Newcastle Photographer and Content Creator, Mandy Charlton, Always on a quest for adventure, often seen on buses, trains and planes. On a quest to be happier and healthier. Lives in Newcastle with her 3 cats, Iris, Maggie and Arthur. Loves good vibes, musicals and cakes. Full time professional wedding photographer in the north east of england alongside content creator on Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook

Thursday, May 25, 2017

The Year of Extraordinary Adventure


Cannes, on the South Coast of France, Mandy Charlton, photographer, writer, blogger, the year of extraordinary adventure, travel, europe, france, single parent holidays with a teenager


When I was 20 years old and very brave I booked my first ever holiday on my own to San Antonio in Ibiza, it was a Club 18-30 holiday and cost me just over £250 for 2 weeks, whilst the holiday wasn't exactly what you would call a luxury vacation (I can't even...) I did get my first taste of taking off on an aeroplane, that moment where you lift off the ground and your head is pressed into the seat, like making the ascent on a roller coaster for the very first time only you know on an aeroplane you are on your way to experience new adventures, gloriously different cultures and you know (mostly) when that plane touches down and the cabin door is opened you'll feel the heat on your face that says "You're not in rainy old England anymore"

For a lot of my life I holidayed in the UK and I still love to do that, next week, for instance, Looby, Harriet and I (plus The Holly Bobbins) are having a caravan break at Sundrum Castle on the Southwest Coast of Scotland, it's very much a bargain break at just over £250 for the 4 nights from Monday to Friday including Holly who was £40 on her own (celebrity beagle, eh?).  It will be so lovely though so be in rural Scotland exploring some of the 17 or so castles they have in the area, I love a good castle with a lovely garden.  Looby chose the holiday, She's going to Tenerife at the end of August with dad and so she wanted to holiday in the UK with me and that's fair enough, Abigail, however, is slightly more aspirational, we, of course, visited Mallorca and toured practically the entire Island in less than a week and so when she told me that she wanted to go the Cote d'Azure for her summer holidays I wasn't exactly surprised, she's passionate about speaking French fluently and so there's no better place to do that.

Now it could be that we paid more than I wanted but at £999.11 for both of us including flights and luggage for 7 nights including breakfast, in the first week of the school summer holidays, I think I did quite well.  Although it has to be said that Harriet and I are going to Madrid for 4 nights at the end of June and we paid £263 each including flights, luggage and transfers.

So this year is all about travel, I've never been to Madrid and I've never been to Nice so I'm very excited about both and Looby still has one summer experience left to choose although she's already indicated that she'd like to go to the Berwick holiday park where we went for a bargain break a couple of years ago.  I think for Looby, she's been so excited for over a year about Tenerife that she doesn't want to ruin it by going somewhere more exciting with me, plus she knows I won't tolerate a solid week of just sitting next to a pool!

I'd hate to put a finger on which experience will fulfil me the most because each one in it's own way is special, I love being able to take Holly on holiday even though I know she's always quite happy with "Brother Iain" or "Auntie Harriet" but I still love landing somewhere you have never been before.  I'm currently trying to learn Spanish and French, they seem to be the two countries I spend the most time visiting and as my business becomes more autonomous during the weekdays it really does lead me to be able to experience a life of travel and adventure.  During the weeks I mainly do an hour of work here and there and as long as I fill my calendar with 10-20 photo shoots every weekend it releases me from the need to look desperately for other work.

So onwards to my next adventure and more than anything, I hope that you'll join me for the ride!
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