IanHi all! It’s been a little while since I put up a post! It’s hard to believe it was only a month ago, but it feels like years have passed since we were in Florida! Crazy!
Well, here we are at the end of 2024 and boy, what a year it has been for me! I have done two abroad and 3 UK trips, which has been amazing! It wasn’t exactly what we had planned, but it was great nonetheless! Like last year, I will review what I have done over the year and what is ahead for 2025! First up, Plymouth!
Plymouth 2024
My first trip of the year was in February to Plymouth! I went there to see Michael Mcintyre as I have always wanted to see him live at a show! Unfortunately, it was not to be, as he had to cancel at the last minute due to bad health. But I still loved it!
Day one saw me travelling to Plymouth; it was a 4-and-a-half-hour drive! I love a road trip, so it was brilliant. I did not do a lot apart from settling in.
Day two saw me explore the National Marine Aquarium, which was awesome! It was a vast Aquarium, and I loved it! I love a good aquarium!
Day three was a bit of a non-starter, as, unfortunately, Michael Mcintyre had to cancel the show due to his health. Unfortunately, we only found out that evening, but I totally understand! I still had a great time in Plymouth.
Overall, I enjoyed Plymouth; I would definitely go back! There is still more to see, and hopefully, I can explore a little bit more next time!
Nottingham 2024
In March, I headed to Nottingham, this time to actually see Michael Mcintyre! I loved Nottingham. There are plans in the works that might see me moving there soon! But, on to the breakaway. This was my first time in a Hilton, too!
Day one saw me travelling again; this time, it wasn’t too long; it was only two and a half hours, but I still had to stop a little while! I was staying at the Hilton on the high street, and it was a great hotel! I ended up getting an upgrade, too, as they messed up my booking! In the evening, I actually got to see Michael Mcintyre and loved it! I will see him again!
On day two, I decided to explore the City of Caves as my friend recommended it, and I was not disappointed; it was fascinating to learn about the history of Nottingham over the years!
Next was day three and I decided I wanted to explore Nottingham castle, which was good and I even went to the cinema! Overall, it was a good day!
I think Nottingham was the best UK place I explored this year; it just had character, and I look forward to this being my new home town.
York 2024
I headed to York for a short break away at the beginning of July. It wasn’t as exciting as my other trips as it turned out there wasn’t a lot to do there, but I enjoyed the break overall.
Day one just had me travelling and arriving at the hotel, which, surprise, surprise, was another Hilton! I think I love Hitons now! I settled in and got some supplies from the local Tesco Express!
Day two saw me exploring York and seeing what it has to offer; it was a lovely little town which showed its age! It also has the city mainly encompassed around an interesting wall!
Day three was a relaxing kind of day. I relaxed around the hotel and finished the wall; it was a great day, and it helped me chill. I am ready to return to work!
Overall, York was my least favourite; it was a lovely little city, but it just felt empty; the castle was just a museum, which is fine, but I love going around and looking at castles! I probably won’t go back there again unless I missed something!
Spain 2024
So, I had a random break at the end of July, my friend and I headed to Spain! She asked me if I wanted to go earlier in the month for a break aboard, and I said yes. It was a good day even though we only spent a day there!
Day 0 was just a packing and preparing day! Not much to talk about here!
Day 1 was our travel day! It was a long day as we had to be up early to arrive at the airport in time. It was a short 2-hour flight, so that was good. We should have dropped our bags off at the hotel, though, as we carried it around all day, and it ached! Lesson learned!
Overall, Spain was brilliant! I want to go again, but this time, have a little more time there; it felt a little rushed as we pretty much took off in the morning, went around Barcelona, went to the hotel, went to sleep and got up and went home again a bit quick but good!
Florida 2024
And so, my last trip of 2024! In November, my mum and I returned to Orlando for two weeks. We had a fantastic time, and we loved everything about it. We could have done better, but some great memories were made overall!
