I’ve set this up for the 20p; not going to be a huge number of points but it’s better than nothing. It’s normally 1.5 points per £1 but this will give additional 1 point per 1p which is pretty decent value.
Plus this means I’ll get either airmiles or hotel points for all of my spend, both in the UK and abroad now. I’m getting rewards for everything in some way or another.
This look s beautiful! how long did you take the hike?
The route takes up to 8 hours but given it was the last day and I wanted a beer by the pool I managed it in four.
It’s quite a nice walk, there’s no need to rush it. The main challenge is ensuring you time the buses right at the end village as they are on two hour cycles.
Checked today and found that booking had just opened for next year for a hotel we like on the Normandy coast. Booked for a 5 night stay for late summer. We’ve stayed the past two years (accidental discovery 2 years ago) and had decided before we left last year to return. Perfect for exploring the landing beaches, and only a 15 minute drive from the ferry at Ouistreham.
Well had the wildest bumpiest attempted landing at Malta yesterday that ended up being my first ever diversion up to Sicily. Never really scared of flying but jeez this was stomach churning attempt to land:
For comparison it should look like this:
But it does now mean I have an unusual small flight in Flighty that is now the shortest distance I’ve flown:
And the crew were great and even did a drinks round for the second short flight so it was a G&T to calm the nerves.
Eek - what was the problem?
The weather. It was so windy but really in a specific time too.
The easyJet flight that was 5 mins ahead of us landed. Then us, an SAS flight and a WhizzAir flight all diverted, and the flights after that landed fine.
The SAS and WhizzAir didn’t even attempt to land. We did. And circled to consider trying again but it was so rough and up and down it was like a G Force on us. Plus it was all cloud outside so you couldn’t see anything. Never felt “unsafe” but it really was rough - Plane kept speeding up and down and then rising up and then descending.
We were worried we’d get stuck in Sicily but they got us back in the air after refuelling. Had a drink and some snacks on the ground then a quick bar round on the short hop.
This happened to us recently trying to get to La Palma, but we ended up in Tenerife. Sadly we didn’t get quite the same service from TUI, and ended up deciding to get a (exceptionally rough) ferry across.
The G&Ts helped then, too.
Spent part of yesterday printing off ferry tickets and hotel details for a road trip next year. Got everything done, stapled, sorted in order etc.
Half an hour later the Amsterdam hotel sent a revised booking with a price increase of over €100 for a 3 night stay which was annoying on two levels.
No explanation from them which was poor, but a quick search suggests it’s an increase in tourist tax and/or VAT for 2026.
And I’ve had to redo my printing and filing.
Having a very good little trip around Asia with a friend.
Bali, Indonesia 
Phuket, Thailand 
Beijing, China 
Still to go is Shenzhen (China) and Doha (Qatar) as 24 hour stops on my way home.
Not sure if it counts as a holiday but after 15 years returned to my hometown - even has a Costa Coffee now!
It was mostly to time for the Dickensian Festival when the town dress up in Dickensian clothing and old fashioned activities on the street. I use it to divulge in roasted chestnuts off street vendors!
Looks cute! Also looks a bit like Oswestry 
After 15 years has it changed without it actually being any different? That’s what I always find.
I mean no more banks (!!) and there’s a Costa and a Tesco where the Woolworths used to be.
Otherwise literally nothing has changed, except me not knowing anyone at all! And about 2,000 new residents which is wild.
Ulverston? I recognise the monument that I used to see driving to Barrow on the odd occasion I had work meetings there
Ulverston indeed!
Nice part of the world. For a second, I thought it was Keswick but then of course the lighthouse made no sense.
A very nice part of the world.
Anybody have any recommendations or tips for Japan?
Sadly not, but my sister goes for her honeymoon later this year and I’m curious what wedding gifts to get that’ll help her make the most of the trip, outside of just currency.
