Greetings and a Merry Christmas! I am writing this entry after my first venture off the island of Great Britain in nearly two years! Yay – how wonderful, and I feel truly blessed to have been able to do this. Whilst Great Britain is certainly a beautiful island, and I have very much enjoyed exploring more of it these last two years due to the circumstances, it is still an island, and for a travelling soul like myself, I havent myself being for so long. The great wide world out there has been beckoning, and I feel more confident in being able to explore it again.
Alas, I did not venture far this time – just a short hop over to the nearby Isle of Man, but it was certainly a step in the right direction. I decided after I came back from Scotland in the summer that I was ready to travel abroad again, and jump through any hoops which they put out there, in order to get my travelling life back again. I booked this trip a couple of months ago, along with a trip to Ireland in February, and New England
Quocunque Jeceris Stabit, Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand. The Three Legs of Man symbol of the Isle of Man.
USA in April, and feel ready for this gentle increase in venturing abroad again. I will of course play it by ear for my next two trips and see how it goes, with the option of cancelling if need be. Nevertheless, as mentioned, I feel ready to jump through those hoops, fill in the forms, take the tests, and do what is needed, just to feel myself again. Thank you in particular to Merry Jo and Dave, Brendan V, and Lori and Susan, my fellow on here, whose recent excursions abroad have encouraged me to have the confidence to do the same.
So yes – the Isle of Man! Before the world changed, I was actually planning to do this trip this time last year, December 2020. It was a from my December 2019 trip to Guernsey and Sark, and December 2018 visit to the island of Jersey. These three distant islands of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man all appear as three separate territories on the Travellers Century Clubs list, so along with being fruit to add up my TCC list of countries, I was also intrigued to explore these distant little neighbours. While
Jersey and Guernsey are both really quite tiny, at 45 and 25 square miles respectively, the Isle of Man huge, at 221 square miles. They all have similar populations, 60,000 for Guernsey, 100,000 for Jersey, and 85,000 for the Isle of Man. But with their sizes, the Isle of Man is much less densely populated, and felt much less claustrophobic, with vast open spaces, long and empty roads, rolling hills, and swathes of deserted beaches and coastlines. It was really very beautiful, and felt like a large chunk of Yorkshire had simply been plucked up and plonked in the middle of the Irish Sea. The country also has an intriguing past to learn about, having developed out of both Celtic and Norse Viking origins, and is surprisingly abundant in myths, magic and fairy tales. It was a very special place, and a good place to name my 99th TCC country. All being well, Ireland in February will mark my 100th TCC country, and enable me to gain (as opposed to merely provisional) membership status!
Having just finished for the Christmas holidays, I took an EasyJet flight from London Gatwick airport on a Sunday evening. It was
good to see there were many people in the airport, even if only one of its two terminals was operating. The gentleman who served me in the Wetherspoons pub there said it was the busiest it had been since March 2020. It was pleasing to see so many people travelling, visiting relatives, and getting over the many obstacles the government has placed for us under these trying circumstances. I must admit I felt a bit nervous flying again after so long. My least favourite parts of flying are and landing, and since this was simply an flight, the whole flight was an one for me. I remember feeling the same flying to Jersey and Guernsey.