Day 0 and Day 1 saw us travelling over to Orlando; unfortunately, we were delayed by 2 hours, which caused us to arrive in the dark and not really having much time in the evening.
On day 2, we went to Walmart and explored Universal’s City Walk and scouted out the restaurants we wanted to do, which didn’t actually happen!
Day 3 saw the wettest day I have experienced in Orlando, but we picked the perfect thing – the Mall! (Or shopping centre for us Brits) We went to Orlando Mall, which was nice, and saw America’s first Primark, an experience!
While out there, it was also my birthday, so on Day 4, I celebrated my birthday and went to a nice restaurant, which was nice! I had a lovely, chilled day, and being abroad for my birthday was weird!
On Friday, the 6th of November, we headed to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas event; it was amazing and really got me in the Christmas spirit!
Our first chilled day of the holiday was day 6; we just chilled around the pool and hotel room; we did have to head to the shop and decided to try Target!
Day 7 saw us make our second Disney park visit of the holiday; we headed to Animal Kingdom as Mum had not been before; it was a brilliant day, and mum loved it. It was busier than we thought, though!
Discovery Cove was next on our busy schedule; this was one of the highlights of the holiday! We met Clipper and spent some one-on-one time with her; we both loved it!
On day 9, we had a short break because it had been busy. On day 10, we headed to EPCOT, one of my favourite places too! This time, we both got to meet Pooh!!
On day 11, our holiday was starting to wrap up; on this day, we headed to Disney Springs and Walmart to get gifts for family and friends. It was a lovely day, although we bought too much stuff!!
Our final holiday trip was on day 12, when we headed to SeaWorld, again one of my highlights of Orlando; we both loved it here and enjoyed ourselves. Finally, Mum got to experience the shark tunnel!
Our final two days of the holiday were a chilled few days. Mum wanted some final sun time, so I headed to the cinema, as I always love American cinemas!
Finally, after two incredible weeks, it was time to go home! We had the best time and did not want to go home! We were in for a shock with the temperature too! As we arrived, it was like -1c where we had been in 28c+ weather! A shock to the system!
Overall, we had a fantastic time in Florida, but we didn’t achieve our goal of going to the restaurants in America. I’m not sure why, really; it might be the cost to get around. Uber was more expensive this time, and we spent roughly £550 in total on Uber; I feel it might be worth investing in a car to get around easier next time. But we loved it nonetheless.
2025 plans
So, on to the final part of the blog – my plans for 2025! Currently, one plan is set in concrete, as we have paid for the holiday and the hotel. My friend and I are heading to Portugal for 4 days in March! I am looking forward to that!
We have some small plans in the works, but nothing has been sorted yet. I don’t currently have a plan to go to Florida next year; there was a plan in the works for me to take my brother and his wife to Orlando; however, that was placed on hold due to my becoming an Uncle! My brother and his wife had a child 2 days ago, so they won’t be able to take them that far aboard while they are really young. We will do it, but it might have to wait a few years.
As it stands, I have no further plans. I want to start my UK trips again in 2025, but nothing is certain. On top of that, I will be making some significant life changes next year and need to buckle down and sort my money out, my fitness and my health. Hopefully, by the end of 2025, these should at least be slightly sorted!
But you know how it goes! Sometimes, something comes and smacks you in the face! Anyway, rest assured I will be blogging throughout the year!
Life Plans for 2025
As I said, I am about to undergo significant changes in my life. I won’t go into full details right now, but I will be moving jobs, moving to my new hometown, and starting my own business with a friend. I won’t tally on too much here as this is supposed to be a travel blog, but I wanted to mention that my blog may be quiet at times during 2025!
So, I will sign off on this blog by saying thank you for reading in 2024, and I hope you have enjoyed exploring with me! I look forward to sharing more of my travel journeys next year!
Finally, I will say Happy New Year; I hope 2025 is prosperous and healthy and here’s to 2025! See you then!
