjoyable 24 hours in Bergen.

I also managed to squeeze in a week in Brittany, a four-day tour of Paris (where I had fun practising my French) and rounded off the year in Krakow (below).

True to form, I haven’t gotten around to writing about any of these trips (apart from Talley Abbey in west Wales), so one of my big resolutions for 2023 is to start properly blogging again and catch up on my ever-growing backlog of posts.

I’ve totted up all the places I need to write about and there are some 65 I need to get around to blogging about – so wish me luck!

My current plan is to focus on my trips from the past year and anything I get up to in 2023, interspersing those posts with slightly older trips from the last three years.

First up will be a couple of posts about one of my trips to west Wales over the summer.

Then I’ve planned a series of posts from London, Norway, Venice, Krakow, Norfolk, and hopefully, if all stays on track, Malaysia.

Work is set to be horrendously busy between March and May, so my plans may very well be way laid.

Travel-wise I have nothing in the pipeline. Although I have a big birthday coming up in July, so I’m contemplating blowing this year and probably next year’s travel budget on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Current frontrunners are Patagonia, visiting the gorillas and chimps in central Africa or going on safari elsewhere in Africa. Other suggestions also welcome!

I’d like to finish by saying a massive thank you to everyone who reads and comments on the blog. After all these years, I’m still amazed anyone pays any attention to my rather chaotic musings.

And a big thank you to my fellow travel bloggers, as I very much enjoy reading what you get up to and am often inspired by the places you write about.

Happy New Year – here’s to 2023!

Bethan