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Abstract

re time.</p> <figure id="d804"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FFG832ztBafw&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFG832ztBafw&image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FFG832ztBafw%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><h2 id="1b8a">My top travel tip is…</h2><p id="63b3">Walkers never get lost. We get temporarily side-tracked down a more interesting diversion. Always be prepared to get side-tracked. You never know what you might discover.</p><h2 id="33e8">If I could live somewhere else, I’d live in…</h2><p id="e5d4">The Lake District. Or Pembrokeshire. Or Dumfries and Galloway. Or . . . Oh, I don’t know! There are too many nice places here in the UK. I have to say, though, Shropshire is a fantastic place to live.</p><figure id="8289"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*UGctqrVwYGuT3B7Lo-bX8Q.jpeg"><figcaption>Beautiful Pembrokeshire © Simon Whaley</figcaption></figure> <figure id="8bbe"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FGRgEb0dxfuY%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGRgEb0dxfuY&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FGRgEb0dxfuY%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><figure id="a462"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*gULK38hFcYQgSQ95DZbupw.jpeg"><figcaption>But Shropshire’s pretty cool too. © Simon Whaley</figcaption></figure><h2 id="3fe5">My favorite way to travel is…</h2><p id="e17a">Walking . . . but if I had to pick a motorized means, it would be the train. (I’ve often stayed in Dumfries and Galloway and done day trips to Edinburgh — catch the train from Lockerbie and enjoy the view through the Scottish Uplands. The Welsh railway line from Machynlleth to Pwllheli is all wide estuaries, coastal views and cliff-hugging panoramas. Alternatively, the Heart of Wales line from Craven Arms to Swansea negotiates the Cambrian mountains, the most isolated of stations and the widest of valleys — single track all the way, and single carriage too.)</p><h2 id="e27d">Three lessons I’ve learned from traveling are…</h2><ol><li>Every experience is a story. Even those disastrous trips. (Especially those disastrous trips!)</li><li>Go back. At least once. Even to the places you didn’t like. Different weather (I’m British — we’re obsessed with the weather!), different season, different time of day. Places change. Different atmospheres gives places a different vibe. We all have our off days. So do places.</li><li>Take lots of videos. We all have mobile phones in our pockets these days. A 10, 20 or 30 second video captures so much more about a place than a single photo.</li></ol> <figure id="596e"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FDXex7WI2FEs%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDXex7WI2FEs&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FDXex7WI2FEs%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div

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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><h2 id="e2a4">My number one travel activity is…</h2><p id="2b13">Sitting and looking. I could be at the top of a mountain, or sitting outside a cafe. Just stop and spend a few minutes looking around, absorbing what’s going on, and enjoying being where you are.</p>
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><h2 id="9365">More from me on Globetrotters:</h2><div id="fb43" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/lording-it-in-ludlow-926f4470ccfd">
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            <h2>Lording it in Ludlow</h2>
            <div><h3>Exploring the Shropshire town’s royal roots and literary links</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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      <a href="https://readmedium.com/escaping-from-britains-smallest-city-91d3fce7e28e">
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            <h2>Escaping from Britain’s Smallest City</h2>
            <div><h3>And discovering Britain’s Caribbean-like coastal waters</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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      <a href="https://readmedium.com/seven-lake-district-back-waters-a3349b3f822c">
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            <h2>Seven Lake District Back Waters</h2>
            <div><h3>Where to go to avoid the tourists in the UK’s busiest national park</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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      <a href="https://simonwhaley.medium.com/membership">
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            <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Simon Whaley</h2>
            <div><h3>As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…</h3></div>
            <div><p>simonwhaley.medium.com</p></div>
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Globetrotters Writer Spotlight — Simon Whaley

The travel writer without a passport…

Hi Globetrotters. My name is…

Simon

I come from…

The UK. Originally, South-west London (Kingston-upon-Thames), but twenty-five years ago I moved to Shropshire (it’s between Birmingham and Wales — few people in the UK can point to it on a map).

