IanHi all! It has been a little while since I posted on the website! It’s been a manic few months with work and other things. I thought I’d do a quick post on what I have done this year and what is to come next year!
So, to start the year I went on my first ever trip abroad, I had never been that far before and never really had a proper holiday. My first destination this year was Orlando, Florida, USA. I had always wanted to go to Orlando ever since I was kid. I was really nervous, and I was not sure how it was going to go. But I surprised myself and I really enjoyed it! I was there for 14 days and stayed at the Aventura Hotel on Universals Resort.
It was a really good hotel, it felt modern and unique and a perfect stopping point for me to explore Orlando! Overall, I was kept very busy, I pretty much went to every theme park during my 14 days. I did get a little bored toward the end, but I think that is because I had done everything I wanted to. I should have ensured I had things planned for my last few days. However, it was still an awesome holiday, and I loved every minute of it and it has really opened the door to travel!
Check my blog for my January 2023 trip here!
Slightly non-travel related but also this year I met my new crewmate who has now become one of my closest friends, she has taught me a lot and she is also a lover of travel too, so I have been able to get tips from her and we are planning a few trips next year so that she can show me how to do holidays properly as apparently, I don’t know how! Anyway, if you are reading this, thank you for all you have done for me this year, you have taught me important lessons and I look forward to traveling with you and moving with you on our careers!
Next up for trips this year was Blackpool, which was in July, I decided I wanted to do a short break, this was largely encouraged by my new friend, as I started to change my perspective on life. She showed me I can have a nice short break here in the United Kingdom and don’t always have to go aboard! So, I headed to Blackpool for 3 days as I had always wanted to visit!
Blackpool was awesome! I loved the road trip and want to do more in the future, people say that road trips are boring but for me it isn’t as I have barely left Chelmsford, so getting to see new places as I drive has been great! I stayed at the Premier Inn, which was nice, but I made the mistake of not booking a hotel with Air Con!! I have learned that lesson the hard way!!
I really enjoyed my trip away, I visited Madam Tussauds, Sealife Centre and Blackpool Tower. I loved them all! Blackpool Tower was much more impressive than I thought! I did get a bit nervous standing on the glass roof though!! I would definitely
You can see my blog for Blackpool here!
My final abroad trip of the year was a revisit, but this time I took my mum! In September, mum and I headed to Orlando, Florida! This time we flew out of Gatwick. Overall I preferred Heathrow, Gatwick felt busy and there was a lot of work to be done in the terminal too which probably didn’t help with the feeling of crampness!
For our holiday in September, we stayed at Cabana Bay which is opposite to Aventura Hotel. We had an awesome time! Mum got to meet Winnie the Pooh and experience Florida and we also managed to get a bit of a break which was nice! It was VERY hot though… temperatures rarely went below 35c during the day, and it was by far the hottest I have ever felt! I knew it was warm but didn’t realise how warm it was!!
Overall, we had an awesome time! Mum loved every minute of it. It went far too quickly though, so in future, we will ensure we have more than just 7 days. It felt rushed almost and we had to cram everything in, so we plan on doing a longer break next year. More on that soon!
You can view my blog for September here!
Along with my holidays this year we had a few small events here and there. I went to the Disney 100 Exabition event at the Excel centre in November, and mum and I went to see Disney on Ice 100 show. It was awesome! I was going to blog but in the end I didn’t!
Overall, 2023 has got to be the best year I have had in a long while! I got to experience different forms of travel and I loved it. My favourite trip of the year was going with Mum to Florida, it makes a difference when you have someone to travel with! She had an awesome time and I haven to seen her that happy in a very long time!
Along with the travel, I have been working on myself, since September, I started taking my weight loss seriously and since 20th September 2023 I have lost a total of 1st and 8lb which is a huge achievement for me! Alongside with this I have been working on other parts of myself mentally with the help of my friend!
Here’s to 2024!!
2024 plans
Next year is going to be an even BIGGER year! I have a lot of plans in the works especially with my friend as we have a few trips planned already. I would like to do a lot more traveling next year. I am not exactly sure yet on where I will start but there are plans being formed for the early part of 2024, hopefully by January, I will have a good idea of what I am doing!
The first planned trip that has been booked is another trip to Florida, Orlando with Mum from the 4th of November 2024 until the 18th of November 2024. Thats right we are going again! This time we have booked 2 weeks and have plans to visit Restaurants throughout Orlando as we didn’t have time last time!
We are going back to Cabana Bay but this time we are staying in a family suite as another lesson learned was there was nowhere to sit down, and the chairs were not very comfortable! The family suite has sofas and a mini kitchen, so we don’t have to always eat in the food hall downstairs as it gets quite expensive! I chose to fly with Virgin Atlantic as out of the two, Virgin was the best. Heathrow is a better airport too! We also have Premium too! We are going all out on this one!
The other plans still in the planning stage include going to the Lake District hiking with my friend and her husband, a trip to Canada later in the year for a week potentially a bit of skiing too, again this is with my new friend I talked about above! I have also got my friend to plan me a surprise holiday where I will give her some money to book me somewhere in the world! I would like to go to Glasgow as well next year! So, a few things to look forward to!
Personally speaking, I am hoping to achieve my ideal weight which is 18st, I am on target to hit this by March, but it could be delayed for many reasons, but that’s the tentative plan! Alongside with this I will begin training toward a new career which will stay under wraps for now! Plus, I plan on having more flexible hours at work so I can travel more and enjoy my life more!
So, please follow along with my journey as we head into 2024! It’s going to be a fascinating year and I am really looking forward to what next year will bring!
Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!!
