Return Home Blues

So following our family two week meander to London then to Brittany, France we have arrived back home safe and relaxed. It was a round trip drive of 1604 miles ! Perfect practice for when we continue our roads trips when I retire. Now we are home there is the a little niggle in the back of my mind, I don’t want to be home. But as I sit here the day after my return, with the cases unpacked and the washing done the sense of normality hits as well. It’s comforting to be back into the usual routines of daily life, the familiarity of the house, the town I live in, prepping to go back to work. But, just in the background is that feeling of wishing I was still away. It’s like a slight depression, a feeling of missing something. I know it will fade as the days pass, the normality of life will cover it up and the memories will fade, only to return when I look back on the photographs of the trip or when someone asks how the holiday went. 

We are planning to be on the road a lot longer in the near future, packing up and traveling for months at a time. will that then become the norm, will coming home feel like being on holiday? 

How do other travelers cope with the feeling, the holiday blues?

Motorway Madness

Chaos

For the love of everything holy, why are the motorways in the UK just completely choked with lorries and cars and why the hell can’t people drive. I could not believe the state of the roads. The verges are completely littered with rubbish and burst tyres the traffic is start stop, stop start and most of the time at a stand still.

Not sure what the solution is but what I do know is that UK road trips are out from now on.

Here is what a BBC report says:

UK drivers wasted an average of 31 hours in rush-hour traffic last year, costing each motorist £1,168, a study by traffic data firm Inrix suggests.

The UK is the world’s 10th most congested country and London is Europe’s second most gridlocked city after Moscow.

Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Edinburgh completed the UK’s top five major areas affected. 

The government said a record £23bn was being invested in road schemes.

The study – which took into account direct costs such as wasted fuel and time, as well as indirect consequences, such as higher prices for household goods due to increased freight fees – found London drivers spent an average of 74 hours in gridlock last year, at a cost of £2,430.

The worst stretch of road was the A406 outer London ring road from Chiswick roundabout to Hanger Lane during the evening rush hour.

Why Me

“Miserable Meanders”

Why “Miserable Meanders.” So the name has been with me for a while, I started on Twitter and a page on Facebook a few years ago when I was trying to log some of my walks. I just liked the idea of putting a positive negative spin on things I did, if that makes sense? (It does to me)

Last year I reinvigorated the name and idea and put to both Instagram and more recently TikTok (Trying to keep it trendy). The tag line of “There is always another hill to climb, so just climb it.” Really speaks for itself, life can be hard but you must get on with it.

I enjoy posting to social media, but more importantly to me I enjoy writing. So reinventing a blog seemed like the best option at this time for me. So my plan is to try and keep up with my posts on here and combine it with some Miserable Meanders writing in the form of a blog. I don’t expect people to read it or see my posts, but for me that’s okay as to write is cathartic to me. If you do happen upon this site then great, feel free to comment or follow. Even head over to my other sites and have a look around, or don’t, I really don’t care.

Just remember to be kind to one another, life is short and full of crap at times, so a smile and a thank you or a please can go a long way.

France and the French?

So as I am in France lets discuss the French. I know a lot of people who, when I say I am off to France on Holiday, have mixed views on the place. The French are rude, arrogant. They can’t drive, the roads are terrible, the prices are extortionate. Well I think that’s all bullshit! I have been on holiday with my family lots of times, through Normandy and Brittany. We have been to Paris and Disney Paris a few times as well. On every occasion we have been greeted by friendly locals only too willing to help, even if my French is as bad as their English. As for the roads and driving, I have driven hundreds upon hundreds of miles all over the place and I can say hand on heart that I prefer to drive on French roads than on British ones. Driving in France just makes sense. The traffic flows, the roads are well maintained and as long as you abide by the rules you can travel all over, quickly and easily with some magnificent views.

So all in all I love France and the French way of life.

What’s your opinion?

Domaine Des Ormes, Brittany, France

Situated just outside of Dol de Britagne, Domaine Des Ormes is a sprawling camping site which caters for a variety of needs from wooden tree house lodges to large static caravans and mobile homes. also in the grounds is a hotel and a golf course if that takes your fancy.

There are adequate resources on camp with a shop, bar and plenty to occupy old and not so old. The camp in recent years has totally upgraded the swimming facilities replacing an old outside pool with a fantastic dome structure housing different swimming areas, sides and access to a large outdoor swimming pool from the inside via some rapids. The complex is clean with no food or drink allowed which reduces the chance of swimming next to a slice of pizza or worse. The place has a Centre Parcs feel to it which is nice.

The camps location provides ease of driving to many of the local attractions such as Mont Saint Michel or Cancale. The local town of Dol de Britagne, has bars and local shops and a massive Super U supermarket where you can buy almost anything.

So like everything there are downsides, the bar is very expensive and in need of a refurb, Site reps for Canvas, who we booked through, were few and far between and something we have never had to do in the past, was provide a cleaning waiver of sixty euros, which is returned following inspection prior to leaving. Makes you wonder what states the caravans have been left in the past for them to require this. Animals!

If you want a child friendly camp for a family holiday or a base from where to explore Brittany then I can recommend Domaines Des Ormes.