IMPORTANT PLACES IN MY LIFE OF 60 YEARS – PART TWO:
Earlier this week I mentioned that I intend to share 60 key things which have shaped my life as I prepare to celebrate being 60 years old. Even writing this down feels really weird. I still feel 20 years old, a size 12 with blonde hair and when I see myself in the mirror I often think ‘who is that!’ and then take a breath!
Yet here we are and it’s up to me to make the best of it all. So today I’m sharing another ten places which have been important in my life – so far. Check out Monday’s blog to see the first ten. For these you will find me venturing overseas.
11. One of the first is Turkey. The reason I choose this country was that it was the first place I visited overseas. I never went on holiday overseas with my family growing up. We simply didn’t have the money, and my parents didn’t have the inclination. Therefore, I first went overseas with a friend, Jo, in my early 20s on a last-minute deal. I don’t remember a huge amount about it but I do remember we had a good time and I was actually quite scared being in another country as a young girl. It was hot, we ignored all advice about not eating local food and did exactly that and it was fine. We also went to a nightclub where there were male belly dancers, and we spent a lot of time on the beach – and it was here I learned that lounging about on a beach day after day is not for me. My tolerance is about a day before I want to be out exploring.
12. Miami is also another place to mention as it was where my husband Steve proposed to me. I’ll never forget the evening sat eating dinner at a restaurant when my husband suddenly began crawling around on the floor. Out of embarrassment, I kept asking him what he was doing, when I suddenly realised, he was down on one knee. After previous marriages, Steve had insisted marriage was not on the cards for us and this was a decision I had accepted – I didn’t worry about it. It never occurred to me that he would propose, let alone in such a beautiful location, yet on a hot and sweaty day where I was very grumpy! He got me good that day! We went off then to choose an engagement ring as he didn’t want to get me one I didn’t like however we found out we didn’t have enough credit on our card to buy one. So we waited until we got home and I chose one at a Swindon shop and have worn it ever since.
13. We have been lucky enough over the years to visit Disney in Orlando in Florida twice as a family and it’s a place where magic lives – if you have the right mindset. I never thought I’d enjoy such artificiality, but I do! To have the funds to take our children to such a wonderful place is such a blessing and being able to go twice even more magical. We’ve also been to EuroDisney four times (once just us as a couple) and we still love it. Even now our downstairs loo is covered top to bottom in images from various Disney trips. And from a business point of view – when it comes to marketing Disney is number one. Walt Disney was a visionary who understood the inner child and made a fortune from it.
14. I’ve also been lucky enough to visit New York and I found it overwhelming and would love to back again. This was back in 2001 when I was pregnant with my daughter Georgia, and what I didn’t expect was that I would feel sick almost all of the time so I couldn’t enjoy it to its full potential. It really is the city which never sleeps, it really does have steam coming up from grates in the road and lanes of yellow cabs. We got lost in Macys, couldn’t even find Central Park and we loved Greenwich Village. However, that trip’s memory was tainted. While there we visited the Twin Towers and also we climbed inside the Statue of Liberty, queuing for hours to peer out of the top of her ‘crown’. Little did we know the horrors that were to follow later that year and it did feel personal and awful and horrific to witness the terrorist attack that day. Although I am so grateful for our own safety, for many reasons this is a place that will always be significant to me. One day, I’d love to go back and experience it in a new way.
15. For our joint 40th birthdays, Steve and I visited Kenya to go on a safari on the Masai Mara. We’d fancied this trip after watching avidly a tv series at the time called Big Cat Diaries. This show was actually sound produced from the studio at ITV where I worked so when I had time, I’d pop down and watch it being dubbed and I met one of the presenters of the show. This truly was a wonderful holiday probably in my top three. We went on safari three times a day with our driver Joseph seeing lions, elephants, hippos, cheetah (my favourite), rhino and we also searched for leopard. We met some wonderful people and our experiences in that short week would fill a book on its own.
16. Another country my family and I have loved to visit is Italy. Not only for the food and art but also for its exciting culture. I have been lucky enough to visit Italy many times, including Verona, Venice, Rome and Lake Garda. The first time I visited Rome was with Steve for our 10th wedding anniversary and we stayed in a hotel which overlooked the Colosseum. I love history and wanted to see what the city was like with its amazing history and I was not disappointed. Around every corner there is something with deep and lasting history butted alongside modern living. We went back in 2025 to mark our 25th wedding anniversary and loved it all over again. My main tip is this – if you are going to visit the Vatican, Colosseum or any major site buy tickets in advance so that you can go straight in. It’s worth the extra cost not to have to queue in extreme heat. Also beware the street hawkers, just say ‘no’.
17. Venice is a place I have visited four times and it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s brightly coloured houses and little, small alleyways and bridges makes it so picturesque and is so very different to the everyday scenery we have at home. If you arrive by train, the train station is not ‘all that’ but when you come out of it you find yourself right on the Grand Canal and that is magical. You will be stopped in your tracks. Some things to remember in Venice, buy small ice cream as it melts quickly, save up to go on a Gondola because why wouldn’t you? And food is expensive here as is using the toilet so choose wisely.
18. In stark contrast is Auschwitz, Krakow in Poland, somewhere I wanted to visit because I felt I must, not because I thought it would be a wonderful experience – because it was not. It really is a haunting place surrounded by the feel of deep and abiding evil, but I felt it necessary to visit at least once in my life. As a spiritual person it was almost an act of homage although the Holocaust was not something which directly affected my family. I think it caused a societal wound that went beyond those who live with its aftermath daily. It also reminded me of what inhumanity, exclusion, hatred and right wing fundamentalism can bring. Any fundamentalism in fact and I will never ever forget it.
19. I have to mention France because I’ve been so many times. I’ve been to Paris at least six times and we’ve stayed across France on holidays in our touring caravan more times than I can remember. France is a big and beautiful country with so much to offer. From Paris, to its coastal towns, its wine regions, there’s something for everyone. I love croissants for breakfast and I do enjoy browsing around their supermarkets which sounds odd but I actually do. I particularly love Pornic, and also Monet’s Garden which I ‘ve visited twice and would go back in a heartbeat. Not because I love gardening, I just enjoy the vibe.
20. Finally, a place I have visited twice, and not a place I thought I’d ever go, is Las Vegas. Most of what they say about Vegas is true, it really is a place like no other. Busy, shiny and constantly full of noise. For those who don’t like gambling or get easily over stimulated, I’m not sure I would recommend it to them. I went there due to a tech conference where I was invited as a guest and, of course, Steve came along. It’s a place you have to visit just once, and it really is totally artificial and desert bound. Water is seen as gold dust there. It’s a paradox of rich and poor, dark and light, religion and gambling. I met a new close friend there and also met up with a friend who has made his life there. As always, it’s the people which make places and this has to be on my list.
Throughout writing this blog, I’ve thought many times about the places I have seen in my sixty years, and it is with great excitement that later this year in 2026, I will get to travel America and Canada with my husband Steve for a two-month long road trip. In other words, this list will only continue to get longer….
Next week I’ll talk about possessions…