Hobbies

I don't know if this counts as a hobby.

Travelling on coach holidays and exploring new places, this fits in with my photography hobby.

At one time I was terrified to travel on these type of trips.   I didn't know how to behave in hotels or how to cope with travelling with complete strangers or how I would cope with  my lack of foreign languages

Then I did thirteen trips in one year.  And I realised that this could be considered obsessive behaviour.

My trips in 2015 were.

• Scotland.  4 days
• South Devon   5 days
• Ireland   4 days
• North Devon. 4 days
• Cornwall.  5 days
• Midlands. 4 days
• Kent.  5 days
• Belgium  5. days
• Belgium again 7 days
• Germany 5 days
• Italy 7 days
• Holland 5 days
• Scotland again 5 days.

I got to see a lot of countryside, different cities, met many interesting people.  Enough hotel experience for a lifetime.  Went by Eurostar twice.  Ferries 12 times.

It's a nice hobby but expensive.

Which places did you feel most welcome? Received most Open mindedness? 

If you say Kent, I'll be surprised.  It's a very strange place.  People are generally quite insular and not very friendly.  Maybe that's why it kind of suits me - not that I'm insular in other ways.  Judging by some of the attitudes I've heard on the streets and read in the local papers over the years, people are pretty reactionary.

Where did you visit in South Devon?  I used to live near Totnes.

I used to live in Devon too, and Cornwall 

I love south Devon and Dorset, most of my seaside holidays in the 70s were down there. Agree not quite what it used to be but being a Midlander and not having a beach within a reasonable driving distance to just nip to I still really like the south west for my much needed summer hols. Not Cornwall though, not keen on the vibe there and its too far LOL! In recent years I've come to love the Isle of Wight too particularly the south and eastern bit.

I miss the Devon I knew then, in the early '70s.  Then, Totnes was still a traditional Devon market town, full of native Devonians and native character.  Now, it's like a cross between Richmond-upon-Thames and Glastonbury - full of rich hippies.  The village we lived in was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and had families living in it who went back many generations - including to the middle ages.  Now, virtually all of them have gone - displaced largely by Londoners.  It's an enclave of the ultra-wealthy.  It's very sad, but it happens everywhere, I'm afraid.

Did you? I used to live in Devon...I miss it 

Did you? I used to live in Devon...I miss it 

I used to live in Devon too, and Cornwall 

I love south Devon and Dorset, most of my seaside holidays in the 70s were down there. Agree not quite what it used to be but being a Midlander and not having a beach within a reasonable driving distance to just nip to I still really like the south west for my much needed summer hols. Not Cornwall though, not keen on the vibe there and its too far LOL! In recent years I've come to love the Isle of Wight too particularly the south and eastern bit.

I miss the Devon I knew then, in the early '70s.  Then, Totnes was still a traditional Devon market town, full of native Devonians and native character.  Now, it's like a cross between Richmond-upon-Thames and Glastonbury - full of rich hippies.  The village we lived in was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and had families living in it who went back many generations - including to the middle ages.  Now, virtually all of them have gone - displaced largely by Londoners.  It's an enclave of the ultra-wealthy.  It's very sad, but it happens everywhere, I'm afraid.