Hi there, I’m Amanda, the author and photographer behind my very own travel blog ‘Where to Next?’.

This is the site where I will share my travel adventures and tips, recommendations, photos, video clips and much more!

My passion for travel has taken me on some fantastic adventures over recent years but still I have just realised that I’ve only visited around 13% of the countries in the world! That’s 26 countries in total out of around 195, some frequented more than once, and some for one time only. Still a lot more to discover for sure!

Short jaunts and long-haul, planes, trains, ferries and destinations reached by road, each trip creating their own unique memories. For me travel opens my heart, has most certainly broadened my horizons and continues to fill my life with stories to tell.

Travel is my healthy addiction and nothin excites me more though than the spark that ignites when I start thinking about planning a new trip. I have a travel bucket list and spend hours researching and planning which trip to organise next.

Looking for the best and most affordable accommodation, planning flights and things to do when I reach my destination are as exciting to me as the trip itself. Nothing beats a holiday countdown and as much as possible I always like to have a trip in the bag.

Having been born in England in the late 1960s, my childhood travelling was confined to the UK. As a family we were fortunate to have an annual week-long holiday, visiting places including Wales, Devon and the Yorkshire coast, usually staying in a caravan with my parents and siblings.

The car journey to our destination and back home was an adventure in itself. Parents in the front and us three kids in the rear, drawing straws to see who got to sit in the middle on the hard part of the back seat! Snacks of crisps and sweets, and our own pillows off our beds helped make the long journey’s more comfortable, although in those days it was common for our parents to smoke feely in the front whilst we all choked in the back!

Music was a constant on the journeys though, and it was on these trips that I was introduced by my parents, via cassette tapes that were stashed in the pockets on the car doors, to artists who shaped my future musical taste, including Supertramp, Rod Stewart and ELO. I clearly remember all of us all singing along to tunes which bring back many special memories today!

Occasionally we would travel by train from North Wales to our grandparents home in Lincolnshire. Bangor to Manchester Victoria where we would change trains for our onward journey to our destination. In those days the train had seating compartments in each car and I vividly remember us travelling through the Pennines in our own compartment with the small top window open to let fresh air in.

Foreign holidays weren’t an option for us as a family in the 1970s and were something only rich people could do. I never got to go abroad with either of my parents, and can’t remember any of my peers leaving the UK at holiday time.

My first jaunt abroad came when I was 15 –
a school trip to Argeles-Sur-Mer in the South of France. A trip made via an incredibly arduous coach journey from North Wales where we lived, down to the ferry terminal in Dover. Following my first-ever experience on the ferry, we travelled down through France overnight to the caravan site that was home for the next four days! I’m sure it was that long drawn-out and exhausting journey which put me off coach travel to this day!

My first experience of air travel came when I was 18 years old – a fortnight in Majorca with friends, flying for the very first time from Manchester airport to Palma. Almost 40 years later I remember the excitement and trepidation this trip provided, and credit it with planting the travel bug seed that has motivated, thrilled and empowered me for most of my adult life. Once the travel bug bites , there is no known antidote and I know that I shall be happily infected for the rest of my days!

Due to my career thankfully enabling me to afford to roam (within reason), I consider myself lucky to have travelled quite widely in recent years, creating meaningful and enjoyable experiences. Throw into the mix my love for Manchester United and the many trips to European away games that my season ticket provided, then I am happy with the destinations already ticked off.

Visiting the Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, to watch Man Utd play Real Madrid in the European Super Cup was possibly my shortest trip abroad, being out of the UK for a mere 24 hours travelling to the game on the day of the final and returned home straight after it!

My longest trips so far include a month-long stint volunteering in Malawi in East Africa, and 6 weeks in Siret, Romania, also doing voluntary work in an orphanage.

Over the years I have travelled abroad with family and friends visiting countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. My bucket list has more of the same, with the additional 3 continents featuring in my

The world really is a big place, and I still have many more countries to visit, more trips to enjoy and more memories to make. My aim is to see as much of the world as realistically possible and whilst I haven’t been everywhere, it’s on my list!

My next trip is my first as a solo traveller – a week in New York next spring. I’ve been planning it for weeks and am very excited about what the time on my own will bring in the city I can honestly say is not only my most-visited, but also my absolute favourite place in the whole world. More of that later!

Through this blog I intend to share my travel experiences with anyone who is interested. I also hope ‘Where to Next?’ inspires at least one person to follow their own dreams, chasing their own adventures wherever they may be!