Welcome to the Second Half of 2024

Somehow we are halfway through the year. I’m not sure what your first half of 2024 has been like, but mine has involved so much travel that I probably spent more time away from home than at home.

Travel is great, if you like travelling. Which, fortunately, I do. However, I’ve been thinking about that age-old saying “Life is a journey, not a destination.” I’m thinking it could possibly be both.

By all means, we should enjoy the journey; otherwise, we spend a lot of time focused on getting somewhere and missing all the scenery and adventures along the way. In the past month alone, I had four long journeys, a three-day dance festival and three fun excursions into London.

First we went up to Yorkshire to see my mother-in-law for her 97th birthday. Her life has been quite a journey and it’s important to celebrate that. Phil and I turned up the music and enjoyed the drive up nearly as much as the visit. We also visited our son and his fiancée for a barbecue lunch on the way back down south, which was a real treat.

Then I went to Paris with 8 women for a friend’s 70th birthday. We travelled on the Eurostar, and created a party right on the train that lasted the entire two and a half hours of the journey. Paris didn’t know what hit it as we worked our way around the city, eating, drinking and laughing.

After just two days at home, I was off to New York – a place I used to call home and now it’s sort of my second home since I go there every eight weeks or so. I had booked the flights on a different airline (sorry, British Airways!) so the experience was different from what we were used to. I tried to enjoy the challenge of repacking and moving my suitcase nine times as I visited family and friends, staying in different hotels and homes. I don’t know how I still manage to pack too much for trips, even after all these years.

Back from New York, we were straight into the WGC Vintage festival where we did 14 hours of swing dance over three days! We’d looked forward to this event for months and we wanted to make the most of it, which we did.

Two days later, it was time to pack again, this time for the Introbiz Expo in Cardiff. I’d never spent much time in Cardiff or anywhere else in Wales, but it was an amazing experience. I was given the opportunity to speak about Giving 1 Percent and the people were truly warm and friendly. It was a great event and we ended it with an exceptional meal at the Ivy Asia.

Interspersed among these trips were two outings to the theatre, a picnic, a jazz festival in the park, a couple of speaking gigs and a business networking lunch. The photo at the top is me relishing the train journey yesterday as I travelled to the picnic in London. I could choose to feel tired re-reading what I just wrote, but actually I’m impressed with myself for doing it all and enjoying the journeys as well as the destinations.

The second half of this year isn’t looking quite as busy – yet. Although there’s still time to pack lots of exciting adventures into the coming days and evenings – and maybe learn to pack light?

What about you? Are you pleased with the journey you’ve been on during the first half of 2024? Are you impressed with yourself and your achievements? However you see the half-year just ended, the great news is you still have six shiny new months ahead before the end of the year. Plenty of time to explore new destinations - and make sure you enjoy the journeys too!

?