February 22, 2011

Summer holidays

As usual this time of the year I start thinking about what I should do on my summer holidays. Being a Swede it means I have a whole month off from mid July to mid August. Heavenly, even though people in many other countries think it’s a bit weird. Sweden is more or less on half speed from June until the end of August, because people are on holiday.

For the last couple of years the first week has been the week when I go somewhere by myself, i.e. solo travelling. I’ve been to Ireland, Scotland, South England and France by myself and I love it. Travelling alone is very empowering and I always come home with new experiences and memoires of people I’ve met. As savvy as I sound I’m not the type who just takes off and see where the road takes me to. I plan quite carefully before where I’m going, where I’m staying and what things I’m going to see. Boring perhaps but it is what makes me feel secure and confident when I’m out there.

This year I’m not really sure where to go. It needs to be a place that has a lot of things to do and see. Also there should be a good network of trains or busses so I can easily get around and experience as much as possible. The French Rivera was perfect two years ago with the local trains going up and down the coast. Being a woman travelling by myself I also like to go to places where no one cares if I eat by myself. France is a great place for that (even at the cheapest brasserie they treat you like a queen) and most of Northern Europe is totally fine too. I would love to go to Italy or Spain, but I’m not sure how I would be treated. The Anglophile in me tells me to go to the UK. I’ve never been to Manchester, Liverpool and northern England, but going to the UK always means I might get a week of rain like I did in Ireland. Not that I’m a beach bunny, but rain is something that I get more than enough of back in Sweden.

Or maybe I should just stay home. It will save me money at least... Nah, that’s too boring. I need to get out, but where?!

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