I work as …

An author, writer and photographer.

Author: I’m the bestselling author of One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, first published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2003. I’ve since written over a dozen other non-fiction books, mostly about dogs, walking and writing. I’ve also self-published two novels in my humorous Marquess of Mortiforde cosy crime series, which are set, here, in the glorious Welsh Borders.

Writer: In addition to writing on Medium, I’m a freelance writer writing for print publications like BBC Countryfile, Country Walking, Coast, Cumbria, The Countryman and The People’s Friend. I’ve written for foreign publications in the US, Canada, and Australia, and I have a column in Writing Magazine.

Photographer: I soon learned that I tended to sell more of my words to print publications if I could provide the photos too. But I don’t just take photos to sell my words. I sell my photos via an agency, and many are used by the UK broadsheet newspapers, as well as calendar companies, and book publishers.

I love to travel because…

I love running away 🤣. Being based in the UK ( I don’t have a passport, so I only write UK travel), it always amazes me of the sheer variety of landscapes and places in these tiny islands of ours.

The best place I’ve been is…

My go-to place is the Lake District. And, yes, contrary to what you might think, it is possible to be there on a Bank Holiday Monday and not see another soul! (You just have to go to the right place . . . and if you think I’m going to tell you where that is, then think again!) But the best place I’ve been to in the Lake District is Loweswater. It’s not as busy as the other lakes because parking is limited.

Lovely Loweswater, Lake District, Cumbria © Simon Whaley

In my spare time, I like to…

Walk. As the author of Best Walks in the Welsh Borders (now out of print) and the Bluffers Guide to Hiking, I much prefer to travel on foot. You see more. You experience more. Slow travel is the best. Even if it is just a few miles from my front door in some spare time.

My top travel tip is…

Walkers never get lost. We get temporarily side-tracked down a more interesting diversion. Always be prepared to get side-tracked. You never know what you might discover.

If I could live somewhere else, I’d live in…

The Lake District. Or Pembrokeshire. Or Dumfries and Galloway. Or . . . Oh, I don’t know! There are too many nice places here in the UK. I have to say, though, Shropshire is a fantastic place to live.

But Shropshire’s pretty cool too. © Simon Whaley

My favorite way to travel is…

Walking . . . but if I had to pick a motorized means, it would be the train. (I’ve often stayed in Dumfries and Galloway and done day trips to Edinburgh — catch the train from Lockerbie and enjoy the view through the Scottish Uplands. The Welsh railway line from Machynlleth to Pwllheli is all wide estuaries, coastal views and cliff-hugging panoramas. Alternatively, the Heart of Wales line from Craven Arms to Swansea negotiates the Cambrian mountains, the most isolated of stations and the widest of valleys — single track all the way, and single carriage too.)

Three lessons I’ve learned from traveling are…

Every experience is a story. Even those disastrous trips. (Especially those disastrous trips!)
Go back. At least once. Even to the places you didn’t like. Different weather (I’m British — we’re obsessed with the weather!), different season, different time of day. Places change. Different atmospheres gives places a different vibe. We all have our off days. So do places.
Take lots of videos. We all have mobile phones in our pockets these days. A 10, 20 or 30 second video captures so much more about a place than a single photo.

My number one travel activity is…

Sitting and looking. I could be at the top of a mountain, or sitting outside a cafe. Just stop and spend a few minutes looking around, absorbing what’s going on, and enjoying being where you are.

Lording it in Ludlow

Exploring the Shropshire town’s royal roots and literary links

medium.com

Escaping from Britain’s Smallest City

And discovering Britain’s Caribbean-like coastal waters

medium.com

Seven Lake District Back Waters

Where to go to avoid the tourists in the UK’s busiest national park

medium.com

Join Medium with my referral link - Simon Whaley

As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…

simonwhaley.medium.com