About

I started writing this in 2013, just before setting off on a trip to Israel and the West Bank. The idea was that my children would be able to read about my travels and be reassured. (Before I went, my worried son had sought out the Lonely Planet Guide to Israel and the Occupied Territories to show me,  and highlighted the 'Dangerous' bits).
In the end, I'm not sure that either of them read a word.
But the habit of writing down notes about travels persisted....
There is a lot about paintings too - and I'm not sure why exactly. 
Paintings often seem to open new vistas on life, whether they're seen actually on journeys or point the way to them.

Reading and watching

  • Foot by Foot to Santiago de Compostela/Judy Foot
  • The Testament of Mary with Fiona Shaw at the Barbican
  • The Testament of Mary/Colm Toibin
  • Schwanengesang/Schubert - Tony Spence
  • Journals/Robert Falcon Scott
  • Fugitive Pieces/Ann Michaels
  • Unless/Carol Shields
  • Faust/Royal Opera House
  • The Art of Travel/Alain de Botton
  • Mad Men Series 6
  • A Week at The Airport/Alain de Botton
  • The Railway Man/Eric Lomax
  • Bright Lights, Big City/Jay McInerney
  • Stones of Venice/John Ruskin
  • The Sea, the Sea/Iris Murdoch
  • Childe Harold/Lord Byron
  • All The Pretty Horses/Cormac McCarthy
  • Extreme Rambling/Mark Thomas
  • Story of my Life/Jay McInerney
  • Venice Observed/Mary McCarthy