The thing about travel, about discovery, is that it’s addictive. Every time I take a holiday, I want to take another one. I want to see more and learn more and come to know a new place more fully. So naturally, after my whirlwind adventure in London in 2022, I decided almost immediately after arriving home that I would book another in 2023.
And that, my friends, is exactly what I did.
I made my trip to London in mid-November again. I travelled over almost the same dates as last year, in fact. And for a second year in a row, I got lucky with unseasonably dry and sunny weather. That weather allowed for adventuring all over town. This year, I visited for longer and ventured further. I even learned (sort of) how to use the bus in addition to the tube (and although I will always prefer underground travel, I admit that the bus did, at times take me nearer where I wanted to go.)
I mostly relied on my iPhone for photos, because although I toted my heavy DSLR with me almost everywhere. When it came to it, the idea of taking it out when I had a camera already in my hand rarely seemed very appealing. (We learn things when we travel alone. It turns out that while I love photography, I don’t love it if it’s difficult or inconvenient. Probably not a huge shock, really.) The majority of the snapshots I took are therefore included in this post. I imagine I’ll still be able to cobble together a few from my DSLR to put together a London favourites round-up at some point, though. New adventures mean new discoveries and I visited some wonderful places I’ll want to tell you all about eventually.
But in the meantime, I’m enjoying scrolling back through these shots. Memory lane is a place I’ve always enjoyed. I suppose I’m inclined to nostalgia by nature. Most writers are – its why we put words on paper, so they can live long after the moment is gone. On these metaphorical walks, I remember the best parts of the six days I spent in London last autumn, which seemed to fly by in a blink. That’s the thing about time, when you’re enjoying yourself. It slips away so quickly that if you’re not paying attention, you could miss it. I’m not complaining. In fact, I almost don’t mind. It gives me a lovely excuse to plan more holidays, because there’s always something left to do, something I didn’t quite find time for during my last one.
It’s early January still, and so much can change in a week, never mind most of a year. We’ve got holidays in Rome, Vancouver and Paris planned in the next six months, all of which I’m anticipating with a degree of joy that I can’t quite articulate in words that I know. But if I have my way, I’ll also be back in London again next fall – hopefully with Ian this time, so that someone else can carry the heavy camera and capture all the photos I missed last year.
