Bethan

Sharm El Sheikh: We escaped the misery of a British February for all inclusive on sunny Sharm El Sheikh. They nearly didn't let Bill in (couldn't quite understand what a Chinese person was doing on a British flight) but thanks to an extremely patient tour rep, we soon discovered the amazing underwater world that is Sharm El Sheikh. The place has everything you could ever want for a fantastic holiday. // Croatia: On the search for sun, sea and islands in Croatia. // India: One of the first things Bill and I discovered we had in common was that we both wanted to visit India to see the Taj Mahal. So I decided to return to the ways of the backpacker and see if we could manage backpacking together without killing each other.... // The Other Side of the World: Visiting friends of the old, tianjinesque and furry type. // Brugges Fairytale Castle: Beginning to feel very pregnant, we decided this half term was probably our last chance to escape the country before the invasion of Little Liu! // Malta: Isaac's first holiday! Grabbed a bargain break with the luxury of being able to travel outside of school holiday times. Malta is a beautiful country. A small, friendly oasis with its limestone buildings, flowering cactuses and sparkling blue harbours. Isaac loved every minute of it! // China with the baby! : Perhaps our biggest adventure yet - rural china with a 6 month old!! // Lovely Limousin: Despite the nasty intentions of evil French immigration, we set off on our gite holiday armed with legal documents stating Bill's right to free movement and leaving the Father in law in Thorney (oops!) They never even checked the passports! Destination Limousin, I knew quite a lot about this area of France after a pregnancy addiction to 'A Place in the Sun' this time last year so felt it was only right to pay the region a visit. It did not disappoint! // Canada: Just Isaac and Mummy! // Aberfeldy : A good dose of mountains and every weather type possible! Staying in a cottage and visiting friends :) // China with the toddler and the baby!: Lewis' turn to visit the family in Sichuan. // Our long anticipated African adventure to Zimbabwe,S.Africa and Madagascar visiting family friends and animals: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Trying to overshadow the stress of evil Entry Clearance Officers and horrid Chengdu with tropical islands, high altitudes, yaks and alpine 'vistas' rather than 'visas!': I didn't want to go back to China this time, I couldn't afford to. However, the absence of a certain smiley chinky once his British visa had expired, meant I didn't have a choice! I needed to get things done and the China experience is much more suited to a laid-back mind rather than a focused one, hence it did begin to drive me crazy! However, we did find the opportunity to travel inbetween waiting for news on the visa application and discovered some real gems. The country never fails to amaze me! // Summer back travelling in China: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Wooden huts nestled in stunning mountain scenery, bamboo forests, fluffy rabbits, rice paddies, waterfalls, exotic flowers and wildlife. This is where Bill comes from and where you can visit!: Bill's family lives in a tiny village near the town of Gaomiao, Hongya prefecture, Sichuan province in the South West of China. The village is made up of around 100 wooden houses dotted around part of the colossal Emei mountains. The village is nestled in the mountains, surrounded by bamboo forests, rice paddy fields, exotic flowers, mountain streams and the possible panda! A simply breathtaking place to be! This is China at its most authentic and the kind of place that travellers like me spend all their time trying to discover! We'll be having a China wedding here in August 2008 and it should be the experience of a lifetime :) // A little bit of isolation: Little islands, dotted in the Atlantic, completely isolated from the rest of the UK. I'd always been intrigued by them and discovered they really do possess a certain magic. // Words can't describe israel, it conjures up all kinds of feelings. Definitely a school trip to remember: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Friendliest and randomest of countries meant I never knew what to expect from one day to the next. Visit it!!: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Went on impulse, got lost in the souk, found a new friend and escaped to a berber village. Beautiful!: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // New Year in New York!: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // A real treasure: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Rome for New Year! Had a fantastic time visiting friends: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Off to find paradise beaches in lovely azerbaijanian company :): Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Amazing place. Such a fusion of cultures and so colourful.: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :) // Great to be back and busy in China. I even have a job! Working as an Overseas Leader for i-to-i in Xian.: Hello :) Welcome to the online (aren't i clever!!) record of all my rather mad travels. There's nothing i like to do more than travel. Off I go smiling (as the nickname 'smiley' would suggest!), sitting on a hairy donkey, reading a book, singing and going across a bridge backwards (chinese proverb for 'seeing what comes along!!!'), taking up pretty much opportunity around especially if it involves hugging a poor unsuspecting creature! Enjoy it. Bysie bye! :)