earlier in the year i mentioned my twelve in twelve goal: to see twelve new countries in twelve months. well. shortly after i posted that, many people mentioned how exciting that was, and asked how i planned to fit it all in around work, and how i was planning to afford to do that, and, well, all the general questions. truth be told, i have no idea how i'm going to pay for it - i guess that's what i go to work for, right? i don't have any dependants, no kids or pets or partners to waste my money on, and i'm lucky enough to receive a lot of ~help when it comes to things like eating out, new clothes, catching up with friends. yes, this blogging lark really does look after me sometimes. so, other than rent, bills and the commute (and, ya know, feeding myself), what else do i have to spend my money on?
oh yeah, i'd quite like to buy a house one day. well, in the new flat i'll be able to save a lot easier than before, so i should think that when my next tenancy is up (in, oh, two years) - and with a little help from my grandfather's estate, i should have enough to look at getting a deposit. so, that's definitely on the cards... for one day. for ~this day though, i make my happy through travelling, so why shouldn't i do just that? i mean, i still don't earn a lot of money, so twelve overseas holidays ~did seem like it would be tough. unless i want to rough it, and i don't. so i reinvented the twelve in twelve from twelve new ~countries to twelve new ~cities.
and, i'm nailing it already:
1. canterbury, kent (been: weekend in february)
3. nottingham, midlands (been: march bank holiday weekend)
4. port mierion, north wales (booked: first may bank holiday weekend)
5. birmingham, east midlands (booked: last may bank holiday weekend)
6. the amalfi coast, italy (booked: week in july)
7. the republic of ireland and belfast (booked: week in august)
8. reykjavik, iceland (booked: long weekend in september)
with a few places yet to book-slash-confirm:
9. devon with katy and becca in october for katy's and mine joint birthday for a weekend.
10. gothenburg, sweden with becks after lynsay and gary went last year and had a gorgeous time.
11. isle of wight sometime in the summer, maybe june as i have nothing planned!
12. somewhere sunny for christmas - becks and i were discussing the merits of a sunny christmas (given we both grew up with that as the norm), and after last year's scottish and snow-free christmas, we decided we'd try somewhere sunny this time to see if it breaks the un-white christmas curse. maybe the maldives? lol, i can't afford the maldives. maybe the canaries, or maybe crete or croatia or somewhere close-but-warm. suggestions welcome!
so you see, my new-and-improved twelve in twelve has me visiting six new uk destinations and six new overseas ones, without breaking the bank, and without using up all of my annual leave (although, i do only have about five days left now and still four holidays to book, so, we'll see). i'd still love to hear your recommendations, and for reference, here's a list of countries/cities i have already been to:
australia: all major cities
new zealand: all major cities
america: hawaii, california, florida
mexico: tijuana
england: looooadsa places
ireland: cork
wales: cardiff
netherlands: amsterdam
france: paris
belgium: brussels and bruges
czech republic: prague
hungary: budapest
poland: warsaw
denmark: copenhagen
morocco: marrakesh
germany: nuremberg
norway: oslo
slovakia: batislava
portugal: faro
spain: barcelona and palma de mallorca
turkey: istanbul
italy: rome and venice
*pretty exhaustive list - i'm sure i'm forgetting somewhere, but it'll come to me*
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