british Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

When most people think of road trips, it’s considered a representation of all things Americana: convertible tops down, hair flying in the wind between desert scenery and mountain backdrops. But you don’t have to fly to America to go on a vehicular adventure – there is plenty to see right here at home. From charming villages to awe-inspiring landscapes and small country roads, you’ll find that getting to your destination is half the fun.

Black Mountain Pass, Wales

The Black Mountains are on the west side of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The A4069 is a challenging drive with hairpin turns made famous by Jeremy Clarkson testing the AMG SLK along this route on Top Gear. It’s the perfect road trip for people who love to drive or who want to have spectacular views over the mountains and Swansea Bay.

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

A journey up to Barra means you can drive the whole Outer Hebrides – over 100 miles and two ferries to make the journey down this island chain. While it can be done in a day, you’ll want to take your time appreciating the windswept cliffs, beautiful beaches, and prominent Hebridian hospitality. Every island has its own feeling and scenery: the Uists are great for bird watching, Lewis and Harris are hilly, while Benebecula you’ll find long beaches the unfortunately named Stinky Bay.

Dartmoor Circular, England

Driving through Dartmoor offers some of England’s best views – and the place is dotted with pubs, campsites, and country walks. Start in Mill End where the town is a designated Conservation Area through the High Moorlands in Princetown, stop for a picnic in Tavistock and go for a dip at Lydford Gorge.

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

The coastal roads around Northern Ireland seem to have been made for exploring by car. From Belfast head up the Antrim Coast Road to see the nine glens of Antrim – named one of the most scenic drives in the world by National Geographic. The Giant’s Causeway trip allows to stop at the Glenariff Forest Park, see the rugged cliffs or Torr Head, and stay in cottages or campsites along the way. Explore the ancient seat of the kings of Ulster before heading east to the Mountains of Mourne and back to Belfast to head home.

Cheddar Gorge, England

A trip to Cheddar Gorge is a great way to see the West Country without heading too far into the countryside. This is a road trip that will allow you to see a few qualities of the country that are distinctively English: Cheddar Gorge has unique local cider and limestone cliffs, it’s close to Bristol, one of England’s most vibrant cities, and it’s not too far from the coast either. You can go from city life to farm vehicles in just one road – just one thing that makes this journey so interesting.

Invergarry to Isle of Skye, Scotland

This driving route takes you up to the Scottish highlands down the A87 to the Isle of Skye. Sweeping mountains lined with lambs, homely bed and breakfasts, and maybe even a little summer snow will take your breath away. You can taste whiskey at Scotland’s best distilleries like Glenfiddich and Danwhinnie along the way, just schedule it for the end of your driving day.

Planning Your Road Trip

Hitting the open road can be a challenging (but rewarding!) experience. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you plan.

Ensure you have good breakdown cover. If you’ll be spending a few days or more on the road, you don’t want to get stuck on the side of the road – especially if you’re doing a more remote trip!
Listen for travel updates. Getting stuck in traffic goes against that feeling of being on the open road but sometimes it’s inevitable. If you’re heading up the Scottish highlands, listen out for weather updates – sometimes the roads can freeze.
Carry water and a safety kit. On the off-chance you do breakdown, a first aid kit, tyre inflators, extra blankets, torches, batteries, and non-perishable snacks in the boot will mean that you are prepared.
Get plenty of rest. If you’re tired, just take a break. Remember that you have people’s lives in your hands, and that is more important than making it to the next hotel in time for check in.
Bring a road map. It’s easy to forget to bring one of these in our age of GPS and Google Maps, but you might run out of battery or be on a route that is covered by these apps. A trusted road map is very useful for rural driving and noting campsites and parks.

Last week I was late with this particular post and this week is no different either! Where Monday and Tuesday of last week were spent catching up on the decorating from over the weekend, this week has been spent catching up on catching up!

Monday I spent pretty much the whole day with Nat, after dropping the kids off at school. It was her youngest son Harry’s 2nd birthday and my gift to him was a mattress (a bed, a stairgate and a bedside…). Strange gift I know but basically Nat was wanting to move him into a big bed so I headed over there with a divan bed for Josh (her oldest son), which after we took the cot apart and put in the loft (oh I took a ladder too but that wasn’t for them to keep!) we moved Josh’s bed to Harry’s room, put the new mattress on it and then put the divan in Josh’s room. We put new bedding on Harry’s bed, added the bedside and also put up a stairgate. Afterwards Nat and I went to the tip and then Asda Living for a fitted sheet, all before I headed back to get the kids from school. The evening was spent trying to relax, even though there was still decorating to do. We did watch the Game of Thrones finale however *sob sob*.

On Tuesday Chris was off work so we made an effort to get our bedroom a bit straighter. We hoovered and tidied, moved furniture and most importantly put up a curtain rail so we could hang curtains and sleep back in there that night. We also wandered into town for a few hours to buy shelves and new curtains. We spent the afternoon finishing everything off and finally moving back into our room. It isn’t finished sadly (even now as I write this a week on) but it’s getting there slowly. I have had a lot to do since last Tuesday though so I haven’t done anything further on it.

In the evening we moved the wardrobe forward (which is so heavy we had to empty it all out first) so I could paint the last wall. Since it was so heavy and all the stuff out of it made such a mess (and I didn’t want to put it back in, only to take it out again), I spent the whole evening giving the wall five coats of paint, one every half an hour. Chris and I then moved the wardrobe back, had a sort through our clothes and then crawled into bed!

On Wednesday I had a catch up blog day. I was so behind on posts I was supposed to write that it took me all day to catch up and I still wasn’t done. However I did manage to write about five for my own blog and two for TTM. Thursday started off with a breakfast from Morrisons as I offered to give Chris a lift to work and he treated me. When I got back home though I properly cracked on with a murder mystery I’ve been writing – a sort of gift for my friend’s birthday at the end of this current week. I made some progress but it all seemed very slow. I also accidentally loaded $100 into my Fiverr account which was a slap on the forehead moment. I worked all day and into the evening on the Murder Mystery but didn’t get all that far.

Friday was another day working on the Murder Mystery but it ended up more of a blog/internet day. I still felt so behind on everything I needed to do so I spent most of my time getting organised, but the evening spent on the murder mystery again. After that, my whole weekend was swallowed by the murder mystery and I’m not even kidding. I spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday, breaking only briefly to make tea, feed the kids, put some washing on etc. It genuinely felt like I was getting somewhere the whole time but in the same token it seemed like I had loads left to do.

In the end I could feel myself getting annoyed and snappy so I took Sunday evening off. I watched some TV and then decided to turn that off even and read a book. I read two short stories and then started on the second book in a series I’ve been reading and enjoying. I will write a review shortly of the first book – Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands, #1).

Other than that, I won’t get into my Monday and Tuesday so far but needless to say they’ve been busy again. Right now I have emails to go through and some housey bits to get done, but I’m hoping to actually see my sewing machine this evening – fingers crossed!