"Midlife" that central bit of a person's life, where you're not really old, but you're not young either. Experts say it's from around age 40 to age 65 and it's a time when I, like many others, began to feel restless as I struggled with aging, mortality, and that impending sense of "is this all there is?"
"Wanderlust" (n) A strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world.
Yep, that's me and it's a funny time of life. Travel lover, adventurer, list maker, occasional writer and dreamer with a bad case of Wanderlust who refuses to slide into old age quietly.
The silver lining? All those fucks I give when I was young? Long gone. I've embraced the art of not caring what other people think. I've earned the right to be me and if you don't like it, too bad, not my problem.
So I've embarked on a new adventure and this is my place to document the journey, find and share inspiration and face the challenges that come with getting old(er) while exploring the world we live in.
Time to raise a glass of bubbles to the joys and absurdities of this one precious life we're given.
What, I've been here nearly 4 years and I haven't been to Stonehenge? I have a vague recollection, the old memory not being quite what it was, of visiting around 35 years ago, so it was about time I paid a refresher visit. Not only that, I'm not getting my monies worth from my English Heritage membership and as this is one of the more spendy sites to visit, I felt I should get some value out of it.
Back in September 2024, I decided it was time to revisit my bucket lists (thought process would have gone something like, right Jules, it's about fucking time you pulled your finger out and got a few more things done. Life is short and that clock is not ticking, it's going BONG BONG BONG) and come up with a new list - 60 things to do before I turned 60. That gave me a year to do all the stuff. Plenty of time, or so I thought, but the days fly by. Things change, other stuff pops up, so this list is an ever changing one. Is that cheating? Course not, it's my list, I can do whatever I want with it. It's a chance to do a bit of writing (fallen by the wayside) and serves as a reminder as the old memory starts to go. Where was I?
Holy fuck, how can I possibly be 60? I don't feel 60, I don't think I look 60 (said every 60 year old women everywhere), and yet here we are.
When I got the opportunity to do the Taste of the Camino Tour, I was equally excited and a little bit terrified. I would be doing it on the fly - no shadow tour to ease into it. But having been to some of the places and having walked the Portuguese Coastal Camino, not to mention the French, I agreed to give it a go. Reading about places is not the same as going, so it was a tad stressful. But there was one place I was very much looking forward to - visiting Cantabria for the first time and jumping on the Fuente De cable car in order to admire the Picos de Europa.
With only 4 full days off between tours and it being August - not a good month to visit Torrevieja, it was time to look at the map and play the "where haven't I been game." Easy train journey between Barcelona and Madrid - check. Large historical city - check. Reasonably priced accommodation - check. Where did I end up? Zaragoza, Spain's 5th largest City (actually all depends on what's being looked at, so lets just say it's up there amongst the 10 largest).
When I decided to add this to the list, I thought it would have been MOCO Museum London. Of course I ended up leaving London way back in February, when I was much younger, and never got around to it. There it sat, another one of the many things that I never got around to doing in London.
Missed out on going to Walkies at Wisley last year, so when Sue suggested a visit, I thought why not. Always nice to head up to Guildford for a bit of puppy play time with Heidi.
Now this one is a bit subjective, but I'm going to mark it off as done. Back in July 2024, I was on my Northern Spain shadow tour and got to try the "best cheesecake in the world". Says who? Says lots of people - just Google best cheesecake in the world and there is a good chance that La Viña in San Sebastian would pop up. Good article by Conde Nest Traveller on La Viña here.
Another one of those "must go there one of these days" places. Sometimes it's really hot and sometimes I'm too tired. But on this particular day it wasn't too hot (I was still tired) and the group didn't want to go to Las Setas, so I had the whole afternoon free. Right then Jules, let's go - bonus points that it's very close to our hotel in the district of Santa Cruz.
With my tour starting 12 July, I decided to fly into Madrid a day earlier and book in for a tour and lunch at Botin. Founded in 1725, it's the oldest restaurant in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records and this year is celebrating its 300 year anniversary.
With time fast running out, it was time to revisit the list and consider some more achievable goals. OK, where haven't I been on my stops that are on the must visit one day list? So whilst in Cordoba on a hot day (20 May), I decided it was time to visit Palacio de Viana.
I thought it would be fitting to get a new tattoo to mark the start of a new decade of life. They read as little mini stories representing different moments in life. Some are faded and I don't love, but I don't regret any of them as they all meant something at the time. I have considered removing one of them, but I'm not sure the pain is worth it! So it will remain and serve as a reminder.
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