Photo: Autumn mornings in Herefordshire, Louise’s iPhone, October 2023
29th October, how is this possible? We’re now officially into the depths of Autumn and have left British summertime behind us. And you can feel it in the air, not to mention see it in the supermarkets with all the Christmas chocolates and advent calendars (by the way, it’s much too soon.)
In a slight departure from our normal end of the month life round-up post, and inspired by this post by
, we thought we’d have a little bit of fun here this week and share a handful of things we’d like to see or do before we’re six feet under.Because we’re a team, there’s five from Mark and five from Louise. These are all things we’ve heard about and thought, well yes please, we’re up for that.
1: Trek to Machu Picchu (Mark)
The classic Inca Trail is a four-day hike through the Andes. It might be much shorter than the Camino de Santiago at only 26 miles, but it’s steep and rises over 4,000m in altitude. A moderate physical challenge, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Photo: By journaway Rundreisen on Unsplash
2: Follow the Sultan’s Trail (Louise)
Beginning in the centre of Vienna, the Sultan’s Trail is a long-distance route travelling from Austria to Istanbul via Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, East Macedonia, Greece and Turkey. And breathe! Named after Suleiman the Magnificent, the trail follows his route to Vienna, but backwards. It’s 1,500 miles long and takes 15 weeks to walk!
3: Drive Route 66 in a motorhome (Mark)
Another epic journey, Route 66 spans 2,400 miles across eight US states and three time zones. We’ve been to the end of the road in Santa Monica, but wouldn’t it be an adventure to take Lilibet over the ocean and drive her from one side of North America to the other? Would she even make it I wonder?
![Route 66 in the United States](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F192792aa-f56c-4049-bfd3-94536c64f801_6000x4000.jpeg)
![Route 66 in the United States](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7226b22-b6ae-4bd3-93e8-6434f1161546_6720x4480.jpeg)
![Route 66 in the United States](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb0dc766f-651e-4968-9141-520d5d170a87_3885x1594.jpeg)
Photos: Route 66, United States, All from Unsplash
4: Cycle across Cambodia (Louise)
This would probably come as a surprise to anyone who knew me in real life, because I am rarely seen on two wheels. However, for many years I have fancied the idea of cycling across Cambodia. It’s very flat, to start with, and I imagine that the scenery as you cycle past is stunning. I love the idea of slow travel, I think we miss so much when we jump in a car, and I love the independence of being able to stop wherever you like, chat to locals and see more of the countryside.
5: Try paragliding in Castelluccio, Italy (Mark)
Castelluccio di Norcia is a small village in Umbria, Italy, perched at an altitude of 1452 metres just inside the Sibillini Mountains National Park. From here you can soar across the ‘Valley of the Eagles’ known as the Tibet of Italy in either paragliders or hang-gliders. Time it right, and underneath you is a carpet of beautiful flowers.
6: See the pyramids at Giza (Louise)
My fascination with ancient history and Egyptology began with Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark and took me all the way through to studying archaeology at university. Ancient Egypt always lit something up inside me - so exotic, so historic, so different. Now in my mid-forties, I still haven’t been to see the pyramids or the Valley of the Kings and so this had to be included here on this list.
7: Stay in a glass dome in Iceland and see the Northern Lights (Mark)
I’m slightly annoyed that Mark pinched this one for the list, as it’s another that has been on my own bucket list for many many years. It’s not just that we’d love to see this stunning wonder of nature, it’s also how we’d like to see it. And that’s lying on the softest, warmest bed, in a glass igloo looking up at the night sky.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbdf12906-be90-4e23-9980-18a542c608d9_6000x4000.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F41a048d4-77ce-454d-a524-76a60ab5e3e9_4000x6000.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F52312c28-cce2-42a1-be7e-7a250fe49215_6346x4231.jpeg)
Photos: The Northern Lights, All from Unsplash
8: Rest and recover in the Maldives (Louise)
We lead a pretty busy life with five children between us, two dogs, two jobs, two businesses and everything else. We love travelling with our family, and we love taking the occasional relaxing holiday just the two of us. And this one is definitely just for the adults. Yes, Instagram marketing works, because I would love to stay in a water bungalow at Soneva Jani Resort. Soneva, if you’d like us to make a sponsored vlog for our YouTube channel, call us! 😉
Photo: Discover Soneva, Maldives (yes please!)
9: Learn to play Silent Night on the Trumpet (Mark)
He’s mentioned this a few times over the years, and so I am hoping that one of these days I will hear the haunting tones of the beginner trumpeter, floating down from upstairs. Maybe this is going to be the year that Mark learns to play Silent Night on the trumpet? We’re not a particularly instrumental family, although Mark’s dad plays the trumpet, and I learnt to play Silent Night on the piano a few years ago!
10: Write a book, probably non-fiction (Louise)
When asked at age 11 what I wanted to do when I ‘grew up’ (always a great question for an 11-year-old I find) I responded that I’d like to be an author and write a novel. As yet, I have not. I do write, both for work and for pleasure, but I still find it hard to call myself a ‘writer’ and I certainly haven’t tackled a novel. I think, more realistically, I might have something non-fiction in me one day, perhaps a memoir. But to be the next Kate Mosse or
I feel is getting less likely now.Photo: Hard at work, Mark’s iPhone, April 2022
What do you think? Can you cross any of these off your list? What else would be on yours?
So what’s now and what’s next?
You might know that after spending the last 18 months travelling as often and as far as we could, we somewhat ground to a halt this Summer as things were happening in our personal worlds that meant we needed to be at home.
Whilst things have settled, we’ve moved house and we’re slowly getting to grips with a few things, we’ve accepted that there’s little room for much else at the moment. We do have a couple of little trips planned: a weekend in Venice in December, a long weekend with some of our children learning to ski in February, and then, perhaps most excitingly a return to the Camino de Santiago with some of our new pilgrim friends in April. Beyond that, we’re not quite sure yet!
And as for this Substack, we’re going to be taking a short break during November and some of December. For one thing, I still have three vlogs to make about our trip to India in April, and then another about our visit to Washington DC! While I get those finished and published, I’ll be taking a short break from writing here. During that time, I’ll be pausing all paid subscriptions too!
We’ll be back in a few weeks but in the meantime,
Buen Camino! 👣
Louise and Mark x