About me

Redundancy in August 2011 gave me the opportunity to go travelling with my husband, Vinyl Man. The house was left in the safe hands of my son, The Gamer and a couple of lodgers. We visited California, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Since coming back to the UK in February 2012, I spend most of time wondering how I can travel forever, as the nomadic life and living with very few clothes and possessions suited me. As did not having to cook and clean!

In the meantime I have two enormous tasks.

1. Sorting the possessions of my mother, who passed away in January 2013.
2. Decluttering my own over stuffed house in order to simplify my life (and make the house saleable).

This started as a travel blog. I now blog about food, budgeting, occasionally get ranty, and use it as part therapy as I encounter all the different stages of grief. Sometimes I am just a grumpy old woman!

The round the world trip of a lifetime was not the end of my travels. It was simply a longer than average holiday. Short breaks and package holidays at home and abroad are currently keeping the farsickness in check. I just wished someone had warned me that reverse culture shock/farsickness was a known phenomenon.

In the meantime I experiment in cooking new things for my family,encouraging them to do the same. We divide chores in this house.

We have a tight budget, yet food and travel are priorities. Eating well for less and shop around for travel bargains is what I do.

I now work for a charity, Smethwick CAN. Smethwick Foodbank comes under this remit. Committed to provide support those in crisis, provide meaningful volunteer opportunities, and as one of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks, Restoring Dignity, Reviving Hope.

What makes me happy? Right now it is pegging out washing on a sunny, windy day. Simple pleasures, always.