I’m not one for endless, restless globetrotting: when I travel I like to go to somewhere different, yes, but somewhere I can get to know through repeated visits.
I don’t care how foreign a place is – or isn’t – so long as I can navigate around the streets by memory, recommend a good restaurant, find my way on the public transport system and keep a mental note of a cheap general store when I can buy the local variation of bread and cheese and a beer.
This means I tend to lobby to return to the same places again and again. I don’t see this as being a problem. Here’s a few places I can recommend, in case you feel the same.
A home from home away from home
[intlink id=”malta” type=”page”]Malta[/intlink]- As a five-year-old I went on holiday to Malta: I never forgot it, and eventually I went back. Their strategic location means these tiny islands have more archaeology and history crammed into them than anywhere else I have been.
[intlink id=”cornwall” type=”page”]Cornwall[/intlink]- This county may only be a few hours away by car, but it feels like a different world. From the twisty streets and art galleries of St Ives to the wildest and most inhospitable stretches of the Coast Path, this is a place to escape to.
[intlink id=”iceland” type=”page”]Iceland[/intlink]- Iceland has broken my heart. This is the world’s most civilized country, with the world’s cleanest air. It is a living geology lesson and its history is alive and vivid. But now it’s spoiled it all by resuming whaling. I fear I’ll never go back.
[intlink id=”norfolk” type=”page”]Norfolk[/intlink]- I lived in Norfolk for several years and thought I’d never leave. Life – inevitably – had other plans but I still snatch at chances to return. New experiences and new places mean it’s become part of my future as well as my past.
[intlink id=”paris” type=”page”]Paris[/intlink]- I know – a bit of a cliche, yes. But Paris is so easy to get to these days there’s no excuse not to visit and see what the old enemy’s capital city has to offer. The answer, as people have been discovering for centuries, is rather a lot.