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What's this blog all about?

Hi, I'm Nicola - welcome to a blog begun in 2012 about family travel around the world, without leaving the UK.

I love travel adventures, but to save cash and keep my family's carbon footprint lower, I dreamt up a unique stay-at-home travel experience. So far I've visited 110 countries... without leaving the UK. Join me exploring the next 86! Or have a look at the "countries" you can discover within the UK by scrolling the labels (below right). Here's to happy travel from our doorsteps.

Around 2018 I tried a new way of writing my family's and my own UK travel adventures. Britain is a brilliant place for a staycation, mini-break and day trips. It's also a fantastic place to explore so I've begun to write up reports of places that are easy to reach by public transport. And when they are not that easy to reach I'll offer some tips on how to get there.

See www.nicolabaird.com for info about the seven books I've written, a link to my other blog on thrifty, creative childcare (homemadekids.wordpress.com) or to contact me.

Thursday 3 May 2007

Free spirits?

Nicola, Pete, Lola and Nell want to travel the world with a difference. We hope to get a taste of loads of countries without adding to climate change (with needless emissions from aeroplanes) or having to waste hours of holiday time in airport terminals. We hope our adventures inspire you to take a Grand Tour of your neighbourhood. This post is from Nicola.

Planning our Grand Tour required two key bits of permission. I needed to take a sabbatical from my job at Friends of the Earth, a process that took about six months. I also had to request a six week leave of absence for Lola & Nell from the school’s head teacher. I am now an unpaid, home educator... lucky me. So here’s a special thank you to the people who signed those slips of freedom - Adam and Rosie – albeit with very clear dates about when real life starts again. Please enjoy this virtual toast!

It was the school's idea to start this blog, so we hope the students (especially Lola's and Nell's friends) will write lots of comments about where we should go, what we are missing and how much fun they are having in the classrooms and after school clubs. Maybe you'll even inspire your families to take a holiday without using a plane? Go on, tell us...

1 comment:

brownblog said...

This is great. Good luck on your travels. Bring us back some rock.

Do you know about the home educators festival - a whole week by the sea in June? You'd love it
http://www.hesfes.co.uk/gpage6.html

Some great acts like Diego Brown and the Good Fairy will be there (www.myspace.com/diegobrownandthegoodfairy).