As a small child, I dreamed of travelling, escaping off to another world – or just even a different part of this world, where people were new, and words were spoken differently. I didn’t know much past the end of my back garden, and always wondered what lay past the ends of the walk to school.
What if I just went wandering? How far could I roam?
Growing up, we didn’t have a car. Back then, it wasn’t so novel to do this. There was plentiful public transport, with buses and trains, and a taxi if you got completely stuck – although everyone was loathe to do this, as it was more costly than a bus ever would be. The network of local buses became fascinating to me, as a way of getting from point to point, and perhaps, one day, taking a stop beyond the limit of my knowledge. What excitement lies in the new and distant?
My world was compact, the local town, the houses of family nearby, my school, and not much else. When my parents took me on holiday, we would take a grand journey by train, up and through London, and then out the other side, to visit family. The train journey was endlessly fascinating – isn’t it just a wonder what you can see from the window? This tiny mind was blown, by the time passing as we moved, further and further away from what I knew. It was all exciting and different.
A sense of adventure was born.
As I grew older, I would ask my parents for a disposable film camera to take away. One year, as a birthday present, I received a more sturdy, grey plastic cheap point-and-shoot film camera, to take with me on my adventures. I had seen my parents using their camera, and enjoyed playing around with the settings of this and taking the occasional picture, if I was allowed.
It made a little keepsake of time – the people frozen in that picture, in that time, in that place.
Since then I have been saving the photographs I have taken, and have a large library of pictures. Many snaps from the 80s and 90s exist only as printed photographs with negatives, but since my first few digital cameras, I have kept an archive of every picture I have taken and wanted to keep (and deleted many that have fingers over lenses!).
Most entries here will be dated at the time they happened – mainly for my own personal recollections, so may not appear in any kind of congruent order. In addition,
I am aware of times and ages advancing, and so wanted to put together a small almanac of travels I have taken during life, sharing pictures and stories along the way. Everything will be frozen back in the time I was there, as moments are.
I aim to remember the past – yet also inspire more travels, to new, distant and interesting worldly places. In these modern ages of difficult times, it is easy to get swept away in moments, or sad at the state of things. Simplifying and slowing is the way. And sometimes there is no need to plan an adventure. It just happens.
Are you ready? Adventure awaits. Pack your bags, and let’s just go…
Let's Just Go 